Seattle waterfront. (crg)
Our
mothers’ admonition to us as children is the first step of contemplation.
During
my prayers the morning I write this, it occurred to me that, if we are still
enough, we can sense the world breathe.
Doesn’t
matter if we are under trees or skyscrapers, raining skies or starry
nights. We can see or hear or feel the world breathe, and that breath is the breath of
God.
God
is not on a faraway planet, but within this planet, offering the breath of life
to all creatures, to all creation. And to you, specifically and particularly.
Meditation
aligns our breathing with God’s breathing.
To
allow that, we need truly “free time.” Scholar comes from the Latin “schola”
which means free time, or leisure time for learning. Free time allows us to
become “scholars” of the spiritual.
Free
time means letting go of all claims on us—in the words of the Lord’s Prayer,
released from debts, trespasses, and sins, as well as those indebted to us,
trespass our space and time, and sin against us. Also, we are free of
obligations, expectations, and the day’s agenda. It requires an act of the
imagination to do this, to offer the welcoming, existential prayer “thy kingdom
come” and to believe Jesus’ words “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” and “this
day you will be with me in Paradise.”
“It
is because this kingdom is established and is present within us that we can be
made free of the limitations of language and thought,” in the words of
Benedictine monk John Main in his 1980 book, Word into Silence. He explains of most Westerners,
We tend either to be alert or relaxed; rarely are
the two states combined in most of us. But in meditation we come to experience
ourselves as at one and the same time totally relaxed and totally alert. This
stillness is not the stillness of sleep but rather of totally awakened
concentration. [p 8]
I
can’t find what translation of Romans 5:2 that Main is using, but I love the
turn of phrase, “we have been allowed to enter the sphere of God’s grace.” [pp. 2-3] (I
did an internet search for this translation and only found this wording in interpretations
of “we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand.” NRSV)
The
“sphere of God’s grace” releases us into free time. It forgives the past, and,
in a sense, “forgives” the future. It allows a truly existential moment to bask
in God’s presence, which is not other-worldly but here and now. We are Adam and
Eve naked in the garden. We are Jesus, children being about our
“Father’s/Mother’s business” in the Temple and beyond. Holy
Spirit inspires us, overcoming divisions and dualities with unity and harmony.
As
such we know ourselves, even as we yet puzzle over knowledge of God.
“Monks
are essentially people whose first priority is practice rather than theory,”
Main writes, “Such a monasticism…will be an inclusive rather than an exclusive
movement in the Church. It will know that the experience has only to be really
lived to be communicated. … It is the silence of monks that is their true
eloquence.” [xi]
Be
still, and attend to God breathing in your world and in your life.
I will again be co-leading
a 5-day contemplative retreat: April 27-May 1, 2020 in Cullman, Alabama, through
the Spiritual Formation Program of Columbia Theological Seminary. It is open to
the public.
Progressive
Christian Reflections is entirely
supported by reader donations. To
support this blog: https://mccchurch.org/ministries/progressive-christian-reflections/
Scroll down to the donate link below its description. Thank you!
Copyright © 2019 by Chris
R. Glaser. Permission granted for non-profit use with attribution of author and
blogsite. Other rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment