The third practice in following the Way of Love is the practice of Prayer. Bishop Mariann Budde addresses the practice of Prayer in the third chapter of her book, “Receiving Jesus: The Way of Love.” I have always found the practice of prayer to be a complex topic to address – and not because prayer is a difficult skill to master, but because prayer is often a misunderstood practice. A practice of simply “spending time with God” that most people believe they “should” be very good at, but in fact, they are not…so, sadly, the topic is put off for another day…and one’s life of prayer is delayed and delayed and delayed. Prayer is most often different for different people; and for the same person, prayer is different from one day to the next. One of the biggest barriers to an active and fruitful prayer life is to assume that “prayer” means one thing, or even a few things, and that all types of prayer work for all types of people. Just as different types of food, different forms of exercise, or different places for vacation give us varieties of joy and feed our souls, so it is with prayer. And once you have discovered the form of prayer that brings you close to God, you must learn to make it a frequent practice. Bishop Budde addresses all these aspects of prayer in chapter three with wonderful insight.

The second chapter of Mariann Budde’s book, “Receiving Jesus: The Way of Love” describes the spiritual practice (and life practice) of Learning. The idea of “learning” in the context of spiritual practices can often become narrowly focused on one definition, albeit an important one: learning Scripture. I am pleased to read in Bishop Budde’s discussion of the practice of learning that she goes beyond the reading of Scripture. She begins and ends with this vital spiritual practice, but she reaches beyond to the world around us and she stretches our imaginations in ways that encourage the reader to look at the many aspects of our lives. The varieties of opportunities for learning help us grow in unique and organic ways, and in ways that bring us closer to God.

The first chapter of Mariann Budde’s book, “Receiving Jesus: The Way of Love” describes the practice of Turning. Budde begins her chapter by saying, “when someone calls us, we turn our gaze.” And in the spiritual practice of prayer, turning our gaze means turning away from the things that have been absorbing our attention and turning toward God. And when we turn, we find God always waiting for us…as she quotes former Archbishop Rowan Williams, “God is more interested in us than we are in God.” God is always faithful, always loving, and always waiting for us to turn our attention toward developing a deep and intimate relationship with the divine presence of God.