Ray Charles and St. Benedict

"Father, in your goodness grant us the intellect to comprehend you,

the perception to discern you,

and the reason to appreciate you.

In your kindness endow me with the diligence to look for you,

the wisdom to discover you,

and the spirit to apprehend you.

In your graciousness bestow on me a heart to contemplate you,

ears to hear you,

eyes to see you,

and a tongue to speak of you.

In your mercy confer on me a conversation pleasing to you,

the patience to wait for you,

and the perserverance to long for you.

Grant me a perfect end - your holy presence.

Amen."

~St. Benedict

I read this prayer in church a while back and still haunts me. In that good haunting sense that permeates every thought and dream. The crucial part of the prayer is where St. Benedict beckons the Lord to bestow on him a "heart to contemplate you, ears to hear you, eyes to see you, and a tongue to speak of you."

That's all that we can ask, right? The ability to do something doesn't require actually doing it though. I think of Ray Charles, may he rest in peace, when he says -

"I was born with music inside me. Like my ribs, my liver, my kidneys, my heart. Like my blood."

Ray Charles was compelled by his love for music. His "insides" were seen from the outside. His music was a reflection of the torrential downpour of hardships and addictions that plagued his entire career. His music also mirrored the good times in the way that his music broke down language, racial, and religious barriers. Ray Charles exuded the unabashed and unedited self. The self that told it how it was and was gravely unapologetic.

Can we learn something from "The Genius?" Some folks say that the "unchurched" don't know anything about God, but is that true? Wasn't his music a gift of God? At times spiritual, other times worldly and secular.....but always a gift.

St. Benedict's gift was that he knew that the only end was one that would reflect his purest desire. That the love he had on the inside would make it's way to the surface.

Feel.

Listen.

Look.

Speak.