JM 2005 April
Quotation
Christina Rossetti
Silence is more musical than any song.
Article
Francis Ballinger
Contemplation and Meditation
In the one of the books that came in for review recently it says:
“Contemplation is a higher level of prayer than meditation because it entails greater intimacy and union with God. Contemplation is a kind of prayer that is more affective and intuitive than rational, closer to silence and feeling, to identification than to speculation, to feeling than to reason.”
It made me think of some questions: how do I define contemplation and meditation; are there such things as higher and lower levels of prayer; do I turn off my rational, speculative, reason when I contemplate / meditate ?
In the last century, one theologian, Tillich, talked about God as “the ground of being”: God existing at the core of life, at the centre of life and existence itself. Others wrote about “The river within” and God being the source and shape of that river. Whenever we talk about God, and prayer, we have difficulty in finding words that express what we mean. That does not mean that we don’t try, or that we switch off parts of ourselves when we pray, but that we come up against the inadequacy placed on us by our language. But then we often come up against that same inadequacy whenever we try to express our deepest thoughts and feelings.
For me, contemplation and meditation are almost completely interchangeable words, that describe an attempt to find some sort of stillness, some sort of detachment from intrusive busyness, some contact with the core of myself, held in the presence of God. It is about creating the space for me not just to listen to myself and the voices that have resonated with me, but to hold myself and others in God’s presence.
Traditionally, teaching on prayer has talked about verbal and mental prayer, intercession and adoration, petition, penitence and thanksgiving as if they are different occupations, some of which are “higher up the ladder” than others, just as it has separated body, mind and spirit, into lower and higher spheres. Such distinctions do not seem helpful to me. Because one session starts with a Bible passage to reflect upon, or some other writing, or music, does that make it meditation, while contemplation starts with an apparently blank mind? Is contemplation necessarily done on your own, or with just you and God? Does contemplation always have to be about deep subjects such as the meaning of life, or can just standing in awe looking at a sunrise be called contemplation?
Prayer seems to me to be something about creating situations in which we can experience God, where we can switch off from our endless busyness and be still enough to be aware of that experience of God around and within us: when our whole being, however we describe it, is aware that we are not alone, but in the presence of one who loves us.
Julian wrote: “Prayer is the proper understanding of the fullness of joy that is to be; an understanding which comes from deep desire and sure trust.”
Article
Anne Stamper
Wasting time with God
One of my favourite pieces read as a lead-in is from ‘Prayer and Ministry’ by Henri Nouwen.
A Useless Hour to be with God
“If we relate to the world just in terms of usefulness and what we can do with it, then we might not relate to it in such a way that God can speak through it. It is very important that once in a while we have an hour to be useless. Prayer is not being busy with God instead of being busy with other things. Prayer is primarily a useless hour…Prayer is primarily doing nothing in the presence of God. It is not to be useful, and so remind myself that if anything is important in life it is God who does it. So when I go into the day, I go with the conviction that God is the one who brings fruits to my work, and I do not have to act as though I am in control of things. I have to work hard; I have to do my task. At the end of the day I have to keep saying that if something good happens, let us praise the Lord for it. But in order to do that, we had better take some time out and experience being present for God and God alone, and that is not so easy.”
Article
Maureen Torond
Waiting and watching
“He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver” (Malachi 3:3)
This verse puzzled some women in a bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and tell the group at their next bible study.
That week the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She did not mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot, then she thought again about the verse from Malachi.
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the whole time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith how he knew when the silver was fully refined. He smiled and said it was easy: when he saw his image in it.
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until he sees his image in you.
Maureen Torond, a member of the Sherborne Julian Meeting, received this article from a friend in Zimbabwe.
Quotation
David Viscott
To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.
Poem
Michaela Youngson
Loved into life
A movement, a flutter
a sound in utter
silence.
From nothing
from no thing
life.
Take absence
void of sense
and touch.
Make love.
Create space.
Take risk.
Into the empty silence
bring singing, dancing,
longing, birthing,
dying, weeping.
From your deep well of creative laughter,
bring life,
flowing, pouring, gushing,
springing, refreshing.
Birth-giver,
ancient dancer,
move with the rhythm
of all you have made.
Story-weaver,
tell us again
how it is very good
and how you love us into life.
This is taken from ‘Making the Colours Sing’ by Michaela Youngson, which is published by the Methodist Publishing House.
JM abroad
George Dobinson
JM–France
The Julian Meeting in Brittany was five years old in January 2005. We continue to have an average attendance of 12 but frequently more, and even as many as 19 when we are joined by friends on their annual visits.
Our JM includes the main Christian denominations as well as a Buddhist and a Sufi. As we have both English and French members, readings are in both languages and are taken from Western and Eastern traditions.
We follow our own ritual of marking the beginning of the Meeting with the lighting of a candle, introductory music on CDs, with further music for ending. There are short readings before and after the music, and the candle is extinguished at the end.As has always been our practice, the Meeting is followed by a shared lunch with plenty of discussion.
Over the years the Meeting has experienced a deepening sense of unity and communion.
JM abroad
Kay Hudson
JM–South Africa
Our Annual General Meeting takes place on 7 May 2005. James Patrick is the Convenor and Kay Hudson still Secretary, with Sandra Johnston on the Board.
