Wandering Thoughts   One of the hermits from the early days of the church approached St. Anthony of the Desert about a problem that plagued him. The hermit said, “O holy one, I have great difficulty with my prayer – whenever I sit in my cell to pray, instead of my thoughts focusing on almighty God, my thoughts wander all over the place. I cannot concentrate. I am sure that I must be wicked and there is probably no hope for me if I cannot even keep my thoughts from wandering away from God. Can you help me?”  Saint Anthony answered him, “My brother, please continue to sit in your cell. Do not give up. I want you to do this, fetch a mother donkey and her young foal. Tie the mother donkey to a rail, but not her foal. Then pay attention. Notice that whereas the mother donkey never leaves because she is tied to the rail, the young foal dances and prances around her. It even runs off quite a distance away. But now, notice what else happens. Even though the young foal wanders around and dances and prances, it always, in time, returns to its mother. It cannot fail to do so because it is only with its mother that it finds the food it needs. This same thing happens when one sits patiently in his cell seeking God. His thoughts may wander but eventually they do return to God because that is where they are fed.”   There is probably no one who is serious about their prayer who has not had to deal with the plague of wandering thoughts. I think St. Anthony’s advice to the young hermit is certainly advice we can all use. As we begin this season of Lent, perhaps this is the time for us to re-commit ourselves to a deeper prayer life. That deeper prayer is possible when we practice the spiritual discipline of sitting patiently seeking God.