Hello friends,
Mark Gladman,
Your Monk in Docks.
Hope you're enjoying our series,
God Is.
Today we're going to sit in Lectio Divina meditation on Romans chapter 8.
Verses 18 to 25 as we contemplate the idea God is in everything.
So this passage is going to take us into a larger vision of creation.
Paul here speaks of creation waiting.
And groaning.
And longing,
The whole created order is caught up in this movement towards fullness.
So creation isn't just here for us to see and live in and enjoy.
It has its own life,
Its own longing,
And its own participation in the mystery of God.
And this is where.
.
.
The passage can be especially interesting for us as we work through this series because quite often that we kind of think that God is separate to creation.
That God is kind of above it and creation is below it,
That God is outside it and creation is within.
But the vision that we get here.
.
.
Is much more intimate and much more connected God.
Is the reason why creation exists and creation exists because it's held within God's self.
And creation.
Far from being this thing that God just made once and then left it to carry on by itself.
It's continually receiving life from God.
It's continually becoming and continually being drawn towards its fulfillment.
So Paul says that creation is groaning as though in childbirth.
What an incredible image.
The groaning of creation.
Isn't the sound of something that's broken like we often think of it,
But it's also the sound of becoming.
.
.
Something of something being born which anybody who's given birth which I have not will tell you that there is pain involved,
Yes.
But there's also this incompleteness and longing.
There's this movement.
Something's coming.
Something's becoming.
Something's emerging and so Maybe this should change the way we look at the world around us,
Because suddenly the world isn't just this collection of objects and things.
This is not matter that is spiritually empty somehow.
This is creation alive with participation.
Trees,
Oceans,
Soil,
Animals,
Our bodies,
Our breath,
All of it belongs within the mystery of God's ongoing Gift.
And that is why,
As we keep saying,
The ordinary It can become so sacramental,
The kettle,
The dog,
The traffic,
Bread,
Bodies,
Laundry,
A conversation,
A tree.
That thing that happened last Saturday.
None of these things need to become something else in order to carry the presence of God.
They are carrying the presence of God and the invitation.
Is to be attentive enough to see what's already there.
Paul tells us that creation waits with longing.
I wonder,
What if we joined it?
What if we saw prayer as this?
Opening up to and willingness to enter that more deeply,
To notice and receive.
And listen to recognize that the life of God is real.
Is right here with us,
That creation's not outside God's love but is held within it.
And that we're being invited to discover that we also are part of this great movement of becoming.
We're held and there's that same longing,
That same growing,
That ready to participate in the life of God.
So as always,
We'll read this passage three times.
There'll be some silence in between each,
Where you can see which word or phrase stands out for you.
Sit with that,
Meditate with that,
Reflect on that.
Allow it to become your prayer,
This idea that God is in all things.
Where would you see God today if you opened yourself up to that possibility?
How could you encounter and engage with God today if that became real for you?
And so as we enter into this time,
We distill ourselves,
Take a deep breath in.
And out.
And ask God to open our ears to hear,
Our minds to think,
Our hearts to receive.
The seed of his word in good soil.
That it will bring forth fruit in our own lives and for the world.
Let's begin.
Romans 8 verses 18 to 25.
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God.
For the creation was subjected to futility.
Not of its own will?
But by the will of the one who subjected it.
In hope that the creation itself would be free from its bondage of decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now.
And not only the creation,
But we ourselves,
Who have the first fruits of the Spirit grown inwardly while we wait for adoption,
The redemption of our bodies.
For in hope we were saved.
Now hope that is seen is not hope.
For who hopes for what is seen.
But if we hope for what we do not see,
We wait for it with patience.
Romans 8 verses 18 to 25.
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God.
For the creation was subjected to futility,
Not of its own will,
But by the will of the one who subjected it.
In hope that the creation itself would be free from its bondage of decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now.
Are not only the creation,
But we ourselves,
Who have the first fruits of the Spirit grown inwardly while we wait for adoption,
The redemption of our bodies.
For in hope we were saved.
Now hope that is seen is not hope.
For who hopes for what is seen.
But if we hope for what we do not see,
We wait for it with patience.
Romans 8 verses 18 to 25.
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God.
For the creation was subjected to futility.
Not of its own will.
But by the will of the one who subjected it.
In hope that the creation itself would be free from its bondage of decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now.
And not only the creation,
But we ourselves,
Who have the first fruits of the Spirit grown inwardly while we wait for adoption,
The redemption of our bodies.
For in hope we were saved.
Now hope that is seen is not hope,
For who hopes for what is seen?
But if we hope for what we do not see,
We wait for it with patience.
Let's pray.
God of all creation,
Open our eyes to your presence in the ordinary.
Teach us to see the world as a gift continually held in your love.
Help us to honour the life around us,
The earth,
The animals,
Our bodies,
The people we meet on those small moments that we so easily overlook.
Where creation groans,
Make us attentive.
Where something new is being born,
Make us patient.
And where we feel unfinished,
Remind us that we are already held within your life and within your love.
And may grace,
Peace,
And love go with us and remain with us this day and always.
Amen.
May the awakening continue,
My friends.
Until tomorrow,
Bye for now.