There are 17 groups and 22 Lone Members. The groups are stable: some have been in existence for 20 years. The Julian Meetings magazine is photocopied and dispatched to the groups and the Lone Members. The subscriptions and generous donations from members pay for the photocopying and distribution costs. The Convenor always sends a letter with the magazines. These past three AGMs have been attended by the usual 25–30 local members. We have had excellent speakers and each of their addresses have been published in the magazine. Copies are also sent to each group and Lone Members.
Our meeting is held at the Gardens Presbyterian Church were James Patrick is Minister. We have a bring and share lunch and everybody enjoys this time together and the input given by the speaker. Thank you to Hilary Wakeman who sends us our issue of the Magazine.
JM abroad
Michael Tiley and Rev D Efren Velazquez
JM–Mexico
There are now two Julian Meetings in Mexico City. The original meeting was started by Jaime Martin from England who was living in Mexico City. She attended the day in Oxford to celebrate 30 years of the Julian Meetings in 2003. She has now moved back to the UK and the meeting is run by Fr Fernando, the parish priest of San Jorge’s Anglican Church. It meets at his house on Wednesday evenings, is attended by about six members and is taken in Spanish. It was in abeyance over Christmas and they planned to meet again in the New Year.
The second group is run by Fr Fernando at the Julian of Norwich Centre on Calle Articulo 123, in a poor part of the centre of the city. The centre was set up some years ago by Christ Church Las Lomas (the main English speaking Episcopal / Anglican Church in Mexico City) on the site of its original church which became unsafe as a church building after the last big earthquake in 1985. It is a help centre for poor street children and people suffering from HIV / Aids and was dedicated to Julian some years ago. A Julian Meeting was started there by Fr Efren Velasquez last year after some consultation with Fr Fernando. Fr Efren is a recently-ordained priest in the Mexican Episcopal Church who was studying for an MA in Theology at St John’s College, Durham in 1983/84 and he was able to visit the Julian Shrine then. The meeting takes place on Wednesday afternoons with a Eucharist followed by a reading and 30 minutes silence and ends with a shared meal. It is attended by about 30 regulars from the centre. It helps to meet the spiritual needs of a disadvantaged group and its helpers in the inner city area. It is hoped to make the meeting ecumenical by inviting people from other churches and to invite some of the lay members to assist in running the meeting. This is another Spanish-speaking JM.
Michael Tiley
Our Julian Meeting is going very well. Actually we have a social centre called ‘St Julian of Norwich’ and it is open every day, to help poor and sick people. Every Wednesday we meet for the celebration of the Eucharist and the Julian Meeting. After this we have a meal to share together with people. The social centre has a Bazar (clothes shop) and we offer embroidering classes and other things.
Rev D Efren Velazquez
JM abroad
Meryl Webb
JM–Australia
Since our Julian Meetings report in the December 2001 issue of the Magazine, JM–Australia has been slowly growing. We now have seven Meetings in Victoria as well as two potential Meetings, four Meetings in New South Wales, two in South Australia, one in Tasmania, and two in Western Australia with one potential Meeting.
Our magazine subscriber numbers tend to remain about the same, with 71 subscribers and 17 complimentary subscribers on the list. One of those subscribers is from the Brisbane area in Queensland, but still no takers in the Northern Territory.
Over the past four years we have continued to run annual Quiet Days, Prayer Schools and Retreats. In Victoria I have run a Quiet Day each year at Point Lonsdale, a seaside village where the Anglican Church is only a few metres from the main beach. Since we hold our Quiet Days in March, we usually have very good seaside weather. Our topics have been: ‘Praying with St John of the Cross’, ‘Praying with St Francis of Assisi’, and ‘Praying with the Desert Fathers and Mothers.’ This year on 5 March we will be ‘Praying with St Peter, the Rock.’
We have continued holding our Prayer Schools in the Greater Melbourne area in Victoria – 2002 at Wesley Uniting Church, Lonsdale St Melbourne led by Fr Peter Martin, Anglican priest and former Cistercian monk. His topic was ‘Pathways into Contemplation.’
The following year we met at The Wellspring Centre in Ashburton, in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Ms Frances Thorsen, psychotherapist, spiritual director and member of the Society of Friends, spoke to us about silence from a Quaker perspective, and led us into silence at the end of each segment of her presentation.
This past October, we journeyed to St Augustine’s Anglican church in Mentone, on the eastern shores of Port Phillip Bay, in the southern suburbs of Melbourne. There Linda Walter, who works in the areas of counselling and spiritual direction, took as her topic ‘Moving Between Silence and Speech in our Praying.’
In 2002 there were two Retreats, one in Victoria and the other in New South Wales, both led by Bp John Bayton. He chose as his topic ‘The Art ofSpirituality – Drawing on Images from the Old and New Testaments.’ In 2003 the Victorian Retreat was led by the Revd John Simpson, Baptist Pastor from Portland and former General Superintendent of the Baptist Union of Victoria. The theme of his talks over the weekend was ‘Adjusting the Focus: Life-changing Encounters with Jesus.’
In 2004 the Victorian Retreat was led by Fr David Patterson, Vicar of St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church, Burnley, Melbourne. His theme was ‘In Praise of God: Oriental rugs and Rainwater Tanks.’ For our coming Retreat in June we will be led by the Revd Paul Turton, Pastor of The Pilgrim Church – a network of Baptist Churches in the Greater Melbourne Area. He is planning to speak with us on the theme ‘Contemplation – The Images Within.’
Meanwhile, in New South Wales in 2002 the Revd Barbara Lumley, our New South Wales Coordinator, organised a School of Christian Prayer and Spirituality which was held each Tuesday evening in the Newcastle area. Bp Roger Herft spoke on Prayer and the New Testament and on lgnatian Prayer. Other topics covered in the series included Prayer for Healing and Intercessory Prayer. The School concluded with a Saturday Quiet Day focusing on Contemplative Prayer. The average attendance was 48.
In September 2003, Rev Barbara organised a retreat at the Monastery of Stroud, north of Newcastle, situated in beautiful bushland and now managed by the welfare organisation of the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle, NSW. The event was led by a Retreat Team with the Ven Keith Dean-Jones steering it. Keith is a member of the Oratory of the Good Shepherd and Rector of the Parish of Cardiff (NSW). In November, there was a Quiet Day led by the right Reverend Roger Herft, Bishop of Newcastle.
In September 2004, Rev Barbara again organised a Retreat at Stroud, and spoke about some of the ideas contained in Esther De Waal’s latest Book ‘Lost in Wonder.’
Unfortunately for us all, just before the above-mentioned Retreat, Barbara wrote me that this would be her last effort and that she was relinquishing the role of NSW Co-ordinator or contact person. We are all so very grateful for her fine efforts. Thanks to her, many more people have heard about contemplative prayer, and there are now four Julian Meetings in NSW. Thank you, Barbara, for the generous sharing of your gifts and your time. May God continue to bless you in whatever path He leads you upon.
Article
Liz Gentleman
JM-online
As we begin 2005, the online Julian meeting is still going strong, with 31 members in many different countries. Some members got together for a series of sessions on Christian meditation in March / April 2004, based on the materials provided by John Hawkins. We experimented in this way with various techniques for silent meditation, and generally found it very enjoyable as well as informative and rewarding.
Our Julian website is still to be found at this address: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/amidthenoise/. To join just go there and follow the instructions on screen. You will need to create a Yahoo profile which helps you manage your participation in online groups. On the left of the screen, you will see various buttons that allow you to access the website functions. To join the monthly online JM, click on ‘Chat’ and you will – all being well! – find yourself transported into our chatroom.You can see who is there in a list to the right. To ‘speak’ just type in the box at the bottom and send. There is a short time lapse between messages and replies, so be patient. Meetings tend to last about an hour and finish when people are ready to sign off.
To find out more about other members of the group, click on ‘Files / Member biographies.’ In the ‘Database’ section there is a reading list with members’ recommendations, and in ‘Photos’ you can see what some of us look like and also add your picture! For problems with international time conversions see ‘Links: and for meeting dates and times, ‘Calendar.’
New members are very welcome, so why not give it a try? Meetings are held on the last Saturday of each calendar month at 4.00pm UK time. We always begin with a shared 30-minute silence before the chat begins.
Quotation
Anton Chekhov
We shall find peace. We shall hear the angels, we shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds.
Quotation
Samuel Johnson
Silence propagates itself, and the longer talk has been suspended, the more difficult it is to find anything to say.
Article
Ann Graham
Contemplative Withdrawing
In response to John Hawkins’s article ‘Contemplative drawing’ in the December 2004 magazine, which I think everyone who draws will find extremely helpful, I would like to offer another view on the subject of retreats organised by the Creative Arts Retreat Movement (CARM). This comes from my own experience of attending many of these events.
These activity retreats cover a range of subjects, the most popular being ‘Painting and Prayer’ and ‘Poetry and Prayer.’ They are usually held in retreat houses in very attractive parts of the country; some are held abroad. Each retreat has a tutor who will teach drawing, painting, writing, embroidery, whatever the subject of the retreat, and he or she may well give demonstrations as an aid to the learning process.
A priest acts as the chaplain for the retreat, often providing an ear to those in need of help, and will arrange services. Sometimes at a service in the morning there will be a short homily to set the theme for the day, or a led meditation. What form these meditations take will depend very much on the priest. Some may emphasise silence although, in my experience, few of them actually did. This was disappointing because for me an activity retreat is not just an occasion for learning to paint, or to write, and to enjoy the company of like-minded people, but also to have an opportunity to recharge my spiritual batteries. For me silence is very important.
Towards the end of the retreat, many tutors seem to want to have what I thought of as ‘big production number’ exhibitions. These can be a source of anxiety as people try to decide on such things as how to mount paintings, or what poetry to submit and how it is to be exhibited. To me this does not easily fit in with the ethos of a retreat.
In many cases at the end of the retreat, planning for the final communion service was not unlike planning the exhibition, with all expected to take part. What we were required to do seemed ideal for youngsters but not for people of a more mature age! Holy Communion is no more, no less than the Eucharist – a thanksgiving – and it doesn’t seem to me to need anything added to it. I would just like to finish the week with a service that includes thanksgiving for the people we have met and enjoyed, for the work we have done, and for the staff of the retreat house, and to intercede for those in need.
