Meditation: More than it seems

On Friday this week I joined a group of people on a day of silent retreat.

Being beautiful winter weather: clear, still, and crisp, we took a couple of hours on our own to wander the Gardens of the World at Brightwater.

It was in that time that I was given two moments where time stopped and I experienced the perfection that lies just past the surface of everything we see; the perfection of Creation when we are able see past the filter of our senses into the very heart of things.

1

Golden leaves fall singly
onto a still pond -
still except for the tiny
ripple as each leaf
tumbles gently onto the water.

I gaze at the shining flecks of yellow
scattered over serene water
dark in the shadow of the trees
around me.

My awareness shifts.

Behind the leaves, 
but painted on the water,
floats the tree above,
other leaves reflected behind the real leaves scattered
below.

2

My awareness shifts.

Three white ducks rest
on the bank by the real tree.
One - fussy, active, pushing oil along feathers
with a blunt golden beak, 
as perfectly designed for this as for sifting food
from the floor of the shallow lake. 

The second, mostly still, but aware.

But the third, completely still and separate,
transfigured in a shaft of winter sunlight
glows, radiant, the only movement
a single feather so thin and fine, fluffed, 
ruffled by a breath of gentle breeze.

There is also a fourth duck, in shadow,
unnoticed at first in dappled greys and browns, also
perfect as itself - but getting on with its duck life 
not seeing the luminous perfection so near.

Suggestions for meditation

Always begin by offering your time to God and asking for the grace to grow closer: 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 ask that you guide me now, and each day, closer to you".

The exact words of the prayer are not important but you do need a firm intention to open yourself to God's input.

Read the mediation over slowly a couple of times.

Listen for the personal message for you. There will always be one word or phrase that will reach into your heart. Think of it as the personal meaning God has for you alone!

If you would prefer a more authoritative reading to focus your meditation, try this from Friday's readings, from Psalm 139

O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar. 

R. I praise you for I am wonderfully made.

Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works. 

R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.

My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth. 

R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.

Re-read the passage or the meditation - maybe read it slowly aloud.

Is there a word or phrase that jumps out to speak to you?

Why? Try to put yourself into those words. Maybe imagine Jesus speaking, and reply.

Then spend 5, or 10, or 15 minutes with your word from Jesus, or the word SPIRIT or TRUE.

You need a clear intention to empty your mind of random thoughts (you won't be entirely successful but you need the intention).

You might want to 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/s you have chosen.

Each time your attention moves away from the word/s, push the distraction gently aside and return to the word ("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.