Tim Dronfield (phenomenology of prayer) - emptying oneself and prayer with constant distractions

 December 8 2020

Emptying Oneself and Prayer with Constant Distractions

    Whenever the topic of emptying yourself in order to connect with an other has come up I have silently laughed to myself. I have really bad ADHD which mainly presents itself as a complete inability to keep my mind focused on one thing for an extended period of time. But it also causes my mind to wander at break neck speeds. I can track a train of thought that follows 20-30 different thoughts all of which rush through my mind in less than 5 seconds. When I do center in on something it is typically something I start to daydream about.

    Considering this The prospect of completely emptying yourself in prayer like James Mensch suggests, for me is frankly laughable. I have tried doing like a meditative thing and sort of attempting to empty myself and it can work for a short time but after a bit it becomes almost impossible. My mind wanders to school, people, a movie I like or a TV show I have watched or am currently watching. Watching movies and TV shows are my typical time consuming distractions and pass time activities. So they are what my mind tends to wander to.

    So I have to try find a less extreme way to connect and the concept of Keith Putt's paper was interesting to me. He links messianic prayer and the impossibility of prayer in Romans 8:26. The concept of God addressing Godself on our behalf is an interesting way to consider a connection to God. It also seems to be a better answer for my type of issue. I struggle to focus on praying, and making a meaningful connection through emptying would be difficult. So the many concepts of praying relating to complex relationships and understandings would be quite challenging for me to practice.

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