Interiority

Where is Christ? Where is the One in whom "all things in heaven and on earth were created" (Colossians 1.16)? Yes, up and out, "reconciling all things" (Colossians 1.17).

But also down and in, "holding all things together" (Colossians 1.17).

"Christ lives in me," wrote St Paul (Galatians 2.20).

Bernard of Clairvaux testified to an experience I want for you:

"I confess to you I have many times received the visits of the Word. I could not perceive the exact moment of his arrival. He did not enter by the senses, but whence did he come? Perhaps he did not enter at all, for he who enters comes from without. But I found him closer to me that I to myself" (Sermons on the Song of Songs).

Intention: Today, I will cradle the Creator of the Cosmos within my heart. I will trust that the Author of Life is in me--closer to me than I am to myself, holding me and all things together.

Gratitude

I slipped on black ice yesterday (this was written in early January). It's a wonder I didn't break my back or wrench my neck. I'm hardly sore except for the bruise on my back where the stuff in my backpack drove deep into the area around my left kidney. Today, it's settling in on me how grateful I ought to be to be alive. I was hiking up Angel Falls near Bass Lake. It's January. There's little snow, but what snow is there is melting, and, of course, icing up in places. I was walking along a great granite slab that's been cut by the river over the last zillion years. The river screams along this ancient stone chute just a few yards down and to my right. I'd looked up momentarily, when in an instant, I found myself flat on my back and sliding toward the river. I had no time to wonder if I'd broken a bone because I was sliding fast toward the river. Just as suddenly as I fell, I stopped. And that was that.

Once on my feet again, I gingerly checked my bones and muscles, while my son pointed out that had I hit my head on the jagged piece of granite just inches from where I fell, things would have ended a whole lot differently.

Sadly, we too infrequently pause to consider the gift life is and how quickly we can lose what we take for granted.

Intention: Today, I'll breathe, feel the air fill my lungs, let my eyes notice the play of light in the room around me and I'll give thanks for the gift of life itself. This is the beginning of wisdom.

THIS WEEKEND! "The Art of Meditation: Sustaining the Compassionate Life" with Fr. Laurence Freeman OSB in Fresno :: Sign up today!

How can I pray when I feel so scattered? Is there a way to experience more of God in the midst of my busy life?

Can I find more meaning in the daily tasks I do?

How do I respond redemptively to the rise of violence and fear in our world?

Click here to go to the website for more information or to pre-register!

Prayer isn't an escape from the world, nor is it merely asking God for things, for security, for safety. Prayer is relationship with the Beloved, it is the experience of union with the One who made and loves you.

Prayer is, of course, words. But it's got to be more than words just as a relationship must be more than words if it's going to do what good relationships do. And prayer also must turn us outward in meaningful engagement with the daily tasks that are ours to do, and in compassion that helps transform the world into the world God is making it to be.

Prayer is the most basic expression of our faith; in fact, aside from breathing, is is the most basic act of being human.

Each year, UPC hosts the Central California Prayer of the Heart Conference. This year's conference combines our Prayer of the Heart Conference and the Interfaith Scholar Weekend. Fr. Laurence Freeman is one of the world's greatest living teachers of Christian prayer and meditation. If you want your life to count, to act in whatever small or great way you feel compelled to act in this world, then meditative prayer is a necessity. It grounds you in Jesus Christ, the center of life.

This conference will help bring meaning, perspective, power, and dignity to your life, and it will join you with others, who, like you are offering their lives for the sake of healing the world. It will help you walk courageously, yet gently as a redemptive force to bring hope and healing to the world around you.

Schedule:

Friday, February 8, Location: Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno (no charge)

7:00pm Lecture "Meditation into the Common Ground"

Saturday, February 9, Location: Temple Beth Israel, Fresno ($45 advance, $50 at the door, $10 students)

8:30 am Continental Breakfast and Registration

9:00 Shabbat Observance (Torah Commentary)

9:15 Lecture: "The Crisis of Religion is the Time for Contemplation"

10:45 Lecture: "The Cave of the Heart: The Stages of Meditation"

Lunch

1:15 Session: "Questions and Answers with Fr. Laurence Freeman"

2:15pm Closing

Sunday, February 10, Location: University Presbyterian Church (no charge)

9:30am Worship with a sermon and guided meditation by Fr. Freeman

For more information about Fr. Laurence Freeman click here.

To register for Saturday's conference click here.

Dullness

Some (maybe most) days you feel pretty dull to GOD. You rarely pray other than at meal time or when you really need something. Your Bible goes unread. In fact, GOD isn't often on your mind. There's a part of you that honestly wants GOD, an on-going encounter with the Divine that opens you to more than what you're living. But despite your best intentions to live a life more alert to the Sacred, frankly, you don't . . . for a myriad of reasons.

Here's a little practice: let's say right now you feel dull to spiritual things. That sense you have of feeling dull is itself an awakening. That you feel dull is evidence of an inner desire for more of GOD. Pause right now and express that inwardly. "I feel dull to GOD; I'd like to know more of GOD."

That's it. Do nothing more. Let it be.

And the next time you feel dull, do the same.

Intention: Noting the dullness is itself a doorway to change. And rather than dreaming up grand experiences or taking on rigorous spiritual practices, I'll simply be where and what I am.  If I do, I'll find myself increasingly awake to GOD.

Happiness

It's so terribly alluring to look at life negatively--that is, from the perspective of what's missing, what you lack, what you think you need in order to be happy. And there's an unfortunate religious viewpoint that reinforces this pessimism. Somehow we assume that since we're sinners we ought to be miserable people, awaiting the happiness that will come to us in the next life. But Jesus said, "I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly" (John 10.10)--that means he intends us to embrace the abundance of goodness coming to us now.

It takes very little faith to view life negatively, to lament all that you don't have but think you need. But it takes great faith to embrace the good news that GOD desires, really desires, for each of us to be happy.

Intention: Today, I'll frequently re-adjust my viewpoint and recall that I'm the happy recipient of the goodness of GOD.