Pilgrimage to Easter: Day 3

Meditation for Friday 12 February
... from the readings of the day:

Your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed.
Isaiah 58,8

Spirit am I

animating a body of nerve-endings,
in thrall to a world of instant response
and pleasure, barely aware of my heart.

You too are Spirit:

my brother, my sister, a being of light

invisible to me in the package you wear: 
your wrapping hiding the light inside

disguising your true beauty. 
I must reach past your disguise of difference:
race and class and poverty, to finally see
and touch your light.

Only then will my Spirit begin
to glimmer for others. Only then 
can my light shine. Only then will 
God-in-me be seen on Earth again.

Only then can I be truly whole.

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 when I am reaching out to you and ask that you guide me 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 one of today's readings, Isaiah 58,6-8

This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly,untying the thongs of the yoke; 

Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; 

Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; 

Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. 

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed.

Focus on a significant word or phrase in this passage or the meditation for a few moments.

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 15 minutes with your word from Jesus, or the word LOVE. 

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: Namaste

I have always been fascinated with greetings, farewells and little habits of speech that we use so often we have forgotten their meaning: peace be with you, God bless, bless you, good morning, kia ora, shalom, good-on-you, fare-well, good-bye. One I encountered recently is the Hindu greeting (said with a bow and a prayer gesture), Namaste, which means ...

The light in me, sensing the light in you

bows to acknowledge its twin.

The light in me, knowing your light

reaches out to let your brightness in.

Refusing to see the rough skin of the package –

the tired string that keeps it all in,

the light that is the real me

rushes to touch your light shining within.

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.
I try to see the light in people. I sometimes seem to see Jesus looking back at me when I am talking to someone in distress. Think about moments you have seen the extra-ordinary in someone else.
If you would prefer a Bible reading I suggest Luke 24, 30-35.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

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 Light in me or God in 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.