*Mystery, Flor Nieva Sampieri, Flickr
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God has no religion.
*Mahatma Gandhi
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I recall Thomas Merton speaking of everyone having a Mystery within that no one can penetrate. So, to have a healthy, even reverent, relationship with another person, we respect that Mystery, rather than presume we can enter There.
Contemplative Prayer, unlike what many call meditation, means this holy Meeting with the Mystery that is in some sense known in its inaccessibility; that is, a Sacredness that in not being known about, one knows. And each meeting with this Grace is new and fresh, each Meeting as though never before happened. Some call this Mystery God, some call This by another word, or words.
In my being trained more in Chaplain work this Summer, this holy Meeting with others in class and in hospital rooms has become central to my work. After over sixteen years as a vowed Contemplative, I find myself still practicing and learning what it means to be present fully to another person. And being present is not merely about sharing a space or being conscious of being in proximity with another person. And this is not merely about being focused on and attentive to. This Meeting includes the above, but is more.
To me, this being fully present entails being with another, consciously choosing to have a heart-knowing that I am present with as Mystery with Mystery. I am not present simply as person to person. "Person" is the means to sense the Mystery-Within. "Person" is the means for the Mystery-Within to manifest. If I am to open to that Mystery-Within within the other, I must be open to the Mystery-Within my own being giving Itself as a gift to the other, also.
This Mystery, this Love, meeting Mystery, sharing Love, entails being inquisitive of and receptive to the Godness in the other. This is central to being Prayerful with others. Here, I know that all labels are a covering, a decoration, a veil over the Truth the other is, or that lives Within and shines through him or her. All labels - religion, race, gender, political, educational, job, single or married, widow or widower, ... - I can honor, but relax and allow the Grace, the Mystery, to shine through to me from the Heart the other truly, most deeply Is. I can relax my own attachment to identities of the other and myself, and in that opening the other is invited to meet the Grace within me.
Historically, many sacred shrines have had a most holy place. In Late Latin sanctum sanctorum is the "holy of holies," and this is from the Greek hagion ton hagion, again "holy of holies"; the latter is from the Hebrew qodesh haqqodashim, "holy of holies." These terms can be rendered the Most Holy Place.
This Most Holy Place is the place, also, within everyone. Contemplative ministry entails approaching that sanctuary within the other with respect that the Mystery is Holy. Likewise, we accept that Sacredness within us is holy also, regardless of what we have done or not done.
We can engage in prayer Silently, as more than being quiet, or not talking. This Silence and Stillness can be a way we are practicing recognizing and receiving this Mystery precisely in Its being Totally Other, therefore known intimately precisely in Its inaccessibility to our thought. Then, we can practice this in daily life. As we do so with intent, this being present fully, Mystery with Mystery, becomes more natural to our way of being among others, more spontaneous.
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*Hugs, Ray Morris, Flickr
* * * CLOSING BLESSING * * *
Grace and Peace to All
The Sacred in Me bows to the Sacred in You
*You are welcome to contact Brian at briankwilcox@yahoo.com .
The presentations at this site cover a long time period. Each one represents part of an on-going Pilgrimage, and the writer's ideas, practices, and experience have changed over time. This change is the quality of any living Journey. Please read with this in mind, allowing the inner Teacher to speak to you as you need at this particular time in your own living Journey. Thanks!
