Why is it so easy to be distracted in church? I wish I knew the answer! Some Sundays ago, I was visiting in Dayton, Ohio and attended a local church. I easily turned aside the cares of the world and was deep into meditation (which lasted a few seconds or perhaps minutes) when a lady and her two teen age daughters knelt in front of me. Both girls were thin, trim, and attractive. Mother, on the other hand, was huge, perhaps enormous! She was easily over 300 pounds. When they turned to greet me I couldn’t help but notice they all had the same face; the only difference was Mother’s was fuller and puffy. Why, I wondered!
I tried to turn my attention to the scripture of the day… something about judging others! But my attempts were for naught. As these three women stood in front of me it was obvious; the mother was a beautiful girl buried in a massive lump of fat. She reminded me of what Michelangelo said about the chunk of marble that encased David before he released the now famous statue. Someone needed to chip away on the surface stone (fat) and release this lady.
As I tried to get back to the task at hand my conscience was eased by recalling the story told about St. Thomas Aquinas. Thomas was known as a contemplative who was able to spend long hours in meditation. One day as he was walking along the road a gentleman approached him on a beautiful white steed. He inquired if the walker was Tomas Aquinas, the contemplative. Thomas identified himself as he. The inquirer then said, “If you can say the Lord’s Prayer without distraction, I will give you this fine horse.” Thomas accepted the challenge, folded his hand, raised his head toward the heavens, and began, “Our Father who art in heaven hallow…” then turning to the horseman asked, “Do I get the saddle too?”
I’ll just keep on trying to meditate, but the Dayton lady will probably be thin and trim before I master this task!!
P. S. I know I promised to finish the essay on anger, but I reconsidered as three posts in a row about such a heavy subject are probably a little too much. Have faith, I will finish it one of these days.