Joy, not grit, is the hallmark of holy obedience. We need to be light-hearted in what we do to avoid taking ourselves too seriously. It is a cheerful revolt against self and pride.

Today the heart of God is an open wound of love. He aches over our distance and preoccupation. He mourns that we do not draw near to Him. He grieves that we have forgotten Him. He weeps over our obsession with muchness and manyness. He longs for our presence.

Our problem is that we assume prayer is something to master the way we master algebra or auto mechanics. But when praying, we come "underneath," where we calmly and deliberately surrender control and become incompetent.

The inner attitude of the heart is far more crucial than the mechanics for coming into the reality of the spiritual life.

Prayer is simply saying "thank you, bless you, praise you."

We should all without shame enrol in the school of contemplative prayer.

When we determine to dwell on the good and excellent things in life, we will be so full of those things that they will tend to swallow our problems.