So, for anyone who would enjoy a busy activity retreat, for example drawing, painting, writing, or doing embroidery, in the context of some teaching and some religious services, these retreats are for you.
But if you are looking for silence and some teaching on prayer, you are more likely to find it at one of the places listed in the magazine ‘Retreats.’ This is published each December and most churches will have a copy. For those interested in obtaining their own copy, send a cheque for £7.00 to:
The Retreat Association
The Central Hall
256 Bermondsey Street
London
SE1 3UJ
Those looking for a denominational retreat might want to contact one of the individual organisations listed below.
Association for Promoting Retreats (mainly Anglican)
Membership Secretary at the Retreat Association office.
Baptist Union Retreat Group
Pamela Neville, 42 Coniston Road, Chippenham, Wilts SN14 0PX
Catholic Network for Retreats & Spirituality
Membership Secretary at the Retreat Association office.
Methodist Retreat & Spirituality Network
Chris Wood, 113 Sandridge Road, St Albans AL1 4AQ
Quaker Retreat Group
Carol Wise, 24 Rosebank, Burley in Wharfedale, llkley, West Yorks LS29 7PQ
United Reformed Church Silence and Retreat Network
Barry Hutchinson, The Manse, Lewins Lane, Holy Island, Berwick-uponTweed TD15 2SB.
Article
Brian Morris
A Silent Eucharist
“That service really spoke to me.” It’s a remark most of us hear from time to time. We’re perhaps less likely to hear the reverse said; of a service in which the words actually get in the way of worship. But it can happen. So how do you worship without words – and in particular, how do you celebrate the Eucharist without words?
At the Annual General Meeting of the Association for Promoting Retreats on 6 November 2004, those attending found the answer in the form of a silent Eucharist. Excluding the Gospel for the day, the liturgy is pared down to a few dozen words, so that instead of a wordy busyness punctuated by occasional silences (and everyone wondering if the celebrant’s gone to sleep!), the service takes place in an atmosphere of reflective silence, punctuated only by the few essential words, and the ringing of a bell to mark the stages of the liturgy.
Silence, of course, is not stillness. A variety of silent activities were provided for the confession and intercessions, and we were permitted – even encouraged – to move between them, and to go outside the church in which we were meeting, if we felt it was appropriate.
The liturgy was devised by the celebrant, the Rev. Paul Jenkins, who is Warden of St Columba’s House, Woking. His experience in using this form of worship was a great help to all those present. But how would it work in a different context?
‘Work’ is perhaps not the best term to use: it implies that worship is something we do, and that the results are predictable. A few weeks later, I was involved in running a small conference, and we decided to use the same pattern for the closing Eucharist for a dozen people who had met several times over the previous three years. After 24 hours of pretty solid discussion, it seemed appropriate to pause in this way before dispersing.
Our celebrant was nervous when he saw the liturgy. “There’s not enough for me to do” was his first, telling reaction. Both celebrant and congregation need to be ready for stillness; with so few words, the celebrant becomes much more obviously the president at an inclusive rite, and the shared silence is something we all bring, in our own way, to the worship.
The general reaction was favourable. “I’m taking this back to our senior staff meeting – they need to shut up a bit more!” was one comment. Another comment was how much more aware we became of each other in the silence, and therefore how much easier it became to pray for each other and our work. Certainly, we returned to speech at lunch in a different way. We may or may not use this liturgy again; but it was good to use it in this context and with this group.
Article
Gail Ballinger
A new spirituality journal
Why a journal? There are many and varied books on Christian spirituality and formation. We know from the letters we receive that people appreciate the Julian Meetings magazine. Part of the attraction is that articles are short but not slight. It’s perhaps rather like the difference between a good collection of short stories and a novel: the short story is a different art form. We can pick up a journal and read a complete article in one sitting and then find ourselves engaged with its content for the rest of the day. When my magazine arrives I like to look and see what is in it but I tend not to sit and read it straight through any more than I would read several books – such as the ones we review or novels – straight through one after the other. I suppose this is also like reading a collection of poetry. Each poem speaks volumes and it won’t speak as much as it could if I move on too quickly. With the Julian Meetings magazine there is also an element of participation, a reciprocity where people read and reflect but also write as we receive articles from subscribers which are greatly welcomed and appreciated. So there is a sense of belonging and involvement that we don’t get from reading a book, however good and helpful it is.
A new spirituality journal called Quiet Spaces aims to give us an opportunity to explore prayer and spirituality and to try out new ways to enrich our relationship with God, encouraging us to look more broadly at how we can grow spiritually. Quiet Spaces “draws together a broad spectrum of spirituality to help us engage with God and so move out into service and mission.” It is published by The Bible Reading Fellowship which. has Anglican roots but is cross-denominational.
Each issue has a theme, the first being Creation and Creativity. Articles include:
- What is creativity? by Jean Watson
- Gardens and gardening, by John Henstridge
- Painting our prayers, by Kate Litchfield and Wendy Shaw
- A holy space, by Rob Gillion
- Colours for the soul, by Fleur Dorrell
- Why go on retreat? by Fleur Dorrell
- Seeing in the dark, by Margaret Silf
- Creation’s window on suffering, by Jean Watson
- Musings of a middle-aged mystic, by Veronica Zundel.
