See and hear God

See God and listen to God

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From the bookToo Deep for Words by Thelma Hall. Photos from google.com

He (Christ) is as intent today on teaching and leading us through his Spirit to follow him in love and total trust, as ever he was in the human life he lived at a specific time in history. And he continues to „stand at the door, knocking“ until „one of you hears me calling and opens the door“ (Rv 3:20)(p.13).

In his humanity, Jesus experienced the contemplation of his Father, and invites us, through the gift of his Spirit, to enter into that experience. It is available to us in the measure of our faith, and love, which are the proximate means, in this life, of „seeing“ God, of touching and being touched by him-i.e., of „experiencing“ him (p.13).

To be a follower of Jesus, to be incorporated into him and to receive his Spirit, includes the potential of sharing in the contemplative experience. Indeed, in this sense it is our birthright as children of the same Father, and will become literally a „lifeline“ of communication for his faith-filled follower (p.14).

This graced „seeing“ of the God of Jesus, however, does not allow us to forget that we also experience him, and are to love and serve him, in our neighbour, i.e.,the whole human family, as well as to recognize and respond to his presence in the immediate relities of our daily life and in the events of history and society (Book p.14).

The disposition which opens and readies us for the gift of contemplative prayer is already a response to a given desire to „see“ God and to be one with him in love (p.14-15).

A simple ancient fable reveals this artfully, in telling of one seeking the Beloved. He knocks at his door and hears: „Who is there?“ He replies, „It is I.“ The response comes: „There is no room in here for both of us.“ Despondent, he goes away into the forest and for long months meditates on the words he has heard. Then he returns and knocks again at the door. In response to the same question, „Who is there?“ he replies, „ It is thee!“ – and the door opens to receive him.

The transformation of the „I“ into the „Thee“ in this fable indicates the prospect of a real kind of death. We begin to realize the seriousness of this imperative when we are able to suspend our defenses and really hear what Jesus is saying, in teaching that to follow him we must „deny“ and „renounce“ ourselves, and even „hate“ and „lose“ our lives, for his sake. And we begin to sense a strange inner contradiction, in discovering that what we now most long for, we most resist, and even fear. Instinctively, we try to look past those words of Jesus and go on to more consoling ones.

But the centraliti of this teaching is undeniable. Usually subtitled „the doctrice of the cross“ or „the condition of following Christ, „ it appears no less than six times in the synoptic Gospels, with very slight variations. Basically, it reads as follows:

Then, speaking to all, he (Christ) said, „If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, will save it“ (Lk 9:23-24) (p.15).

No wonder he (Christ) once said, „Be careful if you´re thinking of making friends with the Holy Spirit – because he´s going to ask you to die!“ He was referring to the illusion of the false self, obstacle to God, and the source of all our sorrow. The true self, gradually revealed to us in prayer, is the self created „to become love in human form.“

„To become love“ – this is the sum and substance of Jesus´ teaching, and our ultimate fulfillment: „What no eye has seen and no ear has heard, what the mind of man cannot visualize; all that God has prepared for those who love him“ (1 Cor 2:9) (p.24).

Reading and Listening to the word of God

The first step of Lectio Divina is Lectio, or reading. It is not ordinary reading, either as to matter or manner. The matter is the „Divine word,“ or scripture, and the manner of reading is, more accurately, a „listening“ and a „hearing,“ attuned to the inspired word rately, a „listening“ and a „hearing,“ attuned to the inspired word and attentive to the Speaker (p.36).

As an example, let´s assume that a text (Is 65:1-2) from the Scripture Theme on „Contrition and Mercy“ has attracted me. After the preparations suggested, I begin the Lectio, or reading. I „hear“ the Lord saying to me,

I (Christ) have let myself be found by those who did not seek me. I said „Here I am.“... Each day I stretched out my hands to a rebellious people (Is 65:1-2)(Book p.37).

When in „hearing“ scripture we are receptive to the One who speaks in us, what we hear may be more than the words in themselves convey. The Spirit who vivifies them is himself the meaning, expressed through the words even more than by them, just as a lover may convey volumes in a phrase that would be mere convention when spoken by another (p.37).

And so I hear these words of Jesus adressed to me, and I receive his gaze with my own eyes. What do I see in those eyes as he speaks to me? And how shall I respond? (p.40)

Entering the Silence „Too Deep for Words“

Contemplation is a strange new land, where everything natural to us seems to be turned upside down – where we learn a new language (silence), a new way of being (not to do but simply to be), where our thoughts and concepts, our imagination, senses and feelings are abondoned for faith in what is unseen and unfelt, where God´s seeming absence (to our senses) is his presence and his silence (to our ordinary perception) is his speech (Book p.49).

Outside times of prayer too, we can learn to „meditate“ on life by living reflectively rather than on the surface of things: „listening to life“ and recognizing how God is there, as he is in all creation and people and events of our ordinary everyday lives (p.53)

Make our best effort to see God and listen to God, in that way we can make our life a better life and the world a better world

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