Welcome to Christian meditation with Anita Mathias.
Let's begin to detach from the world,
To retreat into the inner sanctuary of the self and to be with the breath and the God who gave us breath.
Close your eyes,
Sit straight or cross-legged if that's more comfortable for you and begin to breathe.
A deep breath in and out.
Breathe in deeply,
Breathe out fully.
Once more.
As you relax your body,
Ask for the love of God who is your maker,
Who loves you,
To touch you,
To course through your body like a little golden ball to all the tense,
Tired,
Sad places in your body to places where there may be pain.
Perhaps touch any painful place and ask God to touch it and heal it.
If you feel tension in your shoulders,
Raise them to your ears,
Slowly roll them clockwise and anti-clockwise.
Repeat.
Lift your arms upwards to stretch them,
Ball your fists,
Tense your fingers,
Wriggle them out.
Once more.
Send your breath towards your hips where stressful thoughts and emotions can manifest as pain or tension.
Breathe.
Let the breath travel to your toes,
Clench them,
Wriggle them,
Relax,
Breathe.
Come Holy Spirit,
Teach us what we need to know.
Come.
Today's meditation is on changing our lives by changing our thinking.
So,
Just before Jesus bursts on the scene in the Gospel of Matthew,
The no-nonsense,
Utterly serious John the Baptist comes with an utterly serious message.
Repent,
In the Greek,
Metanoiete,
For the kingdom of heaven has come near.
The kingdom of heaven.
A new era in history had begun,
The era of Jesus,
When ordinary,
Heavy-laden,
Frazzled people could,
Just like that,
Squeeze through a narrow gate into an inner,
New world.
The invisible but real kingdom,
Described by the Apostle Paul as righteousness,
Peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Who would not want this?
What is this narrow door into a bigger,
Happier life?
It is to repent,
In Greek,
Metanoio,
From meta,
Change,
Nous,
Mind.
Repenting literally means to change one's mind,
To think differently.
And that is the way any real change begins in our lives.
We change how we think about things.
We are transformed by the renewing of our minds,
In Paul's lovely phrase in his letter to the Romans.
It is all gain.
It is,
Seriously,
A better,
Wiser life,
To cultivate what the Apostle Paul calls the mind of Christ,
As we consider the issues of our lives.
And it is common sense to cultivate the mind of Christ,
Because Christ's mind is far cleverer,
More incisive,
More original and startling than ours could ever be.
Metanoia,
Repentance,
Thinking differently,
Could mean mentally seeing Christ standing between us and the questions,
Puzzles and uncertainties in our life.
We see the problem we face bathed in the golden light of Christ.
And we ask him to show us what he thinks about it.
For instance,
To take an issue which obsesses many people today,
Conforming to a socially enviable body shape,
Can consume much mental,
Emotional and physical energy.
But God created both hippopotamuses and cheaters.
His delight in us,
His amusement as he sees us,
Is not dependent on whether our BMI is 18,
25 or 30,
Whether our dress size is 2 or 14.
God who made our bodies loves and values them more than we do,
Just as the author of a book loves it more than the one who bought a copy.
God who made us thinks we are fabulous,
So rest in his love.
And so Metanoia,
A new mind,
Thinking differently,
Repentance,
Means rejecting vanity-based worries about appearance,
While realising that,
Of course,
God does want us to do everything we can do to have a strong,
Flexible and healthy body,
So as to have the strength and energy to do the unique work he has called us to do for as long as we live on this earth.
So rather than being a reed swaying in the wind of the latest dietary pronouncements of the latest self-promoting guru,
Metanoiety,
Think differently.
Change your mind for the mind of Christ.
Put your body,
Your health and your lifespan into God's hands and ask him and then trust him to guide you beyond the latest pundits,
Latest no-nos,
So as to eat blessing,
To eat the food which will be a blessing to your individual and unique body,
Rather than a curse to it.
Jesus says his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
Metanoia,
Having a new mind,
Thinking differently,
Could mean asking the spirit whom Jesus said will teach us all things,
To show us the light and easy way to build joyful movement into our lives,
Creating a body that will remain flexible and strong for the rest of our lives.
We must ask Jesus,
Who teaches us joy,
Who promises us joy,
To teach us the right,
Most energizing movement for us,
Say yoga for flexibility or hefting weights for strength,
Or long distance running or walking,
Flooding the mind with serotonin and dopamine,
And slowly changing the deep structure of our brains.
We might also ask the spirit to show us how to get strong and muscly in a way consistent with love,
Perhaps incorporating vigorous housework and gardening into our routines,
As well as long walks with family and friends,
Being mindful that Jesus said that those who will not deny themselves and take up their cross are not worthy of him.
We remember that Christ said that his future disciples will fast and even promises us a reward for it,
A reward from God.
Wow!
Fasting for the right periods of time for each of us blesses an overtaxed overweight body and saves both time and money,
Far better than wasting brain space and emotional energy in dietary obsessions,
And as we take on the challenges life throws at us,
Like changing our bodies if need be,
Changing our houses,
Decluttering,
Organizing if needed,
Or waking early as the spirit leads,
We remain aware that we have a tender father looking at us,
Aware that to him we are as beloved toddlers are to a good human parent,
Aware that he's a wonderful God,
A compassionate and gracious God,
Slow to anger,
Abounding in love and faithfulness,
As he described himself in his self-revelation to Moses in the book of Exodus.
Let's breathe.
Oh God of resurrection who brings dead things to life,
Who can do more in a few minutes of good ideas and multiplication than we could in years,
We put into your hands our perplexities and ask you for wisdom,
We give you our questions and ask for your answers,
We love you,
Increase our love,
We will trust you,
Increase our trust.
Amen.
