Prayer is like jumping on a trampoline. With that image in mind, I wrote the following. I challenge you to follow its imagery all the way to the end:
TRAMPOLINE
Beginning to pray
The hungering prayer that truly seeks God,
Is like stepping out on to a trampoline,
And giving up full control of your life.
You move slowly, careful
Not to jump prematurely, or
Lose your balance on the responsive mat
Of interwoven strands of mystery.
You seek the silent center,
Promising maximum thrust upward
Into the kingdom of weightlessness
Where for brief segments you may
Feel the joy of flight heavenward,
Your soul communing with Spirit
As your body with air.
At first you stand motionless, soundlessly
Preparing for lift off, when the desire for flight,
Secretly one with the hunger for God,
Propels you to push deeper so as to jump higher
And stay aloft longer.
Remaining centered and balanced,
You reach whatever height your desire,
In conjunction with what the gravitated air
Or supportive Spirit, permits.
You fall back always onto the yielding mat
Which as the hidden ground of your being
Graciously springs you back to standing,
So you may continue jumping – or praying,
In a rhythmic dance of oscillation.
One day, you will fly heavenward
And the weight of your being,
Covertly revealing the gloried presence of God,
Will finally supersede the limits of gravity,
As the irresistible pull of the Spirit,
Like a tractor-beam of infinite capacity,
Will bring you home to the storied realm
Where flight and prayer meet and merge.
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