October 2017
A Contemplative Exercise for October 2017
The following
is a possible framework for the Witnessing of the Word. It can be personalised,
or altered: its purpose is to serve as an example of how this Saying might be
used primarily in the context of a Prayer Group, but it may be used by
individuals if so wished. It is not intended to be definitive.
In the
context of a group: the periods of silence should be appropriate for your group
- probably not less than 5 minutes, or more than 15 minutes.
Saying for the month
“I have created humankind…he shall build my city” Isaiah 45.12-13
To begin the
exercise, first spend a short while in relaxation and preparing to be still,
becoming aware of the sounds around us and offering this time of prayer and our
self to God.
Say this
introductory invitation to prayer, keeping a further minute or two of silence:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give
you rest" Matthew 11.28
Introduction to the first silence - a preparation
for listening with the mind:
As
explored in the contemplative exercise for September, the words “I AM
understanding” from Proverbs 8.14 emphasise the ‘under-standing, or standing
under’ nature of God. They recognise the link between Divine Wisdom and the
human gift of empathy – feeling with, and giving support to, a fellow human
being. This understanding nature of God is particularly revealed in the book of
Isaiah: judgement and forgiveness are both dispensed, warnings of punishment go
hand in hand with infinite love and tenderness.
In
this chapter of Isaiah, we are reminded yet again of God’s love for his people
– the people made by him expressly to inhabit the world he has created. There
are constant reassurances: “I will go before you” (v2); “I call you by name”
(v4); “I gird you, though you do not know me” (v5). Throughout it all God
declares again and again “I am the Lord, and there is no other”: he is the God
who made humankind in his image, to love and be loved by the creator. The
people have been weak and rebellious and have suffered much, but in these
middle chapters of the book of Isaiah, comfort and forgiveness and infinite
love are promised to them. Gradually the new theme begins to unfold – God’s
plan to open the eyes of the whole world and bring salvation to all humankind.
This purpose will ultimately be fulfilled, not through the nation alone but
through the one who will be God’s true servant.
The
rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple is promised (44.28) and the assurance is
that from the destruction and devastation of the exile will rise a new city.
The building of the new Jerusalem, upon which the people’s hopes were fixed, is
in fact only a finite step in God’s plan for his world and his people – the
gathering into One of the whole of creation.
(In the Sayings section of the website – under ‘Some
Sayings to use’ - you will find a commentary on this month’s saying, pursuing
this theme.)
We
spend our first silence listening to the Saying with our minds. We have
‘ploughed up the ground’; now we allow these words to sink into the prepared
soil…
“I have created humankind…he shall build my
city”
A time is now
kept for silence of the mind - between 5 and 15 minutes
The silence concludes
with a short thanksgiving, and/or repeat the Saying:
Father, we
thank you for the gift of your Word.
Introduction to the second silence - a preparation for listening with the
heart:
“I have created humankind…he shall build my
city”
A time for silence
of the heart - between 5 and 15 minutes
The
prophet Isaiah has the ability to see what is happening to the people in his
own time as the embodiment and working out of principles which are for all times and for all peoples. As we read and study Scripture, we try to appreciate
what the words meant in their particular place and time, but we also try to see
their relevance to us in our own context.
One
of the wonders of our creation and our search to understand its workings is the
contrast between the immensely vast and the infinitesimally small. Never have
we been so aware of this as in the modern world, as the boundaries of the
universe are pushed further and further away. Hand in hand with this, modern
particle physics tells us of the quarks that are held together by gluons,
together making up protons and neutrons; of the electron, held to the nucleus
by an electro magnetic force. Forces hold the individual components of the atom
together: if the atom is split apart, then all the energy contained in the
system is released, and in vast quantities – we only have to think of the
enormity of nuclear catastrophes to appreciate this.
To
the particle physicist, ‘all reality is interaction’. We, as humankind, are
also held together in a complex creation, each with our own crucial part to
play within our own sphere of activity. We are created by God to inhabit the
earth (45.12, 18), although as individuals we may feel insignificant and
sometimes rather pointless. But we are each a part of this extraordinarily complex
creation of ‘light and darkness, weal and woe’ (45.7), each known by God,
called by name, girded up. The energy which binds us together is sufficient to
make straight God’s ways and build his city - can we release in ourselves the
power and energy of the Word, which is Spirit and Life? That is the charge that
is laid upon us…
In
our second time of silence we contemplate this Word, allowing its power to
penetrate our hearts and begin to do its
work.
“I
have created humankind…he shall build my city”
A time is now
kept for silence of the mind - between 5 and 15 minutes
Conclude the
silence with a short thanksgiving and by repeating the Saying:
Father, we thank you that your Word is alive
and within us.
Introduction to the time of intercession – we use our will to reflect God’s word
outwards.
In a
time of intercession, we bring into the silence humankind in all its varied
states, naming those who are of particular and near concern to us.
We
may wish to name individuals whose lives are in need of rebuilding;
institutions, national and international; the desperately poor and those
suffering devastation of their homes though war or natural disaster.
“I have created humankind…he shall build my
city”
Conclude the
time of intercession with words of thanksgiving:
Father, we thank you that your Word has gone out through us
to those for whom we pray.
Use the
Fellowship Prayer or another closing prayer to conclude your time of
contemplative prayer.
Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for all your unsearchable riches
which pour forth from you as light from the sun, in boundless profusion and
generosity, whether received, ignored or rejected. And now we offer to you, in
so far as we are able, as an emptiness to be filled with your divine fullness,
ourselves, our souls and bodies; all that we are, all that we have and all that
we do. Amen
You may
wish to say the Grace together before departing.
This month's exercise was contributed by CO