Being Beloved
A few years ago, when I was on Twitter, I shared some
thoughts with Nadia
Bolz-Webber in response to a sermon of hers I had watched on You Tube. We
exchanged some Tweets and then, out of the blue sometime later, she sent me
some words of encouragement based on Jeremiah 29: 11-14a, “‘For I know the
plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not
calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and pray
to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me, and find Me when you search
for Me with all your heart, I will be found by you…’” She doesn’t know
me personally, nor do I her, but prophetically she was spot-on! That time, that
moment, that period of concern and uncertainty in my life needed addressing.
The Holy Spirit addressed it through Her daughter, Nadia. I remember them every
day.
If you follow my writing here, you will know that I am
especially fond of Henri Nouwen! I am now reading Spiritual Direction, a
post-mortem collection of his many writings, notes, and journals
compiled by former students of his, Michael Christensen and Rebecca Laird.
(SPCK 2011)
“For
most of my life,” writes Nouwen, “I have struggled to find God, to know
God, to love God. I have tried hard to follow the guidelines of the spiritual
life – pray always, work for others, read the scriptures – and to avoid the
many temptations to dissipate myself. I have failed many times but always tried
again, even when I was close to despair.”
As you see above, I have had – and continue
to have – this kind of experience and God graciously responds to my anxious cries
of supplication. But Nouwen goes on to pose a profound question:
“Now
I wonder whether I have sufficiently realised that during all this time God has
been trying to find me, to know me, and to love me. The question is not “How am
I to find God?” but “How am I to let myself be found by God?” The question is
not “How am I to know God?” but “How am I to let myself be known by God?” The
question is not “How am I to love God?” but “How am I to let myself be loved by
God?” And finally, the question is not “Who is God for me?” but “Who am I to
God?””
After the catastrophe of Adam and Eve’s
deception and consequent disobedience (an un-hearing of God!), they
realised their naked vulnerability and exposure. And God comes looking for
them! “Then the LORD called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’”
(Gen.3:9) Eventually, God became man in Jesus, the Anointed One, answered His
own question (“You have always been with me. All I am and all I have, has
always been yours.” See Luke 15:31) and confirmed that separation is a lie,
and that God has always been closer to us than our breath. What we need to do
is “repent” – turn around - and face The One who never left us. Jesus was never
about changing God’s mind about us! He was, and is always, for changing our
minds about God. “Do not be conformed to this age [– this system of thinking
and behaving –] but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you
may approve what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans
12:2)
Paul is even clearer about the
intimate imminence of God to us (Romans 10: 6-8)! But the righteousness
based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND
INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’
(that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” But what does it say? “THE
WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of
faith which we are preaching…”
This is the God who has engraved our
names on the palms of His hands; this is the Mother, Who can never abandon or
forget her children!
“I am my Beloved’s and His desire is
for me.” (SoS.
7:10)
Our heavenly Father came looking for
you and me from the very first day we gave thought to our situation. Though,
when He asked you (and me) “Where are you?” it wasn’t like He didn’t know! It is
a rhetorical question that requires us to confess our loss, our seeing-yet-blindness,
and our nakedness. How blessed are we, that despite everything, God - Father,
Son and Holy Mother Spirit – has never stopped being with us and tenderly asking
us that question, so that we might be reassured as to where, exactly, we are:
in Them!
Henri Nouwen recommends a 30-minute
meditation in order that we might be re-orientated as to who, and where We are.
I suggest also a slow, mindful read through Song of Solomon taking both lovers’
parts one after the other. Our oneness with Jesus will become so real to us.
So, for Nouwen, it is crucial to our
ultimate affirmation to truly identify ourselves in and as the
Beloved. He takes us through The Beloved’s Prayer, a meditation composed
by Arthur LeClair. We can do this in solitude, with a spiritual
director/friend, or with an intimate prayer or cell group. He advises us to
-
Sit relaxed and at ease. Have confidence that God’s love will show
itself in some way. For the first ten minutes say the following words slowly
and fervently:
Jesus,
you are The Beloved.
Repeat as necessary, allowing your
heart to fill with non-verbal praise and thanksgiving. Be with
Jesus!
Paul reminds us in Romans 9:25, (quoting
Hosea2:23) ‘I will call those who were not My people, “My people,” and her
who was not beloved, “Beloved”.’ For the next ten minutes, repeat as seems
good:
Jesus, I am the Beloved.
This may
shock some of us, but resting in the love and presence of Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, allow this wonderful truth to infuse you.
For the
final ten minutes, connect with all humanity as you repeat, according to your
spirit:
Jesus, we (all) are the Beloved.
For this
time, let people come into your heart and awareness: a neighbour, a friend,
family, someone who has come to your attention somehow. Exclude no-one, especially those you find difficulty with and even
the one you perceive as your enemy.
Conclude
in thanksgiving and maybe your own rendering of the “Lord’s Prayer.” It has
been testified to by many that this 30-minute meditation inspires deep healing,
as well as grounding you in a clearer understanding of your place in the
universe. It is a profound exposure to deep Truth that, as often as it is
repeated, will bear prolific fruit and confirm you as the “apple of [God’s]
eye.”
Our “journey”
is more of an expedition to the centre of our Being, where God - I am - is. And where your True Self is, too. Remember,
that it is Christ in you that is your hope – and the hope of us all. A
reading of Psalm 51:6 could give us: Behold, Your desire is the Truth of
our innermost Being [– our True Self -] and in that hidden [secret] place, You will teach me Wisdom.”
Go well,
fellow Wayfarers! Next time we will explore that infamous “Lord’s Prayer”!
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