Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Today’s reading

Philippians 4:10-13

“I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. In any case, it was kind of you to share my distress” (Phil. 4:11b-13).

Prayer

Come, Lord Jesus. Teach us your secret. You come to us as an ordinary infant. But you bear in your flesh a unity with divine wonder that is the secret of contentment of joy. You walked this earth gently. You did not need to prove anything, to win great victories or even the approval of others. You knew from the start that true life exists not in pride of possession or personal power. Life resides in the enduring unity, the habitual holy communion you shared in hidden depths of soul with the One who is eternal and who is all love.

You knew this Holy and Unspeakable Mystery not by intellectual grasping but by abiding. Moment to moment, soul-to-soul, you dwelt in undivided union in a love I cannot imagine, yet which I know with certainty in darkest intuition.

My senses collapse in frustrated failure trying to penetrate the dazzling darkness that surrounds this One who is love. But, Lord Jesus, you knew this One always with absolute certitude, dwelling in hidden depths of intimate communion so that there was no separation between you. This is your secret, Lord Jesus. You were and are eternally one with the One. I look into your face and know that I gaze into the depths of Eternal Wonder.

Can I enjoy such communion, my soul abiding, resting, dwelling in blessed communion with the One Love in whom you constantly dwelt? Sometimes I dwell in that space, experiencing the contentment, the joy, the peace you give your friends. Only Lord Jesus, I would know this communion not intermittently but as enduring presence.

So come Lord Jesus. Draw near this soul of mine again. Let me rest in the love I find in you that I may learn the secret you alone can share. Amen.