During this tumultuous time of COVID-19, human behavior becomes really wacky. Of course, there are the saints who always emerge and serve as a role model. They stun us with their selfless acts and genuine concern for others. Sometimes they pass by the second mile and go the third mile. Instinctively it seems, they know what to say and what to do. There is a grace in the way they go about even little things. Blessings somehow exude from their very presence.
And then there are the rest of us---me included. For us, grace is the name of some girl in high school! Our actions seem choppy and clunky compared to the holy ones. Instead of eloquence, we stammer our weak words of encouragement or help. Rather than the ease of our dominant hand, we apparently are stuck with the less fluid other hand---in my case, the left hand. Our timing is not as perfectly executed as the saints manage to do. They seem flawless and we are covered with flaws. We try; it’s not our motivation. We just are not there yet. I always underscore the “yet.”
If one keeps listening to the news or staying online to follow every update of this viral time, you can get numbed. I see two extremes. On the one hand, people are either dismissive or have had enough and go back to normal life---or worse. It is like they jump off the deep end of partying or become dumb-driven. The other hand sees folks who become depressed and decide they don’t care, there is nothing to do and it is Doomsday. Sit back and wait for the fatal blow. Neither option has much attraction for me.
And then I ran across a nice little article that gives me and you a good third option. Routinely, I read a number of religious and spiritual periodicals and magazines online. One of my favorites is a Catholic publication. A regular writer in that one is Jesuit, Thomas Reece. I have never met him, but would like to do so. I have seen pictures and have watched him on YouTube and other venues. In this article he is reflecting on our current times and what it means for him. He said he lives in a setting with sixteen Jesuits. It is his family. He worries that if one gets it, they all get it. For any of us in families, that worry has some resonance.
He then offered a good option for what we can do in the meantime. He used an old-fashioned Catholic way of talking about prayer. The call it “ACTS,” which is an acronym for four different ways to pray. Older Catholics remember it well, but younger Catholics likely don’t know it. I was helped to be reminded of it and want to share it here.
This is how Reese describes it. “Prayer can be Adoration (God, you are awesome), Contrition (sorry, God), Thanksgiving (thank you, God) and Supplication (please, God). Many people get stuck in prayers of contrition and supplication and forget about thanksgiving and adoration.” I think this is probably true, not only of Catholics, but the rest of us. Let’s look at each of these four and imagine what it means in our tumultuous day.
\Adoration is something I think I have learned to do. For whatever reason, I don’t think beauty was emphasized when I was a kid. Maybe I missed that lesson, or it went over my head. It is not that I was ignorant of beauty, but somehow it was not prominent. I do think adoration is more than dealing with beauty, but beauty is a great place to start. For example, I remember how the sun finally broke through an otherwise cloudy day yesterday and I reveled in that. The sun does amazing things to the landscape around me. It is difficult to use the word, brilliance, on a cloudy day! Adoration is cool because you don’t have to do anything except…well, adore. You just stay with the moment and let it bless you. I want to do more of that.
Contrition is the next one. Most of us get that one! I am sorry. Being creatures who can manage to do things we shouldn’t sets us up for being contrite. There is not a lot we need to add on this one. When you blow it, be sorry. Don’t do it again. Make amends if you can. And don’t beat yourself up.
Thanksgiving is a good one. It seems the most basic of the four. Many of us learned to say grace at meals, although it is not a habit many of us developed. When I think about this form of prayer, it occurs to me thanksgiving is more an attitude or way of living than it is words. While I use the word, thanksgiving, I have spent much more time recently working with the idea of gratitude. Somehow being grateful seems more profound than the simple word, thanks. I want to learn to be grateful---to God and others---for all that comes my way. One of the groups at the college with whom I am affiliated actually has created a gratitude wall. That is nice to see on a daily basis.
The final form of prayer is supplication. For too many folks, this is the prayer of desperation! I understand that and have used it as such. But what if we learned supplication---saying please---in smaller ways. It is a prayer that provision be made. It is a way of engaging the future---of looking forward to what might come our way. It seems so hopeful.
