Sunday April 3 – Taking The Stone Away; A Life-Giving Rhythm

[link to full email]: https://mailchi.mp/coutreach/word-of-the-week-apr3

[excerpt from email]: To Practice: The rituals we perform in preparation for our time of contemplative practice are helpful ways of lovingly stepping into our intention to consent to the presence and action of the Godly presence into which we come; lighting a candle, gentle movements, making a sign of the cross or gazing at an icon all help us to cross the threshold from focus on daily life into focus on deepening our Divine relationship. This week, having made a trip to your garden or while out taking a stroll, you are invited to allow your eyes to be drawn to a small stone. Once you have found a stone that catches your eye, take it home and place it in a container in your place of prayer. As you prepare for your prayer session, add to your ritual the removal of your stone from its container accompanying the action with the words “take away the stone.” Whether during prayer you have decided to hold it in your hand or place it close by, at the end of your practice, gently and with great love and care replace it, in its imperceptibly changed form, back into its container.

[Susan Kenney]

The unknown unblinder. One year a group of four of us dramatized the  raising of Lazarus. We made a box that we could crawl into. When Jesus said, “Lazarus, come forth”, we crawled  out of the box. We were each holding onto a pillow. Then someone would come from the assembly, take the pillow and walk us down to a pew. The lesson:  Jesus could raise us but we needed someone to unbind us. I did it at all four Masses. The most powerful one for me was the noon Mass since I did not know the person who “ unbound” me. One never knows who might emerge to unbind  one from some constricting habit and thus enable one to rejoin the community.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by Susan Kenney.

Your experience, Susan, of your unknown binder and sitting today with Jesus’ words: “Take off the graves clothes and let him go.” I recall a difficult meeting last week, now with new eyes, “my grave clothes receiving a bit of unwinding, that can only happen when you trust someone else enough  (not my favorite person) to  unwind a fraction of “my grave clothes”. As this week begins I consent to “unbinding”….

Thank you for that story, Susan.

Sunday April 3: Taking The Stone Away; A Life-Giving Rhythm

I pondered where I would locate a stone as I brought out my Anglican prayer beads. Inside the black cloth bag is a small piece of polished citrine, placed with the beads during a period of healing prayers. I place the citrine between my left palm and thigh as I center. What a wonderful daily reminder to examine what is being called forth in me from death to life. <3 linda

Thanks, Linda for sharing this. I marvel at how our God connects all the dots in our lives, doing it ever so gently, his finger on the pulse of our lives. This God who is only a breath away!

The stone in my heart. This morning as I found a stone for our time together,

I asked that the stone be removed from my heart. I realized that I had been protecting  myself from the reality of the mass shooting in Sacramento. Tears and memories came flooding back. I had worked at the Sequoia Hotel, a single room occupancy hotel located on the block where the shootings had occurred. Many residents were isolated, without family or  support. They often died alone and might not be discovered for several days. We would have a memorial service for each, sometimes finding photos and relatives. The person’s life then became bigger than that little room where they had lived. The message:  no one will be forgotten, each life is important. As we mourn the six people who died on Sunday morning, I pray that I will take into my heart all of the sadness, remorse, and confusion that accompanies all who are in mourning.

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