He had the beauty of himself alive in the only moment of his life.
Wendell Berry
My mind became
beautiful by the sight of him. He had the beauty
of himself alive in the only moment of his life.
Wendell Berry in a poem about a yellow-throated warbler
Image: Makoto Fujimura, Golden Sea
God’s first gift to us is the glory of being able to say, “I am”.
St. Augustine
My truest self is the place within me where God dwells. And in prayer I begin to have access to my truest self, for prayer as well as being a lifting up of my heart and mind to God on high, is also a going-down into myself and finding God there.
Harry Williams
I don’t want to be anything special, I only want to try to be true to that in me which seeks to fulfil its promise.
Etty Hillesum
To work out my own identity in God….is a labour that requires sacrifice and anguish, risk and many tears. I do not know clearly beforehand what the result of this work will be, the secret of my full identity is hidden in him. He alone can make me who I am, or rather who I will be when at last I fully begin to be.
Thomas Merton
God is a cherishing presence that sets me free.
Edward Schillebeeckx
Image: Makoto Fujimura, The Butterfly of the Beautiful
What’s it like to be cherished? Can you let God cherish you? Perhaps this seems too good to be true. Perhaps it’s not something that comes easily. Can you imagine Jesus’ inner life, his secret and deep openness and awareness of God – the one he called Abba – Father? His inner experience of God was both intimate and profound, and shaped his life. It may be easier then to think of Jesus as trustworthy – offering you this possibility of experiencing, intimately and deeply, the cherishing of God, and the freedom is brings.
What dreams do you have for yourself? Do they connect with your deepest desires, or are they just day-dreams, merely an escape from life’s dreariness and frustrations?
If we can listen to your deepest longings, sooner or later they will take us beyond ourselves. Give yourself space to dream deeply and widely: let your longing feed your imagination. What would you love to see happen? What blocks you from living it? What fears holds you back?
The images in this post are from the artist Makoto Fujimura.
He …“is a leading contemporary artist whose process driven, refractive “slow art” has been described by David Brooks of New York Times as “a small rebellion against the quickening of time”. Robert Kushner, in the mid 90’s, written on Fujimura’s art in Art in America this way: “The idea of forging a new kind of art, about hope, healing, redemption, refuge, while maintaining visual sophistication and intellectual integrity is a growing movement, one which finds Makoto Fujimura’s work at the vanguard.” Source: Makoto Fujimura
In the video below the artist speaks about the Japanese style of slow art called Nihonga and about how the process of making his art mirrors the slow process of becoming more himself.
For a printable PDF of the text of this meditation please click on the link below.
