Over the last year I have found that life has been tough for various reasons, in bits and pieces I might cope with them all, but one after another in a relentless overlapping procession has left me drained and in need of resources that bring life.
Sometimes even those resources are hard to lay my hands on, but even then if I choose to be mindful the memory of them can be sustaining. I am reminded of the words of Psalm 139:
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Sometimes even those resources are hard to lay my hands on, but even then if I choose to be mindful the memory of them can be sustaining. I am reminded of the words of Psalm 139:
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
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If I go up to the heavens,you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
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If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
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even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
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If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
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even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
So I wonder,
- What brings you light in the dark places? One of our teens in the parish who has had a wonderful experience of God asked me a couple of weeks ago, "Does God ever seem far away?" I smiled sort of ruefully and said: "I am afraid that God is often feels like you are looking for him through the wrong end of a pair of binoculars." She said, "How can I get that closeness back." "YOU can't." I said. "When you need the Holy again, the Spirit will come. Meanwhile you stay close to those who love God. That is what real faith is." I am not sure where that answer came from, but I have depended upon the Spirit for a long time now and I guess that is where it came from. The light for this extrovert is nearly always with others who are also filled by that hope in the Holy.
- How do you connect/reconnect with God, and where do you find him/her holding you?
Meditation is generally the way I get myself back to a place where God can get through to me. I
need to find a way to find my own silence before I can hear or feel the Holy. More often than not
I can't control what or how God is going to attend to me. Reconnecting is not my job; I just need to be faithful, to be there when God comes. It is my willingness to wait that I call faith. I trust the Holy will touch me sometime. It may not be when I want it but it eventually comes when I NEED it. The important thing is that I have to remain faithful--ready and waiting even when I am dry as a bone.
3. Is there a prayer/poem/piece of liturgy that speaks life/sustains you?
You have already used one--Psalm 139. Another is Sirach Chapter 2.
4. Is there a piece of music that lifts your heart?(share it or a link to it)
I don't know how to link music or youtube so I will tell you: I love classical music. I put on the
classical radio station and that often will do the trick. Sometimes I need to listen to Gregorian
chant, the Anonymous Four or even chant from different religious tradition. Even sometimes the guttural sounds of Tibetan monks loosen the tension that allows me to open myself and wait for the silence of holiness. Often it is very quiet music in the background that only serves to support my prayer rather than focus my attention. I especially love the Brahms' Requiem, Mozart's Requiem, music that I have sung in choir for dog's years.
Bonus; Add pictures to any /all of these :-)
4 comments:
fantastic pictures, and as for Gregorian Chant, oh yes!!!
Lovely...
Psalm 139, for every time and all times. out in the weather, too--peace!
prairie roads and prairie skies, OH YES!
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