|
Welcome to OneLife Ministries. This site is designed to lead you prayerfully into a heart experience of Divine Presence, Who is Love. While it focuses on Christian teaching, I hope persons of varied faiths will find inspiration here. Indeed, "God" can be whatever image helps us trust in the Sacred, by whatever means Grace touches us each. Please share this ministry with others, and please return soon. There is a new offering daily. And to be placed on the daily OneLife email list, to request notifications of new writings or submit prayer requests, write to briankwilcox@yahoo.com .
Blessings,
Brian Kenneth Wilcox MDiv, MFT, PhD
Interspiritual Pastor-Teacher, Author, Workshop Leader, Spiritual Counselor, and Chaplain.
You are invited to join Brian at his fellowship group on Facebook. The group is called OneLife Ministries – An Interspiritual Contemplative Fellowship. Hope to see you there. Blessings.
I dedicate this writing to all beings, for the peace and restoration of all Creation to harmony and friendship, and those human beings sacrificing to make this possible. Amen.
Title: Staying In Love by Coming Home: On the Practice of Remembrance
Sagely Words
In the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Supper.
*Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (b. c. 1614). At www.PracticeGodsPresence.com .
Spiritual Teaching
We talk and sing much about “falling in love” and being “in love.” The challenge seems to be with “staying in love.” Anyone can fall, but how do you remain in love? How do you nurture that relationship, so that the love consistently grows? How do we protect it from deadening routine? …
These questions apply in relationship with Mystery, our Divine Lover and Beloved. How do we grow our relationship, over time, with God, our Love? How do we not get deadened by routine? How do we keep the relationship, in concert with Grace, lively and adventurous, even enchanting?
We grow in love with Spirit through intentional practice. One practice is Remembrance. When you are in love with a person romantically, really in love, you do not want to forget the person. You do not want to go off on a long trip and not stay in contact. In fact, you want to cherish the remembering and let the other person know you are thinking of him or her. You may go on a trip, and call back, saying, “I miss you, already. I love you very much.” Before returning, “I am leaving for home, I look forward to seeing you. I love you.” That is what love does. Love loves to remember the lover, the beloved. Love wants to express that, too.
Each morning I get up early, and I am enthused, for I have fallen in love with God. Sometimes, I wake up during the night and pray, then, fall back into sleep. I look forward to morning hours alone with my Lover. Those are precious hours. For many years I “could not” get up early, but when I started having these wonderful dates with my Love, I suddenly got used to jumping out of bed with joy. See, I want to say, as I begin a day, “I love you. Good morning! Let us spend some time loving each other, enjoying the quietness of these hours.” Then, at night, I enjoy going to sleep in prayer and meditation. Sometimes, I am meditating while asleep. All this is the joy of Remembering.
So, here is a Practice on Remembering, taken from Rabbi David A. Cooper, God is a Verb, on the practice of Kavvanah, which corresponds to Mindfulness Practice, in Buddhism, and Practicing the Presence of God, in the Christ Way. I offer a second practice, likewise.
Remembering is not meant to be complicated or a burden. This is to be natural and joyful. This is refreshing awareness of the One Who is your companion and Friend.
Responding
1) Get a watch with a timer. Set the timer for, approximately, but not exactly, an hour. Throughout the day, when the timer beeps, stop what you are doing as soon as possible. Take some time to sense your body and what is happening around you (I call this Coming Home). Where are you? What are you feeling? What is happening in different parts of the body? What sounds do you hear? What are you seeing? Each time you do this, give thanks for the fullness of the moment, for your awareness, and the abundance of life all around you.
2) Note some act you will do throughout the day at intervals – like opening a door, as an example. Decide that each time you do this, you will internally say a prayer affirming the Divine Presence, are offer a mantra-prayer phrase refreshing your awareness of the presence of Grace.
* * *
*OneLife Ministries is a ministry of Brian Kenneth Wilcox, SW Florida. Brian lives a vowed life and with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis, with friends and under a vow of simplicity. Brian is an ecumenical-interspiritual leader, who chooses not to identify with any group, and renounces all titles of sacredness that some would apply to him, but seeks to be open to how Christ manifests in the diversity of Christian denominations and varied religious-spiritual traditions. He affirms that all spiritual paths lead ultimately back to Jesus Christ. He is Senior Chaplain for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, Punta Gorda, FL.
*Brian welcomes responses to his writings or submission of prayer requests at briankwilcox@yahoo.com . Also, Brian is on Facebook: search Brian Kenneth Wilcox.
*Contact the above email to book Brian for preaching, Spiritual Direction, retreats, workshops, animal blessing services, house blessings, or other spiritual requests. You can order his book An Ache for Union from major booksellers.
|
