God for us, we call You Father,
God along side us, we call You Jesus,
God within us, we call You Holy Spirit.
You are the Eternal Mystery
that enables, enfolds, and enlivens all things,
even us,
and even me.
Every name falls short of your
Goodness and Greatness.
We can only see who You are in what is.
We ask for such perfect seeing.
As it was in the beginning, is now,
and ever shall be.
Amen.
Richard Rohr, “Trinity Prayer”
God For Us, we call You Father,
God Alongside Us, we call You Jesus,
God Within Us, we call You Holy Spirit.You are the Eternal Mystery
That enables, enfolds, and enlivens all things,
Even us, and even me.Every name falls short of your
Goodness and Greatness.
We can only see who You are in what is.
We ask for such perfect seeing.
As it was in the beginning, is now,
and ever shall be.
Amen.Richard Rohr, from Simplicity
It's the night before Trinity Sunday, and I'm aware that I've been pretty silent this week, for which apologies. It's been a busy week, on the outside, but inside I've not been able to stop thinking about the passage from Maggie Ross I mentioned on Monday, where she says:
There are as many ways of intercession as there are moments of life. Intercession can become deep and habitual, hidden even from our selves. There is nothing exotic about such practice. What matters is the intention that creates the space and the stillness. Even something as simple as refusing to anesthetize the gnawing pain in the pit of your soul that is a resonance of the pain of the human condition is a form of habitual intercession. To bear this pain into the silence is to bring it into the open place of God’s infinite mercy. It is in our very wounds that we find the solitude and openness of our re-creation and our being. We learn to go to the heart of pain to find God’s new life, hope, possibility, and joy. This is the priestly task of our baptism.
This so accurately describes the path of prayer God has been leading me increasing along for nearly 30 years - acutely, for the last 10 years - that it is quite uncanny. It's also, by definition, hard to write about - hard even to think about, conceptually, since it is so hidden. As Maggie says, it is at times hidden even from ourselves.
Maggie writes of "the intention that creates the space and the stillness..." and it is this which the Jesus Prayer does. But it doesn't only do that: it helps us quite explicitly to "bear this pain into the silence... to bring it into the open place of God’s infinite mercy." The repetition of the words, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner" create a stillness and a crying, where the wounds of our openness to, our identification with, the pain of the human condition are lifted up to the Cross in all their particularity and is-ness, and in all our own defencelessness and conceptual defeat.
The astonishing thing is, it works - something happens, when we pray like this, far greater than our own little intellects can grasp. Or should I say, why should I be astonished that Jesus would answer this kind of prayer, so close to his own heart?*
There is far more to this way of praying than this, and I am only just beginning to understand a little of it. I shall hope to explore a little more here over the next week or so - but I hope you will bear with me if I am a bit faltering, both in regularity of posts and in my language - I find this difficult to write about, just as I know I must try...
*Matthew 6.6; Luke 13.34; Luke 18.35ff; John 11.35 etc.
Lord God:
you alone are holy,
you who work wonders!
You are strong, you are great,
you are the Most High,
you are the almighty King,
you, holy Father, King of heaven and earth.
Lord God: you are Three and you are One,
you are goodness, all goodness,
you are the highest Good,
Lord God, living and true.
You are love and charity, you are wisdom,
you are humility, you are patience,
you are beauty, you are sweetness,
you are safety, you are rest, you are joy,
you are our hope
and our delight,
you are justice, you are moderation
you are all our wealth
and riches overflowing.
You are beauty, you are gentleness,
you are our shelter, our guard
and our defender,
you are strength, you are refreshment,
you are our hope.
you are our faith.
you are our love,
you are our complete consolation,
you are our life everlasting,
great and wonderful Lord,
all powerful God, merciful Saviour!
Amen.
St. Francis of Assisi
