In his article, “Turning Our Eyes Toward Heaven,” Fr. Rolheiser writes that it’s not easy for the faithful to be centered, rooted, secure in who we are, and able to give our very best to the world each day. Why? The honest answer can be found in our prayer life or lack thereof. How can we manage the daily churning of the sea that so much of life appears to be when the ship of life we travel in does not have an anchor? Unless we are anchored in something beyond the here and now, there is a good chance that we will drown in the present moment. Jesus models the kind of prayer we need to cope with a world that goes mad at times and with a heart prone to drink in that madness. The gospels describe Jesus praying in different ways, but sometimes they simply say: “He turned his eyes towards heaven!” The phrase hasn’t been lost on artists. Virtually every painting of someone being martyred has this motif: the martyr has his or her eyes lifted up towards heaven, in contrast to the eyes of the executioners and onlookers, which are cast downwards in hatred, envy, and groupthink or in the blank stare of mindlessness. What made Jesus different was a prayer praxis that sought union with the Father. Each of us must find our own way of doing this if we are to cope with the forces that threaten to drown us. Only in seeking to be one with His will can we ever hope to be grounded, be ourselves, have a clear direction in life, be free of compulsions, and live out more of our dignity, goodness, and creativity. Without prayer, we haven’t a prayer. – Gil Bailie