Scripture for meditation: Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask of the Lord, this I seek: to dwell in the Lord’s house all the days of my life, to gaze on the Lord’s beauty, to visit his temple.
Julian of Norwich
tells us: Just as our flesh is covered by clothing, and our blood is
covered by our flesh, so are we, soul and body, covered and enclosed by the
goodness of God. Yet, the clothing and the flesh will pass away, but the
goodness of God will always remain and will remain closer to us than our own
flesh. God only desires that our soul cling to him with all of its strength, in
particular, that is clings to his goodness. For of all of the things that our
minds can think about God, it is thinking upon his goodness that pleases him
most and brings the most profit to our soul. For we are so preciously loved by
God that we cannot even comprehend it. No created being can ever know how much
and how sweetly and tenderly God loves them. It is only with the help of his
grace that we are able to persevere in spiritual contemplation with endless wonder
at his high surpassing, immeasurable love which our Lord in his goodness has
for us. Therefore we may ask from our Lover to have all of him that we desire.
For it is our nature to long for him, and it is his nature to long for us. In
this life we can never stop loving him….For of all things, contemplating and
loving the Creator made my soul seem less in its own sight and filled it full
with reverent fear and true meekness…. (Devotional
Classics, edited by Richard J. Foster and James Bryan Smith, Harper Collins,
1993).
Prayer: Psalm 8:1,
3-5, 9
O Lord, Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the
earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. When I look at your heavens,
the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for
them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with
glory, and honor. O Lord, Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the
earth!
My thoughts: This
week we will be reading from great saints and writers who profess a dedication
to contemplation. We learn today from Julian of Norwich, a popular English
mystic, that she finds great joy in contemplating the goodness of God. It is
good for us to take time every day to just do nothing but think about the
goodness of God. Some of us might find the inside of a beautiful church a
vehicle for this meditation time; others may find it along a nature trail;
still others, in the quiet of a room with a beautiful work of art or music.
However you find it, take the opportunity every day to spend time in silent
reflection of the loving and good God who chose to create you, and thank Him
for the gift that you are to Him and to others in your life.
Our prayer to God:
Let us join our voices with that of Julian of Norwich who once wrote, “O God,
by your goodness give me yourself, for you are enough for me.”
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