October 2019
A Contemplative Exercise for October
Saying for the month
“Do not fear, only believe.” Mark
5.36 (NRSV)
“Do not be afraid; only have faith.” Mark 5.36 (NEB)
To begin the exercise, first spend a short while in relaxation and preparing to be still; become aware of the sounds around you and put them aside; offer this time of prayer to God.
Say this introductory invitation to prayer, then keep a further minute or two of silence:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and
heavy laden, and I will give you rest” Matthew 11.28
Introduction to the first silence – a preparation for listening with the mind:
“Do not fear, only believe.”
We are free to use whichever of the phrases appeals to us most, “Do not fear, only believe.” (NRSV), or “Do not be afraid; only have faith.” (NEB). For this exercise, I am using the Word, “Do not fear, only believe.” from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.
Jesus spoke these words to a leader of the synagogue named Jairus who begged him to heal his daughter who was dying. We can read the story in Mark 5.21-24 and verses 35-43. We are probably very familiar with the story of the twelve year old girl who is dying and the intervening story of the woman who has been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years. (Mark 5.25-34).
Looking at the background of this story, Jairus was the elected ruler of the local synagogue. He would have been responsible for supervising worship, running the weekly school and caring for the building. Many synagogue rulers had close ties with the pharisees. It is likely, therefore, that some synagogue rulers had been pressured not to support Jesus. For Jairus to come and publicly fall at the feet of Jesus was a significant and perhaps a daring act of respect and even worship. It indicates how desperate he was for his daughter to be saved.
By the time Jesus came to Jairus's house, mourners had gathered. They laughed at Jesus for saying that the 'child is not dead but sleeping.' Today, many laugh at Christ's teachings which seem ridiculous to them. When we are belittled for expressing faith in Jesus and our hope in eternal life, it helps to remember that unbelievers don't see from a spiritual perspective. And indeed, in all humility, maybe we don't always see from a spiritual or Christ-like perspective either. But we do open ourselves to that higher awareness when we come to prayer.
Immediately before this story of Jairus begging Jesus to heal his daughter, Jesus had crossed the Sea of Galilee from where he had healed Legion of his demons. Jesus demonstrates not only his power over nature, violence and death, but he shows tremendous compassion. Compassion for a frightening, demon possessed man who lived among tombs, and for a diseased, untouchable woman. Such people were deemed unclean, they were held in contempt, scorned and rejected by the whole community. But Jesus helped people in need. He reached out to and welcomed everyone who turned to him.
Through these stories we are assured of his care for us, his compassion for us and the world in which we live. We believe he also has compassion for those who have no time for him – the lost sheep.
We can imagine what Jairus must have been
feeling. His mission was so urgent, his daughter so ill, and this undesirable
and unclean woman, who had no business being out and about among the crowd at
all, caused such a delay. Was he impatient, frustrated, angry, hopeless,
despairing? Jesus speaks to Jairus in the midst of crisis: “Do not fear,
only believe.' He offers hope and peace. The next time we feel hopeless or
afraid, we need to remember, like Jairus, to look to Jesus. He is the source of
hope and peace. He is the centre. We need to turn to him, to keep our eyes on
him.
“Do not fear, only believe.”
Allow the words to flow slowly through your mind...
“Do not fear, only believe.”
A time is now kept for silence of the mind
– between 5 and 15 minutes
The silence concludes with a short thanksgiving, and/or repeat the Saying:
Father, we thank you for the gift of your Word.
“Do not fear, only believe.”
Introduction to the second silence – a preparation for listening with the heart:
“Do not fear, only believe.”
There are contrasts in this story. There is the contrast between the hopelessness of the people who came from Jairus's house to say “Your daughter is dead,” and the hope offered by Jesus who said, “Do not fear, only believe.” There is the contrast between the commotion of the people weeping and wailing loudly compared with the calm serenity of Jesus, the peace of his presence. How could he be so serene in the face of such distress? Because of his perfect confidence and trust in God, Abba, I Am.
In this call, “Do not fear,” or “Do not be afraid,” Jesus is showing us that we do not have to be overcome by our fears. Fear is such a powerful emotion, it can be absolutely overwhelming; but we are not our emotions, we are not our feelings, we are not even our our thoughts. There is something much more that enables us to observe these movements within ourselves. Over and over in the Gospels, indeed throughout the Bible, we are told not to be afraid. We have a choice. Do we want to overcome our fears? Then we keep turning to Christ to help us put our fears aside, to live in the embrace of his love, for “perfect love casts out fear;” 1 John 4.18. When we find ourselves in the valley of the shadow, we cling to Christ and we keep going. We put our little 'I am' into the care of the great “I Am.”
The most frightening experience can be met with courage when we meet it with God. Sometimes, especially when we are afraid, our belief can seem very fragile. Then perhaps we cry from our heart the profound prayer we read in Mark 9.24, the cry of another father imploring for healing for his son, “I believe; help my unbelief,” And this is our cry too. It can be very hard for us to put aside our fears but as we respond to the call to pray and are faithful to our time of prayer, then we grow in our relationship with God, with I Am. We grow in hope and trust and peace. Belief is a gift. We can dispose ourselves to receiving it when we are faithful to our prayer. We grow in love as God's love enfolds us and upholds us. Slow growth is good growth, like a tree slowly but surely growing its roots down deeper into the earth while its branches grow towards the light.
“Do not fear, only believe.”
A time is now kept for silence of the heart – between 5 and 15 minutes
Conclude the silence with a short
thanksgiving and/or repeat the Saying:
Father, we thank you that your Word is alive and within us.
“Do not fear, only believe.”
Introduction to the time of intercession – we use our will to reflect God's Word outwards.
“Do not fear, only believe.”
We have listened to and received these words from God spoken to us as they were in scripture and into the context of our own lives. Now in the third part of our time of prayer, we seek to allow God to speak these words through us to those for whom we wish to pray and indeed for the whole world. Our desire is to share the love of God with all the world, for all things and all people to be gathered into one, into the love of I Am.
We hold the person or people or situation before God and allow God to speak the words to them. It is the opposite of what most of us are used to in church or in our own prayers where we address God and ask for things. Here we are allowing God to speak and to act in the lives of those we hold before him.
Say the name of a person or a group of
people, and after a short pause, repeat the saying.
“Do not fear, only believe.”
Conclude the time of intercession with words of thanksgiving:
Father, we thank you that your Word has gone out through us to those for whom we pray.
Use the Fellowship Prayer or another
closing prayer to conclude your time of contemplative prayer.
Ever Loving God, we thank you for all your unsearchable riches which pour forth from you as light from the sun, in boundless profusion and boundless generosity, whether received, ignored or rejected. And now we offer to you, in so far as we are able, as an emptiness to be filled with your divine fullness, ourselves, our souls and bodies; all that we are, all that we have and all that we do, until you are all in all and we are complete. Amen.
You may wish to say the Grace together
before departing.
This month's exercise was contributed by CC