Meditation: Broken, 2

Unless the perfect blossom blushed with pink

shrivels and dies I have no apple, crisp, 
sharp yet sweet juice running down my chin.

   Perfect and broken, both: 
   perfect because made by God to grow;

   broken because I have forgotten that 
   without death there is no life.

Unless the caterpillar eats its fill
is buried and dies, there is no glory 
of fragile flight, splendour suspended on breath of air.

   Perfect and broken, both: 
   perfect because made by God to grow;

   broken because I have forgotten that 
   without struggle there is no life.

Unless the egg so delicate and of the clearest blue
cracks and opens
I have no song outside my window to greet the dawn.

   Perfect and broken, both: 
   perfect because made by God to grow;

   broken because I have forgotten that 
   without destruction there is no life.

Unless the hydrogen gathers and explodes; unless plates groan in glacial grind, I have no place to stand in wonder of creation.

   Perfect and broken, both: 
   perfect because made by God to grow;

   broken because I have forgotten that 
   without tension there is no life.

Unless my perfect skin, tanned and glowing
becomes spotted and creased, I learn nothing 
from my mistakes, and wisdom fails on Earth.

   Perfect and broken, both: 
   perfect because made by God to grow;

   broken because I have forgotten that 
   without decay there is no life.

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. 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 John 12:24

I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain. But if it dies, it produces much grain and yields a harvest. 

Focus on this passage or the meditation slowly a couple of times.

What word of phrase 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 20 minutes with your word from Jesus, or the word CHANGE or the word GROW. 

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.

Meditation: Citizen of Creation

Reality is incredibly larger, infinitely more exciting, than the flesh and blood vehicle we travel in here. If you read science fiction, the more you read it the more you realize that you and the universe are part of the same thing. 

Science knows still practically nothing about the real nature of matter, energy, dimension, or time; and even less about those remarkable things called life and thought. But whatever the meaning and purpose of this universe, you are a legitimate part of it. 

And since you are part of the all that is, part of its purpose, there is more to you than just this brief speck of existence. You are just a visitor here in this time and this place, a traveller through it.

Gene Roddenberry (creator of Star Trek)

Each of us believes we are

solitary, unique, maybe special, but limited. 

And maybe we are - but my tutored faith in

my loneliness, aloneness, arises from

a logical examination of observable evidence, 

rather than sensitivity to my intuition!

Our sense of our limitations

derives from logic, not fact;

from insecurity, not certainty.

Logic is limited by reliance on observable facts, 

our apparent singularity, our timidity 
and lack of confidence to believe the size of the truth.

Every single atom of our being

comes from the first explosion

of our universe, light and matter created

from chaos and progressively growing in order and purpose.

We think ourselves members of families, towns, even of countries - but I, in fact, am a citizen of creation.

We see ourselves as ordinary, finite and limited;

but, in fact, every atom of my being is extra-

ordinary, eternal, and overflowing with the potential 

of our Creator. We see systems falling apart;

but we must also learn to see surges 

of growth and realisation in our shared awareness.

We are each unlimited and full

of potential unimagined.

We are taught we are flawed and broken;

but our Creator's hand does not make

weak or blemished or cracked.

I am spirit, and a star-born child of Creation.

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 Psalm 8, 3-9

When I look at the sky, which you have made,

    at the moon and the stars, which you set in their places—
    what are human beings, that you think of them;
    mere mortals, that you care for them?

Yet you made them inferior only to yourself;
    you crowned them with glory and honour.
You appointed them rulers over everything you made;
    you placed them over all creation:

    sheep and cattle, and the wild animals too;
    the birds and the fish
    and the creatures in the seas.

O Lord, our Lord,
    your greatness is seen in all the world!

1. Read this passage or the meditation slowly a couple of times.
2. What word of phrase jumps out to speak to you?
3. Why? Try to put yourself into those words. Maybe imagine Jesus speaking, and reply.
4. Then spend 5, or 10, or 20 minutes with those words, or the word GLORY. 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.