email: whitpresby@charterinternet.com
Spiritual readings "Greetings from Whittier Presbyterian Church"
December 2006
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Wolpert on walking a labyrinth |
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Vennard, Labyrinth as church. |
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Wolpert on walking a labyrinth, II |
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Jewish Memorial phrases |
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Robert Earl Keene’s “Merry Christmas from the Family” |
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Roberta Bondi on why we pray. |
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Roberta Bondi on God’s love for us. |
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Julian of Norwich paraphrase. |
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Prayer of Howard Thurman |
As I look forward to the labyrinth walks and programs for this Advent Season, I continue to find good resources on labyrinths. Here is one from “Creating a Life with God; The Call of Ancient Prayer Practices,” by Daniel Wolpert, Upper Room Books, 2003.
“As you walk the labyrinth, draw your attention to God. Watch your thoughts. You might wish to let your mind wander, or you may want to actively pray. You could recite scripture silently, or you could fashion some questions for the journey. For example, for the journey toward the center, ask yourself what you need to let go of or what obstacles prevent a closer relationship with God. Once in the middle, you might ask God to enter your life more fully. Then on the way out of the labyrinth, you might ask what areas of your life could become more filled with God’s presence.
Wolpert talks about the labyrinth in a chapter that includes the practice of walking prayer, prayer which can be done while walking anywhere or any time. Let me suggest a walk for World AIDS Day today. We used to have a candlelight procession to our Community AIDS Day service. Maybe you can find one near you, and walk it in prayer. One of the blessings I find in either walking prayer or a labyrinth, is that by walking, I expend some of the psychic energy that can so easily distract me from my prayer. May your life of prayer reach out to those suffering in any way from AIDS, and may your prayer move you through life.
Grace and peace
Geoff
As we move through (pun intended) the time of the labyrinth here at the church and in my work, here is another story about a labyrinth walk. It’s found in the book “Praying with Body and Soul” by Jane E. Vennard, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1998. She is talking about a prayer class that she was teaching.
“To support the process, I went to the edge of the labyrinth and prayerfully watched as student after student began walking. The students walked at very different speeds. Some had their hands folded over their hearts, other walked with hands behind their backs. One woman moved her arms as if she were flying. A student invited a young child to accompany her, another spent some time walking backward. As all these diverse students walked in their own unique ways, the labyrinth began to fill. I was astounded to realize that I had no way of knowing who was coming and who was going, who had arrived and who had just begun. I watched as students seemed to walk for a moment in step with one another, and then one would turn back and the other would continue on. Sometimes it appeared that students were moving against each other, going in opposite directions, and then as they were about to collide, one would step aside and the other would glide by.
I sat in awe of the beautiful, flowing, and vibrant image of the body of Christ that was before me. I was witnessing a community in prayer and action. Everyone was walking the same path, but traveling with the freedom to walk as they wished. No one was above or below, ahead or behind. Everyone was simply moving with and toward God, and with each other. “An image of the church,” I breathed. “A healed and whole and holy church.”
I’ve had similar experiences with groups walking the labyrinth, but I’ve never put it all together so articulately. As you move through this Advent season, may you occasionally find yourself amidst a gathering where God is present. And may you have the grace to know it at the time.
Grace & peace
Geoff
One last reading about labyrinths. This, again, from “Creating a Life with God; The Call of Ancient Prayer Practices,” by Daniel Wolpert, Upper Room Books, 2003.
In the practice of the labyrinth, you walk the path to the center of the figure and then return to the exit at your own pace. The journey can take a few minutes or an hour. You can think of the prayer as divided into three phases. In the first phase, you are walking toward God—the center of the labyrinth. In this phase you shed all that is keeping you from union with the Creator. The second phase symbolizes union with God as you arrive at the center of the labyrinth. Finally in the third phase, as you exit from the center, you are going with God back out into the world. As with the actual journey to Jerusalem, this process imitates the dying and rising to new life in Christ, the story at the heart of faith.”
I’ve heard these three phases described traditionally as Purgation, Illumination, and Union. Another description of these three phases is emptying or refining, filling, and going back into the world. In each phase there is made space for God in some special way. How do you make space for God? At this time of year, space for God may be hard to come by, but it is therefore all the more precious.
Grace & peace
Geoff
I attended a memorial service at Beth Shalom Synagogue here in Whittier a few weeks ago, and was struck by two pieces of material on the little handout they used. I thought I would pass them on.
“Light shining from the stars is visible on earth long after it has been extinguished and the stars have died. Likewise, there are human beings whose memory shines long after they are gone from this world. That shining light piercing the darkness of night guides the path of man and shows him the way.” Hannah Senesh
“The material needs of my neighbor are my spiritual demand.” Rabbi Israel Slanter
These sayings were most appropriate for the woman whose memorial service it was. Perhaps you can think of someone these expressions would fit. Perhaps you can think of them as worthy goals in life, to live so that something like this can be said about you.
