Hat Check

God is like a coat check girl.  I come in to the theatre and check my coat.  She gives me a claim ticket.  I go into the theatre of prayer, fasting, holy reading and meditation.  When I am finished, I think I have had a fulfilling performance.  I leave and go to claim my coat.  The girl says, "I gave your coat away to someone who had no coat and was suffering."  I am enraged.  This is an injustice.  "Now what am I supposed to do?" I shout.  "Oh," said the coat check girl, "Did you not get the point in the theatre?  You are supposed to trust in Me."  God comes in various disguises, including a coat check girl.  What good is all this ascetical practice, prayer and meditation, if I still come away with the idea of justice being all about me and "fairness," with no trust in the power of God?  The spiritual life is more than performance.  Prayer is just the beginning of letting go.  We tend to wear our egos sown to our skin.