Meditation: At the hour of my death (Psalm 22)

GOOD FRIDAY 2015

Holy Week takes us on a very human journey with Jesus. 

So much Church teaching comes from this story, and sometimes we can get caught up in the meaning and significance of it all. Then we may not give our attention to Jesus' very human anguish and integrity and personal courage - and the roller-coaster of hope and despair that was his last week. 

And then we may not hear the personal message of that for each of us! 
Let Jesus speak to you through David in Psalm 22.

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

    I have cried desperately for help,
but still I die alone.

During the night I called to you, my God,
    but did not hear your answer.
I call again today; I feel a gentle touch
    but still I get no rest.

In all ages your people put their trust in you;

    you calmed their fears,

you showed them hope to strengthen their courage.
    They trusted you, and you saved them.

But I am no longer a human being;

    I am without hope. Today I die

despised and scorned by everyone.

    “You relied on the Lord” they say.
“Why doesn't he save you?”

You have always been with me –

    always given me meaning and purpose.

It was you who brought me safely through my birth,
    and when I was a baby, it was you who kept me safe.

I have relied on you since the day I was born,
    and you have always walked with me.

Hold me close now!
    Trouble is near, and people cannot help.

My strength is gone,
    gone like water spilled on the ground.
All my bones are out of joint;
    my heart is like melted wax.
I am left for dead in the dust.

Always you have been with me when I needed you; 
    my suffering you shared.
Never did you turn away,
    but answered my cries of pain. 

Let me cling to you now in my terror.

O my Creator God, hold me! Wrap me in your warm light, 

    suckle me, let me rest quiet in your arms.

Bring me home.

Suggestions for meditation
Always begin by offering your time to God: something like "My loving God, I love you with my whole heart and above all things. I give you this time when I am reaching out to you" and then a few moments reminding yourself of some of the blessings God has given you - the clear signs of God's love for you.

Read the mediation over slowly a couple of times.

Listen for Jesus' personal message for you.

If you would prefer a Bible reading I suggest the real Psalm 22.

You can begin the meditation using the breathing exercise I suggest in We have two minds. After a minute or two focused on your breathing, move your focus to the word below. 

Then spend 5, or 10, or 20 minutes with the word Alone or the word Death. Either of these words can bring great consolation - but if you prefer a more positive word, try Hope. 

Each time your attention moves away from the word, push the distraction gently aside and return to the word ("without the intervention of analytical thought" as The Cloud of Unknowing puts it).

I have published early this week and will use this psalm (and each of these words) for my meditations during the week.

You may need a countdown clock. 

At the end thank God, and return to your day.

Meditation: Healing touch

Each one reaching deeper 
and touching more than I can see:
   touch of hand
   touch of mind
   touch of spirit
   touch of healing.
Each touch - reaching beyond the me I see
into the depth of me - into my very soul.

Touch of a brother or sister transformed 
each time through the touch of our Creator.

Your touch, graced by God's spirit, 
lights and enfolds and heals my soul.

Who can know the power of that touch?

Human senses note a brief light contact. But
who can know the power spirit adds,
the touch to my heart of the rainbow?

Suggestions for meditations
Always begin by offering your time to God: something like "My loving God, I love you with my whole heart and above all things. I give you this time as I reach out to you" and then a few moments reminding yourself of some of the blessings God has given you - the clear signs of God's love for you.

Read the mediation over slowly a couple of times.

We have each felt moments when we KNOW that we are more than just our body and brain and needs: we each have had hints of an amazing contact with another person (also created by God - our creator). We are graced creations: made in God's image - and God also extends his blessing to every moment, every need. And the more of God's grace and blessing we share with others, the more we are capable of sharing. God's healing grace is not doled out in teaspoons - and when we allow ourselves to feel it, we will never forget it.

If you would prefer a Bible reading I suggest Jesus touch in Matthew 19,13-14. There are plenty of stories of Jesus healing through touch - but try to see what these children felt when Jesus touched them. I often wonder how their lives changed through the touch of his hand, the touch of his words and the touch of his spirit. 

You can begin the meditation using the breathing exercise I suggest in We have two minds.

Then spend 5, or 10, or 20 minutes with the phrase Touch me. Every time you drift off the phrase, gently remind yourself and come back to it ("without the intervention of analytical thought" as The Cloud of Unknowing puts it).

You may need a countdown clock. 
At the end thank God, and return to your day.

Meditation: Psalm 5

Listen to my words, O Lord, and hear my prayers. 

