As you settle in,
Begin by bringing attention to your body.
Notice the feel of it being held by your chair.
Notice the sensation of your feet on the ground.
Without trying to change your breath at all,
Notice its natural rhythm as you inhale and exhale.
Notice how your body breathes itself with no help from you.
Simply breathe for a few moments,
With your attention resting on all the bodily sensations of your inhale and your exhale.
As you breathe,
Notice if there is tension in any part of your body,
And see if you can release it,
Even a little.
Let your exhale help you to soften and loosen.
Let your body begin to relax,
And let yourself arrive and settle into this time and this space.
If you haven't already,
Gently close your eyes,
Notice,
I am alive,
I am safe,
I am here.
Resting here,
We begin our prayer as Ignatius of Loyola invites us to,
By looking at God looking at us.
Or as beloved Jesuit teacher Anthony de Mello puts it,
Behold the one beholding you and smiling.
Behold the one beholding you and smiling.
To behold is more than just physically seeing someone or something.
It invokes a sense of that person or thing as being beautiful,
Pleasing,
Bringing joy and attracting the gaze.
We behold those we love.
Hear this invitation spoken directly to you.
Behold the one beholding you and smiling.
Say to yourself inside,
God is beholding me and smiling.
Imagine this loving gaze resting on you.
You might imagine it as the delighted face of a parent,
Or as the warmth of the sun's rays falling on you,
Or in some other way.
Perhaps it's more felt than seen.
With trusting vulnerability,
Let yourself be seen and loved,
Just as you are.
I behold the one beholding me and smiling.
Whether it's easy to imagine and feel or challenging,
Open yourself to the possibility that you are seen more truly than you could ever see yourself.
That you are loved more than you could ever dream.
Notice what this feels like in your body.
Now,
Using your imagination,
Remember a time in your life when you were seen and loved.
In your memory,
Go back in time to recreate this experience of being seen and loved as best you can,
With any details of place,
Time of year,
Time of day,
Conversation,
Actions,
People or responses.
Relive the experience with all your senses.
Touch,
Smell,
Hear and feel being so seen and loved.
Notice what it feels like in your body.
Remain in this place for a few moments.
Gently breathe with the felt memory of being seen and loved.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Now recall a time in your life when you saw someone or something with and through love.
A time when you felt that you caught a glimpse of the true,
Sacred,
Beloved nature of someone or something.
Use your imagination to go back in time and recreate as best you can this experience of seeing in love,
With any details of place,
Time of year,
Time of day,
Conversation,
Actions,
People or responses.
Relive the experience with all your senses.
Touch,
Smell,
Hear and feel what it was like to really lovingly see.
Notice what it feels like in your body.
Remain in this place for a few moments.
Gently breathe with the felt memory of seeing and loving.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Now with your eyes still closed,
Bring your awareness back to the physical space you are in.
And remember the details of it.
Can you bring your memory of being seen and loved in your life,
Your memory of seeing and loving,
And your sense of being seen and loved by God,
Into the present moment,
Here and now?
How might the felt awareness of being seen and loved,
And of being one who is invited to see and love,
Make a difference in your life today?
As we begin to bring this meditation to a close,
Take a moment to express gratitude in whatever way feels natural to you.
Gently prepare yourself to open your eyes,
Asking God that you would be able to see and be seen with love.
As you are ready,
Gently open your eyes,
Look around at the physical space you are in,
And affirm,
Out loud or silently,
I am seen and loved.
I am created to see in love ever more fully.
