Last Saturday at Men's Group, we revisited some of the past work of Dan Loch. Dan was an important part of every dimension of parish life before his death. The Men’s Group for the past six months has been focusing on “one-liners” from scripture or poetry. We begin by each person reciting the line aloud and then we talk about the power of the passage and its’ personal meaning. 

Last Saturday Joe O’Callaghan Jr. led the group and presented us with a series on one-line prayers Dan had used every day of his life. That got me to thinking about prayer. 

In learning how to pray there is a definite progression. People usually start with lots of verbal prayer. Those prayers while praising and thanking the Lord also usually contain lots of petitions. As one grows in prayer the focus gradually changes. Eventually more attention is paid to small passages from Scripture or other spiritual writings. Diving deep into those small words or scenes moves us to talk and listen to the Lord about what is going on inside us. Then we come to a stage where all we do is recite one line or word over and over in the depths of our heart. Finally, the last stage is silent presence before the Lord where we do nothing but open our hearts for Him to enter. The ultimate goal of prayer is union with the Divine. 

In my own case, my prayer is primarily single lines from Scripture that I repeat over and over. On seeing a place of beauty, I will stop and internally repeat “This is the day the Lord has Made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” More regularly, my repeated line will be a version of the beginning of Psalm 63. “O God, you are my God, for you I long, for you my soul is thirsting.” Words have power, and how we use them is critical. Next week’s column will be on the Psalms as THE book of prayer.  Watch for it!