Listen to my cry for help, my God and king! 

I raise my hands to you, O Lord; you hear my voice in the morning;

at sunrise I offer my prayer and wait for your answer. 

Because of your great love you reveal 

yourself to me in these moments of beauty 

and still perfection.

You come to me in your creation. 

I have enemies in the world - but 

they never damage me as my internal demons.

Lord, I resist my distractions and resentments, 
but I call on your help.

Help me deflect my anxieties and fears;

to put to one side thoughts of doom, 

lies to separate me 

from my people and my creator. 

Lord, give me a mind rooted in affection 

and compassion so that your path for me

remains clear and well signposted.

In your love

lead me to do your will; make your way plain for me to follow.

Help me cling to your love and constancy.

I know my false steps - but too

I know that you see me at my birth 

and as the sun sets on my arrival. 

My spirit finds safety in you - my heart lifts in joy.

Protect me. Guide me and all who seek you

my God; your love enfolds me and holds me
and makes me shine. 

Suggestions for meditations
Always begin by offering your time to God: something like "My loving God, I love you with my whole heart and above all things. I give you this time when I am reaching out to you" and then a few moments reminding yourself of some of the blessings God has given you - the clear signs of God's love for you.
Read the mediation over slowly a couple of times.
David had plenty of external enemies - but had to fight his internal demons all his life: his hungers and ambitions and the tension between what he could get away with as God's chosen and all-powerful king, and the deep certainties of his heart.
If you would prefer a Bible reading I suggest Psalm 5.
You can begin the meditation using the breathing exercise I suggest in We have two minds.
Then spend 5, or 10, or 20 minutes with the phrase Guide me. Every time you drift off the word, gently remind yourself and come back to it ("without the intervention of analytical thought" as The Cloud of Unknowing puts it).
You may need a countdown clock. 
At the end thank God, and return to your day.

Meditation: Don't build here

The members of the early Church were hugely enthusiastic about sharing the message of Jesus - and many travelled to share the good word. There is plenty of evidence that Thomas made it to India, where he seems to have been martyred. So India is a very early outpost of the new Church. There was an archway in Northern India that had this message inscribed on it.

                   This world is only a bridge. 

Cross over it, but do not build your house on it! 

We think we are builders - so few days 
to establish so much: career, relationships, 
house and legacy all to build,

immortality through our children.
So much fear that no-one 
will remember or care! 

My life here is a journey:
born with nothing - leave 
with nothing but my loves 

the lessons I have learned in
my heart. I can carry no more 
across the bridge to my home.

My path seems not straight and 
sometimes I do not see 
the milestones until I look back!

But your constant love lights my way
and the other side, my destination, 
obscured by mist, is not entirely hidden.

My God, guard my lamp always.
Walk with me. Help me walk each day 
one step on my path home to you.


Suggestions for meditations
Always begin by offering your time to God: something like "My loving God, I love you with my whole heart and above all things. I give you this time when I am reaching out to you" and then a few moments reminding yourself of some of the blessings God has given you - the clear signs of God's love for you.
Read the mediation over slowly a couple of times.
We all have moments when we seem adrift, when our lives seem without purpose or direction (and sometimes without hope). I love that we are on a bridge, maybe a wide bridge, maybe a Japanese garden bridge with gaps so the evil spirits cannot cross to our home. But a bridge, in the end, is quite simple: it begins on one side and has a destination on the other. We may feel lost, but the other side is always there!
If you would prefer a Bible reading I suggest Matthew 6, 19-21 and/or 22-24.
You can begin the meditation using the breathing exercise I suggest in We have two minds.
Then spend 5, or 10, or 20 minutes with the word Journey. Every time you drift off the word, gently remind yourself and come back to it ("without the intervention of analytical thought" as The Cloud of Unknowing puts it).
You may need a countdown clock. 

At the end thank God, and return to your day.

Meditation: Graces

In the very act of my creation,
in my making in God's image some 
God-blessing entered me and 
is part of who I am.

I am blessed.

This spark of God within me is 
always in me, masked by human senses
and appetites, denied by human thoughts, 
startling me with flashes of beauty and vision.

I am blessed 
by God.

God daily adds strength and grace 
and love and beauty to my life;
my richness grows in richness -  
God-blessing drawing new blessings.

I am blessed 
by God in my beginning.

Every need draws new strength,
new insight, new certainty,
new ability to step beyond 
human perceptions and physics.

I am blessed 
by God in my beginning, now, and always.


