Quality Time

Luke 9:18-20  Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They answered, “John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.”


Here I am. I've been praying alone for some time now. I'm a morning person and this praying alone part has never been a problem for me. When I was the priest in Whitman MA I used to play golf in Brockton every weekday morning on my cheep clergy membership. I would tee off at 3:30 AM in late June when the days are long. I pray on the golf course mort of the time when I play real early and alone. I'm keenly aware of God in the quiet mist and beauty of an early morning golf course. It was no wonder no one would play with me, well once ,y nephew Will joined me and once my friend Bob. Bob then said if I wanted to play with him it would need to be at least an hour later. That hour worked for me because I could be home showered and at work by 8 AM after playing eighteen holes. I'm such an internal person that I can play golf with my body and that is secondary to the internal presence of my conversation with God. In the gospel Jesus although with his disciples spends quiet time in prayer by himself. I'm pretty sure the disciples would have then copied their mentor. The group would have been in a time of quiet individual prayer when Jesus asked that question, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter speaks first for the group as usual and says, "The Messiah of God." I think the clarity of his answer comes from the prayer time they were having. That quiet reflective time before God sheds light on so much. For me the clarity i find during the day is proportional to the quality of my prayer time with God. Although I usually start the day with prayer, I must admit that in different situations my prayer time can become displaced in the day. It doesn't matter where or when it happens my clarity is proportional to the quality of my prayer time with God. I hear people concerned about quality time with their spouse or with their family and I do think those things are important, but I hope you already see that to have the best quality time with them, you need quality time with God.