Arthur Green, Your Word Is Fire. New York: Schocken Books, 1977, pp.15-16.
Any teaching that places such great emphasis on total concentration in prayer must . . . deal with the question of distraction. What is a person to do when alien thoughts enter his mind and lead him away from prayer? . . . The Ba’al Shem Tov . . . spoke against the attempts of his contemporaries to . . . do battle with distracting thoughts . . . He taught that each distraction may become a ladder by which one may ascend to a new level of devotion . . . God is present in that moment of distraction! And only he who truly knows that God is present in all things, including those thoughts he seeks to flee, can be a leader of prayer.
2 comments:
It’s easy to get focussed on doing prayer “right.” This wise passage from the Hasidic tradition reminds us that God has different ideas, and can use every moment of our prayer, no matter how painful or trivial.
Loving God, help me to be present with you in every moment of prayer, just as you are present with me. Help me to climb the ladder of my distractions, drawing closer to you even when I am distracted, lazy, sleepy, or irritable.
Dearest Creator and Lover of my being, Please lead me into meditative prayer, and wherever that leads me, may I follow, sure to find You, as You so surely find me.
Thank You.
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