To St. Paul, stripes, stones, shipwrecks, and
thorns in the flesh were religious experiences; to Judas Iscariot,
the daily companionship of Jesus of Nazareth was not.
"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and
restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees,
flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun,
how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls."
Some people think that prayer just means asking for things, and
if they fail to receive exactly what they asked for,
they think the whole thing is a fraud.
"All of the members of this cell shared the same religious convictions,
an Islamic lifestyle, a feeling of being out of place in unfamiliar cultural
surroundings that they were not used to."
Prayer is communication with the Divine.
It can be whispered or chanted or written or
expressed in the work you do.
However it is expressed, it is never in vain.
He who has faith has...
an inward reservoir of courage, hope, confidence,
calmness, and assuring trust that all will come
out well - even though to the world it may appear
to come out most badly.