I finished my weekend of Group Spiritual Direction and returned to work today. My desire to be still and listen grew over the course of the weekend, but by 8:30 pm I had not considered any holy writing, mooring myself with 20 minutes of silent prayer around 6:30 am. I will end the day with the Examen and some journaling, but the weekend revealed the importance of *holy* words and images. . .
Like the Wicked Witch of the West.
One of our group members used Oz as a metaphor, and when a secretary made the comment about being "the Wicked Witch of the West," I thought of her and said a prayer for her. The secretary has never used an Oz reference in the two years I've known her. It seemed somewhere on the spectrum of serendipity and synchronicity - important to pay attention to these.
Or maybe a mountain.
An image given to me involved climbing a mountain and being on a mountain, and tonight, the encouragement for lectio divina from the book I'm reading was Exodus 3:1-6, where Moses took the flock past the wilderness and to the mountain of God (Mt Horeb). I had not considered "my mountain" the "mountain of God," but any created thing has some origin in God, yes? (We can get into the 'did God create evil' question once I've slept for about 7.5 hours - but maybe not then either.) I pay attention to the coincidence.
How about a campfire. . .
. . .where the wood never burns up because somehow the flame perpetuates its own combustion and God's presence waits for someone to pay attention.
The detail of God "noticing Moses paying attention" and then calling out to Moses causes me to wonder if God was hanging out looking for conversation, and if anyone took a step to reach out in curiosity or amazement, God called out to him/her/them. What might God say to me if God notices I am paying attention? "Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you," as James writes (4:8). My impression from reading Scripture is God always looks to see if any of us are even trying to pay attention, because if we are, God will be there to reach back to us.
Hope the week has started well.
PRACTICE
Lectio Divina: Read the following passage through after a few deep breaths and pay attention to any word or phrase which sticks out for you. Read through again and pay attention to anything further you notice about the word/phrase and how it applies to you. Read through again and spend time in prayer with the word/phrase asking God what you need to understand/know/do with the word/phrase (i.e., How might God be guiding you? What needs your further action? Where may your understanding need to be changed or expanded? How may this impact your relationship with someone else?). End with a time of thanksgiving.
Exodus 3:1-6
1 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
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