On Praying the Rosary...

Sometimes praying the rosary is like a wonderful adventure. I often can’t get very far with it because I am struck with awe at each step. Making the sign of the cross over myself, knowing what I am introducing myself to and getting ready for; it can be like having been walking in the dark tunnel of existence in this fallen world, and then coming to an opening to the outside, and a finding myself on a ledge with a stunning vista view.

Then I make the first step closer to that vista, knowing where I am going, but anticipating that the path itself will be different than before and strewn with treasures and delights that I didn’t see the last time. Like walking a well-known path through the woods and fields – the path is well worn but all that exists along it is never the same. Life exists along it, and seasons change, and there is so much ‘activity’ that it is always a new experience.

Praying the rosary can be like that. And often I find myself stopping at some point along the way for a very long time because what I find there arrests my attention, like coming across a family of birds doing bird things along the trail, or noticing a bizarrely beautiful fungus on a tree along the way. And as with nature, when you stop walking to look closely or watch one thing, you find that you notice other things that you would have missed if you hadn’t stopped.

Sometimes praying the rosary is like eating an exquisite meal, an expertly prepared meal of many courses, brought before you at a time when you are particularly hungry, and the perfection of each dish, of each bite, can’t help but be savored.

I think there are many wonderful things to which praying the rosary can be likened. But going back to my first image, that of coming out at the mouth of a dark tunnel to a ledge over-looking a vista, that is my favorite today. And that first step, clasping the crucifix in my palm and holding it tightly, and beginning the prayer:

“I”

There is a whole world of wonder right there, and when I am truly awake in my spirit to pray, this becomes a precious point of contemplation.

“I” exist. Right now, I am alive. I was created by God to be in relationship with him, he loves me, he is with me, he is working in my life and in my heart some great thing that is unique to me – the perfection of my being – I am a gift to myself, from God. He has made a space and a place for me to exist, and he is in it with me. I am able to stop and be conscious of his presence, I am able to be conscious of my own existence, I have a brain and a heart and a will. I am. And I am loved by my creator. It is like finding the center of the universe, and a contented peace comes with it that sets the stage for what comes next and also draws me gently on.

Not only do I exist, but I “believe”. What a joyous exercise of freedom, to believe. To exist at all, and to be able to believe something – this is miracle and a wonder all on its own, just to exist and have the ability to believe something are two wondrous gifts that we take for granted like we do every breath we take. Who am I, Lord, that you have created me, and then given me the ability to choose to believe things or not? To be complex enough to think about anything at all, to be able to ponder things in a way that can lead to belief or disbelief – all of this we take for granted, forgetting that we are truly just dust after all, dust that he has chosen to come close enough to, to breathe on...