Be silent.
Be still.
Alone.
Empty.
Before your God.
Say nothing.
Ask nothing.
Be silent.
Be still.
Let your God, look upon you
That is all.
God knows.
God understands.
God loves you.
With enormous love.
And only wants
To look upon you
With that love.
Quiet.
Still.
Be.
Let you God-love you.
Edwina Gately and Jane Hammond-Clarke.
Whispers: Conversations with Edwina Gateley
Source Books, 2000
During my reading for today I was exposed to theme of Heart-fire and I would like to use for my two prayer groups today. The season of Advent give us a precise opportunity to rekindle that fire in our life and in our planet.
Lyrics:
If you will, if you will,if you will,if you will. You can become all flame, you can become all flame, you can become all flame, you can become all flame. You can become all flame: Become all flame.
Become All Flame. Darlene Franz, voice and harmonium. wisdomchant.bandcamp.com
http://wisdomchant.bandcamp.com/track/become-all-flame
<iframe style=”border: 0; width: 350px; height: 350px;” src=”http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=1313771182/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/” seamless><a href=”http://wisdomchant.bandcamp.com/track/become-all-flame”>Become All Flame by Darlene Franz, voice and harmonium</a></iframe>
Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, “Abba, as far as I can, I say my little office. I fast a little. I pray. I meditate. I live in peace and as far as I can. I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?”
Then the old man stood up, stretched his hands towards heaven, and his fingers became like ten lamps of fire, and he said to him,
“If you will, you can become all flame.”
–Sayings of the Desert Fathers (tr. Benedicta Ward)
Last week, I was exposed to a wonderful material that I would like to share with you. It is a poem by Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022). Here, he ties the meaning of the Body of Christ along the axis of awakening. He set us down firmly upon inner ground of transfiguration.
We awaken in Christ’s body
as Christ awakens our bodies,
and my poor hand is Christ. He enters
my foot, and is infinitely me.
I move my hand, and wonderfully
my hand becomes Christ, becomes all of Him
(for God’s indivisibly
whole, seamless in his Godhood).
I move my foot, and at once
he appears like a flash of lighting.
Do my words seem blasphemous?– Then
open your heart to Him.
and let yourself receive the one
who is opening to you so deeply.
For if we genuinely love Him,
we wake up inside Christ’s body
where all our body, all over
every most hidden part of it,
is realized in joy as Him,
and He makes us utterly real,
and everything that is hurt, everything
that seemed to us dark, harsh, shameful,
maimed, ugly, irreparably
damaged, is in Him transformed
and recognized as whole, as lovely,
and radiant in His light.
We awaken as the Beloved
in every part of our body.
Symeon the New Theologian, “Awaken in Christ’s Body”, in The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, ed Stephen Mitchell (New York: HarperCollins, 1993), p 38
During my search of material related to the ICCD conference, I found this excellent material where Cynthia describe beautifully the ways of the heart. I am posting two presentations related to the interest of my blog : Praying From the Heart.
Cynthia Bourgeault leads a one-day retreat in the contemplative christian tradition,
“The Ways of the Heart: Kenosis, Abundance, Singleness”
September 3, 2011
Presentation Number two (of four) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdvHK-gyKiw
During our meeting, we cover the last segment of the Gift of Life program, “Coming Home”. Our conversation took us to a beautiful ending that is summarized:
One thing I ask of the Lord;
this I seek:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all days of my life.
PSALM 27:4
In addition we were talking about our difficulty to perceive the presence of God in our life.
To go deeper in this matter , I recommend to read the following article by Fr. Thomss Keating, The Divine Indwelling. In this article, we learn:
1) To believe in the Divine Indwelling within us, fully present and energizing every level of our being.
2) To recognize that this energy level is benign, healing and transforming.
3) To enjoy its gradual unfolding step by step, both in prayer and in action.
CO_NewsletterJan2001_pag1_2 Extraction of the article from the CO Newsletter.
CO Newsletter Jan 2001 Fall/winter
From Spirituality and Practice: Enrich your life with 37 universal spiritual practices.
“Spiritual practices connect us with our true selves, our neighbors, our world, and our Source. This alphabet is a map of the paths we use to make those vital connections. Here we share 37 main routes — forms of practice that are markers of the spiritual life in all the world’s religions and spiritual paths. Under them, you’ll find the tried-and-true practices such as prayer (Devotion) and meditation (Attention), as well as things like optimism (Hope) that become spiritual practices through our intentions.”
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/AlphabetofPractice2013sm.pdf
Few weeks ago, our prayer group at Solon cover segment 6 of the Gif of Life- Death & Dying- Life & Living called “The Cross”. In order to go a little further about the material of Fr. Keating , I want to add some material from Joseph Venerosso.M.M: a poem and a link of an article about how we have transformed the crucifix into the symbol of divine love, mercy and forgiveness.
1. The cosmic outcast
http://ncronline.org/blogs/soul-seeing/cosmic-outcast
2.THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS by Joseph R. Veneroso. M.M
Planted long ago on Calvary hill
God’s only begotten Son-dial casts
A worldwide shadow
Across continents and seas
To touch and tell us the time
When life and love and hope
Died once and for all
Only to rise again.
Each birth and battlefield
Are blessed by its sacred shade
Thought most people are too busy
Living or dying to notice
This sublime yet simple benediction.
True, some struggle mightily to ignore
Or flee far from its terrible truth
As if avoidance or ignorance could
Provide comfort, if not remedy, for
Death’s cold grip upon our lives.
An Ecumenical Contemplative group started at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Brecksville, Ohio. Rev. Stephanie Pace is very enthusiastic with this project and she is collaborating as a leader in conjunction with Dottie Rieman and myself. Our first meeting was on May 14, 2013. Since then, we have meet twice per month, on the second and forth Tuesday of the month, at 1:30 pm.
