30th. September 2020. Daily Devotion
30th September 2020 A Candle in the Window Peter Millar
Words to encourage us in tough times. ionacottage@hotmail.com
May we be helped each day to do here what is most right.
– words from the Native American tradition.
*** It is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in this broken world.
Mary Oliver
Go and open the door … may be outside there’s…a tree, or a wood…a garden, or a magic city. Go and open the door…may be the dog’s rummaging…maybe you’ll see a face… or an eye…or a picture, of a picture. Go and open the door…if there’s a fog…it will clear. Go and open the door… even if there’s only…the darkness ticking…even if there’s only the hollow wind…even if nothing is there… go and open the door. At least…there will be…a draught.
*Miroslav Holub – (Prague) – from his ‘Poems Before and After’.
*** I am an old man now and have had a great many problems. Most of them never happened. Mark Twain.
*** Knock and the door will be opened. Matthew chapter 7, verse 7.
*** Enter eagerly into the treasure house that is within you and you will see the things that are in heaven. Saint Isaac the Syrian
I heard a delightful story of how the roof of New College, Oxford needs some major repair work carried out. The problem is that the roof has some massive oak timbers in it, and these don’t just grow on trees (if you know what I mean). But the best part of the story is this. When the college was built in the 14th century, someone said, “One day this roof will need to be repaired or rebuilt. We had better plant some oaks now, to be prepared against that time.” So, they did just that. And the grove of trees, planted when the building was new, has now matured and is just right for the job. One has to admire the blend of inspired common sense and practicality which looks forward in that way, unlike the philosophy which says, “Och, it’ll see me out!” — This is part of a BBC radio broadcast – Thought for the Day – given some years ago by Reverend Rachel Dobie, a minister in the Church of Scotland.
*** Our task is clear – re-enchanting our times. David Tacey, Australian writer.
Posture and Prayer:
Though not especially well developed, there is an ancient Christian awareness that physical stillness facilitates interior stillness. Saint Gregory of Sinai and Saint Gregory of Palamas both thought that sitting still and close to the floor could be of great assistance. Gregory of Sinai recommended sitting on a small stool close to the ground. Today we call this a prayer bench. Many of the old monks spoke of a rather odd posture that involved sitting on a low stool and bending the head down towards the navel (this is the likely origin of the term ‘navel gazers’). Today we see things differently. Largely through a sustained dialogue with Hindu and Buddhist monasticism begun in earnest by Pope Paul V1, many Christian contemplatives have seen the benefit of the classic lotus or half lotus position. All things being equal, they are well worth learning, and can be found in any good book on yoga or Zen. Most Western Christian contemplatives, however, sit on a chair or a prayer bench. In any case there is nothing magical or esoteric about learning proper posture.
If you sit in a chair, better to use a simple flat-seated desk or kitchen chair rather than an armchair more suited to reading, watching TV or nodding off! The idea is that the knees and the buttock form a tripod that serves as a solid support for the body. Because most of us are accustomed to slouching this takes some attention. Sit on the front portion of the seat. Don’t lean back. Instead, keep the back straight, shoulders back but not rigid. Depending on your height, a lot of desk chairs leave your knees about even with your hips. If possible, place a cushion under you so that the hips are slightly above the knees. Good breathing is then possible – with feet flat on the floor. Many people don’t know what to do with their hands. Just lay them palms down on the knees or gently cupped in the lap. Some people feel they cope better with distractions if they keep their eyes closed. With time you will discover what is best for you. Words take from Martin Laird’s book: Into the Silent Land-The Practice of Contemplation. (Latest reprint 2016) ISBN – 973-0-232-525640-0.
But the silence in the mind is when we live best, within
listening distance of the silence we call God…
It is a presence, then, whose margins are our margins;
that calls us out over our own fathoms. R. S. Thomas.
