Easy to become distracted

 Often when I go to the supermarket I can have an intention to buy one particular thing and end up buying many things that have attracted my attention. There is probably a science that has been created to gather things we think we may need but then wonder why we bought them. It seemed important at the time but when we return home we find that we have not found the very thing that we needed.

I believe we encounter the same thing in spiritual life. We enter into prayer so that we can grow in a deeper relationship with God. This is allowing us time to quiet the mind and the heart from the many thoughts and emotions that can flood in when we sit down for a time of reflection. We can become caught in a cycle of mental or emotional acrobatics as we swing from one thing to the next. Yet the time of contemplation is to notice that moment when we release ourselves from what is familiar towards the trapeze which swings before us. In mid-flight, we can panic realizing that we are mid-air with nothing to support us. This can feel unfamiliar and this can cause us to notice our own vulnerability of leaping out into the dark. Yet if we allow ourselves to relax we are caught in a moment where we can trust that we will be caught by the person we have launched ourselves towards.

This is the trust where we allow our day to unfold out of this prayerful space. It allows us to notice that there is a dynamic tension in which God calls us to let go and trust. In this very moment, we discover a way of living that notices the present moment where God is at work and gives us direction and purpose. This allows us to use all our gifts to be available to God and others as the person we are called to become. We focus on what is needed for this moment and this time.

Called to sit down and eat

 In the midst of a flow of activity, we have the precious opportunity to sit down with another to share a meal. Over the pandemic, these meals have become more infrequent as we have been called to eat in our own homes away from the people we would have liked to invite. As movement and travel become more possible we can tend to rush from activity to activity in a rush to make up for the lost time. Yet it may be a time to treasure what we have discovered during this time. I believe three things are important sharing time, sharing ourselves, and sharing the stillness.

What I have noticed is that our approach to time is often chronological. We look to measure and allocate time to certain tasks. This is almost making a shopping list of our days where we place more importance on some things rather than others. There can be a sense of collecting experiences and being present to none. However, the pausing to be present to the other is the greatest gift we have to offer. This is more about discovering the way we can be present rather than distracted by many activities. As we gather for Eucharist this is when we cross the threshold in which time seems to stand still and we can encounter God in liminal space. Where we discover what truly speaks to our soul.

In this sharing of ourselves, we discover that we have the ability to give and receive. We are able to notice how we are nourished and what fills us with hope. This is not a magical formula but rather a learned understanding that when we are available to others we discover a deeper communion for ourselves. The disciples discovered this when they called the 5000 to sit down in groups of 50. It was that in their midst they were not just going to be fed but that they truly saw each other. This is why we gather for Eucharist. It is the need to encounter each other as God gathers us together. We are not called to live in splendid isolation but in a deeper communion that sustains us and helps us grow.

Then in the midst of time and space, we are called to grow still. This stillness is where we can become one with God and one with each other. The place where we truly listen from the depth of our hearts. This is a communal act where we recognize that God reaches out to us and sustains us with charity. It helps us to notice those in our community who need to be fed and housed. In an age where people are homeless and hungry, we can seek to be people who sustain others with the basic necessities of life. It calls for a heart for the poor as people like us who also need to be fed and provided a home.

Our Eucharistic life is not just a private act reserved for Sundays but a way of life that seeks to proclaim the Good News to our world. By gathering together we become one with Christ and one with each other. This incarnate way of living is not about what we consume but how our lives are consummated by the sacrament we receive. We receive Christ so that we become one with him to live his life for others not just for ourselves.

The Divine Dance

 In Bette Midler’s song “From a distance” there is an image portrayed that God watches us from a place far far away. This can be tempting to see God as an entity that exists somehow out of the plane of our existence. Almost a God who sets everything in motion and then sits back to see what happens. This is an image of a God who is a spectator to what has been created rather than an active involvement with creation.

I believe this is the importance of the celebration of the Solemnity of the Trinity. It shows us that God is at the heart of creation and is passionately involved with who we seek to become. As a Father, he seeks to reveal to us not only the goodness of creation but also the goodness of our creation. The Son as the creative Word helps us to articulate that in a way that can be understood and lived. The Spirit engages us as a living water welling from the source of creation to quench our thirst.

So we hear in Wisdom how God is ever creative and ever new. The image of God as the master craftsman ever at play brings forth delight in what is created. The sense of this creation is something that does not see God as remote or distant from what is created. There is a natural wonder raised up in people as they contemplate the diverse nature of the world of which they are a part. This can be noticed when we break out of the confines of the city but is also present when we notice the cycle of the seasons which envelop us and enwrap us with their beauty. We are not called to be mere spectators but participants who are renewed and enlightened with the life around us and within us.

It is recognizing that we see this incarnate truth through the person of Christ, which embodies this wonder within his person. The creative word becomes one with creation so that we can understand our true nature that grows in relationship with God. We are drawn into a mystery that is recreated within us and through us. We are one with God, in communion with each other and recreated with the vision of God. This once again is at the heart of our concern for each other who are created in the image and likeness of God. We are called to experience the same divine life, which gazes upon the world. It enlivens us to not stand by when people are in great need but seeks to nourish, reconcile and heal those who are burdened by suffering both physically and spiritually. To become people whose patience and perseverance bring forth hope.

This can allow us to discover how the Spirit is at play in befriending us with a spirit that seeks out God in all things. It helps us to build on the sacred underpinnings that are at the heart of life. They help us to become stewards of creation and counselors for humanity. We do not stand apart from creation but are drawn into the heart of the voice that breathes life into the world. We become part of the divine dance that notices the dance, the dancer, and the dancing. A God who is ever-creative, ever new.

Thus, the Trinity invites us into a relationship with the heart of life that breaks through the barriers that can appear between us. The places where we can distance ourselves from God and that distance us from each other. This divine relationship reshapes our vision to look at the heart of creation with the eyes of God. It no longer limits us to an image of sin and repentance but rather embraces us in the spirit of the Goodness of creation and our salvation. No longer are we strangers to God but he seeks at the heart of the mystery of the Trinity to behold and befriend us and to labor with us for the good of the whole of creation. In this, we see echoes of what St Cyril of Jerusalem notices when he says “In each person, Scripture says, the Spirit reveals his presence in a particular way for the common good.” 

A new Pentecost

Travelling during a pandemic presents its own challenges. Often we can expect things to be as they were before. We become familiar with old ways of acting and living. This can cause us confusion and frustration when presented with a new way of experiencing life. This is not just about long queues, rising costs or cancellations. Rather it is how we meet God along the way amongst different languages and different cultures.

What Pentecost teaches us is that God wants to be communicated to every nation in a language which unites. This is how we are moved by God’s Spirit to listen. We often run around with many thoughts in our heads, plans to be made and things to be achieved. When we speak it seems to come out in a jumble and we wonder whether we have been clearly understood. We worry that our words are not adequate to express what we feel deep inside.

Yet it is this quiet still voice which opens up the possibility to be known. This is what happens in prayer. It is not about finding the right formula but rather discovering who we are called to be in the presence of God. We become stilled and speak in a language which does not need words. It is from this still place that we can be present to others. To become grace filled and grace led.

May the Spirit of God fall afresh on us that we may live from that relationship which sets us on fire for the love of God who always loves us first.