The Rev. Professor Sarah Coakley and Fr. Martin Laird, OSA discuss 'The Problem of Negative "Thoughts" in Prayer According to the Desert Tradition: Approaching Sickness through the Lens of Deepened Prayer'. This is the third of four sessions on 'Deepening Prayer in a Time of Pandemic and Social Unrest', held via webinar at Church of the Ascension and St. Agnes, Washington DC.    If you would like more information about the School of Theology and Prayer, to access the handout from this session, or to listen to this as a podcast, visit: https://www.asa-dc.org/school-of-theology-and-prayer.html   Taught by:   Rev'd Professor Sarah Coakley. Coakley was formerly Norris-Hulse Professor at the University of Cambridge. She is an assisting priest and theologian-in-residence at the Church of the Ascension and St. Agnes.   Fr. Martin Laird, O.S.A., is an Augustinian friar and Professor of Early Christian Studies at Villanova University.  He has written a host of articles on books chiefly in patristics and Christian contemplative life, especially Into the Silent Land; A Sunlit Absence; and An Ocean of Light from Oxford University Press.  Fr. Martin lectures widely throughout the United States, Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.