Taking time to pray

I am so grateful that we have a very strong formation in prayer and have kept sacred the hour of morning prayer; we also have been taught the importance of a daily examen, (made when we can now but it was 15 minutes in the middle of the day and another with night prayers so that we would be conscious of God's action in our day and our response). We had daily Mass and a wonderful half hour of quiet prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament in the afternoon. I still try for these times of prayer and I know that it is a grace for me to have always loved prayer and I get up knowing that the Lord is waiting for me to spend the first hour of the day with Him. It is good to be back to my usual routine; what is lacking is the rosary which I said each day for years and now seem to find turning to Mary in quiet prayer helps me more than using words.

I have been looking over some books to suggest to the Reflection Group for next year. One is Ronald Rolheiser's Sacred Fire: A Vision for a Deeper Human and Christian Maturity.
I began the book before I became ill and here is a poem that I had marked and thought I would share:
The Difference (by Grace L. Naessens)

I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish, I didn't have time to pray.

Problems just tumbled about me and grew heavier with each task;
Why doesn't God help me, I wondered; He answered, "You didn't ask."
I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on, gray and bleak,
I wondered why God didn't show me--He said, "But you didn't seek."
I tried to come into God's presence; I used all my keys at the lock;
God gently and lovingly chided, "My child, you didn't knock."

I woke up early this morning and paused before entering the day;
I had so much to accomplish that I had to take time to pray.