Karl Rahner in his book, Happiness through prayer, poetically details the overcrowded and fragmented existence of soul-sucking urban life in contemporary society and then simply states the ever-present possibility of the turn of the heart that makes all the difference:

A [person] may turn from it all; and immediately the noise of [her] activities sinks to silence as, in a spirit of reverence and love, [she] speaks to God in prayer. With one swift upward glance of the soul, [she] has got as near as [her] finite nature will allow … to that sublime fusion of all … activities into one glowing point of heat and light (p.7).

The swift upward glance of the soul may take many forms: noticing the light play on the bark and leaves of the tree outside our window; an awareness of the beauty and colour of the human traffic as we become still and present with a good (enough) coffee at a decent café; tuning in to the voice of the child, our partner, colleague, or friend, who is trying to tell us about something that matters to them; being part of the gentle rhythm of a shared domestic chores in a spirit of contentment, giving our full loving attention to the task that is in front of us now; spending time with a treasured memory … I could go on. The common denominators: becoming present to the moment, making ourselves soft, turning our attention away from our restless inner thoughts and towards the life that is going on around us, slowing down, becoming still, waiting in anticipation for the quiet emergence of the sacred.

Prayer is less the words that we say and more a way of being with God in the world that God loves and knowing that we are very much included in this love. Engaging the whole of life mindfully and lovingly we cultivate a way of seeing that reveals the sacred at the heart of the material and the ordinary. This is our ‘speaking’ to God in prayer. Our recognition that all grounds are holy. We slowly wake up to the enchantment that surrounds us.