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Breath Prayer
Breathing in: God, I am yours
Breathing out: You, alone, I seek
Wisdom Quote
He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire. The time for my birth is close at hand. Forgive me, my brothers. Do not stand in the way of my birth to real life; do not wish me stillborn. My desire is to belong to God. Do not, then, hand me back to the world. Do not try to tempt me with material things. Let me attain pure light. Only on my arrival there can I be fully a human being.
*St. Ignatius of Antioch (ca. 50 - ca. 98-117). Bishop of Antioch. Letter to the Romans.
Today's Scripture
61 Another man said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to my family." 62 Jesus said, "Anyone who begins to plow a field but keeps looking back is of no use in the kingdom of God."
*Luke 9.61-61, NCV
Wisdom Story
The cowbird, a North American species, will only lay her eggs in other bird nests. Some other birds do this occasionally, but the cowbird exclusively.
The cowbird, therefore, is becoming a problem, remarks writer Peter Kendall. She is a prodigious egg-layer: each female lays twenty to forty dozen eggs in other nests each spring. The eggs usually hatch sooner than the native eggs, and the chicks grow more quickly. Birds tend to feed the largest, loudest chicks first, for they usually are the healthiest and have the best possibility of survival. The host bird, hence, spends much time tending the little cowbird chicks, leading to a neglect of her own. So, the cowbird is driving some other songbirds toward extinction.
Like the little cowbird chicks to the host bird, so are distractions in our spiritual life. Distractions have an influence, drawing toward extinction what needs to remain priority in our lives, faith communities, homes, and larger communities.
What is the nature of distraction? "Distraction" is from the Latin distractus, "to draw apart." So, in distraction there is movement toward loss of focus, or singleness. There grows a division in heart-mind. Thought and affection do not enjoy unification, and union is the essence of spiritual life, or contemplation.
Lack of singleness, or union, amidst diversity is contrary to spirituality. Theologically, this is exemplified in that the diversity of the Trinity is reliant ontologically on the union of the Godhead. This union the Church has referred to as the simplicity of God, Lat. simplicitas Dei. Godself is not made up of parts. The attributes of God do not add up to make God God; rather, the attributes are identical with the essence of God in oneness. Hence, there exist no potential of distraction in the Divine Being, no potential of any division.
Practically, then, to be a godly person or godly community is to be a unified being. Additionally, the unified being reflects the attributes of God in the godly heart-mind, for the attributes in God are the character of God, or characterize God.
Simplicity, then, is a traditional spiritual discipline among those who prioritize the spiritual life. Spiritual practice, alone and communally, refocuses us and shapes the heart-mind into a more aware posture of openness to and focus on God. Indeed, worship could be broadly defined as this openness and focus in all our thoughts and actions.
Contemplation, then, is the pinnacle of worship, at least in our present state as human persons. Contemplation is the prayerful posture of simplicity in all human faculties, drawing from and drawn into the Simplicity of God. Grace, the divine energy as the expression of God, focuses our energies in union with the union that is the Trinity. This is the spiritual marriage, the holy communion that transcends self ~ or integrates person ~ in the Body of Christ.
Reflection and Spiritual Exercise
Prayerfully reflect on the words of St. Ignatius and of Jesus in the Luke Gospel. How do their words reflect the godly life, as spoken of in this writing?
Consider how you might live a more spiritually-focused life. To do that, what distractions do you need to remove from you heart-mind this Lent to gain devotion more focused on giving time and energy, thought and service, to God?
*Quote from St. Ignatius of Antioch: mycopticchurch.com. Illustration of cowbirds: Craig Brian Larson, Ed. Contemporary Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers, Writers.
*Brian K. Wilcox lives with his wife, Rocio, their two dogs, St. Francis and Bandit Ty, and their fish, Hope, in Southwest Florida. Brian is vowed at Greenbough House of Prayer, a contemplative Christian community in Georgia. His passion is living a contemplative life and inspiring others to experience a deeper, increasingly-fulfilling relationship with the mystical Christ. He advocates for a spiritually-focused Christianity as part of the transformation of the Church in seeking to meet the spiritual needs and longings of persons and empathic relating with persons of diverse spiritual traditions.
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