Having two kids, I have watched my share of animated movies. I have to say, the carefree, happy-go-lucky, hilarious minions from Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2 are my current favorite characters! It's not that I identify with them in any way. I just love how they make me laugh!
But, you know how they say life imitates art? Well mine sure does. And I've found myself identifying with more than one of these cartoon characters in the past. Maybe you have too.
A few examples.
Melman (Madagascar)
Melman the Giraffe: Zoo transfer? Oh, no. No, no. I can't be transferred. I have an appointment with Dr. Goldberg at five. There are prescriptions that have to be filled! No other zoo can afford my medical care! And I am not going HMO!
Marty the Zebra: Take it easy, Melman. We are gonna be o-kizzay.
Alex the Lion: Come on! Melman, Melman, Melman! Melman, Melman, Melman! Wake up! Rise and shine! It's another fabulous day in the Big Apple. Let's go.
Melman the Giraffe: Not for me. I'm calling in sick.
Alex the Lion: What?
Melman the Giraffe: I found a bro... another brown spot on my shoulder, right here. See? Right th... right there. You see?
In the Hundred Acre Wood (Eeyore and Piglet)
Eeyore: End of the road. Nothing to do, and no hope of things getting better.
Eeyore: There are those who will wish you good morning. If it is a good morning, which I doubt
Piglet: It is very hard to be brave when you're only a Very Small Animal.
Chicken Little
Chicken Little: The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
A Common Obsession
You may be wondering where I am going with this. These characters all had something in common: obsession. They were all obsessed with whatever trial or doubt they were plagued with. Melman was obsessed with illness. Eeyore was obsessed with being sad. Piglet was obsessed with being tiny and afraid. Chicken Little was obsessed with the sky falling and the end of the world as he knew it. They experienced fear, doubt, anxiety, trials. For as long as I can remember, I have been able to identify with at least one of these characters. We all can at some point or another.
Our Christian faith tells us in times of trial or doubt we need to pray. In fact, St. Paul tells us to "pray without ceasing." (1 Thess 5:17). So when I'm being a giraffe or a piglet or a hybrid of some sort, I try to up my prayer time, asking God to grant my prayer intentions, whatever they may be.
Melman Had a Party
When I got sick, I turned into Melman. Like this poor giraffe, I obsessed on everything illness. Medicine, doctor's appointments, new symptoms, diagnoses, etc. Thankfully, I knew that the only way to keep my inner Melman in check was to pray. So I got down on my knobby giraffe knees and prayed. A lot. Maybe too much.
Definitely too much.
And here's what happened. Eeyore joined the party. I got sad. I was tired and blue and felt like nothing would ever go my way. I was now obsessing over that too. So I prayed about it. I asked God to make me better and to make me happy. I prayed all the time. Even when I wasn't "praying," I was still thinking and quietly pleading with God. The obsession grew. It got big. Really big. And it made me feel small. Really small.
Along came Piglet. So now I felt like this tiny little person in a situation that was way bigger than me. It was all consuming. And the fact that I felt so small and the situation felt so big made me feel even worse. So I prayed even more. And I obsessed even more. And now I was a sick, sad, scared mess.
It had turned into a catastrophe. The sky was falling.
Hello Chicken Little.
I had become some hybrid giraffe-donkey-piglet-chicken animal! (Does God even make those?)
Stop the Insanity!
Well that's how I felt. I was spiraling and couldn't figure out why. I was doing everything I could. I was praying without ceasing, just like St. Paul said to do. Why wasn't I at peace? Why was I doubting? Why was my faith not carrying me along?
Party Crasher
Some people will say that there is no such thing as praying too much. "Pray without ceasing," remember?
That's what I was doing...praying without ceasing. I was praying constantly, asking God over and over and over again for healing in so many different areas. But as a result of asking so often, I was thinking about it all the time. I was obsessing. It had taken over all my thoughts and actions. It had consumed me. I was discussing this with my spiritual director one day when she said, "you are praying too much."
I was dumbfounded. How is that possible? Aren't I supposed to be praying? She had just crashed my party.
She told me yes, that I am supposed to pray, but enough is enough! I was no longer praying as Jesus taught us. I was doubting, nagging. I was praying without belief. If I believed that God was going to take care of me, then why was I constantly bringing the same petitions before him all day long?
So I was "praying without ceasing" but I was doing it wrong.
This verse from Thessalonians is well known, remembered and repeated. But there are some other verses that we know but don't repeat quite as often.
"In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him." Matt. 6:7-8 (And then Jesus goes on to give us The Lord's Prayer")
"Have faith in God. Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him. Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours." Mark 11:22-24
"And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?" Luke 11:5-8
"Be still* and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10 (The words "be still" are also translated to "Cease striving" and "Let go, relax.")
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2565), "In the New Covenant, prayer is the living relationship of the children of God with their Father who is good beyond measure, with his Son Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit. The grace of the Kingdom is "the union of the entire holy and royal Trinity . . . with the whole human spirit." Thus, the life of prayer is the habit of being in the presence of the thrice-holy God and in communion with him. This communion of life is always possible because, through Baptism, we have already been united with Christ. Prayer is Christian insofar as it is communion with Christ and extends throughout the Church, which is his Body. Its dimensions are those of Christ's love."
So What Does it Mean?
God does not want us to babble incessantly, asking him over and over to answer our prayers. But he does want us to pray always. However, prayer does not always mean asking him to DO something. He wants us to pray without ceasing by LIVING IN HIM AT ALL TIMES. He wants us to pray without ceasing by PRAISING HIM THROUGH OUR TRIALS. He wants us to pray without ceasing by CASTING OUR DOUBTS ASIDE AND TRUSTING IN HIS WILL. He wants us to pray without ceasing by THANKING HIM FOR HIS BLESSINGS.
It's like parenting. When our kids ask us over and over and over for something, it is nagging. We know when they should have that extra serving of ice cream or if they should go to that party. We expect them to love us and trust us and obey us at all times. So if God is our father, how is prayer any different? We make our needs known to him and then try to trust that he is taking care of them in his way and his time, all the while remembering that he is living in our hearts. Then we pray without ceasing by developing an intimate relationship with him and living in communion with him.
Once I changed my way of praying, the party started to break up. It took some time, but one by one, my guests left. Every once in a while one tries to come back. I might host him for a little while, but then I send him back to where he came from by praying the way the Bible teaches us to, with belief and trust that God is in control. Thy will be done.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Heavenly Father, you know the intentions that lie in my heart. Help me to trust that you are already at work in those areas of my life. Strengthen my belief in your power and my trust in your will, so that my prayer will allow me to simply rest in you. I want nothing more than an intimate relationship with you. Today I will focus on praying simply as your Son taught us:
Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen
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