A reflection from a great book...

In the book, Living Simply Through the Day: Spiritual Survival in a Complex Age, Tilden Edwards begins his chapter entitled Praying with the question, what is prayer? He answers this question by saying that, “prayer is an opening to love” (75). He then tells a beautiful story about a sky burst—about sitting on the California coast and watching as the fog and clouds thinned and dissipated, allowing the always-present sun and open sky to be seen and felt. He says that, “prayer is a way of thinning the clouds that dull our vision” (77). I find great truth in this statement. I read this book as I traveled back and forth over break. And as I sat on the plane looking out the window at the clouds below me and the sun and blue skies all around me I realized I was on the other side of his vision from the beach. And I’m sure that as I pondered the top of the clouds—the only side available to me at that moment—someone else was staring up at the bottom of them, the only side currently available to them. This realization gave me comfort in my understanding that I can never fully see or grasp truth. The best I can do is search without ceasing and pray for moments of clearing in my limited vision.