The Refrigerator Effect

Praying this morning did not come easily. It hasn't for a while. I do pray - less frequently than is healthy, less ardent when the weather is hot. If I rely on my 'feelings' to motivate me to prayer it would be hit or miss; it's
most fulfilling when I stick to a daily regime.

This morning I went to my refrigerator hoping to find something new there: something delightful, tempting.... or, nearly as good, something nutritious and healthy.

When I opened the door, the following things peered back at me: the uncooked chicken breasts were still uncooked and didn't have the slightest notion of how to cook themselves, the eggs remained uncooked in their plastic molded cocoon, the milk was running low and the green beans in the veggie bin had seen decidedly better days.

I walked away to wash up, then wash the dishes in the sink and back to the fridge I went. Opening it again, 'wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles', the exact same items were there, in the same state, in the same position. I closed the door, grumbled and went downstairs to hang up the laundry I had washed on the basement line.

Back up the stairs and..... you guessed it....I opened the fridge door to exactly the same contents, no more - no less. Duh! and Harrumph. I had the wherewithal to make a breakfast, but felt lazy...and nothing there "spoke" to any craving. This just might be the result of not having gone to the grocery store in over a week.

To some extent, the analogy holds: your prayer life becomes what you put into it, what you are willing to do to make it more palatable and enriching. So, off to the store I will go tomorrow.... and into my prayer space I will go as well, armed with a new book, some inner quiet and the ever-open invitation for conversation with a loving God.