Alleluia! I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. Mine was wonderfully blessed in so many ways - from all the services during Holy Week - including Easter Vigil, my very favorite - through the Sunday Morning Festival Eucharist. And then, added to that, a fun afternoon with my family. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, however you celebrated it. And for those who were celebrating Passover at about the same time, I hope it was a blessed holiday for you, also.
I had some "aha" moments this week that I would like to share. On Sunday, our rector preached a powerful sermon about the meaning of Easter - about how we enter into a "new life" as a result of Jesus' resurrection - and what that really means. (Not that I haven't heard this before, but somehow I heard it in a new way.) He was trying to get across to us that this "new life" if we choose to embrace it, is all about getting to a much deeper relationship with God than we could ever imagine. He used as a concrete example, the difference for the Buddhists between "reincarnation" and "enlightenment." Said another way, it's the difference between focusing on repeating our sufferings versus being fully open to the presence of God within us and in our lives and the healing and blessing that comes to us as a result of living so deeply in God's presence. AND the difference it makes to all the people with whom we come in contact. It's not that we don't experience the ups and downs of life, challenges and sufferings even, but what's different is that depth-of-the-soul experiencing God with us, no matter what. To me, it's what Jesus meant by"eternal life." To me, it's prayer lived.
My other "aha" moment came from watching a video that's currently making the rounds. I think it shows, in a very powerful way with very few words, how turning in a different direction, no matter how slightly the turn seems in the moment can make all the difference. In this video, it's a situation where changing how you say something can make all the difference. For me. it also illustrates that "new life" that Easter represents. Here's the link if any of you are interested in checking it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU .
That youtube video is amazing. It completely changes the relationship between the two people. From suppliant and harried passer-by they become two people together in the world, or, as I would rather say, two children in God's world.
ReplyDeleteLast night I passed a man asking for change--I shied away. Next week I will look at him, not in embarrassment, but rather as two people trying to keep warm on a rainy night. And then, without the confining social casings, we will be free to be who we are.
I think God is wanting that same relationship with me in prayer. Like the blind man, or the man wanting spare change, I have needs or worries to bring to God. But God is already there--the answers are all around me and in me--"It's a beautiful day." When I notice that, everything else takes it's proper place.
Amen, Susan. I find that when I get so busy I forget to be aware of God's presence is when the fear sneaks in and takes control over everything I do. If I can just remember that God is already beside me, then I feel peaceful and the fear subsides. Only then I can reasonably calmly, at least, look at the challenge at hand, knowing that I will have the strength to confront it. God's there already.
ReplyDeleteThe You Tube video that you posted has brought me to tears each time it has crossed my path, when I have taken the time to watch it. Words and time, words and time, what are they worth? Do I pray to God in words? Sometimes. Sometimes I pray by simply sitting in church and sending light and love to every person who sits in the pews, everyone who graces the altar, everyone who has ever worshipped there, every soul that is yet to come. I feel a connection to God at those times that is almost overwhelming. Sometimes I pray to God by being very present to another living being, sharing their energy, their feelings, their experience, whatever is happening in the moment. Maybe this is the same, Lis, as "experiencing God with us." I think so. Ubi Caritas et amor, Deus ibi est...
ReplyDeletePraying in words seems different, harder at times..there is SO MUCH to pray for and pray about, it's overwhelming. Sometimes I simply return to Centering prayer's simple phrases, or The Jesus Prayer, rather than being caught up in words. But the thing about words that feels important to me is how we use words with each other, whether we are conscious of how our words can carry Spirit or kill Spirit, and they do both.
I never can remember who said it; I keep thinking it's St Francis and I know I should look it up, but anyway, "Pray unceasingly; use words if necessary." And now that I'm back in the pool doing laps, the rhythm of the water keeps me centered and helps me pray even if no words come.
ReplyDelete