Clean & Clear

My wife and I have had a hectic couple weeks to say the least; retreats, birthday parties, more retreats, doctor appointments, the list goes on and on. Things have been an absolute blur. Luckily, we survived the worst of it. However, in the craziness of this month's schedule, we have neglected some of our typical household chores. Let me take this opportunity to openly admit that I am not what some would call, "a tidy person". I try. I really do try. Peculiarly, I enjoy when my desk, apartment, life is clean and in order - I function better when things are organized. Yet, somehow, I always manage to leave some mess, blotch, smudge or stain behind wherever I go. Luckily, my wife is a whiz when it comes to cleaning - she is also a saint for being patient with me as I learn to tidy up after myself.

Typically, a muddled apartment wouldn't be a major ordeal. We would clean the house little by little over a couple days because of our busy lifestyle. A little vacuuming, dusting, & washing here and there would take care of the job. However, my wife and I made plans a couple weeks ago to have some friends over for dinner tonight. My wife is at work. Today is my day off. The cleaning is up too me, and I have a time limit. A recipe for disaster!

As I look around my messy apartment in preparation for the overhaul, I can't believe that I let things get so cluttered. Yes, I was busy, but was I this busy? This situation sadly reminds me of my spiritual life at times.

It is so easy to allow my prayer life to get neglected when things get frenzied. In the busyness of the day it always seems like my prayer time is put on the back burner. It is never my primary intention to put prayer low on my totem pole of things to accomplish but I let other things take priority. For some reason in the moment it always seems like it is more urgent to reply to those work emails that need to be sent out, or to run the errands that I have been putting off for so long than it is to sit down and talk with my God for a bit.

The crazy thing is, when I don't pray things start to really get messy in my life. The stress builds up. Frustrations get the better of me. My peace slowly turns into anxiety. And I am guessing the same is true for you. I don't know what your prayer life is like but if it is anything like my maltreated, ignored apartment. It's time to tidy up. Prayer is an absolute essential if we hope to live an authentic Christian life. It is what fuels us, revives us & sustains us. With daily prayer, God's grace can carry us through the toughest situations; without it, life gets cluttered & chaotic.

God wants us to come to him in prayer. He wants to hear from us. And we desire Him. The Catholic Church teaches "that we need the will to pray" (CCC 2650). Yes. Our lives can get busy. Yes. Sometimes life is frantic. And Yes, sometimes the to-do list seems endless. But in the midst of all that, can we allow our personal prayer time, even if just 5 or 10 minutes, to be totally ignored, or will we find the time to pray? That question is for you to answer.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne (Rev 3:20-1).

I have some cleaning to do.