Our reflection verse today comes from Psalm 24, attributed to David that was describing the ceremony of the entry of God (invisibly enthroned upon the ark), followed by the people, into the Temple. The Psalms are often looked down on as something we should pray with due to the hatred, anger, and violence, that speak of the glories of war and of crushing one’s enemies in the name of God. Fr. Ron Rolheiser calls on us to reflect on one classical definition of prayer that suggests it is the “lifting mind and heart to God.” Simple, clear, and accurate. Our problem is that we too seldom do this when we pray. Rather than lifting up to God what is actually on our minds and in our hearts, we treat God as someone from whom we need to hide the real truth of our thoughts and feelings. Instead of pouring out our minds and hearts, we tell God what we think God wants to hear – not murderous thoughts, desire for vengeance, or our disappointment with him. But expressing those feelings is the whole point. What makes the psalms great for prayer is that they do not hide the truth from God and they run the whole gamut of our actual feelings. They give honest voice to what is actually going on in our minds and hearts. And that is truly what God seeks from us, the openness of what lies in our heart for only then are we open to hear and receive his counsel.