Loving God

Meninger, William A. The Loving Search for God: Contemplative Prayer and
The Cloud of Unknowing. Continuum, New York. 1998.

"...Indeed, you will often find that these kinds of prayers will actually
lead you into this simple loving of God. When this happens, do not resist it. Allow yourself
to cease saying the rosary, or praying the psalms, or meditating on the
Bible, and to enter into the peaceful loving of God beyond words, thoughts,
and imaginings. Do not think that you are wasting your time because you are
not involved in mental calculations. Do not think that you are being idle
because you are resting in loving contemplation of God. It is at these
times that you are being most faithful to what you are and what you are
called to be: a lover in union with the beloved." P. 13

The Color Blue

The memory of the color blue can take me back to the mundane, and can also carry me into the deepest mysteries of life.

I remember first my brand new bicycle with shiny spokes and rims, a chrome spring to cushion the ride, white side walled tires and painted blue like the summer sky. I rode it around and around the block that Saturday morning, one of the happiest in my life. I remember our new blue Chrysler, purchased from uncle Carl, driving it out of his garage and down Mill Street where it stalled after going through a puddle, the spark plugs too wet to fire. And loading it with six bicycles, camping equipment for a weekend, six humans and a dog, all for a short ride on the Elroy trail after assembling and disassembling at both ends of the trip.

But blue has deeper meaning. I am filled with awe and wonder even during these sunlit days when I look up at the sky, brushed with white clouds, the golden earth and the pale blue heaven. I remember the campfires with the pale moon shining in the dark blue sky, walking into the darkness of the night and marveling at the twinkling jewels unfathomable distances away, the mystery of space. I remember the gray blue mountains of water as we crossed the ocean going to war, sensing the depth, the mystery of mammoth and strange sea monsters. I remember the blue eyes of a pretty young girl looking deeply into mine as she applied my makeup for our comic routine, the blue eyes of Lloyd, my friend, as he peers unflinching into mine and we tentatively explore our friendship, the mystery of persons.

Moment to Moment

Keating, Thomas. _Awakenings._ Crossroad, New York. 1997.

"The lessons of the liturgy following the Epiphany are about the significance of being incorporated into what Paul calls the body of Christ. In each moment of chronological time, the divine value of each moment is available to us in proportion to our sensitivity to the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit suggests what is to be done at each moment in our relationship to God, ourselves, other people, and the cosmos. When we listen to the movements of the Spirit rather than to our own bright ideas and self-centered programs for happiness, the internal commentary that normally sustains our emotional upsets comes to an end, enabling us to accept difficult situations and people. The neutral zone that we provide allows the Spirit to act."
pp.35-36.

Meditation's Effect

Merton, Thomas. _New Seeds of Contemplation_. New Directions Publishing
Co.
1961, p. 217-218.

"Meditation is a twofold discipline that has a twofold
function. First it is supposed to give you sufficient control over your
mind and memory and will to enable you to recollect yourself and withdraw
from exterior things and the business and activities and thoughts and concerns of
temporal existence, and second - this is the real end of meditation - it
teaches you how to become aware of the presence of God; and most of all it
aims at bringing you to a state of almost constant loving attention to God,
and dependence on Him. The real purpose of meditation is this: to teach a
manhow to work himself free of created things and temporal concerns, in whichhe
finds only confusion and sorrow, and enter into a conscious and loving
contact with God in which he is disposed to receive from God the help he
knows he needs so badly, and to pay to God the praise and honor
and thanksgiving and love which it has now become his joy to give."

Buddhist Adventure, concluded

I should add here that each evening we gathered in our respective places in the meditation hall for a “dharma” talk lasting about an hour as we sat uncomfortably on our zafus or prayer benches, explaining what the dharma is in Buddhism and explaining its importance in our lives.

Finally the ten days were over and we were released from our vows of silence. It was fun to talk to other participants from our generation and for me, in particular to meet with the guy not quite as old as I but who I heard day after day groaning with pain and shifting his position to lessen it.

And for the first time we were permitted to make a monetary contribution of our choice, since this particular organization has decided that they will not accept contributions from anyone who had not gone through a first ten day retreat. And as I learned later from attending other retreats there is a rule that no teacher is permitted to charge for his or her services, but must take only what is offered by the student.

There was a feeling of being released as I hurried to my car praying that it would not fail me as I turned the ignition key and heard the wonderful sound of the motor turning over. I confess that I stopped at the first two or three rest stops to gorge myself on bacon and ham with greasy potatoes and fried eggs that never before had tasted so good.

I’ve attended a number of retreats since that first one, complying with the suggestion that a student of meditation attend at least one retreat each year.

I hope that all of this might be of service to anyone considering making meditation a part of their life style.