Hi everyone,
I'm Hamish and welcome to another reflection from the WCCM Young Channel.
Here we share teachings from John Mayne,
Lawrence Freeman and the Christian Contemplative Tradition.
Over these past weeks I've been reading chapters from Grace at Work,
A series of lectures by Lawrence Freeman,
And today in chapter 8 we're going to be talking about how God is love.
After today's reading I also want to tell you about a really exciting young adults retreat which will be happening in Bonnevaux,
WCCM's retreat centre near Poitiers in France.
First,
Chapter 8.
God is love.
The work of meditation is pure,
Simple,
Undiluted attention.
The only way you can purify your image of God is to abandon all images of God.
And once you've abandoned all the ideas of God,
You're left with the final distillation of the whole of the Bible,
Which is three words.
God is love.
Meister Eckhart said,
I pray to God to rid me of God.
What we have to lose,
If we are to do this,
Is any image of God that conflicts with this reality of God.
The work of meditation is pure,
Simple,
Undiluted attention.
But what are you paying attention to?
You could say,
If you like,
That I'm paying attention to God.
But you're not thinking about God,
Because to think about God would be to have an image of God in one's mind.
And that image is going to have some,
Maybe quite a lot of,
One's own ego in it.
Whether,
As in my last story with the prodigal son,
It is the ego of the younger son or the older son,
Probably more the ego of the older son,
I would say.
So the only way you can purify your image of God is to abandon all images of God.
And that actually is pure Christian,
Mystical teaching.
Saint Gregory of Nyssa said,
Every image of God is an idol.
Saint Augustine said,
If you can understand it,
It isn't God.
When Moses was trying to get a name out of God,
So that he could label God as one of the other many gods of the tribal deities,
God said,
I am that I am.
Exodus chapter 3 verse 14.
So being,
Pure being,
Pure presence.
And then once you've abandoned all the ideas of God,
This is what you're left with.
You're left with the final distillation of the whole of the Bible.
God is love.
The first epistle of John chapter 4 verse 8.
The love I speak of is not our love for God,
But God's love for us.
The first epistle of John chapter 4 verse 10.
So God loved us first.
And that is step one of the Alcoholics Anonymous stages,
Where we open ourselves to that.
It's almost like we say to ourselves,
I can't love you,
God,
Because I'm in such a divided state.
I'm so controlled by this addiction.
I cannot love myself and I cannot love God.
I can't love anyone.
So what's the point of recovery?
The starting point?
Well,
The starting point is that God loved us first,
And then we build up from there.
Thank you again for listening to this latest chapter of Grace at Work.
I just want now to tell you about a really exciting retreat happening in the summer at a bonheur,
A former Benedictine monastery in the west of France,
A little west of Poitiers.
And this year,
The retreat is happening from the 29th of July until the 3rd of August.
The name of the retreat is Caring for Oneself,
For Others and for Us,
Young Adults Retreat,
A summer meditation retreat to reflect on and deepen our self-care so that we can better care for others.
I was very fortunate to be introduced to WCCM through a Young Adults Retreat last summer,
Which was a really,
Really quite transformative experience.
And not just that,
But a very,
Very nourishing experience.
I came away feeling energized.
It was so much joy for life.
So I would really,
Really recommend investigating this retreat.
If the cost is a barrier,
It's quite possible to ask for support.
I actually attended with a reduced price because I had some financial challenges at the time.
So I'd very,
Very much recommend investigating this retreat and considering joining.
And if you have any questions,
Of course,
Do get in touch with WCCM.
But for now,
God bless you all and have a fantastic Friday and weekend.