The next issue is due out in July and is on the theme’The Journey.’
I found the articles stimulating and practical, and with a variety of approaches. The layout and illustrations are attractive. And I found it encouraging that a new magazine on spirituality is being published, and with a different approach to our own Julian Meetings Magazine so that it would complement it.
“Quiet Spaces” is edited by Becky Winter and published by The Bible Reading Fellowship. There are three issues a year. The first, Creation and Creativity, is at the introductory price of £3.99; later issues cost £4.99. Subscriptions: UK£ 16.95 (introductory offer £13.95), Republic of Ireland £18.45, elsewhere surface mail £18.45 or air mail £20.85. All from BRF, First Floor, Elsfield Hall, 15–17 Elsfield Way, Oxford OX2 8FG. Telephone: 01865 319700; web: http://www.brf.org.uk.
Prayer
Fr Matthew ODC
The fire of love
These are two prayers used by the late Father Matthew ODC to begin and end his Christian Contemplative Meditation meetings.
Come to us, Holy Spirit, as you came to the apostles;
Open our minds that we may see the hidden things of God.
Send love into our hearts like a Flame of Fire
That our lives may be changed by the power of your Spirit,
To do God’s work on earth and bring people with us to heaven.
May the grace we have received, Lord,
Sink deep in our hearts,
Bear fruit in our lives,
And keep us always in thanksgiving in praise of your Name.
Poem
Yvonne Edwards
To be the tree that’s me
And God said,
If only,
you could find freedom
in the openness of the heavens that I gave to you
your leaves could dance in the arms of the wind
and know no tiredness in their autumn fall.
If only,
you could see the purpose
of the intricate design I drew for you
your branches could thrust out to seek their space
not fearing their trespass of each other.
If only,
you could sense the strength
in that immense trunk I made for you
your spirit could stretch to enrich your furthest cell
and not despair in the distance of your boundaries.
If only,
you could know the wonder
in the multitude of fruits I blessed on you
you could find fulfilment in all that you create
and feel no hurt in the pain of labour.
If only,
you could hold secure
in the depths of existence where I planted you
you could explore its mystery with certainty
and have no awe of its unknown ways.
If only,
you could open with joy
into the perfect shape I conceived for you
you would trust my constant need to prune you
and not cringe in dread when I appear.
If only,
you would unfold in wisdom
to be the wholeness I created you
you would give a canopy to all who seek shelter
and never know the invasion of a stranger.
If only,
I said to God!
This is taken from “Nowhere Everywhere” by Yvonne Edwards, which was reviewed in the April 2004 issue of the magazine.
Article
Wanda Nash
Meditation and the World Faiths
‘Meditation’ is such an umbrella word. It covers many approaches to God. One form of Silent Prayer is a simple ‘resting in the Lord’, another involves considerable mental activity; sometimes in the silence we can go for an imaging journey using pictures; and some stretch out for a state of altered consciousness, while others think of meditation as a means of shaping one’s own soul. Maybe we go for a mixture of these.
For some time l’ve been thinking about the word ‘prayer’ itself. At its root there lies the notion of ‘pleading.’ There is a particular form of meditation that is about being in the Presence where pleading is superfluous. It is praying without pleas. God knows all, God sees all, God understands all. There are times when it is my need to tell God and ask God, but God himself or herself has no need to be told, or instructed, or informed. Dame Julian says that “Our Lord wills that we come to Him nakedly, plainly, and homely”; so the Place of no Pleas is about being with God stripped of demands, slimmed of information, letting go of everything other than wanting to be there. Whats and whys and wherefores don’t seem to belong in that place.
When we try to pray together with people of other faiths, the use of words in unfamiliar ways can be upsetting and can become a cause of difficulty. If we could only approach God together without the use of words, and carrying no pleas, maybe we could all grow closer to God and closer to each other. Each of the World Faiths has a practice of meditation attached to it, and in the last couple of years I have been trying to find out if this ‘Place of no Pleas’ features in them. Gail asked me to describe something of what I have found, but inevitably what follows will be a huge simplification. So I need to start now with a plea for forgiveness for over or under-statement!
Among those with whom I have discussed this Place of no Pleas are people from the Buddhist, Muslim, Sufi, Hi!ldu, Sikh, Jewish, Ba’hai, and Christian traditions. We found we had in common a deep yearning for God and godlikeness. The ‘shape’ of the God we prayed to has differed, and also the ways in which we vocalised our yearning for God, but is there a place we have in common, a place for prayer without pleas?
One of the people who struck me with his great holiness was a Muslim. He is an Englishman who has converted to Islam, and his every pore exudes balance and good humour, compassion and devotion. He turns to Mecca and bows his head to Allah at twenty set times each day – more during Ramadan. He never allows his stomach to be more than one third full with food (another third is fluid and the final third stays empty), and he often spends one third of the night in prayer. As I understand it, his prayer consists of affirmations to God, with few ‘pleas’ but – as prescribed by the Qu’ran – it ordinarily uses prescribed words. Followers of Islam who are drawn to silent prayer are encouraged to ask for the oversight of a Sufi teacher. It is not common for Muslims and Sufis to pray together.
Sufis themselves say they have reached the zenith of all religions, and any member of any religion can take part in their learning and worship.
