"Your fire is dim"

H,

That is enough talk about flames that flutter. How do we fan them back into a flame? How do we re-join the eternal circle and begin to fill alive again?

Now, we know that effort will not do here. We need effort for a good many things but not when we stand before God. In that presence is where we learn the hardest trick of all: standing still. We are to learn it till it is no longer a trick but now a habit and then no longer a habit and just how we live. We are to learn helplessness that leads to prayer, a true appreciation of our many flaws that leads to humility and a true appreciation of what divine love is that leads to transformation. These things are not the checklists of the soul. That is always a bad idea. A personal inventory without a guiding light or a low moment is an exercise in the ego as the driving force of all actions and words. Ego is not a bad word. It just cannot save us. It will lead to more bad decisions than good ones. We have been told of a better path.

I digress. How do we stand still? We start with prayer. There is nothing more helpless than telling your story to God. It is almost like you can hear him disagree and agree at the same time. You can hear yourself grow more selfish as you list your wants, less holy as you confess your desires and more wrong-footed as you pray with solutions already in mind. There is something deeply artificial about the start of prayer. It breaks down as the hours pass and the spirit moves and you feel connected to something above your years, your petty problem solving and your deep need to avoid or engender conflict at all cost.

Prayer is the key. It is the starting block of our great recovery.

We ought to try it. Even, today.