Y’all remember the theme song to the Beverly Hillibillies?   Ok, so I am really dating myself here….but the song ends with the line, ‘Y’all come back now, y’hear?’  I’m not sure what the attraction to y’all is, since I am a New Englander, but it’s evident that the song ends with an invitation.  Prayer ends the same way.

I have recently realized that my struggle is not so much in the ‘listening’  facet of prayer.  My difficulty lies in the slowing down element which is so necessary for prayer.  I know that we can pray throughout the day, and can pray while we do almost anything, but there is something special in those quiet times when we can just sit, sit, love and be loved.  When the busyness ceases and we sit and ‘be’ instead of run and ‘do’.  It is then when we are still that we open wide the heart and receive theDivine Invitation.  The invitation to be one with the world, each other,  and the Divine.  The invitation to be who we are, our true selves.  The invitation to let go of the ego, the pride, the false self.  The invitation to receive the love that is offered unconditionally to us as we are, not as we could or should be. 

Now, who could ever refuse an invitation such as that?  Think about it, what would be the best ‘earthly’ invitation that you could ever want to receive?  Whatever it is, you would probably need to prepare, shop, primp, lose ten pounds for, etc., etc. in order to be ready for it.  The Divine Invitation asks you to ‘come as you are.’  You are good enough, in fact, you are perfect, ‘because you are Mine.’  Now, that’s one invitation that merits an RSVP!

And, at the end of the invitation….another is extended…..

Y’all come back now, y’hear?