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Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing
There is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
The world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other,
Doesn’t make any sense.
—RUMI: THE BOOK OF LOVE: Poems of Ecstasy and Longing,
trans. Coleman Barks
I wrote a friend recently about how almost nothing I am reading speaks to me. My friend wrote this back to me: maybe the pleasure of your company is all that is required for the moment. That I have reflected on the last days, and it has been true. I am finding a deep peace in simply being with God and, also, other persons. I read a little; I practice simply being with the Mystery a lot. I feel the need to get outside and be with Nature, too, as a manifestation of God, Who is Love.
On Christmas Day and after a mid-afternoon dinner with a family, I sat outside in my yard. Looking into the sky, I tried to express love to the Spirit. I felt so close to the Spirit, but I was blocked from expressing love. I was blocked for the One was giving me love. So, I ceased trying to pray to and enjoyed prayer as receiving from the Love love.
Imagine a God Who is Love. Would not that God long to receive love? Would not that God long to give love? Would not that God enjoy simply being in your presence, sharing heart-to-heart at a level only true lovers share together? Will we allow ourselves, then, to soften our more powerful images of God and let come to the fore the more gentle, nurturing, maternal, and romantic images of God? Will we let God be our love, our beloved, loving us for a time of silence and aloneness each day? Will we let ourselves relax and just be in that field that Rumi refers to, where even the words each other no longer make sense of the union we are feeling?
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Spiritual Exercise
Remind yourself today that you are a very special person and deserve and can enjoy time to simply be. Find a place, inside or outside. The place could be a closet, a room, your yard, a park, a vehicle…. For that time simply relax. Smile. If in nature or before a sacred object inside, gazing can calm and center you. Or, you can close your eyes and focus on your breathing, for a time breathing in “Precious Moment,” breathing out “Wonderful Moment,” breathing in “Thank you,” and allowing the second outbreath to be in silence. Then, start the cycle again with the next inbreath. As you become very relaxed and your breathing is growing very calm, cease internally speaking the prayer. Simply rest, smiling, appreciating the texture of the moment, as in the sounds you hear, the sensation of the body, the feel of a breeze or the air upon your face, … If laughter arises that is okay. If you need to cry, then, cry. If you feel so joyful you need to shout out, do that. If you feel an urge to stand and dance, do that: do not worry that you might not be a good dancer, just dance. If you sense music arising, then sing: again, do not think about whether you are singing well or not, just sing. If you need to bow or prostrate on the ground or floor, then, do that. Enjoy this special time you reserve for yourself, for you deserve it and in keeping it you honor your sacredness.
OneLife Ministries is a pastoral outreach and nurture ministry of the First United Methodist Church, Fort Meade, FL. For Spiritual Direction, Pastoral Counseling, spiritual formation workshops, Christian meditation retreats, or more information about OneLife, write Rev. Dr. Brian K. Wilcox at briankwilcox@comcast.net.
Brian's book of mystical love poetry, An Ache for Union, can be ordered through major bookdealers.
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