Suggested Readings: Psalms 31:9-16, Isaiah 53:10-12, Hebrews 2:1-9
The Psalmist commits himself into the hands of God, which is often a phrase we hear at a graveside. Eternity, as life in the company of the Divine, has already begun. We need not wait until we are in the grave. To abide with God, to dwell with God, the practice of stilling and becoming silent needs cultivating in our fast-paced, noisy, and distraction-driven world.
In our Spiritual Formation class at Belmont, we learn about the classical ways of speaking about growth in one’s spiritual life. The most frequently used terms in Christian history to describe this process are purification, illumination, and union. Many have written about these experiences and they come to mind as we walk through the days of Lent toward Holy Week.
Recently my thoughts about this were expanded and newly connected to Lenten practices by Dorothee Soelle who sees “being amazed” as the first of the three ways or stages of the spiritual life. (Silent City: Mysticism and Resistance (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001), pp. 88–93.) She proposes “being amazed, letting go, and resisting” as the three steps. Being amazed isn’t that strenuous if we allow ourselves to pause, look around, and see the world we live in. The writer of Hebrews calls it paying attention, closely attending, so as not to drift away.
Connecting to the processes of nature within us and around us brings amazement. This practice of being amazed then makes it easier to let go. Lent is a time when we practice letting go of those things we have become reliant upon that are not God. This letting go and the energy that comes from it makes it possible for us to become more involved, more compassionate, and committed to the needs of the world around us. Soelle speaks of this as a kind of resistance, built from the ability to see systems and patterns and choose to serve justice on behalf of all. There is a kind of union in this way of describing this process, union with the presence of God, where we can abide, be restored, and be shown how we are connected to all; our union is complete with all that lives.
Judy Skeen
Judy Skeen
