About Prayer (2)

A Hasidic Tale:

The Jews of a small town in Russia were eagerly awaiting the arrival of a Rabbi. This was going to be a rare event, so they spent a lot of time preparing the questions they were going to put to the holy man.

When he finally arrived and they met with him in the town hall, he could sense the tension in the atmosphere as all prepared to listen to the answers he had for them.

He said nothing at first; he just gazed into their eyes, and hummed a haunting melody. Soon everyone began to hum. He started to sing and they sang along with him. He swayed and danced in solemn, measured steps. The congregation followed suit. Soon they became so involved in the dance, so absorbed in its movements that they were lost to everything else on earth; so every person in that crowd was made whole, was healed from the inner fragmentation that keeps us from the Truth.

It was nearly an hour before the dance slowed down and came to a halt. With the tension drained out of their inner being, everyone sat in the silent peace that pervaded the room. Then the Rabbi spoke the only words he pronounced that evening; "I trust that I have answered your questions."

A dervish was asked why he worshiped God through dance. "Because," he replied, "to worship God means to die to self; dancing kills the self. When the self dies all problems die with it. Where the self is not, Love is, God is."

The Master sat with his disciples in the audience. He said, "You have heard many a prayer and said many a prayer. Tonight I should like you to see one."

At that moment the curtain rose and the ballet began.

Anthony de Mello

About Prayer (1)

When Brother Bruno was at prayer one night he was disturbed by the croaking of a bullfrog. All his attempts to disregard the sound were unsuccessful so he shouted from his window, "Quiet! I'm at my prayers."

Now Brother Bruno was a saint so his command was instantly obeyed. Every living creature held its voice so as to create a silence that would be favorable to prayer.

But now another sound intruded on Bruno's worship - an inner voice that said, "Maybe God is as pleased with the croaking of that frog as with the chanting of your psalms." "What can please the ears of God in the croak of a frog?" was Bruno's scornful rejoinder. But the voice refused to give up. "Why would you think God invented the sound?"

Bruno decided to find out why. He leaned out of his window and gave the order, "Sing!" The bullfrog's measured croaking filled the air to the ludicrous accompaniment of all the frogs in the vicinity. And as Bruno attended to the sound, their voices ceased to jar for he discovered that, if he stopped resisting them, they actually enriched the silence of the night.

With that discovery Bruno's heart became harmonious with the universe and, for the first time in his life, he understood what it means to pray.

Anthony de Mello

Ignatius of Loyola

The sixteenth-century mystic Ignatius of Loyola said of himself that at the time of his conversion he had no one to turn to for guidance, so the Lord himself taught him the way a schoolteacher teaches a little child. He once declared that even if all the scriptures were destroyed, he would hold on to what they revealed because of what the Lord had taught him personally.

Christian: I have, unfortunately, had a surfeit of people I could turn to for guidance. They badgered me with their persistent teachings till I could barely hear you through the din. It never occurred to me that I could get my knowledge firsthand from you, for they sometimes said to me, "We are all the teachers you will ever have; he who listens to us, listens to him."

But I am wrong to blame them or to deplore their presence in my early life. It is I who am to blame. For I lacked the firmness to silence them; the courage to find out for myself; the patience to wait for your appointed time; and the trust that someday, somewhere, you would break your silence and reveal yourself to me.

Anthony de Mello

The Samaritan Woman

The woman put down her water jar and went off to the town. She said to the people, "Come and see the man who has told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?"

Christian: Oh for a teacher like the Samaritan woman! She gave no answers. She only asked a question. It must have been tempting to give the answer because she got it from you directly when you said, "I am the Messiah. I who am talking to you."

Many more became disciples because of what they heard form his own lips. They said tot he woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard him ourselves, and we know that this is, indeed, the Savior of the world."

I have been content to learn about you at second hand, Lord. From scriptures and saints; from popes and preachers. I wish I could say to all of them, "It is no longer because of what you said that I believe, for I have heard him myself."

Anthony de Mello

Simon Peter

A dialogue from the gospels:

"And you," said Jesus. "Who do you say I am?"

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

Then Jesus said, "Simon, son of Jonah, you are favored indeed! You did not learn that from mortal man; my heavenly Father revealed it to you."

A dialogue from life:

Jesus: And you, who do you say I am?

Christian: You are the Son of the living God.

Jesus: Right. But how unfortunate you are that you learned this from mortal man. It has not yet been revealed to you by my Father.

Christian: True, Lord. I have been cheated. Somebody gave me the answers before your Father could speak. I marvel at your wisdom that you said nothing to Simon yourself, but waited for your Father to speak first.

Anthony de Mello