O
God of peace, you
have
taught us
that
in returning
and
rest
we
shall be saved,
in
quietness
and
confidence
shall
be our strength.
By
the might
of
your Spirit
lift
us,
we
pray,
into
your presence,
where
we may be still
and
know
that
you are God.
If you haven't already, take an unhurried moment to read, to move with these words at a pace where you neither get ahead of them or fall behind.
If you find words like 'saved' or 'might' or even 'God' unhelpful do your best to find words that work within your own sense of spiritual aptness.
What else might you change to make this prayer a prayer that describes what takes you into Presence?
I can imagine God might want to make changes too (though we can never be sure what changes those might be)!
Still, as I wrote at the beginning, I experience this as a wonderful prayer. Almost every time I pray it, it functions for me like an incantation--like Gandalf chanting "Speak Friend And Open," at the Gates of Moria. If I slow down and move with these words, literally at the pace of comprehension, doors open, and I am present for Presence.
As I mentioned in yesterday's post, lots of people used to invest lots of time and effort in order to come into Presence (as well as to be 'saved;' but that's another matter). People made pilgrimages to holy places. 'Holy Place' is how'Sanctuary' translates. The 'thing' that 'sanctifies' a 'place' is 'Presence.'
Yesterday's quote from R. S. Thomas's poem was
In
cities that
have outgrown their promise people
are becoming pilgrims
again, if not to this place,
then to the recreation of it
in their own spirits.
have outgrown their promise people
are becoming pilgrims
again, if not to this place,
then to the recreation of it
in their own spirits.
We live at a time when people are becoming pilgrims to holy places in their own spirits. This doesn't mean we don't also find Presence in traditional sacred places. It's a both/and thing for many of us. Though for some, for one reason and another, it's often necessary to make new paths.
Both the old and new pilgrim paths move people toward Presence. And both take people into community and adventure. And both require effort.
But neither guarantees Presence. Though it's very rare when Presence is not experienced on the way to and within the holy places of pilgrimage.
Just slowing down and 'entering' the prayer at the beginning of this post is a kind of pilgrimage. The 'returning' describes a path we take and take and take. No guarantee of Presence. And yet....
And yet...it is on journeys like this, short or long, where we find the quieting and the stilling and the knowing that something in us has always longed for.
More (God willing) on presence and Presence) tomorrow.
