An experiment with God - discovering the truth

An example: say I’d never seen the film ‘Top Gun’ or ‘Minority Report’ or ‘Mission Impossible’, I’d never seen a photo of Tom Cruise, never heard his voice and I’d never read about him.  But you are determined to tell me that Tom Cruise does exist, he is alive and he is famous.

If I choose I can sit in my house and say ‘in 22 years Tom Cruise has never knocked on my front door, he’s never called me, and I’ve never bumped into him on the street, therefore he must not exist.’  However if I simply take the time to google Tom Cruise, or to pop into my local Blockbuster film rental or even pick up a newspaper, it would not take long to realise that there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Tom Cruise is real, even if I never see him in person.

Unless I make that little effort, I will never discover the truth.  Similarly, unless you open your heart and mind to the possibility that God might be real and may want to speak to you personally you will never discover Him.  Give Him a chance, give Him some time - a first date or a first meeting can be very awkward and slow, sometimes even embarrassing, God is complicated and difficult to understand, but given the time to get to know Him, He can make your life better than you ever imagined, in a very real, one-to-one dynamic.

God can speak to us in a number of different ways.  If you have a question, or a problem that you need God’s help with He wants to offer you guidance.  If you’re open and believe that He can help you, He won’t hide away.  Sometimes it might be just in advice from a friend or something you read, or an opportunity that presents itself that you weren’t expecting.  And sometimes, God chooses to make more of a one-to-one contact with us.  It’s not magic, it’s not like being psychic, and it’s not a trick.  When you have asked God into your life He is always with you, so it makes sense that He would want to talk to you.  Some people feel a deep peace, or an ‘inkling’ in the right direction, sometimes some people hear words in their imagination, but more commonly for me, God sends a picture. (From Paul)

Beginning with God - an experiment in prayer

Try closing your eyes and imagine your bedroom. If you look around you can see all of the things that are there. You’re not really there, but you can still see it. And this is where God can speak to us.

So if you ask Him a question, and sit in silence, close your eyes and just let Him speak to you, it may take a while and it may not be what you wanted to hear, but if you let Him, and don’t try to force Him, He will speak. It may be an image, words, a desire, a sense of something, an impression, a feeling, becoming peaceful, or just being refreshed and energized.

In our lives we fill our heads and our minds with noise, music, TV, conversations, text messages, so sometimes it can take us a while to learn the difference between listening to God’s voice and our own voice. But talking with God is just like any friendship. It takes time to get to know each other and to understand the person you’re talking to. In time you will feel more confident and it will become easier to know when you are listening to God and when you are listening to the world.

My friend Jossy adds: Sometimes God also uses other people to talk to us.... to remind us or give us a hint that He is trying to communicate with us....Its just like the soundwaves in the air.. they are ever present but only when our antenna recieves them, we wd be able to hear clearly.....I'm so glad that I experience the peace in Him... Its worth the experiment...

A Jesus Prayer for healing

Lord Jesus Christ
Son of God
Let your healing flow down
upon me;

Lord Jesus Christ
Son of God
Let your healing spring up
within me;



Lord Jesus Christ
Son of God
Let your healing love
enfold me;

Lord Jesus Christ
Son of God
Let your healing power
flow through me.

This alternative to the Jesus Prayer can be used to prepare for a time of Healing Ministry before you begin praying for a sick person, or if you're in need, pray it for yourself... (thank you to Angela for the prayer)

Silence and God not 'being there'...

A story about silence...A woman who had been using the Jesus Prayer for fourteen years complained that she had never had any sense that God was there. But when she had it pointed out to her that she was talking all the time, she agreed to take her stand silently for a few days. As she was doing it she became aware that God was there, that the silence that surrounded her was not emptiness, absence of noise and agitation, but that there was a solidity to this silence, that it was not something negative, but positive, a presence, the presence of God who had made himself known to her by creating the same silence in her. And then she discovered that the prayer came up quite naturally again, but it was no longer the sort of discursive noise that had prevented God from making himself known. (Living Prayer by Metropolitan Anthony Bloom DLT 1966) I like it that God created the same silence in the woman as surrounded her... Andrew

Taizé Podcast

Taizé music is great for meditation and contemplation - just found out there's a regular podcast now. You can find it just by searching on the Apple iTunes Store or here on the Taizé website. Enjoy! Andrew

Rejecting traditional Spirituality? I think not...

