Take Heaven!

Take Heaven! 

On yesterday's Facebook post, I posted a reading we used last night in our monthly Voice in Silence contemplative service at Suquamish United Church of Christ.  We also read Fra Giovanni's letter from 1513, a longer reading.  Sitting in silence in the presence of this level of tender wisdom is quite an experience. I keep thinking of my friend Aiya's term, "Soul Spa".  It did feel a little like a heart massage. 

Letter from Fra Giovanni, 1513

I am your friend

and my love for you goes deep.

There is nothing I can give you

which you have not got,

but there is much, very much

that while I cannot give it,

you can take.

No heaven can come to us

unless our hearts find rest in today.

Take heaven!

No peace lies in the future

which is not hidden

in this present little instant.

Take peace!

The gloom of the world

is  but a shadow.

Behind it,

yet within our reach

is joy.

There is radiance and glory

in the darkness

could we but see-

and to see we have only to look.

I beseech you to look!

Labyrinths

Walking the Labyrinth

 A common and attractive use of the labyrinth is to quiet the mind... Sometimes we have too much energy for a sitting meditation, and walking with a focus on the path with its surprising turns can bring a desired stillness with the “no-thinking” kind of quiet we desire.  The ancient Christians would relate this to the Via Negativa  and the Buddhists, as emptying.  I particularly love this Huston Smith quotation, 

“To the quiet mind, the world surrenders.” 

Some days our intention is a simple Sabbath pause and the brain’s gentle moodeling is just fine for the time.    

Let me add some other suggestions that have been helpful for me: