Thursday, November 30, 2006

Today’s reading

Philippians 3:16

“Only let us hold fast to what we have attained” (Phil. 3: 16).

Prayer

Who holds whom, Loving Mystery? I hold close the lightness of being I know on days like this. Today, the dense clouds of unknowing roll thin, and through murky obscurity I begin to see with eyes not of head but heart. Your presence is everywhere I look. I move through the banal spaces of my life and daily labors certain that I am enveloped in a divine milieu. The love you are holds everything fast and ever-so gently. We move through you as through an enveloping cloud that embraces all reality, misting all that is—and me—with undeniable gladness.

You are everywhere, surrounding us—in the refectory, on to the mail room, up the stairs, across the great hallway, through the chapel, in the faces, filling the spaces around and within us. The most mundane duties and common conversations glow with a gentle grace that leaves me more alive for simply having been there. I see: All that is swims in an ocean of Spirit that seeks to soak us to the core with the delight which take in all you love.

I cling to your nearness. I hold fast to what you teach my heart: that you want and delight in me, that you are all love, that you have sought us along all the winding paths we have wandered and always will, that you hunger for our nearness as we do for you, that you have shown us your beauty in the face of my brother Jesus.

Tomorrow may be different. Gladness may flee. Dense clouds of obscurity may hide your face so deeply that I wonder whether today is but illusion. But I will know. Even when my hands are too weak to hold you near, you will hold me fast and always will. Amen.