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Great Thinkers in the History of the Church (no. 13)
Just as water falling a drop at a time onto the fire in the end puts it out, so tears of sincere sorrow damp down in us the flame of anger and contempt. Then gentleness arrives, a deep tranquility of soul, which is untroubled either by honours or by ridicule.
—St. John Climacus (b. ca. 525), Stairway to Paradise
Prayer
Spirit of Christ, You are the Word in Whom I discover that I live in God and God lives in me. I often get entangled in my own thoughts or happenings around me and forget that amazing and liberating truth. I commit myself to a daily practice of awareness in prayer and living. Grant me strength and wisdom, resolve and love, to fulfill this commitment to Your honor and my good. Amen.
Comments
Where do we live? “We live in the Presence of God,” writes Emmet Fox (1886-1951, Around the Year with Emmet Fox). St. Paul speaks, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring” (Acts 17.28, ESV). The ending quote goes at least back to Aratus, a Greek poet of the 3rd Century BCE.
A story widely told tells of a party of shipwrecked sailors drifting on the Atlantic Ocean. The sailors were suffering from thirst. Another boat came along. The shipwrecked mariners called for help. The other sailors yelled, “Let down your bucket!” This sounded ridiculous. After, however, repetition of the instructions several times, a sailor dropped a bucket overboard into the sea. To his surprise he drew up fresh water. For several days the thirsty crew had been sailing on fresh water, but they did not know it. Though out of sight of land, they were still within the fresh water being carried by the Amazon many miles into the sea.
The path of Christ is the way to the realization of the Kingdom of God. This realization goes beyond religion, doctrine, and spiritual practices. Faith and its practices, along with ritual and doctrine, are means of Grace reflective of the realization and grow out of the realization.
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This Way is the experience of the Kingdom of God as the Presence of the One. Faith does not make present the Presence of God. Faith makes us present to the Presence of God-in-Christ. The Holy Spirit is the One effecting this openness to the Father, through the Word, Christ.
So, what do we do to begin enjoying the Presence of God, this Being of Aliveness and Freshness we live in as derived beings, sons and daughters? Toni Packer speaks of the Zen practice of “open listening” (Josh Baran, Ed. 365 Nirvana Here and Now). “Open listening” sounds so simple, but contacting the Kingdom of God is simple. One does not have to be an expert theologian or delve into esoteric teachings.
You can experience the Presence by simply opening your heart here and now to whatever presents itself. Why? God is always present in whatever and whoever is present with us.
Remind yourself often that you live in the Presence of God. God is your home address. You do not have to feel some sense of the Presence to enjoy living there. In fact, through contemplation, we learn to enjoy the inner certainty of living in the Presence without feeling we must feel some different feeling to have that enjoyment.
Let go of expecting special feelings to confirm the Presence of the Beloved. Those very expectations often block the sensation of the Presence. Affirm living in the Presence, a Presence equally present everywhere and equally present to you, always.
Meditate on Acts 17.28. What does the passage say to you about God being present to you? To every person? Do you tend to equate the Presence of God to particular feelings? Explain. How might you practice affirming the Presence of Christ without depending on particular feelings?
Go into prayerful meditation. Use the following prayer sentence: I am with you. Repeat it, aligning it with the inflow and outflow of breath. With each repetition, stress a word. Do this in succession, beginning with "I," then "am," ... Continue this until you are ready to enjoy the Silence of being silently present to the Spirit of God within and around you.
*First edition, August 4, 2006
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