About ten years ago, I was asked to plan and lead a walking pilgrimage for a group of American students. The Speyside Way seemed an ideal choice. It would showcase various Scottish landscapes, from the mountains to the coast, and provide a lesson on the history of the Catholic faith in Scotland during and after the Reformation. However, on the night before the final leg of the pilgrimage, the weather forecast was quite unfavourable – to put it mildly. Thunderstorms, torrential rain, hailstones and strong winds hardly create the best conditions for a 17-mile trek through the woods and across an exposed hillside. As the group’s local guide, I made a couple of frantic phone calls to the leaders, trying to persuade them to arrange some safer alternatives for the day. Having casualties could spoil their visit to Scotland and hinder their subsequent trip to Poland. The leaders did not accept my suggestion; they were determined to stick to the original plan. It was then up to me to convince myself that the group’s well-being was not my responsibility, something my sensitive conscience wouldn’t accept either. The following morning, with a heavy heart, I led the group out of Aberlour after morning Mass. We heard the first roll of thunder about 20 minutes into our walk; the rain then followed, and a couple of miles later, we were caught in a downpour of biblical proportions. Heavy rain was a constant feature for most of the day. That was our experience of the Scottish version of the Sodom and Gomorrah cataclysm.
The group from Denver, Colorado, that I guided for four days were mainly students from a Catholic High School run by the Dominican Sisters, the same Order as the nuns in Elgin. There were two nuns in charge, plus a few teachers and parents. They were on their way to the World Youth Day in Kraków, Poland, incidentally visiting Scotland and Rome. They had Mass every day, and they prayed a lot; overall, it was a strongly religious trip made by a strongly religious group. Consequently (you might have thought) they deserved every favour from God during their journey, including good weather. Instead, they faced the substantial adversities that a Scottish summer could throw at them: they walked through bogs and marshes, suffered unpleasantly cold winds and horizontal rain, followed by extreme heat which generated thunderstorms. They were only spared Scottish snow and ice – probably just because they didn’t stay long enough. And you know what? They loved Scotland to bits! Despite all the discomfort and suffering, they seemed to enjoy virtually every minute of it.
A common view of prayer is that it assumes the ability to change God’s mind or to gain his favour for our lives. The bargaining with God by Abraham – as described in today’s first reading – seems to support this stereotype, and the gospel seems to follow a similar pattern. As we know from our own experience, our prayers rarely alter the course of events; God often appears unyielding to our pleas. Moreover, sometimes prayer seems to make matters worse! It’s not uncommon for families or friends to be divided over religious matters. No wonder many people see praying as a futile and pointless activity; no wonder many would prefer to do things rather than waste time on prayers that wouldn’t make a difference. However, this is a serious misunderstanding of what prayer truly is and what it accomplishes.
When we consider the subject of prayer from many angles throughout the Bible, we see that prayer is not meant to form, shape, or change God’s mind. Its purpose is to open our hearts to God’s presence in our lives; it’s to realise that I’m not alone, left to my own devices regarding whatever has happened, is happening, or will happen in my life. Paradoxically, the Americans’ hearts shaped by prayer made even difficult conditions a vital part of their journey; the adversities were meant to make that experience more intense, more meaningful, and ultimately positive. They prayed while walking through ankle-deep mud, and their bones were dissolving in the rainwater. But you should have seen their eyes: sparkling with excitement and shining with happiness. Strange? Impossible? Not to those who have God in their hearts!
