This is really a strange saying. After all, we are immersed in God; there is no space anywhere that is not in the presence of God. As we say in Ps 139 Where can I flee from your presence?
What is true though is that we have so many things floating around in our brains, so many things that we imagine we have to give our attention to that our attention is very divided. We are great at multi-tasking.
Well, I think we can put this ability to multi task to good use.
The secret is to worship God in spirit and in truth. .The truth is that God is paying utmost attention to us, to our hearts as well as our activities. We have a faithful Friend always available to us, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, never to part.
Now we have abundant historical evidence that the early Christians made it hard & fast practice to pray in the early morning. My Mother used to tell us: you must seek God in the morning if you want Him through the day.
When we take up the discipline of meditating in the morning and taking some time to read and ponder a scripture passage, we are more likely to remember God is with us. It is so amazingly simple to turn our attention to the reality of the Presence of God. Think of how we are able to be aware of the presence of each other..or the absence of someone we love.
How shall we multitask with God? Meditate faithfully every morning and some other time in the day, even if it has to be twice in the morning. Then make the walking prayer a prayer that reminds you of the reality that God is looking at you with love in every moment of every day. This is where the walking prayer is helpful . Try to have a prayer that you say briefly and often all through out the day.
When we meditate we need to give our whole heart attention to it the way we would if we were trying to do some difficult physical task that required total attention so that we do not fall! Le me tell you I have the distinct memory of climbing down a rope ladder with a pack on my back and I knew I had to be total attentive so I would not fall into the sea! Or even fall onto the edge of the boat receiving me. Giving this attention to meditation gradually alerts our whole being. Then more and more throughout our day, all will be given to God with Love.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Easter Love
Yesterday we listened to talks by Sister Rose on Karl Rahner the great 20th century Catholic theologian. And I was reminded of the time Rahner quoted Ruysbroeck:
Ruysbroeck writes about how God expects of us both work and enjoyment and rest. And that God is with us in all,. However he then says that the interior person is recollected in all circumstances. So Rahner then observes rightly that only God can rescue us from being lost to the things of this world. That word recollection was new to me years ago. Re collect. Re collect my attention, my wandering mind, even in the midst of many and varied daily tasks. Well this is certainly not something we can do of ourselves. This is the work of God. God who knows so well how to give undivided attention to the multiplicity of his works. For without the attention of God we would cease to be.
So it is God whose great love - Easter love! - can save us from being lost to the things and events of our daily life. Rahner says that love, God’s love for us that "can allow my daily routine to remain routine and still transform it into homecoming to God". God can give us this love, We need to beg for this gift. What could be more fulfilling than to live more totally in love.
To ask God to open our hearts and minds and to take steps to be open.
This is what do in Christian Meditation or Centering prayer., We say our prayer gently, over and over, and in this way let go of all our preoccupations
Try to do this for 20 minutes twice a day. Any simple prayer word will do. Although John Main OSB recommends saying Maranatha (come Lord) which is prayer at the end of the Book of Revelation.
If we add a walking prayer to our day, we are again making ourselves available for the transforming power of the love God has for us. Find a prayer you can say over and over with the rhythm of your steps as you go about the day, or drive to work and back. God’s love never ceases, is not lessened by what we do or fail to do. We are immersed in Love every moment of every day. God's love does not take away the ordinariness of our daily routine lives, and yet love does indeed transform everything. Love makes our activities "homecoming’ into God. We can learn from our Buddhist friends. Thich Nhat Hanh has a wonderful book called: The Miracle of Mindfulness. Meditation is not just for the one who meditates. "Meditation is for everyone". That is, when we take the time to sit in meditative prayer, we are united to all people on earth for all people on earth are immersed in God . And so we are making a space for love in our world. Let us pray.
Ruysbroeck writes about how God expects of us both work and enjoyment and rest. And that God is with us in all,. However he then says that the interior person is recollected in all circumstances. So Rahner then observes rightly that only God can rescue us from being lost to the things of this world. That word recollection was new to me years ago. Re collect. Re collect my attention, my wandering mind, even in the midst of many and varied daily tasks. Well this is certainly not something we can do of ourselves. This is the work of God. God who knows so well how to give undivided attention to the multiplicity of his works. For without the attention of God we would cease to be.
So it is God whose great love - Easter love! - can save us from being lost to the things and events of our daily life. Rahner says that love, God’s love for us that "can allow my daily routine to remain routine and still transform it into homecoming to God". God can give us this love, We need to beg for this gift. What could be more fulfilling than to live more totally in love.
To ask God to open our hearts and minds and to take steps to be open.