Buddhists on the other hand claim that meditation is about searching for personal happiness, equilibrium and tranquillity, and is available to all. Anyone with dedicaton and perseverance can reach a state of nonattachment, and this brings deep acceptance. Most Buddhist teaching denies that there is a Divine Person overseeing the world, so there is no god to whom to plead.
Among Hindus there are many personalised forms of the ultimate Divine Being, and these ‘gods and goddesses’ are prayed to using music, dance, costume, incense, offerings of food and drink, money, flowers and yoga. These lesser deities are pleaded to with great earnestness. These prayers can be alongside the deep stillness of Yoga; whether that is a matter of personal chill-out and calm, or is allied to surrender to the Presence of God, often depends on the teacher and the type of practice taught.
Sikhism itself uses the practice of meditation as its main form of worship. Below are a few extracts from discussions I have had with local giani (preachers): “A soul without meditation is weak: each time you meditate the heart and soul grow stronger. A spiritual power develops that can withstand any other power:’ – “Meditation holds life closer and closer to God; naam is the continued repetition of one of God’s many names. There is increasing purity until total purity is reached, and the soul is pure and power-filled. There grows a pure love for God and love of God.” – “God knows everything, understands everything, is everywhere, you don’t need to tell Him or remind Him of anything. He will take care of you.” – “Eventually you forget you are meditating! All you do is meditation, without you even thinking about it. Everything is performed in the Presence of God and for His love. The love of God is the only reality, the only thing of permanence, the only spring of good works.” Apparently pleading with God is rare in Sikhism.
The Ba’hai movement claims it is the evolutionary development of all religions: Ba’hai meditation practice appears to be very close to Hindu practice.
The ancient wisdom carried in the Jewish Kabbalah was passed on from learned leaders to selected searchers by word of mouth for centuries. It was considered too sacred and secret to be squandered, and therefore was kept hidden. Today it is more widely published, and as a result some of it has been usurped and displaced. Jesus himself must have been aware of the existence of the early teaching; maybe it formed part of the questions he put to the doctors in the temple when he was twelve? Certainly many of the phrases he uses about prayer resonate with phrases in the Kabbalah, which itself records advice and instruction concerning prayer with no pleas.
The bible, too, is full of references to still prayer: “Be still and know–“ (Psalm 46:10); – “Their strength is to sit still” (Isaiah 30:7); – ”Only be silent, and let silence be your wisdom”(Job 13:5 REB); – “Be silent, and I shall teach you wisdom” (Job 33:33 REB); – “Return to thy stillness, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with thee” (Psalm 116:7). Maybe it was from this foundational knowledge that Jesus himself said, “Set your troubled minds at rest; trust in God always” (John 14:1).
Today’s Christianity increasingly refers back to the traditions set by the Abbas and Ammas of the 2nd to 5th centuries. These spiritually redoubtable men and women were very close to the stories about Jesus constantly withdrawing in order to feed on his deep, deep communion with his Father. Indeed, his parting gift was his own special peace: the peace by which we can hold on to that communion in the face of buffets, and threats, and conflicts, just as Jesus did when faced by Pilate. There, supremely, Jesus was in a place without pleas.
The resonance of phrases and ideas among the main World Faiths is somewhat like a train adventuring along the same track to the same destination with carriages of similar shape and purpose constantly being added. Some people may get into the green carriage, while others prefer the red, or blue, or brown. Different food may be served in each carriage, a different language may be familiar in each, but they are all being drawn by the same engine – whose Driver is God.
Meditation is about dropping words. It is about making a space where we can let go and let God be the God who is, rather than the God we make in order to meet our own needs. The God who Sees all, Knows all, Understands all, who wants our (blind) love and trust and allegiance – perhaps even more than our demands and instructions.
But the Great God of mystery will not be framed by any one concept; nor will He be tamed by any one culture, nor can He be claimed by any one faith.
Especially, in this journey of discovery, there are many-shaped windows on to the Eternal Light; and we know that for each step we take to meet God, God runs a thousand steps to meet us.
So, in the Presence of Eternal Light, Unlimited Love, Inextinguishable Purpose, and the Inexhaustible Initiator, let us “come and see”; with awe, wonder, and deep humility, and, at least sometimes, in the absence of pleas.
Article
Marian Sale
The Rainbow
The rainbow reminds me of both the immanence and transcendence of God. Its translucent colours sparkle and shimmer in the sunlight before our eyes and yet its very elusiveness makes it impossible to touch. It has a ‘noli me tangere’ feel about it. It brings to mind the painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel which depicts the hand of God stretching out towards man and the hand of man reaching towards God, yet their fingers neyer quite touch. It reminds me also of a promise, not so much that the world will never flood again, but the promise of life eternal – life beyond the grave.
Article
James Toon
The Catheral Church of Saint Corentin, Quimper
Corentin was a Breton saint who lived some time between the 5th and 7th centuries AD. Legend has it that he lived as a hermit to bear witness to his faith. Each day he would take a piece of fish from a nearby holy well, only to find it miraculously whole again the next day. At the request of GradIon, king of the region, he became the minister at Kemper, the regional capital, and so became one of the founders of the diocese of Brittany.
