Learning to Pray in my Car

If I had my dream life, I would always have ample time in the morning to meditate and pray. Yet, on some mornings, I only have time to write in my journal while drinking my morning cup of tea. After that, I am busy preparing for the day, packing lunch for myself and my husband, and getting to school, where I work as a librarian, before the bell rings.

Life at a school is busy and noisy, with hundreds of kids playing on the yard, the music teacher banging away on the drums, and constant activity; so needless to say, it’s not the best place to find a quiet moment to meditate. So this school year, I’ve started to go to my car during my break or lunch hour, and meditate and pray for 20 minutes. At first, it was awkward, and I missed being in my “special” chair at home, but once I settled into the moments, I could relax and sit quietly in prayer and meditation.

Not limiting my prayer and meditation to a special spot has been liberating. In fact, it’s been great to realize how portable my practice can me, and it’s erased the line between my prayer life and my real life.  Yes, I still prefer to sit and mediate in my chair at home, and I usually can make time a few times a week, but now I know that my relationship to prayer and meditation is not restricted to a special place and time. Learning to pray and mediate in my car has become a great teacher. I now see how I can integrate them into my daily life. And I see how prayer and meditation can actually deepen, by integrating the practice into my busy day.

I would like to invite you to integrate pray and meditation into your day–at work, while you’re walking, or sitting on a park bench. Don’t let the thought, “I don’t have time,” hold you back from your deepest desire to have a relationship with the Sacred in your daily life. Contemplation and meditation are not just for people who can get up early in the morning, or who have extra time. You can find your own way to weave them into the landscape of your day that works with your time. And for many of us, our car can become a holy place.