Never give up
Here's a lovely example of contemplative living---awakening to the Voice of God speaking through the most ordinary events. Mary shows how remaining attentive to what comes, even through a little child, can be revelation and an awareness to all of life as sacred. Mary writes:
. . . As I write this, I realize that I’ll never give up, as my darling girl so emphatically advised me. But the thing that I won’t give up on is me. I’ll never give up on me, no matter what might happen in my world and along the journey that comprises my life. Although there will be things I never complete, things I might falter on, things that might cause me to fall---and OH, trust me, there will be those things---the core that binds me here, strong to the universe, is one which will never let go of its grip. So long as I have a warm, pulsing hand to clasp. So long as I have an eye to the smoldering, triumphant sun.
Love that last sentence: "So long as I have an eye to the smoldering, triumphant sun."
The simple prayer of the most important people
A re-post: The most important people today are probably not those we think of first.
Kallistos Ware tells of St. Barsansuphios of Gaza (sixth century) who says that in his time there were three persons whose prayers likely held everything together. Because of their spiritual intention, the sun rises each day, evil is held in check, and life goes on. He even mentions their names. John, he says, is one of them. And Elias too. The third, he says, lives in the province of Jerusalem. It could be anyone—a priest, a farmer in the fields, a mother tending her hearth and her children. But it may well be Barsansuphios himself, who was trying to keep himself clear about his spiritual vocation, but humility kept him from saying so.
For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, Ware says, “the world is upheld by the prayer of hidden saints—Christian and, I believe, also non-Christian.”
Awakening to the spiritual life and the vocation of prayer in the midst of daily life is not, as I’ve said before, a cul de sac or private party. Just as a butterfly fanning its wings in Tokyo affects weather patterns in New York, our spiritual intention, our life of prayer, has enormous social and political consequences no matter how hidden our life may be.
Thomas Merton once said:
“I wonder if there are twenty people alive in the world now who see things as they really are. That would mean that there were twenty people who were free, who were not dominated or even influenced by any attachment to any created thing or to their own selves or to any gift of God, even to the highest, the most supernaturally pure of His graces. I don’t believe that there are twenty such people alive in the world. But there must be one or two. They are the ones who are holding everything together and keeping the universe from falling apart.” (New Seeds of Contemplation, page 203)
Who can say what good is happening in this world because of your hidden life of simple, and sometimes bumbling, prayer?
The power of a spiritually awakened life
A re-post: When you awaken to a vibrant spiritual life you're entering the fullness of life. You're not hiding yourself away in some interior cul de sac, avoiding the demands of daily obligations and roles. Spiritual transformation is not a dead-end street nor is it a private party.
The heart is the abode of God . . . not exclusively, of course. The whole earth is full of the glory of God. But our bodies, our beings, our lives are a shrine. And when the light of God shines from within us, all things around us are affected.
The Butterfly Effect, or the ripple effect a single butterfly's wing movements on the whole cosmos, is now common science. It shouldn't surprise us then to hear St. Seraphim of Sarov say, "Acquire inner peace, and thousands around you will find their salvation." It's one thing to hear such words coming from a monk. It's quite another to hear them coming from someone like Dag Hammarskjold, General Secretary of the United Nations (1953-1961), and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize (1961).
Hammarskjold said, "Understand through the stillness. Act out of the stillness. Conquer in the stillness."
This was spoken by someone deeply involved in global politics and who lived a very busy and demanding life.
"Acquire inner peace." St. Seraphim of Sarov
"Act out of the stillness." Dag Hammarskjold
"The kingdom of God is within you." Jesus
There is no action more powerful than the action arising from a single spiritually awakened life.
How to read prayerfully--lectio divina
This is an excerpt from Cyprian Consiglio's excellent little book on prayer: Prayer in the Cave of the Heart: The Universal Call to Contemplation. The book's a primer on the historical center of Christian spirituality---drawing from resources from the Christian East and West, as well as illustrating parallels to other religious traditions enriching our prayer experience.
In this selection, Cyprian introduces holy reading, or lectio divina, as a particular practice of prayerful feeding of the thinking mind with holy things.
"When choosing the object of our meditation, pride of place is given to scripture. In addition, though, there is a long tradition of other types of reading (of devotional or spiritual books or of poetry) and other types of experiences (listening to music, looking at art) that can serve the same purpose. At times we read academically, to learn facts and figures, dates and names, or we listen to music or look at art critically, analytically. Lectio divina, however, is totally different. It is gentle, like reading a love letter, or hearing a loved one's voice, or gazing on a loved one's face." (p. 96)
It is my habit to read a very small section of holy scripture each morning, in addition to the non-reflective reading of a psalm, and invite the Trinity to be the Host of this encounter. I read and listen, waiting upon the voice of the Beloved.