I have often watched giant ocean‑going vessels nudge themselves into a slip. But they are too large, too clumsy, and too powerful to dock themselves directly to the pier. A man aboard the vessel throws a line to the man on the shore. This latter takes the liner’s hawser and fastens it to the cleat on the pier. Then the liner’s engines begin to pull on the hawser; but it is not the pier that is pulled to the ship, but the ship is pulled closer and closer to the pier. So, too, prayer is not intended to bring God closer to us, but rather us closer to God.
A.C. Frey Collection Deep Waters and a Bubbling Brook
I have often watched giant ocean‑going vessels nudge themselves into a slip. But they are too large, too clumsy, and too powerful to dock themselves directly to the pier. A man aboard the vessel throws a line to the man on the shore. This latter takes the liner’s hawser and fastens it to the cleat on the pier. Then the liner’s engines begin to pull on the hawser; but it is not the pier that is pulled to the ship, but the ship is pulled closer and closer to the pier. So, too, prayer is not intended to bring God closer to us, but rather us closer to God.