Photo was taken near the Gap of Dunloe, just outside Killarney, Co.Kerry (Irl)

A field of maize is sown under plastic strips to give them a boost when the weather is marginal. It looks like they won’t be needed this coming week across Ireland with temperatures set to rise into the 20’s.

Thought on Monday – May – 21/05/2012

‘Deep prayer doesn’t come easy for us. Why? We struggle to make time for prayer. Prayer doesn’t accomplish anything practical for us, it’s a waste of time in terms of tending to the pressures and tasks of daily life and so we hesitate to go there’ ~Ron Rolheiser

This is an honest reflection on prayer. We hesitate because we feel we are out of our depth. We find it difficult to concentrate when we try and pray. We are often overwhelmed with distractions. We then lack the confidence to make some time for prayer. In our Gospels it is Jesus who is the inspiration for all of us who struggle with prayer. We find Jesus praying in nearly every kind of situation, in the happy and sad occasions, in tragedies and in setbacks. We find him praying as he went about his daily work, we find him praying with others and praying on his own, sometimes going off to a quiet spot where no one could find him. Most often he prayed in the ordinary down to earth moments that made up his life. The disciples were most impressed. They knew he was uniquely special. He was unlike anybody else they ever knew. They knew that he drew his energy, motivation and drive from a power outside of this world. They saw him do this when he prayed and their natural reaction was ‘Lord, teach us to pray’. It is our reaction too. We want to do the same. We can do it by praying in a way that suits us and works for us. The biggest trap is to make comparisons. The biggest mistake is looking for perfection. The best place to start is today and even a little is more than enough.