Foreword
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Perhaps what I as a Jesuit priest and spiritual writer appreciate most is the overarching thesis of Eldredge’s work, strikingly articulated near the end of the book: People question me all the time because of my age at pursuing a life of prayer during the season of life I am in. They imply that my relationship with God should somehow be delayed to a later season, when my kids are no longer in my house or when my professional career is further along. I cannot count the number of times people have, to my face, questioned the ministry work I do, causing immense doubt in me. Every time, though, I bring this doubt to God in prayer, and God affirms my call to both be in relationship with God and to do the work I do. So this is why I am here, now, writing this book. Because I hope that you hear a different message from me than I heard at times. The time for prayer is now. I do not care what is going on in your life—if you are raising kids or are an empty nester. I don’t care if you are working eighteen hours a day seven days a week or are faced with hours of loneliness a day. It doesn’t matter if you are young or old, single or married, religious or ordained. The time for prayer is now.
It was not that hard for me to rise before sunrise this morning, grab a cup of strong Louisiana coffee, and begin my Ignatian meditation in my quiet little bedroom in a house full of priests, brothers, and seminarians. I have no experience, however, of being awoken by pajama-wearing, sweet, squealing little kids jumping in my bed. As an administrator, I have lots of experience poring over profit-andloss sheets, but I don’t know what it’s like—in the midst of changing diapers and straightening toy rooms—to worry about how my family will make ends meet in a new city and in a depressed economy. Because I have no such experience, I perhaps lend too much credence to the naysayers who claim, “Sure, a regular, sustained prayer life is