I believe that regardless of our particular circumstances, especially when they are challenging, we can be hopeful, we can shine light. We can’t do this alone through our own willingness and determination, but we can when we let go of thinking (the mind at work) we are in control and instead open up to the possibility of the spirit (the heart at work). Because I believe that God loves everyone, I know that everyone is given grace. I am grateful for the grace that has lead me on my faith journey, guiding me to live more from the heart than from the head. I have not desire to evangelize, but I hope that others can discover the grace that is present that gives them hope. A New Year's idea these days is to pick a word that represents something you want to work toward during the year. I've never been one to take on a New Year's resolution, but choosing a special word for the year appeals to me. I considered hope, but then realized that hope is hardwired in me. I am a hopeful person--except when I am not. So, I have chosen light for my word. Jesus tells us: You are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14), which is true for you, and true for me. We all have light. But how do we as individuals control that light? Do we usually keep it on ? Do we let it fade away? Do we extinguish it from time to time? Most of the time, I'd say that I shine a good amount of light out there. But what about the light that is in here, in me? For sure, it isn't very bright when I judge others-- the light dims on them, it dims on me. It is love that keeps all our lights bright. Prayer is not a request for God's favors. True, it has been used to obtain the satisfaction of personal desires. It has even been adopted to reinforce prejudices, justify violence, and create barriers between people and between countries. But genuine prayer is based on recognizing the Origin of all that exists, and opening ourselves to it…. In prayer we acknowledge God as the supreme source from which flows all strength, all goodness, all existence, acknowledging that we have our being, life itself from this supreme Power. One can then communicate with this Source, worship it, and ultimately place one's very center in it. Piero Ferrucci, Ineffable Grace (p.254) quoted in Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, by Cynthia Bourgeault, I've returned to 'practicing' meditation. I'd like to say 'trying,' not 'practicing,' but I know how that word can imply failure. When we try, we hope for success but know that failure is always a possibility. When we try, our endeavor ends and we go on to something else. When we practice, however, failure or success isn't a part of it. We keep going, sometimes being in the moment, sometimes being some place else, sometimes being with God, sometimes with some else. The goal in practicing centering prayer is to be totally open to God, which has not no end. That's what I'm practicing. This is the morning prayer for the the First Day in A Diary of Private Prayer, by John Baillie. My mother used this book every day as part of her morning prayer time, and she gave me a copy. O God, who hast been the Refuge of my fathers through many generations, be my Refuge to-day in every time and circumstance of need. Be my Guide through all that is dark and doubtful. be my Guard against all that threatens my spirit's welfare. Be my Strength in time of testing. Gladden my heart with Thy peace; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen. Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours, Yours are the eyes through which to look out Christ's compassion to the world Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good; Yours are the hands with which he is to bless men now. Theresa of Avila (1515-1592) <ivan@poetry-chaikhana.com> Angels You might see an angel anytime and anywhere. Of course you have to open your eyes to a kind of second level, but it’s not really hard. The whole business of what’s reality and what isn’t has never been solved and probably never will be. So I don’t care to be too definite about anything. I have a lot of edges called Perhaps and almost nothing you can call Certainty. For myself, but not for other people. That’s a place you just can’t get into, not entirely anyway, other people’s heads. I’ll just leave you with this. I don’t care how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. It’s enough to know that for some people they exist, and that they dance. —Mary Oliver Luke 1:39-45 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would bee a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” Luke 1: 26-38 26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants for ever; his kingdom will never end.’ 34 ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’ 35 The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.’ 38 ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’ Then the angel left her. Recently, in a post by Joan Chittister, I was introduced to "Stasis." Intrigued with a way to keep connected to God as I go about my daily life, I googled away to read more about it. Brien Hohmeier, in his blog expresses it this way: STOP: Physically, mentally, come to a complete rest—if only for this brief moment. BREATHE: Let your lungs holding the space of a breath become a picture for you of how your spirit now is holding the space of this quiet little prayer. RECOLLECT: Here, we just take a moment. Humbly, all we desire here is to be aware, now, in this place, with the God who is in the place where we are. https://spiritualdirection.center/blog/statio-prayer A simple dictionary definition of stasis ((Oxford Language) serves my purpose: a period or state of inactivity or equilibrium. Here is my understanding as I try to add the practice of stasis into my daily life: STOP, BREATHE, RECOLLECT. STOP: stop all movement and activity. BREATHE: breathe deeply and consciously, in and out a few times. RECOLLECT: recollect my commitment to God, and God's to me. Then, consider the task at hand and proceed with love. I love this a simple way of inviting God into my life. The challenge is to remember. Hmm, perhaps REMEMBER needs to be first to introduce the process. |
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