Month: July 2011 (Page 3 of 3)

Devotions based on Juliet Benner’s Book, Contemplative Vision

In our every day life we miss God because He may not appear in ways we expect. As long as we have fixed ideas of how and where God should be for us, He will remain hidden and seem silent to us. God desires to be known and to touch us if we would be attentive to Him. In John’s day people needed to have their vision changed in order to see their Messiah in different ways than they had expected. They expected a Messiah that would come in power and might to deliver them from their oppressors. Yet John told them this humble man in ordinary clothing was their Deliverer.  Thy needed a new way of seeing and their eyes required a radical transformation in order to recognize Him. So it is with us as we need to be attentive enough to recognize and respond to God who is among us. It took some time for the disciples who met Jesus on the Emmaus Road to recognize Jesus, and then He vanished. Juliet shares her thoughts of Caravaggio’s painting of Jesus at table with these two friends, in such an ordinary circumstance of life. There is an empty place at the table that is wide enough for us to join in this meal.  Jesus has his hand outstretched and is extending us an invitation too. Yet sometimes we are reluctant to draw near to Him. What barriers to do we have that keep us from responding? Let us pray that our eyes would be open and our vision transformed so we can see Him in all the ways that He comes to us. When  we are attuned with eyes and hearts to see the unseen spiritual realities which surround us, then we will be able to recognize the sacred in our midst.

Devotions based on Juliet Benner’s book, Contemplative Vision

Haven’t we all experienced doubts whether God is really present for us in difficult times? Do we demand proofs that He is there for us?
Juliet shares her thoughts on Caravaggio’s painting, “The Incredulity of St. Thomas” which shows Thomas ( along with 2 others)  putting his hand in Jesus wounds.  Thomas was candidly honest about his unbelief and had no pretense. And Jesus received him exactly where he was in his present reality.  He also meets us in the questions and doubts we have in our lives and invites us to trust Him completely. Sometimes when we have doubts or dryness of faith we find it hard to share with others as we feel we will be judged. But doubts shared honestly and openly before God and others lead to greater faith.  When we have dark times of unknowing, it can draw us into a deeper and richer walk with Him than if we walked only in the sunshine of His presence. Let us be open and honest with our questions and doubts and come to Him with eyes of faith and see how He welcomes us. Healing can come to us as we allow ourselves to be touched by Him.

Devotions based on Juliet Benner’s Book, Contemplative Vision

The author says that “Christian spirituality is a journey into loving communion and union with God. It is learning to look into the face of God and, rather than experience guilt, fear or shame, know our belovedness.” As we think of Adam and Eve they had perfect fellowship with God and complete freedom. But after they sinned they lost that awareness of intimate communion with Him and ever since God has been seeking to heal our damaged seeing and knowing. So many times God invites us to come, to draw near and see for ourselves who He is. WE can choose to accept, reject or ignore these invitations. The author has us look at Nicolas Poussin’s  picture of the Adoration of the Shepherds who came to see Jesus after his birth. I am amazed at all she sees in the painting and know I have such limited sight. But it helps as she points out the sacred in the ordinary smelly stable and the humblest things exalted. I wonder if we recognize the Christ Child in our ordinary circumstances. God wants to give us renewed vision and a heart that dares to be open. It is His desire to mold us more into His image and have us respond to Him with trust.

Devotions based on Juliet Benner’s Book, Contemplative Vision

When we have times of joy and blessings, it is not hard to see God and His action in our lives. But when we are going through some chaotic times of struggle, we may feel abandoned and tempted to ask God where He is.   Even though it is hard to discern God’s presence during those times, He has assured us in His Word that He is with us and will not forsake us. Juliet gives her thoughts on Rembrandt’s picture of “Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galilee.”

She observes so much that I missed at my first look at it but helps me see deeper as she shares. Jesus is at peace in the storm as He has perfect peace and trust in His Father. When he asks the disciples about their lack of faith, He also invites us to abandon our control and to trust Him completely. He is in our boat too!  If you really look hard at the picture there are 13 disciples in the boat and Rembrandt may have inserted himself or it may have been his way to include us in the scene. Often, don’t we question God’s slow response to help us?  But He wants us to let go and surrender to His love and safety and turn our eyes and heart to Him.  We need eyes to see Him even in our darkest and stormiest experiences as He is there.

