[236.1] MOVING BEYOND MONOLOGIC

"To pray, I think, does not mean to think about God in contrast to thinking about other things, or to spend time with God instead of spending time with other people. Rather, it means to think and live in the presence of God. As soon as we begin to divide our thoughts about God and thoughts about people and events, we remove God from our daily life and put [God] into a pious little niche where we can think pious thoughts and experience pious feelings... [C]onverting our unceasing thinking into unceasing prayer moves us from a self-centred monologue to a God-centred dialogue." (Henri Nouwen, Clowning in Rome)

"If you want to know whether someone is truly religious, don't listen to what they say about God. Listen to what they say about the world." (Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace)

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