Grace & peace
Geoff
This last Wednesday, we had our “Favorite Christmas Music” program. I was reminded of one of my favorite Christmas songs of the last several years. It’s called “Merry Christmas from the Family,” by Robert Earl Keene, a Country and Western singer. I listen to very little of that kind of music, but this song crept into some other programs I listen to. Now it has crept into my imagination. As I’ve done with other songs I send around through these emails, I encourage you to try to listen to it if you can. Maybe you can find it on the internet. A live recording is the best because the reaction of the audience carries the power of this song to touch people. See if you can find the Christ in this Christmas song.
“Mom got drunk and Dad got drunk, at our Pxmas party,
We were drinking champagne punch and home made egg nog,
Little sister brought her new boyfriend, he was a Mexican,
We didn’t know what to think of him, til he sang Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad,
Brother Ken brought his kids with him, the three from his first wife Lynn,
And the two identical twins from his second wife Mary Nell
Of course he brought his new wife Kay, who talked all about A. A.
Chain smokin’ while the stereo plays Noel, Noel, the First Noel
Carve the turkey, turn the ball game on, fix Margaritas when the egg nog’s gone
Send somebody to the Quick Pak store, we need some ice and an extension cord
A can of bean dip and some diet rite, a box of tampons, some Marlboro lights
Hallelujah everybody say cheese, Merry Christmas from the Family.
Fred and Rita drove from Harligin, I can’t remember how I’m kin to them,
But when they tried to plug their motor home in, they blew our Christmas lights,
Cousin David knew just what went wrong, so we all waited on our front lawn.
He threw a breaker and the lights came on and we sang Silent Night.
Carve the turkey, turn the ball game on, make Bloody Marys cause we all want one,
Send somebody to the Stop and go, we need some celery and a can of fake snow,
A bag of lemons and some diet sprite, a box of tampons, some Salem lights,
Hallelujah everybody say cheese, Merry Christmas from the Family.
Feliz Navidad.”
In what unlikely places do you find Christ? May you be looking and listening for the presence of God, particularly in places you might not expect to find God.
Grace & peace
Geoff
Why do we pray? Some of us are so caught up in whatever routine we use for prayer that we don’t often stop to remind ourselves why we do it. Here is a suggestion from Roberta Bondi, in her book “In Ordinary Time; Healing the Wounds of the Heart,” Abingdon Press, 1996.
“…people who pray are no more saints than the rest of us. Rather, they are people who want to share a life with God, to love and be loved, to speak and to listen, to work and to be at rest in the presence of God. Certainly, they are people who want the truth about themselves and about reality. They want to find the parts of themselves they would rather not acknowledge and bring them to God for love and healing. They want to learn how to be the loving, interiorly thriving people God created them to be. They aren’t particularly holy, though. Mostly, they are just simply stubborn, persistent people who know that every close personal relationship of love, including ours with God, involves a lot of risk taking, a lot of being in the dark, and a lot of persistence through times of boredom.
That description fits me, much of the time. How about you? May your prayer reach deeply into your soul, and out into the world of need around you, particularly during this Advent season.
Grace & peace
Geoff
I received an email from two different sources this last week that is appropriate to the season. It comes from the book “The Grace of It All: Reflections on the Art of Ministry,” by F. Dean Lueking, Alban Institute Press, 2006. The email I’ve seen is a reflection on silence in our life of faith. It includes this quote from Julian of Norwich
Lord, let not our souls be busy inns that have no room for thee or thine,
But quiet homes of prayer and praise, where thou mayest find fit company,
Where the needful cares of life are wisely ordered and put away,
And wide, sweet spaces kept for thee; where holy thoughts pass up and down
And fervent longings watch and wait thy coming.
As we draw closer to Christmas may we sort out our needful cares and make space for God in Christ to be born in our hearts.
Grace & peace
Geoff
“God so loved the world…” is a phrase that rings out in the Christmas season. Here is an elaboration of that idea from Roberta Bondi, in her book “In Ordinary Time; Healing the Wounds of the Heart,” Abingdon Press, 1996. She makes reference to early Christian theology, hew academic field of specialty.
“God does not love us “in spite of who we are” or “for whom God knows we can become.” According to the wonderful fourth- and fifth-century teachers I have learned from and also teach myself, God loves us hopelessly as mothers love their babies, and as tiny babies love everybody who smiles at them. God loves us, the very people we are; and not only that, but, even against what we ourselves sometimes find plausible, God LIKES us.
Those are great images that might help us take our faith into the deepest parts of ourselves. May the Christ child grow in your heart, making himself ever more evident in your life.
Grace & peace
Geoff
Holiday cheer and visits delayed this. I’d decided to do a re-run anyway. One of the most beautiful post-Christmas pieces I’ve run across can be found in an email of mine from six years ago. Go here:
http://www.whitpresby.org/dec2000_emails.htm#Dec.%2029,%202000
May the spirit of Christmas sink deeply into us, enough so that we may live into this Quaker prayer.
Grace & peace
Geoff