Suggestions for meditations
Always begin by offering your time to God: something like "My loving God, I love you with my whole heart and above all things. I give you this time as I reach out to you" and then a few moments reminding yourself of some of the blessings God has given you - the clear signs of God's love for you.

Read the mediation over slowly a couple of times.

We have each felt moments when we KNOW that we are more than just our body and brain and needs: we each have had hints of immortality. We are graced creations: made in God's image - but God also extends his blessing to every moment, every need. And the more of God's grace we accept, the more we are capable of accepting. God's grace is not doled out in teaspoons - it is a flood.

If you would prefer a Bible reading I suggest any of the Kingdom parables in Matthew 13: stories of huge unexpected and unearned increase. 

You can begin the meditation using the breathing exercise I suggest in We have two minds.

Then spend 5, or 10, or 20 minutes with the word Graces. Every time you drift off the word, gently remind yourself and come back to it ("without the intervention of analytical thought" as The Cloud of Unknowing puts it).

You may need a countdown clock. 

At the end thank God, and return to your day.

Meditation: Greetings on the trail

Our humanity comes to its fullest bloom in giving. We become beautiful people when we give whatever we can give: a smile, a handshake, a kiss, an embrace, a word of love, a present, a part of our life...all of our life.

Henri Nouwen. Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World


Behind the glare of glass we see  
coloured tons of speeding metal - not 
people. Walking the streets, so many 
people. We ignore them and hurry on

afraid to stop and make contact.
But on the the bike trail young old
male female biking or walking the dog
each one smiles and speaks a word.

Eye contact is also contact - each touch
of spirit reminding us although
separate, we are one - created beings
united in our creator's mind,

wholly loved sons and daughters.

Suggestions for meditations
Always begin by offering your time to God: something like "My loving God, I love you with my whole heart and above all things. I give you this time as I reach out to you" and then a few moments reminding yourself of some of the blessings God has given you - the clear signs of God's love for you.
Read the mediation over slowly a couple of times.
These are moments I have felt a personal contact with strangers - or been ignored and treated as a non-person by strangers! When have you felt a link with strangers to remind you are we are all brothers and sisters sharing one Father?
If you would prefer a Bible reading I suggest Luke 24:13-55 where the disciples begin to see on the road to Emmaus.
You can begin the meditation using the breathing exercise I suggest in We have two minds.
Then spend 5, or 10, or 20 minutes with the word Gifts or the word One. Every time you drift off the word, gently remind yourself and come back to it ("without the intervention of analytical thought" as The Cloud of Unknowing puts it).
You may need a countdown clock. 

At the end thank God, and return to your day.

Meditation: Become a passer-by

There was a saying in the early Church, attributed to Jesus, that we must "become passers-by" (Thomas 42). And that fits really well with our preparation for Easter. 
This is the month we remind ourselves that we are spiritual beings and that the little comforts of the material world are, in fact, without meaning. Traditionally we give things up for Lent, mostly to remind ourselves that we can survive very well without our pleasures and luxuries.
Created by a spiritual master, we are not to be a people tied to luxuries, or consumer or material goods. We are window-shoppers, passers-by. We are visitors, tourists, temporary residents. 
We are here on a visa.
We look, maybe admire the craftsmanship, but we know we do not own or possess, and must never treasure. This land was never ours. 
Creation belongs to only one: its creator.
And we need to work to become the person imagined by that Creator; and we do the work because we know that where our treasure is, there will be our hearts too.

Step aside, it is not yours. 
The things we are taught to covet,
nice to touch - but never ours.

Security, bank accounts, best house: 
never ours, but make us believe 
we are safe, secure, need never die.

Be passers-by. Look, use, 
but let them go. When I move on, 
they must stay. Ownership passes. 

Look, but pass it by.


Suggestions for meditations
Always begin by offering your time to God: something like "My loving God, I love you with my whole heart and above all things. I give you this time when I am reaching out to you" and then a few moments reminding yourself of some of the blessings God has given you - the clear signs of God's love for you.
Read the mediation over slowly a couple of times.
These are things that I have coveted in the past or still. What do you need to make you feel secure and safe?
If you would prefer a Bible reading I suggest Luke 12, 22-34.
You can begin the meditation using the breathing exercise I suggest in We have two minds.
Then spend 5, or 10, or 20 minutes with the word Passing-by. Every time you drift off the word, gently remind yourself and come back to it ("without the intervention of analytical thought" as The Cloud of Unknowing puts it).
You may need a countdown clock. 
At the end thank God, and return to your day.