Hello friends and welcome to this reflection followed by a meditation.
This reflection and meditation have been inspired by Parker Palmer and his book Let Your Life Speak and an interview that he had with Christa Tippett on her On Being podcast.
We all get visited by dark nights of the soul during our time here on earth.
It is part of being human.
These times of darkness or of winter can feel really lonely,
Difficult and long.
But they are nearly always a time when a great deal is happening within the very soil of our lives,
Unseen and as yet unknown by us.
In his book Parker talks about his journey through his dark night of depression.
He talks about those friends and family that visited him during this dark night and all the ways they tried to help him.
Some encouraged him to get outside into the sunshine.
Others reminded him of all the people he'd helped over the years.
Some gave advice.
Some said they knew exactly how he felt.
Although these offerings were well meaning they were also unhelpful.
I'm sure we've all experienced similar offerings from people that left us feeling discouraged rather than encouraged.
Maybe you like me have known what it's like to be fixed,
To be given the right answers rather than to simply be accompanied in our struggle.
Parker says one of the hardest things we must do sometimes is to be present to another person's pain without trying to fix it,
To simply stand respectfully at the edge of that person's mystery and misery.
Blessedly there were several people,
Family and friends who had the courage to stand with me in a simple and healing way.
One of them was a friend named Bill who having asked my permission to do so,
Stopped by my home every afternoon,
Sat me down in a chair,
Knelt in front of me,
Removed my shoes and socks and for half an hour simply massaged my feet.
He found the one place in my body where I could still experience feeling and feel somewhat reconnected with the human race.
I remember when I first read these words that I was in awe of Bill and his readiness to simply spend time at the feet of his friend every afternoon.
I wanted that same Bill-ness to become my offering.
Parker writes,
The poet Rainer Maria Rilke says,
Love consists in this,
That two solitudes protect and border and salute each other.
This is the kind of love my friend Bill offered.
He never tried to invade my awful inwardness with false comfort or advice.
He simply stood on its boundaries,
Modelling the respect for me and my journey and the courage to let it be that I myself needed if I were to endure.
He goes on,
Rilke describes a kind of love that neither avoids nor invades the soul's suffering.
It's a love in which we represent God's love to a suffering person,
A God who does not fix us but gives us strength by suffering with us,
By standing respectfully and faithfully at the borders of another's solitude.
We may mediate the love of God to a person who needs something deeper than any human being can give.
During his interview with Christa Tippett,
She and Parker were talking about what massaging another's feet can look like for us in our everyday lives.
Parker talked to a friend of his who reminds himself regularly of this question.
What or who is three feet in front of me?
The essence of this thought isn't literal but that we don't need to change the world or go very far to offer love,
Acceptance and kindness.
We may not be able to nor are we being asked to change the world but we can make a difference to those in front of us,
To those who are within three feet of us.
I loved the three feet idea and how it invites us to notice and to be ready to offer love to those within our line of vision.
It's a relief to be able to put down the world and to be free to simply love those we interact with in our day to day lives.
Opportunities to do so come often when we are open to them.
Some will require intention and time,
Some may happen spontaneously in the moment.
Either way what a great gift it is to notice and then offer kindness and love in response to the need three feet in front of us.
As a way to end this reflection I want to offer a short meditation on how we may either be in need of our own foot massage or how we're being invited to massage another's feet.
So I invite you to come to stillness.
It may help you to take a few deeper wider breaths.
If you're sitting in a chair connect your feet to the ground,
Gently pushing down on one then the other.
Feel yourself held and relaxed.
As you continue to breathe and to settle gently allow your attention to drift from the busyness and the noise of the head down into the body where there is stillness and rest.
Receive the grace to be present here and now.
Letting go of the day so far and of what's to come.
Simply allowing yourself to be in this moment coming as you are.
As you rest into stillness be aware of anything that begins to surface.
You may begin to be aware of how you're feeling.
You may be aware of some tension in your body.
Simply be attentive to what you're noticing.
Now begin to turn your attention to how you're doing.
How have you been these past few days and weeks?
Are you suffering at this time?
Is there any way in which you would welcome someone to come and sit at your feet and simply be present with you to your suffering?
You may want to name your need and offer it to God in prayer.
You may realise that you need to ask for help from another.
You may realise that you need to show some care and compassion towards yourself.
Spend some moments being with your needs,
Naming them,
Being present to them and becoming aware of how they may be met.
Now begin to turn your attention outside of yourself.
To those you know,
To those within your line of vision.
Spend some time connecting in your heart with any that come to mind.
In the stillness,
As you hold them in your heart,
Allow God to lead you to how you can reach out in love to one or two.
How are you being invited to demonstrate love?
What does it look like for you to suffer with someone without fixing anything?
Is God inviting you to surrender the need to fix others?
Are you being invited to let go of saving the world in exchange for simply seeing those in front of you?
Before finishing,
We're going to have a few more moments of silence for you to be with one or two of those questions.
Thank you for listening.
Thank you for being with me today.
I offer you blessing,
Grace,
Peace and love.
Amen.
