|
Scripture~Luke 1.45 (ESV)
And blessed is she who believed that there would be [or, believed for there will be] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.
Wisdom Words
All too often, we wake up, think of our schedules, and assume that we must act according to the same dull script. We need not. If we find what is unique to each day, we will have freshness and the greatest fulfillment possible.
*Deng Ming-Dao. 365 Tao. "Interval" (293).
Comments
Much of our lives we spend in interval time. This time is, in New Testament language, chronos time. Chronos is the time between fulfillments.
Kairos time is fulfillment time. Here, we move into the fruition of what was long prepared for in interval time.
We, like Mary, remain in advent time all year. We are called daily to birth Christ. Here, in After Pentecost, or Ordinary Time, we are still called to birth Christ in our world and daily environments.
In a sense we live part of the time in interval time, or preparation time, and, then, in fulfillment time, or fruition time. We experience moments of rejoicing in which what God was tilling our hearts and minds to receive becomes fully realized in our experience. This is kairos, Harvest Time.
In a mystical way interval time and fulfillment time are a unity. Kairos is what contemplation habituates us to live in, and always, but a contemplation that is not opposite preparation time but one with it.
The contemplative can always live in harmony with "this" time and "That" time, or our time and God Time. Mystical faith allows ongoing birthing of Christ, in every moment, in every place one finds herself. To live in God is to live in unity of times that intersect time and eternity, not as opposites but unified in the Divine Simplicity.
Still, we deal with interval time, for we have not yet fully been integrated in God; indeed, to live in our world means to live with necessity of chronos.
This means we see, while living in the time of fulfillment, we are always moving toward fulfillment. Preparation is moving toward fulfillment; fulfillment is moving into preparation.
|
|
Mary trusted the Word she heard from the Divine Voice would be fulfilled. The contemplative, enjoying the bliss and challenges of fulfillment, trusts the word spoken to the faith community and within his or her heart. While she enjoys fulfillment daily, her gift is to live fully within preparation time with others and to rejoice with them in times of fulfillment.
Our practice of daily Prayer of Quiet serves a purpose for the community. The contemplative offers the gift of her living the spirit of kairos within a community of persons embedded in chronos. This does not make her better than the other persons, but it does make her radically different as to her vocational gift.
The contemplative offers nondual consciousness as prayer and energy for the community. She sacrifices pure enjoyment of kairos for progress of the spiritual consciousness of everyone.
Part of the joy of contemplative consciousness is we do not have to wake up resigned to a dull routine. Our daily script, even with our ups and downs in life, can dance with a fresh and lively script. We can face each day with trust that God can lift from the daily page verses of suprise and mystery we could never have written ourselves.
Daily, due to contemplative graces, the Word offers us, in the words of Deng Mind-Dao: "freshness and the greatest fulfillment possible."
Suggested Reflection
How does daily time alone in prayerful meditation prepare you to offer your presence and trust as offering on behalf of other persons in your life? Explain.
Can you tell a difference in quality of your presence among other persons between times you do not spend time alone in prayer daily and times you are faithful to the time alone? Explain.
Do you know someone who blesses by her contemplative quality of presence and faith? How do you feel around the person? Explain.
For submission of replies, see below:
*Brian K. Wilcox is Pastor of Christ Community United Methodist Church, Punta Gorda, FL. He is a vowed member of Greenbough House of Prayer, a contemplative Christian community. His passion is living a contemplative life and inspiring others to experience a deeper relationship with Christ through contemplative prayer and living.
Key Words: contemplation, contemplative living, contemplative prayer, mystical, mysticism, kairos, chronos
|