The cathedral was commissioned in 1239 on the site of previous buildings dating from the 9th and 11th centuries. It took a long time to build (war and disease were frequent visitors to the region) and was not completed until nearly 300 years later. It is in the Gothic style.
In recent years the French government has done much to strengthen the structure and clean or replace its stones. The interior is much lighter and brighter now and the cathedral has been restored to its original glory.
Book review
Yvonne Walker
Michaela Youngson • Making the Colours Sing
Inspire, 2005, £12.99
A colourful collection of prayers, poems, hymns and liturgies based around the theme of stained glass. This book traces the cycle of life from birth and beginnings through growing up and growing awareness to grief, death and resurrection. Each chapter begins with a photo and reflection on a stunning example of modern stained glass.
The prayers and poems are refreshingly contemporary, engaging with the realities of family life with a deep wisdom of life lived in all its reality of humour and everyday ordinariness borne out of the author’s own experiences as mother, minister, liturgist and feminist.
The book is well-presented and uncluttered with plenty of visual space. The illustrations of stained glass speak to the heart as strongly as the powerful text.
This is a book to treasure, to savour the words and the images and to explore at random rather than a straight read. A resource for public and private prayer, this book would make an ideal gift.
Book review
Yvonne Walker
Charlotte Methuen • If you Love Something, Let it Go… Reflections for Ash Wednesday to Pentecost
Inspire (MPH), 2004, £6.99
Although you will be reading this review after Easter, the theme of letting go and receiving is the very essence of our faith; and so this book could be read and reflected upon at any time of the year. This theme is not only the central message of Lent, it is a reality of the life of faith. The author shares her belief that on Easter Sunday the story is not over but is only just beginning: the cycle of letting go and receiving is never a ‘going back’ but a step forward in faith. Each chapter starts with a Gospel passage followed by a reflection upon it and ends with a prayer. A daily companion for any time of the year.
Book review
Janet Robinson
Trevor Dennis • God Treads Softly Here
SPCK, 2004, £7.99
Many prayers ask God to help us to lead ‘righteous, sober and godly’ lives: few include ‘joy’ as a necessary part of life. Trevor Dennis’s book has an engaging and light-hearted quality that can bubble up into a chuckle while conveying an important message. He states that what he says about God is ‘a nonsense’ but it is challenging and thought-provoking nonsense.
The book consists of verse and prose based on biblical passages and on some religious poetry, but particularly concentrates on three parables of Jesus: the Lost Coin, the Lost Sheep and the Prodigal Son. The stories and themes concentrate on God’s loving gentleness and simplicity, and inspire us to develop this idea when using other parts of the bible for our meditations. Each passage could be used as a basis for our own silent and imaginative prayer, and some could be used as lead-ins for a Julian Meeting.
Book review
Hilary Wakeman
Donal Dorr • Time for a Change: a Fresh Look at Spirituality, Sexuality, Globalisation and the Church
Columba, Dublin, 2004, €15.99, £11.50
One of the really hot subjects at the moment, perhaps even more in the media than among Christians, is the difference between religion and spirituality. Religion is declining, we are told, and spirituality is increasing. The Julian Meetings could be said to be a case in point: although most participants are also members of churches, the growth of the movement is clearly connected with people’s desire to connect with the divine in ways other than those offered by the institutional church.
This book vigorously examines the implications of this shift for the church. The author begins by defining Christian spirituality and then widens it out to what he calls the worldly ingredients of spirituality. These two aspects are necessarily connected, he says, because “those who think of spirituality in terms of their relationship with God nearly always believe that God is calling them to work out their spirituality through some ‘worldly’ commitment.”
Religious leaders, he says, must stop belittling the new search for spirituality, and instead see it as a sign of hope and as something to be encouraged. He gives some examples of how parishes can open themselves both to non-practising Christians and to spiritual searchers. As part of that, there is an excellent chapter on the Eucharist, suggesting that invitation to it should be based not on a test of doctrine but on Jesus’s parable of the banquet, to which the people of the highways and the hedgerows are invited.
Donal Dorr is a missionary priest and ‘spiritual animator: with a good degree of that lateral thinking held by so many who have worked in the Church in other countries. His book perhaps attempts to cover too much ground, but is full of good things nevertheless.
Book review
Yvonne Walker
Margaret Silf • On Making Decisions
Lion, 2004, £4.99
We all spend a great deal of our lives making decisions. This little book has been written “to help make the task of making choices less stressful, more focussed and more fruitful.”
This is not a book to be read through in one sitting. It is presented in bite-sized chunks to be chewed over slowly. This is a very practical book which encourages the reader to reflect and ponder, providing techniques and tools for making choices which can be put into action in daily life from clearing the decks, to reading the signposts and finally seeing it through and moving on.
The final page lists ten commandments for living true which include:
- Let the core of your being – your true self – be the place where your life is grounded.
- Make space and time to discover and explore the core of your being.
- Listen to the wisdom of your personal roots, and of the wisdom figures in your life.
This book could be used for group discussion. It is also a helpful handbook for the inner journey and would be useful for those who are accompanying others.
