There is a kind of prayer in which we reach out and touch the overwhelming reality of God. That touch is wondrous, healing, freeing. There is further degree of prayer in which we invoke and invite God into the heart. This is the beginning of the All-Transformative, the Metamorphosis.
At last, at Iveron, I found a quiet balcony where no one could see me, no one disturbed me. In front of me was a wall of large chestnut trees bathed in full sunlight. Beyond it was the base of a hill of such trees; down below the balcony was a fruit orchard. There was nothing else but the sky, and, far to my left, a small corner fragment of the huge eastern expanse of the Aegean Sea.
I was fresh from a nap, fully awake, and as thirsty for solitude as I have ever been. I eagerly plunged into the exercise of interior prayer, and for the first time since speaking with the elder yesterday.
Since the last time that Fr. Mo’een had instructed me in this prayer three years ago and given me permission to try the breathing exercise in the heart with the prayer, there has been nothing to stop me from doing this. There has been nothing to stop me from advancing, with God’s help. What has distracted me for so long? What has been so important that I have essentially forgotten what I am to do? There have only been a few times when I put my attention to it, and every time was fruitful. The later poems of Mysteries of Silence are a sketchy chronicle of those few experiences.
How have I been so foolish? How can the wasted moments add up to years? At least there is another chance to begin.
Fr. Nicholas had assured us that in this particular monastery, the slow, quiet pace is ripe with such prayer, that it might creep up on us unawares. I sought it out; it found me.
Christopher
1 comment:
Hi Macrina !!! Nikos and I are both missing you all...We had such a wonderful time with all of you...I know Nikos is missing a little bit more of Basil and Emma, especially Basil's conversations....that kid is NOT as young as he says...no way can a child that young look at two ridges, flowing down to the sea from the left and the right, and say with vision..."you know Meredith and Nikos, those will be like this one day" and then he proceeds to show us with his two hands how they will be a merged land mass..and he was pressing his fingers into each fingertip really hard, and making a face showing how they will fit .... hehe "YOU KNOW MEREDITH AND NIKOS?" We know you are a gifted young man and you bring a smile to anyone's face... and Emma (magical lady Emma), we found the euro you found while snorkeling ( our little smiling mermaid)...it's in my purse and we'll bring it to you (unless you want me to spend it on some of that good Greek chocolate and we'll eat it for ya...hehe)... Last night I had a glass of wine and some of that dark chocolate and thought of your mother..yes, it was delightful sipping wine that night, the three of us, looking over the azure waters of my beloved Greece, and looking into you and your mothers wonderful and kind eyes, and discussing nothing much at all...but with the breeze blowing in our hair, a glass of Greek wine in our hands, the sun setting into the summer sun night, as we watch the kids playing about, breathing in the sensory overload before our eyes,how can it get any better then this?....it seems like heaven...Greece...a diamond that outshines them all, here on earth, and every day I see the gift that God gave this beautiful world he created...Greece! ( hmmmmm...I think you know by now how I love this land)...And when those bells sing out each day, calling His little sheep, from the hundreds of churches in Athens, and you walk into that holy place, surrounded by the most beautiful walls of heaven, then and only then do you realize the magic this country brings the world....We were all blessed to be together here, and we'll never forget traveling about...Evia, Rafina, Athens... with you, your mom, the kids, Father Nicholas, Christopher, Ethan, Scott, Gabriel...We are glad you all made it home safe. You are all in our prayers.. oh, and tell your mom when I got back from the airport, after dropping you all, I had a vision in my head and went right to the 'fridge' and found the lovely card you left us ( with the $50 euro inside)....hehe sneaky is all I can say !! Mom was smart and knew i'd eventually go for the wine... We send our love to you all. Maria and Niko
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