Message from the Rector
Ow sos ger,
As we prepare for the season of Christmas, let us first attend to the period of Advent where we must learn to wait and to anticipate. We often think of this time as a period of preparation, today I was challenged as I thought about this, to think about how often we distract us ourselves from the uncomfortable feeling of waiting, of not being in control of the outcome. It is something that we get to experience from time to time and most people I would suggest find waiting difficult to handle, such as waiting for a dentist appointment to come through, waiting for the birth of a baby, waiting for the bus, waiting on the end of a phone.
We live in a culture that is obsessed with getting everything instantly, fast food, fast internet, fast service, fast cars, fast bicycles…the list goes on. As a Christian I have often heard the expression that we are called to live counter culturally, that sometimes in ways quite small we try to buck the status quo and intentionally do things differently. I would like to suggest that an antidote to the ever-increasing speed of things, that we as Christians need to take some time to slow down. To take time to appreciate the season we are in. Rather than rush into the next great idea, that we need to pause, be still and seek God’s wisdom. I spoke on Sunday about the need to practice silence and stillness, another counter cultural practice, to find the heartbeat of God deep within, we can only find it if we slow ourselves down and seek to listen, to hear from God…I often speak about this as having a heart to heart, or entering the hermitage within, the place where God has sewn Godself into our very being…sometimes it helps to occupy our bodies, for example by gardening, or cooking, or painting, activities that keep our bodies active but allow our brains to rest into stillness. This is the beginning of the art of contemplation. It is where wisdom is shared between God and yourself.
Of course, ww must test any words received, any images, visions, my first step to test them is to ask does this word, image, impression help me to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, strength and mind, and does it help you to love your neighbour as yourself i.e. does it bring about good for them?
Another distraction that we allow ourselves to experience eis the planning and preparation for friends and families to visit or to be visited. This is meant to be a time of blessing one another, of thankfulness, so if you feel that things are running away with themselves remember the lovely words of the psalmist…Be still, and know that I am God;(Ps 46:10).
There is a lovely exercise, if you’d like to try it.
Take a few moments to gather your senses, to slow your breathing…on the out breath say…"be still and know that I am God…”
Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in saying “be still and know that I am”, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out saying “be still and know”, next time reduce this to “be still”, and the next time…”be…”
Enjoy the silence and stillness just for a minute or two -or if you’re loving it ten mins. Finish by saying the Lord’s prayer,
Go in peace and rest in the Lord,
Gras ha kres,
Caroline
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