Hello friends,
Welcome to the 24th episode of Christian Meditation with Anita Mathias.
Let's close eyes,
Begin to detach from the world and enter the inner sanctuary of the self.
Just us,
Alone,
With God.
Close your eyes,
Sit straight or cross-legged if that's comfortable for you and begin to breathe.
Take a deep breath in to the count of five and out.
Breathe in as deeply as you can.
Exhale fully.
When Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to his disciples as a parting gift and inheritance,
He breathed on them.
A Hebrew word for God is Yahweh,
Which is the sound of breath I've heard.
Let's try breathing the name of God as a breath pray.
Breathe Yah on the in-breath and way on the out-breath.
In busy,
Frazzled times,
It's useful to repeat a phrase from Scripture,
Like your will be done from the Lord's Prayer,
As we go about our day.
Or a breath pray to calm and centre ourselves.
Let's try this prayer of Brendan Manning's.
Abba,
I belong to you.
Breathe in on Abba.
Aramaic for father.
Breathe out on I belong to you.
Abba,
I belong to you.
Abba,
I belong to you.
As you relax your body,
Picture Christ as you visualize him or the father on his throne.
Visualize great,
Endless,
Infinite waves of the love of God coursing through your body,
Filling it to overflowing.
If there's any tension in your shoulders,
Raise them to your ears.
Slowly roll them clockwise and anticlockwise.
Perhaps raise your arms,
Clasp your wrists,
And stretch them to the right,
To the left.
Place your right hand on your heart,
Your left hand on your abdomen,
Feeling its gentle rise and fall as you breathe deeply.
Then send your breath towards your hips.
Let the breath travel to your toes.
Tense them.
Wriggle them.
Relax.
Take another deep breath or two.
Abba,
I belong to you.
And here's a meditation from the Gospel of Matthew,
Chapter 2.
Do not be afraid,
But do be prudent.
Do not be afraid,
A dream angel tells Joseph,
To marry Mary who's pregnant,
Though a virgin.
For in our magical,
God-invaded world,
The Spirit has placed God's Son in her,
As long foretold by the Prophet Isaiah.
Call the baby Jesus,
Or the Lord saves.
For he will drag people free from the chokehold of their sins.
And Joseph is not afraid.
And the angel was right.
For a star rose,
Signaling a new king of the Jews.
Astrologers from the East followed it,
Threatening King Herod,
Whose chief priest recounted Micah's 600-year-old prophecy.
The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem,
As Jesus had just been,
While his parents from Nazareth registered for Augustus Caesar's census of the entire Roman world.
The Magi worshipped the baby,
Offering gold,
Frankincense,
Myrrh.
And shepherds came,
Told by an angel of joy,
That the Lord,
The Messiah,
A saviour from all that oppresses,
Had just been born.
Then,
Suddenly,
The dream angel warned,
Flee with the child to Egypt,
For Herod plans to kill this baby and forever king.
Do not be afraid,
But still flee,
Become a refugee.
But,
Lightning-bold coincidences had verified the angel's first words.
The Magi appeared out of nowhere with gold for the flight.
Shepherds came,
Telling of angels singing of coming inner peace.
Joseph flees.
What's the difference between fear and prudence?
Fear is being frozen or panicked by imaginary what-ifs.
It tenses our bodies,
Strains health,
Sleep,
And relationships,
Makes us stingy with ourselves,
Among others,
Leads to overwork,
And time wasted doing pointless things for fear of people's ill opinions.
Prudence is wisdom,
Using our experience and spiritual discernment,
As we battle the demonic forces of this dark world.
In Paul's phrase,
It is fighting with divinely powerful weapons,
Truth,
Righteousness,
Faith,
Scripture,
And prayer,
While surrendering our thoughts to Christ.
So,
Let's act prudently,
Wisely,
And bravely,
Silencing fear,
While remaining alert to God's guidance delivered through inner peace or intuitions of danger and wrongness.
Our spiritual senses tuned to the Spirit's know,
His slow,
His go,
As cautious as a serpent,
Protected while being gentle as a dove or a lamb among wolves.
Amen.