Last night went to hear Ian Mobsby of emerging church MOOT speaking at Blah Birmingham. Ian quoted research suggesting that people are turning away from the traditional spiritualities of the churches to alternative spiritualities informed by New Age - I have to disagree - why? because I don't see many churches actually teaching people how to practice traditional christian spirituality. How many churches are teaching people how to pray, to meditate, ways of contemplative prayer, lectio and deep engagement with Scripture, really? What people are turning away from then, is the shallower stuff that's going on. I wonder what would happen if the discipleship practices of the christian Tradition (with a capital 'T' rather than 'traditions') were being taught, practised and promoted? As Ian said, it's the perceived traditional spirituality people are leaving behind...

boazbands

I came across these 'boazbands' - wristbands crafted by refugees living in BOAZ houses in Manchester. They tell a story...Grand-père Boaz sat warming his old bones in the hot African sun.“Tell me a story,” said a little voice at his side, “tell me the story of the Kinsman-Redeemer.”“Oh yes, it is a great story,” said Grand-père Boaz, “and it is a most important story.”Running his fingers over his bracelet he began –“When I see this blue bead I am reminded of ...

Desert Monks Story

At Celtic Morning Prayer yesterday we had this story - love it!
'Once Abbot Antony was conversing with some brethren, and a hunter who was after game in the wilderness came upon them. He saw Abbot Antony and the brothers enjoying themselves, and disapproved. Abbot Antony said: 'Put a an arrow in your bow and shoot it.'
This he did.
'Now shoot another,' said the Elder. 'And another, and another.'
Then the hunter said: 'If I bend my bow all the time it will break.'
Abbot Antony replied: 'So it is also in the work of God. If we push ourselves beyond measure, the brethren will soon collapse. It is right therefore, from time to time, to relax.' Celtic Daily Prayer

Story Beads

Hazel, introduced me to her new 'His Story' bracelet. Each bead represents something in the story of Jesus. It was moving to hear her tell me the story, pointing at each bead in turn - the story was somehow more real - there is something special about the physicality of beads :

'One night there was a bright star which guided three men, who were the three wise men, to the birth of Jesus who later in life became a carpenter and a fisher of men and souls. He had twelve apostles who spread the Word Of Christ but on one dark day of hatred, envy & death He was crucified. He shed His blood for us to purify & save us. He rose and is now in Heaven seated with the Father & the Holy Spirit. and He did all this because of His great love for us.

Let nothing disturb thee..

Let nothing disturb thee,
nothing affright thee;
all things are passing,
God never changeth!
Patient endurance attaineth to all things;
who God possesseth
in nothing is wanting;
alone God sufficeth. (from Celtic Daily Prayer Midday Prayer)

brand sense and 'Here's to the people behind the numbers'

The other week I went to listen to Simon Harrop, Executive Director of BRAND sense agency. He was saying that in the 70's people would remember around 25% of the TV ads they saw, now it's only around 5% - so he's promoting use of the other non-visual senses in advertising, particularly 'smell' and 'ritual'. Apparently people used to enjoy sliding their fingernail down the foil between two pieces of the KitKat chocolate bar to break into it - and that was a ritual - lost when the wrappers became plastic. Have you heard/seen the new Yellow Pages ad? It's both ritualistic and deeply spiritual; 'here's to the people behind the numbers' (watch it here) - slowly, repetitively, the advert honours different people - it's almost a prayer. And apparently, suggests Harrop, we use vision and audio to screen stuff out, but smell, touch and taste to engage. So why not include a little ritual and multi-sensory in your prayer times? Light some incense, use some oil to prayerfully anoint yourself/a friend, light a candle, begin your prayer time with ritual eg. 'In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit'. Seems there's some sense in the ancient traditions after all...

Spirituality of a Prayer Rope Maker

I find that making a prayer rope calms me, and the activity naturally becomes a 'still point' in a turning world; taking it further why not pray for the person you are making the prayer rope for and make it a spiritual activity? Liz Babbs book and CD, 'The Celtic Heart' has a beautiful meditation which fits:

Cords of Love
Thank you, Lord,
for the cutting and weaving
for that first umbilical knot
you were shaping
and forming
all that I was to become.

Thank you, Lord,
for the 'ups' and 'downs'
the 'unders' and 'overs'
you were weaving
beauty and purpose
into my life.