Devotions based on Juliet Benner’s book, Contemplative Vision

Increased awareness of God can become a way of life for us. It can even bring us to the place of ceaseless prayer, that we are encouraged by Paul in I Thess. 5:17- 18. This unceasing prayer is unceasing openness to God as we live with an awareness of His presence in the midst of our daily lives. We are called to live in the world yet not be of it. So we need to be grounded in God and live in awareness of our relationship to Him. Jesus was grounded in relationship with the Father and He lived out of this quiet center. Juliet chooses a picture by Jean-Francois Millet ( 1814-1875) of a peasant couple in the field giving thanks and reciting the Angelus. This is based on Mary’s response to the angel who announced she would bear the Son of God. There is a church in the background and the ringing of the church bells was a call to pray and thank God for salvation.  Millet’s father always responded by praying when the bells rang.  We too need to cultivate giving our attention to God and can use other reminders as most of us don’t hear church bells several times a day. Some people lift their hearts to God each time they go through a door, or turn on a light, or when they are waiting in traffic. I love to do this when I am driving to church and often sing a prayer. Choose what works for you and let us make it a rhythm in our life to turn our attention to God throughout the day. Even though we may have trouble discerning His presence in our circumstances we can ask for help and listen and look for Him.

Devotions based on Juliet Benner’s book, Contemplative Vision
Many times in the Bible we are invited to see…”O taste and see” ( Ps. 34:8), “Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord.”(Ex. 14:13), “Behold the beauty of the Lord” (Ps. 27:4) Jesus so often invited people to have the eyes of their hearts and minds open and receptive. And He had strong words for those who thought they could see but were blind. Christian art is a way of opening our depths to the lord that can’t be reached by just words. In our dining area we have Rembrandt’s picture of the Prodigal and Henri Nouwen spend days in front of it in St. Petersburg. He prayerfully sat there and took it in and later wrote a book on all that he saw.   If we just take a casual look  we miss so much. It is good to prayerfully look at a painting and allow the Spirit to use it to open our eyes to new ways of seeing.  We need to be like children that have minds and hearts open and free and enliven imaginations. As we do this we my respond to God with praise, wonder and worship.

Devotions based on Juliet Benner’s book, Contemplative vision

After reading Juliet’s book, I am beginning to think we are all visually challenged as we miss so much of what is around us and in front of us. Our spiritual seeing is also conditioned by our physical seeing. When we are oblivious to the things our physical eyes invite us to notice, it is hard to be attentive to the spiritual things. She teaches people how to read ( or see)  works of religious art as they meditate on a scripture. In the Middle Ages Biblical art began as expressions of the artists’ own meditation on Scripture and was used to help others get a deeper understanding of faith.  Art was viewed as the poor man’s Bible. Gregory the Great said that “the purpose of painting is for the illiterate what writing is for those who read.”  The churches proclaimed the Word as the walls and windows had visual depictions from the Bible in paintings, mosaics, stained glass etc. Cathedrals were designed in shapes of the cross and even the spires on the landscape were a visual reminder to the people to pray. When the reformation came which brought with it the emphasis of Word alone, many visual images were removed. But God wants to meet us in heart, mind, body, soul, senses, and imagination. We miss so much if we are limited with only our minds.

Devotions based on Juliet Benner’s book, Contemplative Vision

“Contemplative prayer is simply a receptive form of prayer in which we open ourselves to God in stillness and silence.”  It is a time of being with God and just allowing the Holy Spirit freedom to move in our lives. This means we need to make space for God and practice being attentive to Him. It can be said that it is sharing time alone with a good friend. As we quietly listen to the Lord we will find that our lives get touched and transformed and we begin to see as God sees and respond as God would respond…. We acquire the mind, the eyes, and the heart of Christ. So often we are blind to God’s presence in the midst of our lives and are unable to see where and how God is working. The more we awaken to His love and presence, the more our clouded vision becomes clearer and pure.  In one of my Renewal classes we had a  special time as we all shared  how we saw God in the events surrounding us and in our lives. He comes to us in so many ways and let us not miss Him.