If in your heart you make a manger for his birth,
Then God will once again become a child on earth.
These are the words of the 17th century poet and priest,
Angelus Cilicius.
They are a reminder that Christ can be born anew in our world through our lives if we prepare our hearts to receive Jesus.
In this meditation,
We will see how we can prepare our hearts to receive Christ.
Just as Mary and Joseph might have prepared the manger with hay to soften the bed for their son,
How can we also soften our hearts to create a loving,
Compassionate,
And receptive space where Christ can be welcomed?
Take a moment now to offer this time to God,
Asking for the grace to allow you to open your heart,
Your mind,
And spirit to receive the gift of Jesus.
Then coming into a comfortable seated posture where you are both relaxed and alert,
Noticing if your back is straight,
Your feet grounded on the floor,
Sensing into your body right here and now,
Allowing yourself to enter into the present moment,
Gently closing your eyes if that's comfortable,
Or merely softening your gaze without focusing on anything in particular.
And then we'll gently do a body scan to see if there's any areas that we might soften,
Beginning with the crown of our head,
Moving down our face,
Particularly softening the eyes,
The jaw,
Noticing any tension that wants to be released in the neck,
The shoulders,
And down our bodies,
Down to the tips of our toes,
Just noticing if there's any place that we might relax.
Then taking a deep breath,
Filling our lungs all the way down from our belly,
And slowly exhaling as a way to help our bodies transition into this time of prayer.
And taking another deep breath,
Slowly exhaling,
And gently resting the attention in the heart area,
Without striving or forcing anything,
Just noticing any physical sensations or shifts as the attention rests on the heart.
If it's hard to connect to this area,
No problem.
Just rest in the intention of focusing on the heart area and gently breathe in and out.
If in your heart you make a manger for his birth,
Then God will once again become a child on earth,
Bringing now an image of a manger in our mind's eye.
We might even imagine a scene of Mary or Joseph placing Jesus in the manger with utmost tenderness and care.
We can now imagine that this manger is in our heart,
That our heart will be the place where Jesus' head will be laid.
And so we ask ourselves how might we want to prepare our hearts to receive this gift of unconditional love from God?
What can we do to soften our hearts to allow a comfortable bed for our Lord?
To soften the manger of our heart,
We might imagine moments of gratitude.
Where have you experienced kindness or God's presence?
Perhaps a meaningful time in nature with a pet or a loved one.
Allow these moments to sink into your heart,
Softening the manger,
Softening this bed.
If it's hard to imagine anything,
That's fine.
Just bring your attention to your heart area and allow your attention just to soften,
Breathing in and out,
Feeling into the possibility of this being the resting place of Jesus.
And to continue to prepare the heart to be a manger for Jesus,
Notice if there's any areas of challenge in your life,
Perhaps any difficult relationships or situations that just need a little attention just to soften.
Are there any areas in your life that could use a soft,
Loving gaze to better prepare the heart for Jesus?
Not pushing,
Not striving,
Just noticing and gazing with gentleness to bring the intention of softening,
Opening,
Releasing to prepare the manger of the heart.
And if the attention wanders,
No problem.
Just notice and allow your intention to receive Jesus draw you back to your heart space.
And as we continue to prepare the manger of the heart,
Notice if there's an act of kindness or words of softness we might want to offer to ourselves.
Sometimes we can be our worst enemy in creating harsh conditions.
And so how might we soften the heart towards ourselves to allow this manger of the heart to be ready?
How might there be a gaze of softness or kindness directed to our own hearts as a way to prepare for Jesus?
This is a gentle practice of relaxing,
Softening,
Opening and receiving,
Knowing how close God is to us already,
Who is just waiting for us to open,
To soften,
To receive.
If in your heart you make a manger for his birth,
Then God will once again become a child on earth,
Just resting in the heart space,
Bringing a gaze of softness,
Allowing the presence of the one who loves us to soften our hearts.
We might continue to reflect on these different ways of softening the heart,
The manger of the heart,
Or we might just choose now to breathe in and out of the heart,
Noticing the chest rise and fall,
And just staying with the physical sensations of breathing in and out of the heart,
Just resting,
Releasing,
Receiving.
And as we close this time of prayer,
Offer a prayer of thanks to God.
For this time,
As we pray for the grace truly to allow our heart to be that manger so that God can once again become a child on earth.
