Hello friends and welcome to this contemplative space.
And today's meditation is simply going to open up space and see what you notice,
What your heart is speaking.
I've been reading a book on meditation by James Finlay and I was struck by these words.
We have become strangers to the intimate recesses of our own heart.
And I think it's true that in the busyness and the demands of life we can easily become strangers to what's going on inside,
To what we need,
To what we're feeling,
To what our hearts are telling us.
So this meditation is to open up space,
Is to give some time,
Some moments to being with ourselves,
To noticing what's going on and what our hearts are saying to us.
So as a way to begin,
I invite you to close your eyes or to gently lower them to the ground and to sit up straight in a comfortable but attentive way,
Your hands gently resting in your lap.
Know yourself to be supported by the chair.
Feel your feet connected to the ground.
And know yourself in these moments to be held in love,
In compassion,
In full acceptance.
All of you is welcome to this space.
All of you is welcomed by the love of God that is here for you right now in these moments.
Bring attention now to your breathing.
The inhale and the exhale.
The inhale and the exhale.
If your mind wanders or distraction comes,
Return to the inhale and the exhale.
I invite you to take some deeper,
Wider breaths,
Following the movement of air through the nostrils across the throat,
Into the lungs and down into the belly,
Imagining the oxygen going to toes and fingers and head,
Bringing life,
Sustaining.
Breathe deeply and widely,
Exhaling slowly before taking another inhale.
I invite you to take a few more deeper breaths,
Before settling into your normal breathing pattern.
As you do that,
I'm going to read a few more words from James Finlay's book.
One lesson our breathing invites us to learn is that the indwelling spirit of God calls us inward.
To join God in becoming one with all that lies within.
To say God is one with all that lies within means that God is one with our dreams,
Our hopes and fears,
And all things remembered and long since forgotten.
God is one with our most intimate longings for things not yet realised,
And with all the places within us that we do not know anything about.
So as you continue to breathe,
Receive the invitation to be called inward,
To join God in becoming one with all that lies within.
As you breathe,
Bring your awareness from the head,
The noise,
The activity,
The busyness,
And travel down to the centre,
To that within space,
That core part of your being,
Where you are truly yourself,
And where your divinity merges with the divinity of God.
That place where you are surrounded by Jesus,
By Father,
Mother God,
And by the Holy Spirit.
That place where you are invited in to the dance of the Trinity,
And you are one with them,
And are held in their tender love and kindness.
Be aware of this spacious place of stillness,
Of rest,
And of peace.
This place of oneness,
You and God,
Entwined in love.
And I invite you to rest here a while in this stillness,
To simply be.
In these moments,
You can let go of everything else,
To let go of the demands of the to-do lists,
Of the worries and concerns.
In letting them go,
Know that they go as prayers,
That they are seen and known about.
And in the letting go,
Be present to this here and now moment.
Simply this.
You contained and surrounded by the love,
Grace,
And compassion of the Trinity.
Settle into this space,
Knowing that all of you is seen and known.
And in the stillness,
I simply want to ask you,
What do you notice?
What do you notice about how you feel?
Are there any emotions present to you?
It may help to name those emotions,
And as you do,
To know that they are seen and held in compassion.
Do you notice anything in your body,
Any places of tightness or tension?
Again,
It may help to name those places and to be attentive to them for a few moments,
Welcoming them to speak,
If they have anything to say.
And in this stillness,
I invite you to ask,
What do I need?
What do I need?
Does my heart have anything to say that I have not had time or space to hear?
Is God inviting me to anything?
Is God inviting surrender in any part of my life?
What is God offering me?
Is there a gift he wants to bring?
We're going to linger a few more moments to give your heart and life space to speak.
And as we gently come back into this space,
You may want to linger with those questions.
You may want to check in with this meditation again in a few days or next week as a way to listen once more to the recesses of your heart.
Perhaps God has something new for you.
Perhaps God is offering healing,
Restoration.
Give yourself time to hear,
To hear what you need,
What your heart is speaking,
And to receive the fullness of what the love and kindness and compassion of God is offering.
I leave you with grace,
With peace,
And with hope.
Amen.
