Like a 3-Year Old Spreads Peanut Butter…
The other day, someone asked me where I like to pray. I started to respond back quickly with the familiar: church, before meals, on retreats, before I go to bed. And then I started thinking about the past month and the times when I remember intentionally turning to God to share a laugh, mutter a desire, say a thank-you or to simply be aware of God’s presence. Laying in bed after the alarm went off, in the shower, on the subway, at PETCO, after I tripped but saved myself from falling, watching my niece and nephew blow out their birthday candles, stuck in traffic while road tripping to Upstate NY, and looking at pictures on Facebook of summer weddings, baby arrivals, family vacations, anniversaries & beyond. Each of these places and circumstances, though far different from the next, share the common thread of my need for, and turning towards, God’s presence.
I’m not sure what made me pause before responding to the initial question that was asked of me, but in the 20 seconds that I stopped to make this mental list I was yet again reminded of one of the most valuable gifts my Jesuit education and Ignatian spirituality…to look for, and actually find, God in all things. Mother Theresa put it another way: “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” When we are actually setting out every morning with this mindset it becomes difficult, near impossible, to separate what is “prayer,” what is “religious,” and what is “my faith” from what is “not prayer” or “not my faith.” How wonderfully solid and purposeful life becomes when it’s all faith— starting from the tiny little crevices of life that blend together, bond together, to give us the strength we need to be true disciples of Christ.
As a teacher, like most professions, I oftentimes have to carefully divide my time, my duties and my attention into concrete categories. If I didn’t I’d never get anything done. It is important that I plan a certain number of minutes of grammar instruction weekly, I have to set aside a particular number of hours to grade each week or else June would come and no grades would appear, and literary discussions must give way to the algebra class next door after a mere 55 minutes have past. But, when it comes to my faith, I’ve learned to embrace taking it out of the boxes and throwing it all around. The mental image of a teenager’s bedroom with clothes strewn about comes to mind.
When I was on the road trip Upstate, I had the luxury of XM radio. I’m not so good with technology even when I have nothing else to focus on, so driving in the car made it a darn near impossible task to master. Luckily, my co-pilot was quick with the buttons and didn’t complain too much when my eclectic musical tastes shifted from Bluegrass Junction to 90’s on 9 to The Fish. At a brief stop on The Fish, a radio announcer somewhat sheepishly dealt listeners the line: “God’s spreads His goodness like a 3 year-old spreads his peanut butter. He just gets it all over the place.” What a perfect image for our prayer life—spread it out all over the place and get it in every nook and cranny. That’s how I like to pray.



