Apparently our brains have more than one track. Maybe as you're praying the rosary, you're planning what you'll have for dinner and before you know it, you've prayed the closing prayer. Maybe you're reading a prayer, like the Divine Office, and your eyes are following the words, but when you're finished, you don't know what you've said to God because you were dwelling on a problem. During prayer, stray thoughts can pester us like gnats. Buddhists refer to "monkey minds," that is, just as monkeys leap from tree to tree, our brains leap from one thought to another. How helpful it would be if we were rapt in ecstasy as some saints were! Praying would be much easier. Many suggestions are given to combat distractions: focus on a candle, play music, look at a religious picture, weave them into your prayer. However, I've found one ploy to be 100% effective.
When I was writing a religion series, my meditation time was usually invaded by thoughts for the next lesson plan, the format for the pages, and how to deal with the publisher. Frustrated, I asked my spiritual director, a good Jesuit, "Can you help me?" This is what he said:
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