Meditation Archives - Page 16 of 19

The fact that I am is amazing and wonderful. I can move about,

I can think, love, and choose. I can grow- in wisdom.

I am yours, God,Your beloved child.

Gifted as You see fit,

For sharing, For loving,

For bearing. In utter reliance on You;

In trust,Totally secure,

Totally loved, Totally yours.

written by Sr. Virginia Flagg, MM

I recently came across this poem, written by a MaryKnoll sister. Wow! Wow! Wow! Sooooo rich. I can go on for days meditating on this poem. Each phrase rich with meaning, steeped in Scripture and thought provoking possibility.

The fact that I am is amazing and wonderful – How did I get here? Why am I here? Where am I going? The answers lie in Psalm 139:For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts,God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you. If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

I can move about, I can think, love and choose – we all know God created us with free will, our freedom and personal responsibility to choose between right and wrong. Lord knows it’s free will that gets us into trouble most of the time. It is through free will that we think before we choose and it is God’s hope that we choose love!

I can grow in wisdom – the more we grow in love, the more we are open to being led by the source of all wisdom, the Holy Spirit, our advocate and guide.

I am yours, God, Your beloved child – when I think of being a beloved child of God, I breathe a sigh of relief. Our almighty Father – watching out for me! Wow! Scripture says, unless you become like a little child you will not enter the kingdom of heaven – a reminder to us to remain humble and to not get sucked into “the ways of the world.”

Gifted as you see fit – we each have different gifts but are part of the same body, the mystical body of Christ. We all have something to contribute, have you figured out what that is for you?.

For sharing – we are encouraged to share our gifts and talents, to share our faith. Think about what this means for you and make a conscious effort to start sharing, if you haven’t done so already.

for loving – we are called to love our neighbor, the second greatest commandment. This is easier than you might think, all it requires is an open heart. If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts – Psalm 95.

for bearing – we are expected to bear wrongs patiently. Tough one for sure. Are you up for the challenge? We are all works in progress. What a great feeling to witness the changes and growth of one’s own spirit. Journaling is a great way to keep track of your progress.

In utter reliance on you – with all the things we are called and expected to do in our humanity, we are aware of our weaknesses and limitations and we rely on God for the strength to persevere in all things, for NOTHING is impossible with God.

In trust, totally secure, totally loved, totally Yours – We are totally His when we put all our trust in Him. When we are totally His – through our surrender – we can rest secure in the knowledge that He loves us unconditionally. “He’s got this!” As St. Augustine once said: My soul is restless until it rests in You! God Bless you!

Oh, how the Lord works! During prayer last night, I stumbled upon the words “seeing beyond the obvious.” How appropriate it was for this reflection – God’s guidance and inspiration for sure! I recently acquired a lithograph of a painting by Warner Sallman. My mom had one when I was growing up and I just love the imagery. So today I sat and meditated on the painting, looking for ways in which God was speaking to me. I get the overall message of the painting but I wanted to see beyond the obvious, I wanted a personal message. The reason I decided to do this was twofold: Firstly, my husband, my biggest supporter, God bless him, was intrigued by the painting and remembered another one of Sallman’s paintings had deep hidden messages as well. Secondly, a few months ago I participated in an e-retreat conducted by the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA. The e-retreat expanded the idea of lectio divina (which I describe in my pages at the top of the site) to include not only the Bible, but nature, photography, art and the news as well. I was blown away! I knew about the Bible, I felt God’s presence in nature, but I never thought about contemplating how He spoke to me in photographs or art or the news. The idea behind it is basically to focus on how these particular things tug at your heart, what grabs you about a particular news report for example and contemplate why and how God is calling you forth. Anyone interested in checking out the website, please click here – tons of things to digest – a site for all faiths.

Today I chose art. So I focus on the look on Jesus’ face – as he looks at the sheep in His arm – it is a look of love, compassion and mercy. The sheep is obviously younger than the rest. Immediately the song Jesus Loves the Little Children comes to mind. He’s standing in the midst of His flock, which interestingly enough includes a black sheep – a testament to the fact that He loves us all no matter what and welcomes us back no matter where we’ve been. In addition to His sheep, we see Jesus is surrounded by mountains, rocks, a stream and birds. The mountains and rocks reminded me of Psalm 18:2: The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge: My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Mountains: fortress, stronghold, rock: self explanatory, Serenity of nature: refuge), The stream of course representative of Jesus, the living stream – the source of our true happiness as long as we TRUST! The little birds in the painting drew my attention to Matthew 6:26: Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? The longer I contemplated, the more I noticed or should I say the more I “heard”.

I mentioned earlier that my husband is my biggest supporter and there is no denying that – he’s the force behind the name of this blog, he’s the reason I acquired the beautiful painting (which replaced my wedding picture I might add) and he’s the reason I continue to do what I do here. When he found the lithograph and showed it to me, I loved it and watched it on ebay for weeks on end – the auction would end and the item would be relisted. This happened several times until finally I said, “I want it!” I am so glad I did. Every time I look at it now, I will be reassured that Jesus is my rock, my strength and my refuge. He is the living stream through which all life and happiness flows. He is my provider, I need fear nothing for He will provide for all my needs! All will be well! Amen!

After contemplating the meaning of the painting on my own, I decided to research whether there was an explanation of the artist’s intended meaning and here is what I found. It was interesting for me to see the differences and similarities with my perception. Further proof of how important it is for us to put the work in – to see beyond the obvious. After reading the artist’s comments I realized that the painting was not “The Good Shepherd” as I originally thought, but “The Lord is My Shepherd” a reference to Psalm 23 – my husband’s favorite bible verse. The painting took on a whole new meaning for me. Just amazing!

I say all this to drive home the importance of seeing beyond the obvious, to not just take what other people have to say as law, but to come up with your own interpretations, come up with your own answers. Too often we dismiss the deeper meaning of an experience simply because we are focusing on the obvious or taking someone else’s word for it. We dismiss people and opportunities because of the “obvious” and we wind up losing out on a great relationship or teaching moment because we didn’t care enough to see beyond the obvious. Seeing beyond the obvious requires hope AND work. Whenever you’re down and out, for whatever reason, take a lesson from our Savior – He saw beyond the obvious. His obvious was the crucifixion, but He saw beyond that to the resurrection!

What’s your obvious? What’s your crucifixion? Is it the loss of a loved one? Is it addiction or illness – your own or that of a loved one? Is it the inability to conceive? Is it a broken or strained relationship? The first thing I would say is that we CANNOT, absolutely cannot rely on our own understanding as to why we have the experiences we have in life. The bible tells us trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5. That is what it means to have hope! Through our experiences, through our suffering comes opportunity. Opportunity to reflect, opportunity to trust, opportunity to see beyond the obvious, opportunity to hope that all will be well! That is what it means to work at it! The second thing I would say is look beyond the addiction, look beyond the illness, look beyond the obstacle – there’s more there, there’s an opportunity for growth – take the opportunity and run with it – stretch that soul, take the time to work at it, work through the pain, don’t wait for someone else to do it for you, remember our Lord’s promise – beyond the pain (crucifixion) there is redemption (resurrection). God bless you!