I’ll try the vocalizing, but I also use the “count on one hand twice,” method, especially when I can’t find my beads.
I read a novel a long time ago about an Elizabethan era monk who was exhumed in the 20th century – still alive. He marveled at how work, or mundane tasks were no longer considered an act of prayer in and of themselves, but there was a “split” in the interior life.
He was noting how this idea crept into the monastery from outside society. I remembered this book when I started trading St. JoseMaria Escriva’s “The Way,” which is all about sanctifying the little things until we become, like the Desert Fathers taught, “Living flames [of prayer].”
So, I’ll giggle to myself when I pray in the shower, when I do laundry, and change a nappy. I call it the “Original Multitasking!”
I’m not directing this to anyone in particular, but I’ve also read here on CAF that to pray during mundane tasks somehow cheapens the prayer, and the discussion quickly turns into the “spirit of the law vs. the letter of the law.”
It would be kinder to say, “That isn’t charism of my particular spirituality because x…but I respect it’s yours,” or, “I see a different angle, and this is why: (…)”
I’m working every day to accept that someone else’s expression of faith does not mean mine is lacking, and neither is theirs. We are fortunate to have a Church that allows such a wide range of devotions in personal devotions and Liturgies, so that there is room for everyone.
Oh, my, I’ll get off of my soapbox now. Thanks for letting me go on and on.
I still wish I could remember the name of that book!
