On Prayer 2

Some prayers are like spears.
They carry the whole weight

of the body behind them
but they do not travel far.

Some prayers are like arrows
flying light and far

and fast but they
are never seen again.

Some prayers are like snares
scattered in the woods,

ingenious and cunning—but
who knows what they will catch?

No. You cannot bring down
the Holy One with prayer.

He is not caught in your traps.
Listen—you are yourself the hunted.

Your prayer is the sudden stillness
on the path, the in-drawn breath,

the pounding heart
as you scent the wind.

Have you learned this?
Do you know?

You do not seek so much
as you are sought.

You cannot pursue the Holy One—
or if you do, it is only

as the fish in the net
pursues the fisherman.

~Robert Hudson