Psalm 139: 'When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.'

and as you hold the cord, hold the person before God:

We hold each other's lives
in our hands
What fragility and responsibility
Eathen vessels formed
from loving hands
So easily crushed
by clumsy words and actions
and only forgiveness can reassemble the parts
according to the Maker's instructions.

God loves in a nutshell

In the autumn children gather conkers - this is a dried one I collected - it reminds me of Julian of Norwich: 'It was at this time that our Lord showed me spiritually how intimately he loves us. I saw that he is everything that we know to be good and helpful. In his love he clothes us.. And he showed me more, a little thing, the size of a hazel-nut, on the palm of my hand, round like a ball. I looked at it thoughtfully and wondered, 'What is this?' and the answer came, 'It is all that is made.' I marvelled that it continued to exist and did not suddenly disintegrate; it was so small. And again my mind supplied the answer, 'It exists, both now and for ever, because God loves it.' In short, everything owes its existence to the love of God.' Take time out to think on the wonder of God's love for you and creation as you journey around the Prayer Cord. Andrew

COTA's 'Ordo': music for the Jesus Prayer podcast

I've mentioned the Church of the Apostles CD 'Ordo' before, but here's a podcast of the track 'Have Mercy'. This track is an excellent way to lead in to a time of praying the Jesus Prayer using contemporary music. I haven't uploaded the full track - you can download or send for the CD. Enjoy! Andrew

Anglican Prayer Bead Confirmation Experience

I sat on the beach at Tenby making knotted Anglican Prayer Cords for our
Confirmation Group - there are two adults (63 yrs and 38 yrs) and 3 young
people (12yrs). On our last session before the service, we had a practice and
then spent some time with God.

We started with an explanation and then we sang. We said the Lord's prayer on
the Cross, 'May the words of my mouth' etc on the invitatory bead, 'Jesus Lamb
of God, have mercy on me, a sinner' on the single beads - they repeated after me
rather than have it on a bit of paper, then on each group of seven beads, we prayed in
turn for the world, the church - worldwide, our parish, congregation, the
people that had told us about God; our family and friends - the people who
loved us, we loved, who encouraged us to be here; ourselves - our journey with
God, the service; and then back to the invitatory and Lord's Prayer. We
finished with anointing and another song.

It was a really good time together with God - there was that quiet and stillness
and unwillingness to move or break the silence which comes from having been in
the presence of God. Chandy

How to tie an Orthodox Prayer Rope

If you're feeling adventurous, I'm grateful to Brett, who sent me his link on How to tie an Orthodox Prayer Rope.

The Convent

Iona arrives - 'The Convent': Wednesday 14th June BBC2 9pm
Last year's ground-breaking 'The Monastery' made riveting viewing as we watched the journey of 5 ordinary men who spent 40 days in Worth Abbey with life-changing results.  This year's series about four women promises to be no less intriguing.  Visit the Poor Clares mini site on the series. Andrew

MP3 Prayer - iPod Prayer

Downloadable MP3/iPod prayer possibilities are emerging, and I've been experimenting with them; it's easy to listen to them in the car or as you're going along. Came across these iPray Lent movie clip prayer sessions too late for Lent, but there's another site offering daily iPod/MP3 prayer downloads which started as a Lent trial, but has now been extended due to overwhelming demand after a quarter of a million downloads. It's pray-as-you-go.org and you can download mp3 or WMA files or subscribe in iTunes to play on your MP3 player or iPod. The music tracks for the sessions (each session lasts 10 or 12 minutes - I found it helpful to pause from time to time) are listed here if you want to follow them up - they tend to be contemplative chant or meditation music. If you'd like to try out Ignatian Spirituality, (using your imagination to encounter Jesus) then pray-as-you-go might be a place to start. Enjoy! Andrew

to answer my question...

...does the gathering have to be physically together, or can it be spiritual and from a distance? I came across the Focolare movement years ago, and they opened my eyes to the reality that you can be 'gathered' in the intention and attitude of the presence of Jesus, of being 'in his name' with someone with whom you are not physically present. It can be a source of great strength... Andrew

getting mechanical

Been really busy leading up to Easter time - sorry for not being around to post. Just recently I found myself praying the Jesus Prayer quite fast and mechanically - it wasn't a prayer of my heart - I was just 'saying' it. What helped me was to slow down, take two or three words with each breath in and out, and focus on what I was saying and what it meant. I wonder too, how hard it is to pray the prayer on your own - Jesus promises: 'For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.' Now does the gathering have to be physically together, or can it be spiritual and from a distance? Andrew