This is what do in Christian Meditation or Centering prayer., We say our prayer gently, over and over, and in this way let go of all our preoccupations
Try to do this for 20 minutes twice a day. Any simple prayer word will do. Although John Main OSB recommends saying Maranatha (come Lord) which is prayer at the end of the Book of Revelation.
If we add a walking prayer to our day, we are again making ourselves available for the transforming power of the love God has for us. Find a prayer you can say over and over with the rhythm of your steps as you go about the day, or drive to work and back. God’s love never ceases, is not lessened by what we do or fail to do. We are immersed in Love every moment of every day. God's love does not take away the ordinariness of our daily routine lives, and yet love does indeed transform everything. Love makes our activities "homecoming’ into God. We can learn from our Buddhist friends. Thich Nhat Hanh has a wonderful book called: The Miracle of Mindfulness. Meditation is not just for the one who meditates. "Meditation is for everyone". That is, when we take the time to sit in meditative prayer, we are united to all people on earth for all people on earth are immersed in God . And so we are making a space for love in our world. Let us pray.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
LOVE IS HIS MEANING
"Love is His meaning" (Julian of Norwich).
Here we are about to embark on long ceremonies to celebrate the goodness of God. And I am convinced that any other meaning that you have heard besides love is pagan, not Christian. The very title of the Gospels means good news.
We gather to receive the Gift of God. Jesus speaks of his longing to eat with them before he suffers and dies. Over and over we read the good news that God wants to share God’s self with us in love. And that is what he has done. And as we say He was a victim on the cross we need to realize that Jesus has completely changed the meaning because in myths, the victim is considered the one who has caused all the harm. As an example, during the plague in Europe, that people persecuted the Jews, having decided to put all the blame on them. In the Gospel story, we know that Jesus is the innocent one.. It is those who victimize who are the cause of evil in the world. So it is in today’s world.
So as we spend more time in prayer, it is good to recall that prayer is opening our innermost being to the love God has promised to give us. Our prayer is not a technique, it is a relationship. When we decide to give time to meditating, it is to allow God to act in our hearts. We trust the love God has for us . So it is when we gather for Mass. We are remembering and – mysteriously reliving – the wonderful deeds God has done for us. It is an act of faith. Not a feeling.. Not scientific evidence. NO we walk by faith and not by sight. Easter is that greatest work of God, greater than all of creation, because by Easter, Jesus has overcome all the non-loving works of us all, and witnesses to a Love that overcomes death.
We pray: For freedom, Christ has set us free, You are the Savior of the world.
As a Carmelite of today Ruth Burrows writes in her latest book, Essence of Prayer: "What we have to do is allow ourselves to be loved. To be there for Love, who is God, to love us." All is gift: the life we have, the energy we have to do things, the intelligence we have, the growth in maturity, all are gifts that we cooperate in. Our life is a shared enterprise. And when it comes to prayer, our share is to be open to God. "For the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Rom 5:5 Let us meditate for twenty minutes twice a day.
Here we are about to embark on long ceremonies to celebrate the goodness of God. And I am convinced that any other meaning that you have heard besides love is pagan, not Christian. The very title of the Gospels means good news.
We gather to receive the Gift of God. Jesus speaks of his longing to eat with them before he suffers and dies. Over and over we read the good news that God wants to share God’s self with us in love. And that is what he has done. And as we say He was a victim on the cross we need to realize that Jesus has completely changed the meaning because in myths, the victim is considered the one who has caused all the harm. As an example, during the plague in Europe, that people persecuted the Jews, having decided to put all the blame on them. In the Gospel story, we know that Jesus is the innocent one.. It is those who victimize who are the cause of evil in the world. So it is in today’s world.
So as we spend more time in prayer, it is good to recall that prayer is opening our innermost being to the love God has promised to give us. Our prayer is not a technique, it is a relationship. When we decide to give time to meditating, it is to allow God to act in our hearts. We trust the love God has for us . So it is when we gather for Mass. We are remembering and – mysteriously reliving – the wonderful deeds God has done for us. It is an act of faith. Not a feeling.. Not scientific evidence. NO we walk by faith and not by sight. Easter is that greatest work of God, greater than all of creation, because by Easter, Jesus has overcome all the non-loving works of us all, and witnesses to a Love that overcomes death.
We pray: For freedom, Christ has set us free, You are the Savior of the world.
As a Carmelite of today Ruth Burrows writes in her latest book, Essence of Prayer: "What we have to do is allow ourselves to be loved. To be there for Love, who is God, to love us." All is gift: the life we have, the energy we have to do things, the intelligence we have, the growth in maturity, all are gifts that we cooperate in. Our life is a shared enterprise. And when it comes to prayer, our share is to be open to God. "For the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Rom 5:5 Let us meditate for twenty minutes twice a day.
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