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 our breath and the God who gave us breath.
Close your eyes,
Sit straight or cross-legged if that's comfortable for you,
And begin to breathe.
A deep breath in and out.
Breathe in deeply,
Breathe out fully.
As you relax,
Ask for the love of God who is your maker,
Who loves you,
To course through your body,
To all the tense,
Tired places,
To places where there may be discomfort.
Raise your shoulders to your ears,
Slowly roll them clockwise,
Anti-clockwise,
Repeat.
Stretch your arms upwards,
Cactus them,
I.
E.
Lift them at right angles to your shoulders,
And stretch them slightly backwards,
Ball your fists,
Tense your fingers,
Wriggle them.
Send your breath towards your belly,
Place your hand there as you breathe deeply,
Feel your stomach rise and fall.
Continue breathing deeply,
Through to your hips and down to your toes,
Clench your toes,
Wriggle them,
Relax,
And breathe.
Try another whole-body inhale and exhale,
From your nose to your toes.
The most ancient breath prayer in the Christian tradition is the famous Jesus Prayer of the Eastern Orthodox tradition.
Try saying it whenever you need to calm down,
Inhaling and exhaling on each praise.
Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God,
Have mercy on me,
A sinner.
Or this version,
A more modern version.
Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God,
Have mercy on me,
A sinner,
And your beloved friend.
Then here's a meditation on the power of Christ's resurrection for us today,
The dawn after the worst day.
Mary Magdalene and her friend Mary had seen Jesus,
Whom they deeply loved,
A radiant,
Beautiful,
Strong young man,
Tortured,
Mocked,
And judicially murdered.
But as they visit the tomb,
They encounter Jesus,
Very much alive.
Cairete,
He says,
Rejoice.
And then,
The very first sentence the risen Christ speaks to those who love him,
Me fabiesti,
Do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid.
Why?
Because the impossible has happened,
And a dead man has returned to life,
And was later seen by at least 516 people.
The risen Jesus is no longer confined by the dictates of space and time.
Like oxygen,
He is with me in every room I enter,
And with you,
An invisible but real friend.
I am never alone.
Wisdom and strength is always available if I slow down and request them.
Do not be afraid,
Because the resurrected Jesus breathed on his disciples and said,
Receive the Holy Spirit as he breathes on us today.
Jesus observed that just as even evil parents do not give a snake to a child asking for a fish,
Or a scorpion to a child requesting an egg,
His father will not refuse his Holy Spirit to those who ask for it.
And it is the power of the Holy Spirit which helps us change our hearts,
Our characters,
And our lives.
Do not be afraid,
Because the resurrection of Jesus,
That explosion of seismic power,
Has burst a boundary to what is possible.
God's miracle-making power is now available to us.
Our world is now a whole lot more magical.
The Apostle Paul writes that a surpassingly great power for us who believe,
The hyperballon megatos teis dunamaios,
The dynamite power of God available to us on request,
Is the same as the power which raised Jesus from the dead.
And so we have the Holy Spirit's help for the issues of our lives.
Nothing God wants us to do will be impossible to us.
And so we need no longer be enslaved by addictions,
Dependencies,
And our own bad habits.
We can break an addiction to chocolate,
Or sugar,
Or caffeine,
All of which I have eventually done.
We can get out of the confining rooms of bad habits and our personal can't-dos,
Sometimes just like that,
With an act of will empowered by the Spirit.
The risen Jesus gives us the key to freedom.
I once was dead,
But now am alive.
And I hold the keys,
Jesus tells John in the book of Revelation.
The keys of his kingdom,
In which he wants us to live peacefully,
As we would under his real life,
Kingly,
I.
We can find freedom from indulging a bad temper,
And by turning eyes on Jesus,
As the Old Hymn says,
And an arrow prayer for his help,
We can channel our cranky,
Negative energy into prayerful,
Intense focus,
And how best to live our one,
Wild,
And precious life.
We can progressively find freedom from tormenting emotions,
Or thoughts which waste our time and distract us.
Emotions of jealousy,
Unforgiveness,
Worry,
Anger,
Or fretting.
God's explosive dynamite power can invade our lives,
And progressively change them.
Through prayer,
Through the power of the Holy Spirit,
And also through our own willpower and determination.
And God also works through counselling,
And talking to wise,
Trusted friends.
To get God's endless energy and boundless strength,
In Eugene Peterson's phrase,
To saturate our little lives,
We need to slow down,
So that we remember to pray,
And ask for God's guidance and blessing,
Over each thing we do in the course of our days.
As we begin to master this habit,
Our days will look different,
Our lives will look different.
Everything in our lives gets better by practice,
Running,
Or writing,
Or good housekeeping,
Or prayer.
So start transforming your life by prayer.
Get small,
Ask for God's wisdom,
Before you embark on the activities of your day.
Sessions of housework and decluttering,
Exercise,
Gardening,
Meeting friends,
Emails,
Social media,
Business,
Or leading things.
Ask God,
How do I do these things well?
Can I do them better,
In a more efficient,
And maybe a kinder way?
Does this even need to be said,
Or done?
God,
Who will guide us,
Likes nothing to be wasted,
Including our time,
The most irreplaceable thing in our lives.
You'll be amazed at the efficient and wise suggestions the Spirit has,
And how to do things you've often done,
Far,
Far better.
And as we increasingly experience God's guidance,
And many miracles,
Our faith increases.
Practice praying on your walks,
As you do your housework or gardening,
As you drift off to sleep.
Practice praying deep into your life,
And over it,
In ever-widening circles.
Anything in our lives that we do not bathe in prayer,
Is something we believe we don't need God's help to accomplish.
And that is foolish.
So I'm training myself to convert my thoughts into prayer.
To pray through the preoccupations which scurry through my mind,
Writing,
Work,
Finances,
Health,
Travel plans,
The things I want to see happen in my children's lives,
And also to pray for my friends,
And sometimes,
Even my enemies.
We skitter like water striders on the surface of life.
But if we slow down,
The Spirit would whisper to us the words which sustain the weary.
Oh,
What grace we often forfeit.
Oh,
What needless pain we bear.
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
Prayer is like pouring this immense flood of light and power into the little Petri dish of our problems.
When we do it,
God's power can change our circumstances sooner than we ever imagined.
As we practice bathing our lives in prayer,
We ourselves change.
And our lives slowly change.
Oh,
God of resurrection,
Come with your dynamite power into our lives.
We put our old dreams and our new ones into your hands.
Bring them to life.
Make them glow.
Come like a mighty burst of spring into our lives,
Bringing apparently dead relationships,
Dreams,
The things we once loved,
And all our dormant potential to radiant life.
We put our lives into your hands.
Make them beautiful.
Come Lord Jesus.
Amen.