Maybe the saints have learned to pray in all four ways. This is not a bad training manual for all of us saints-in-the-making could use to get promoted a little further in the process.
And then there are the rest of us---me included. For us, grace is the name of some girl in high school! Our actions seem choppy and clunky compared to the holy ones. Instead of eloquence, we stammer our weak words of encouragement or help. Rather than the ease of our dominant hand, we apparently are stuck with the less fluid other hand---in my case, the left hand. Our timing is not as perfectly executed as the saints manage to do. They seem flawless and we are covered with flaws. We try; it’s not our motivation. We just are not there yet. I always underscore the “yet.”
If one keeps listening to the news or staying online to follow every update of this viral time, you can get numbed. I see two extremes. On the one hand, people are either dismissive or have had enough and go back to normal life---or worse. It is like they jump off the deep end of partying or become dumb-driven. The other hand sees folks who become depressed and decide they don’t care, there is nothing to do and it is Doomsday. Sit back and wait for the fatal blow. Neither option has much attraction for me.
And then I ran across a nice little article that gives me and you a good third option. Routinely, I read a number of religious and spiritual periodicals and magazines online. One of my favorites is a Catholic publication. A regular writer in that one is Jesuit, Thomas Reece. I have never met him, but would like to do so. I have seen pictures and have watched him on YouTube and other venues. In this article he is reflecting on our current times and what it means for him. He said he lives in a setting with sixteen Jesuits. It is his family. He worries that if one gets it, they all get it. For any of us in families, that worry has some resonance.
He then offered a good option for what we can do in the meantime. He used an old-fashioned Catholic way of talking about prayer. The call it “ACTS,” which is an acronym for four different ways to pray. Older Catholics remember it well, but younger Catholics likely don’t know it. I was helped to be reminded of it and want to share it here.
This is how Reese describes it. “Prayer can be Adoration (God, you are awesome), Contrition (sorry, God), Thanksgiving (thank you, God) and Supplication (please, God). Many people get stuck in prayers of contrition and supplication and forget about thanksgiving and adoration.” I think this is probably true, not only of Catholics, but the rest of us. Let’s look at each of these four and imagine what it means in our tumultuous day.
\Adoration is something I think I have learned to do. For whatever reason, I don’t think beauty was emphasized when I was a kid. Maybe I missed that lesson, or it went over my head. It is not that I was ignorant of beauty, but somehow it was not prominent. I do think adoration is more than dealing with beauty, but beauty is a great place to start. For example, I remember how the sun finally broke through an otherwise cloudy day yesterday and I reveled in that. The sun does amazing things to the landscape around me. It is difficult to use the word, brilliance, on a cloudy day! Adoration is cool because you don’t have to do anything except…well, adore. You just stay with the moment and let it bless you. I want to do more of that.
Contrition is the next one. Most of us get that one! I am sorry. Being creatures who can manage to do things we shouldn’t sets us up for being contrite. There is not a lot we need to add on this one. When you blow it, be sorry. Don’t do it again. Make amends if you can. And don’t beat yourself up.
Thanksgiving is a good one. It seems the most basic of the four. Many of us learned to say grace at meals, although it is not a habit many of us developed. When I think about this form of prayer, it occurs to me thanksgiving is more an attitude or way of living than it is words. While I use the word, thanksgiving, I have spent much more time recently working with the idea of gratitude. Somehow being grateful seems more profound than the simple word, thanks. I want to learn to be grateful---to God and others---for all that comes my way. One of the groups at the college with whom I am affiliated actually has created a gratitude wall. That is nice to see on a daily basis.
The final form of prayer is supplication. For too many folks, this is the prayer of desperation! I understand that and have used it as such. But what if we learned supplication---saying please---in smaller ways. It is a prayer that provision be made. It is a way of engaging the future---of looking forward to what might come our way. It seems so hopeful.
Maybe the saints have learned to pray in all four ways. This is not a bad training manual for all of us saints-in-the-making could use to get promoted a little further in the process.
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