Fr Philip Carter offers a ministry of spirituality, with a series of meditations on some questions that we may ponder as we consider our life in God.
You will find here his reflections and questions for meditation, images, music and poetry to enrich your life’s journey.
I am resting while feeling restless
Henri Nouwen
In this process, as I approach Jesus I begin to appreciate his truth, his way – not as immutable propositions to believe – but as a way of being in the world that leads to life, peace, joy, freedom, compassion and hope. The stories Jesus offers us are not propositional truths that we have to believe but dispositional truths that open us up to reality, and inviting us to live relationally and fully. As this way becomes increasingly attractive, I begin to realize that it is what I most deeply want.
I am the door; whoever goes in through me will be saved; he will go in and out and find pasture.
John 10:9
Jesus is saying that we have lost our way. We do not know ourselves. We are not at home within ourselves. We have lost the ability to live. At best we are only half alive. Jesus wants us to experience again the rapture of being fully alive. He wants us to be without anxiety. He wants us to live interiorly free and outwardly fruitful. He wants us to go in and out secure enough in ourselves to give ourselves away.
…do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.
Luke 12:22
Our experience of life is the arena for our experience of God, and calls us not to escape from life but to embrace it more fully. This is not magic, but very real, and we can say with Henri Nouwen, “I am resting while feeling restless, at peace while tempted, safe while still anxious, surrounded by a cloud of light while still in darkness, in love while still doubting. “
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.
Matthew 5:6
Relationships expose us to the best and worst in us; we fall below our best hopes; the world’s pain numbs us or inspires us; we struggle between the poles of loneliness and solitude; and the ordinariness of our lives is a crucible in which we find life or death. And God’s dream of another way is a sustained and sustaining vision that calls out from us the choices and commitments that will make for a better world.
“In Thy kingdom remember us, O Lord, when Thou comest in Thy kingdom.”.
These are the opening words of the Third Antiphon or Beatitudes. In Russian Orthodox Church they are part of Divine Liturgy with the eight blessings recounted by Christ in His sermon on the mount (gospel of Matthew 5:1-12, Luke 6:20-26).
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for your reward is great in heaven
For a printable PDF of the text of this meditation please click on the link below.
1 Comment
Thank you, Philip, for your wisdom, for beautiful music and for the beauty of flowers.