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Wisdom Saying
Aren't you like me, hoping that some person, thing, or event will come along to give you that final feeling of inner well-being you desire? Don't you often hope: "May this book, idea, course, trip, country, or relationship fulfill my deepest desire?" But as long as you are waiting for that mysterious moment you will go on running helterskelter, always anxious and restless, always lustful and angry, never fully satisfied. You know that this is the compulsiveness that keeps us going and busy, but at the same time makes us wonder whether we are getting anywhere in the long run. This is the way to spiritual exhaustion and burn-out. This is the way to spiritual death.
*Henri J. M. Nouwen. Life of the Beloved.
Scripture
10And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven,"You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."
*Mark 1.10-11 (ESV)
Prayer
Dear Father, in your dear Son, through the companionship of the Holy Spirit, I meet the Beloved in whom you delight. I hear the invitation to live, today and every day, into a selflessness both demanding from me and fully giving to me. I would live overwhelmed by the summons, if I did not intimately know the love you yourself spoke to the Beloved at his baptism. At times, feeling unworthy or afraid to enter this affection and its call upon me, I hide. I listen to other voices that have not spoken over me my belovedness. These other voices silence your voice. I hide even in apparent pursuit of the Beloved himself. I hide in good works I do. I hide in my prayers. I hide in good intentions and worthy goals. I hide in that next book I hope will fill my aching with an answer. Deeply, though, you are teaching me that I am privileged not only to know that you spoke your love upon the Beloved, but that I, too, can feel deeply and affirm trustingly that I am your beloved. I am ready to find within myself the feeling and knowing of true, eternal belovedness, a love stable in the shifting events of my daily life and relationships. Remove from my consciousness any debris of the past or fearfulness of the future, and any shaping of thought, that would keep me from embracing your full affirmation of me as your beloved one, one whom you are well pleased with. May my first love be you. May I not turn away your full loving of me and your delight in me in any way. In Christ, Amen.
Brian is available to respond to requests pertaining to seeking a Spiritual Director, his speaking, doing classes, workshops, or retreats for churches or other spiritual groups. He will inform regarding how to receive his other writings or offer replies to comments or questions.
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*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.
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