Happy Father's Day

Anyone who has been blessed with the privilege of being a parent knows both the boundless joy and the depths of anguish that come with the "job". The love between a father and a child is profound{as I'm sure it is for the mother too}. Love, in its purest and deepest forms, is the greatest and most courageous thing we can experience as humans. At times, its the equivalent of scaling high mountain ridges with thousand foot drops on either side; other times, it is as if we were eagles riding effortlessly on a thermal breeze. Most of the time, perhaps, its more like gardening - doing the everyday tasks that cultivate and maintain healthy relationships.

I believe that the closest we can come to understanding God's love for us is through the unique bond of parent and child. It is but a mere glimpse at the breadth of God's love for us, His children. Of course, this kind of love, which is best characterized by its devotional quality, is not exclusively the domain of parenting. It comes with true devotion. Mother Teresa had her 'little children', the lepers and sick she so lovingly cared for. Ghandi embraced the whole of India as his 'children'. Devotion fosters this sense of parent/child tenderness and care.

Jesus often referred to his Father, our Heavenly Father, as "Abba", which roughly translates as 'Papa'. What an intimate and endearing term! It evokes the human closeness of Jesus' relationship to the Father during his time on earth. Although God is infinite and unknowable to the human mind, He welcomes us to share a real part of Him through the blessing of parenting. I am a father to my twenty year old daughter. Through this experience of love, in whatever small measure, I feel closest to God, the Father. I feel I actually share something with Him - that "we" have something in common! Our love for our children connects us. How awesome and humbling. From this vantage point, we can all raise our eyes this day and pray: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name."

Spiritual Listening

Psalm 46:10 - "Be still and know that I am God."

It is not enough to know God through the written word; we must also experience God as the Living Word in our hearts. If God knows all shouldn't we spend more time listening and less time talking in prayer? I was introduced to a form of contemplative prayer many years ago in which I would meditate on a central idea or phrase from a biblical passage for several months. This is a powerful form of prayer in that layers of meaning continue to unfold and deepen as we re-visit an idea repeatedly over time.

One of my first experiences with this kind of prayer focused on the above phrase from David's 46th Psalm. In this approach to prayer, one doesn't so much think about the meaning of a phrase as much as one opens up to the revelation of its meaning through the Holy Spirit. There is a specific attitude one must cultivate to attain this prayerful mindset. It is an attitude characterized by openness, receptivity and patient anticipation. This is not an intellectual exercise of deciphering meaning from Bible verse through clever deductions or interpretations. It is a surrender to the Revelatory Power of the Holy Spirit. By emptying out the voices in our own heads that typically dominate the "airwaves", we open ourselves to a deeper truth. "In the beginning was the Word" - God's first call to us is an invitation to listen! Later, the Living Word is revealed as Jesus the Christ. We are instructed to 'hear the Word and abide by it.' One can not happen without the other. We must first hear the Word deep within our hearts and souls for it to become alive in us.

How do we listen to God? We stop listening to ourselves! The mind will keep us occupied with fodder and filler for as long as we choose to listen to it. The Revelation of the Word happens when we stop talking and start listening. Spiritual listening is an act of faith and surrender. In the same way we are called to love God with the entirety of our being, we also must learn to listen with the fullness of our being. Before the fruit of love - compassionate service - can be harvested, the seeds must be firmly planted through listening. Listening is the internal, passive side of love that eventually grows into action.

Nature abhors a vacuum and a mind without focus will drift and attach to stimulus impulsively and compulsively. A prayer focus allows the mind to continually anchor itself on the island of prayer. Whenever my mind wanders during these month-long prayer sessions, it naturally seeks a return to the island. Like a seabird on a reconnaissance flight, the mind will return to its home-base time and again. The mind needs an anchor or it will wander aimlessly into troubled waters. In a world with endless noise and temptation, a prayer-anchor is essential for staying on course- ' the narrow path of righteousness.'

Gently, without the force of will, spiritual listening develops into a way of being. "Be still and know...." I carried that with me for six months and longer. Over time, my mind slowed and quieted around this central idea. I began to hear something beyond and behind the din of everyday life. God spoke! The Word became flesh. I felt the Living Word inside me and understood then how I could be the Living Temple. And I was saved {from the trappings of my own mind}.