Laurence Freeman's book, Web of Silence is a compilation of 12 "letters to meditators," and is a thought provoking read. I love that as our small group of meditators continue to come together on a weekly basis, I am discovering a sense of being part of something much larger than I was previously envisioning. While I have often said that we are connected to one another in surprising ways, my sense of this connection is deepening. We are simply, and wonderfully, a part of God's greater more.
Yesterday, after our meditation, we talked of learning acceptance and surrender. I know some people find the idea of surrender uncomfortable for it brings to mind all sorts of frightening images. Yet, if we do not learn to surrender to our lives in and to this moment, we cannot surrender our lives to God. Faith is truly a come as you are journey. I can't take this journey, which is a journey to God, in any other body, in any other mind, but the one I have today. At times, I think I am woefully inadequate. However, I must keep reminding myself that God never sees any of us as inadequate. As the psalmist says, we are "fearfully and wonderfully made."*
Because I do believe that we are part of a great web, I was not too surprised when I opened Father Freeman's book this morning and discovered the following passage concerning surrender:
Meditation in this Christian perspective is an act of trust and surrender. It is empowered by the core Christian intuition that our spiritual journey matters deeply, ultimately not only to ourselves but to God to whom we are travelling. Our act of surrender, then, does not diminish us. Only partial surrenders humiliate. The all-trusting surrender of egotism in the shamelessness of mediation leaves us not less dignified but more humble, more real; and more at peace with ourselves because we are more at one with our true selves.
If you have ever spent some time at the bedside of someone who is at peace while their physical journey is coming to a close, you may have witnessed the peace of such reconciliation. I have experienced that peace filling a room and the hearts of those who drew near. Every time we sit down to our practice, we are practicing that art. January 6, 2021 would have been a very different day had the instigators learned that God is not found in the burnt offerings of ideologies, but rather in our surrender to the great love in which we are held. Only then, can we find our freedom. Only then, can we live out our part in God's greater good.
*Psalm 139:14
image: San Leandro, October 2021. I love the fact that the flowers of this tropical milkweed resemble a choir singing joyously of life.
Group meditation in the Christian tradition is held most Wednesdays at 4:00 p.m. via Zoom. You are welcome to join us.
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