Sometimes we overcomplicate our relationship with God. We feel inadequate to the task of forming or finding the perfect prayer to communicate with the Divine. We doubt our small cares are worthy of attention in the immensity of the world that is at war and where people are struggling to find basic needs like food, shelter, and safety. We realize the distance between the person God made us to be and the reality of how we live each day. We know all the things we get wrong and can’t imagine what we can do to make things right enough again to be worthy of the love and dignity that comes with being one of God’s beloved.
In my experience God embraces each person in a both-and love. The Father both know us just we are and keeps his hand open, extended to draw us nearer whenever we turn to him. Jesus, the Son, both listens for our cries and joins in our rejoicing and in our agonies because the least are the greatest in his eyes. The Holy Spirit, is both beyond our comprehension and gives us gifts like wisdom and understanding to recognize we are made for more that what we know on our own.
St Therese of Lisieux knew this. Her little way suggests that our fullest, most meaningful prayer can come out of simple glances or natural utterances. She knew that God seeks our “being” before our “doing,” that grace builds on our nature when we notice that holiness grows from offering ordinariness as gift in response to the extraordinary truth, beauty, and goodness of the Most Holy Trinity.
Graceful Intersections 