Meditation – March 22, 2009

Posted on Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

Scripture: . . . and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. John 6:2-3

Prayer: Help me to enter the scene that John depicts.

Response: Think of a time when you hiked with friends or family and came to a spot of unmatched beauty. There was an unconscious desire on the part of all of you to prolong this moment in time, and so you paused. This is what is happening in this scene. Notice I say is because this scene is in the present time for you this morning. And realize that it was not the natural beauty that gave everyone pause as much as being in the company, for the disciples the select company, of someone who spoke in an other-worldly sense of matters that active people customarily overlook; and not only in words did he mesmerize his followers and the huge crowds that followed at a distance. No, he reinforced his words of love with action and service to those in need.

The great discovery of the select, who on the surface seemed fine – one might even say prosperous in matters of health and livelihood, was that his comments and instruction touched a nerve of recognition, one that they had neglected for so long. They could not get enough of his words and actions, sensing that he would not be in their midst for long. That’s the scene for you to enter, and in entering you come to realize that all you need is a quiet place to be there now. It isn’t as if you were successful transporting yourself back in time, but rather, and this is important even critical for you to understand, this moment on the mountain side is now. So observe and listen.

Before you give voice to what you hear and observe around you, begin with what you seek to experience in this companionship because there resides the prompt cards for you to give voice to your innermost prayers. Each assembled on the slope – whether next to Jesus or further down the slope almost out of earshot but not quite — came with expectations that are sometimes so deeply imbued within that they hardly recognize these longings as their own, sometimes releasing them in unrecognizable groans uttered softly under their breath.

So take your seat and collect the urgings of your heart in stillness. No one is watching; they are all doing the same.

All for this morning.

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