Presence

The more we call on God the more we can feel God's presence. Day by day we are drawn closer to the loving heart of God. Awareness of the Presence of God If someone asked you to give them another word for 'God', you could use the word 'Presence', for that is what God is. When Moses asked Yahweh his name, Yahweh replied, 'I am who am' and this means 'I am present'. God is really saying, 'I shall be there for you.' God is intimately present to everything, and especially to us. Jesus's name is Emmanuel, which means 'God is with us'. Matthew's Gospel ends with the marvellous statement: Know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time. (from Finding God in All Things by Brian Grogan SJ) Now for something completely different: Sit in your chair, upright but comfortable, with your back supported. Let your body relax (without slouching), with your feet on the floor in front of you and your hands at rest on your thighs or joined in your lap. Close your eyes, or fix them on some point in front of you. Now let your whole attention focus on what you can feel in your body. You may start at your feet and work upwards, letting your attention dwell, perhaps only for a few seconds, on whatever part of the body you can feel, shifting attention from one part of the body to the other, although the longer you can hold attention on one part, the better. Your attention is on what you are feeling, not on thoughts about feeling. If you are uncomfortable, or itch or want to move position, just acknowledge the discomfort, assure yourself that it is all right and, without moving, continue to focus attention on what you can feel in the body. The mind rarely leaves us long in peace to do this, but begins to demand attention with comment and questions: This is a waste of valuable time. What has this to do with prayer? Is this some kind of Hindu thing? What is the point of it? Deal with the questions and comment as you dealt with the itch; acknowledge them, then return to feeling the body. You can, if you like, move into more explicit prayer by repeating to yourself St Paul's phrase, In him I live, and move, and have my being. (adapted from God of Surprises by Gerry W Hughes SJ) Breathing Exercise This exercise involves concentrating all your attention on the physical feelings of breathing in and breathing out, without deliberately changing the rhythm of your breathing. Focus attention on feeling the cold air entering your nostrils and the warm air when you exhale. At first you may become self conscious about your breathing and find it becomes irregular, but this does not, as a rule, continue. If it were to do so, and you find yourself becoming breathless, then this exercise is not for you at present. Most people find that on doing this exercise the pattern of their breathing changes, the breath becoming deeper and slower, and they begin to feel drowsy. In itself, it is a very good relaxation exercise, but if you care to use it for more explicit prayer, then let the inbreathing express all that you long for in life, however impossible it may seem in practice, and let the out-breath express your surrender of everything to God, all of your life with its worries, sins, guilt and regrets. It is important to do this without self-judgement, whether of approval or disapproval. Keep your attention fixed on your desire to hand over all these worries about self, and do not clutch at them as if they were a treasured possession. (adapted from God of Surprises by Gerry W Hughes SJ) how did that go for you? tell me what you think.

His Resurrection Destiny

Today I am going to go back to an old favorite of mine for a devotion - "My Utmost For His Highest", by Oswald Chambers. I find this writings very challenging, not just in his choice of words, but in his thoughts as well.

"Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?" - Luke 24:26

Our Lord's cross is the gateway into His life: His Resurrection means that He has power now to convey His life to me. When I am born again from above, I recieve from the Risen Lord His very life.

Our Lord's resurrection destiny is to bring "many sons unto glory." The fulfilling of His destiny gives Him the right to make us sons and daughters of God. We are never in the relationship to God that the Son of God is in; but we are brought by the Son into the relation of sonship. When our Lord rose from the dead, He rose to an absoutely new life, to a life He did not live before He was incarnate. He rose to a life that had never been before; and His resurrection means for us that we are raised to His risen life, not to our old life. One day we shall have a body like unto His glorious body, but we can know now the efficacy of His resurrecction and walk in newness of life. "I would know Him in the power of His resurrection."

See what I mean about his choice of words. Pretty powerful and really reaches you with is vocabulary. Now what does this mean to you? I welcome your thoughts as we approach Easter.