In the morning, long before daylight, Jesus got up and went out to a lonely spot, and there he began to pray.
in the darkest before dawn wilderness calls well before a beckoning let it be wilderness calls deep down a fathomless deep wilderness calls from a center of strictest order wilderness calls all too soon we make meaning beyond sustaining our desire for one thing over all beyond sustaining dreams and hopes are literalized beyond sustaining our desire for control betrays us beyond sustaining we beard beasts in their den prayer action data is gathered jot and tittle prayer action dots and numbers are connected prayer action a next quest begins prayer action furthest shores whisper call wilderness strongest traditions call wilderness cosmic egg cracks call wilderness wilderness itself calls wilderness
Would it be the healing or the silencing that would drain you the most?
Whichever. It is obvious from the time of arising that there is an urgency to be about the combination of being alone (solitary place) and being in a relationship (prayer).
One of the tricky aspects of prayer is that it is both listening and negotiating. It takes practice to pull off both of these at the same time.
We listen for what is already erupting from deep within us. We negotiate our location within the world and what that means in regard to a next activity.
Listening brings echoes of past prayers and a far-off hymn of a next creation.
Negotiation navigates between our understanding of the principles of life and the temptations that would subtly subvert them.
This is a time of shaking off the detritus of the day to look again, rather than simply plow ahead or take the path of least resistance yet available.
Praying about our praying seems to always be in order that we might better walk between the competing calls of life. To simply be a beloved is not strategic life plan. Implementation is important.