Book review
Michael Tiley
Claire Disbrey • Listening to People of Other Faiths
BRF, 2004, £7.99
The author is a university lecturer in Religious Studies and a former journalist with an evangelical Christian background. She wrote this book to help Christians from a similar background to move from away from the exclusive view that Christianity is THE way, THE truth and THE life to a more inclusive and non-syncretist view that Christianity is OUR way, OUR truth and OUR life – in other words, without the arrogant assumption that the Christian God is the only true God to the exclusion of God as revealed through other world faiths.
The author compares the main aspects of each of the six major world faiths (Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism) by having ‘conversations’ with three followers of different traditions within each faith such as the evangelical, eucharistic / ritualist and orthodox traditions in Christianity and the liberal, orthodox and Mansoti traditions in Judaism.
This book can help many Christians to learn more about other world faiths so that they can feel sufficiently confident to share their own faith, and important similarities and differences of belief in inter-faith discussions, in an objective manner which must help to promote peace and understanding between different communities and cultures in our world.
Book review
Yvonne Walker
Companions of Christ: Ignatian Spirituality for Everyday Living
Margaret Silf • Companions of Christ: Ignatian Spirituality for Everyday Living
Canterbury Press, 2004, £7.99
One of a series of books on various Christian traditions of spirituality, this is intended as an introduction to the essential elements of a particular tradition. This is not a recipe for a privatised spiritual life but an opportunity to discover through an exploration of the lgnatian spiritual tradition what it means to respond to Christ in everyday life.
Like Margaret Silf’s other books, this is a warm, welcoming guide full of imaginative stories to be worked on slowly. The design and layout of the text encourages the reader to ponder and reflect upon questions and suggestions which are in boxed paragraphs to hold the attention. Helpful sections on prayer, listening and letting go are all part of the practical guidance on the journey of discovery to become ever more fully human while drawing closer to God. This is an excellent introduction to the main themes of lgnatian spirituality presented in an accessible manner.
Book review
Steve Bullock
Jenny Baker and Moya Ratnayake • Tune In Chill Out
Christian Education, 2004, £15.00
There are not many books that I get to read as a busy person myself but I’m really glad I read this one. Don’t be put off by the fact that it’s subtitled ‘Using Contemplative Prayer in Youth Work’, for even if you aren’t involved in youth work this book will have something for you. This is because throughout its pages it challenges the reader to take time and be with God. Unlike some challenges it then doesn’t leave you lying under a cloud of guilt but instead helps you understand some of the rich history of prayer forms that we are lucky enough to have in our faith, and encourages you to have a go first, before thinking about teaching others. Once practised and tried individually, it then helpfully shows you how to use that prayer form with young people and actually gives you practical examples to follow and try out. However, I would say that with a small amount of adaptation such examples could be used in other contexts, which should widen the appeal of this book.
The writers have not only thought about the spiritual need of readers but also their busy lives, as it comes with an excellent CD which includes audio, visuals and worksheets, thus giving practitioners all they need to put into practice what they have learnt quickly and easily. Not only that but this book also has a very useful chapter on resources for each prayer form mentioned (and others), so that if one really captures your imagination then you can find out more about it.
If you are looking for ways of praying that will capture the imagination of young people or adults then this book is for you, but beware, as you too will soon find yourself spiritually challenged and refreshed by practising what you want to teach!
Book review
Alexander Ryrie
Sr Helen Julian CSF • The Lindisfarne Icon: St Cuthbert and the 21st Century Christian
BRF, 2004, £6.99
This easy-to-read, simple but thoughtful book by an Anglican Franciscan Sister describes the life and times of St Cuthbert, the well-known 7th century saint of southern Scotland and northern England. Sr Helen Julian has a very personal attachment to St Cuthbert, and writes with the warmth of conviction. It is not an academic book, but it is based on a thorough study of the available literature. Even those who are familiar with the story of St Cuthbert himself will appreciate the descriptions of the life of the church and society of that time. Each chapter ends with some questions designed to help readers to relate the story of Cuthbert to our Christian life today.
Members of the Julian Meetings will be especially interested in her account of St Cuthbert’s life of prayer. Although he was always especially drawn to contemplative prayer and solitude, he combined his life of contemplation with a great deal of active work as a monk, a bishop and a missionary. And even his solitary prayer was a battling against the forces of evil for the sake of the world. All this is an encouragement to people today who attempt to combine the contemplative life with living in the world.
Book review
Gail Ballinger
David Adam • The Road of Life: Reflections on Searching and Longing
SPCK, 2004, £7.99
“Travel in heart to meet your God, knowing that God is waiting for you. Pilgrimage of the heart is something we can all practise every day.”
This is a book about pilgrimage – an autobiographical account of David Adam’s experience working with pilgrims during his 13 years as vicar of the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. Here we meet some of the many people he met and share in his experience as he interprets some of his insights into their very different journeys. It is as much about our pilgrimage as theirs, for he seeks to look at pilgrims he encountered as mirrors of our own strengths and weaknesses.
Our lives are so often ‘occupied territory.’ The author places great emphasis on our need to do less and make space for people and for God, so that we can respond with love. Each chapter includes a series of exercises which help us “to see beyond the obvious.”
I remember three-year-old Clare who cleaned the church and took ‘flowers for The King’; a group of young people who travelled from Slovakia on a pilgrimage of thanksgiving; and the Northern Pilgrims carrying crosses across the sands on Good Friday. What impressed me about this book was its vitality and hopefulness.