Holy Wisdom Church
This prayer prepares us to feel the presence
of God everywhere because we have discovered that the presence of God is
within. It enables us to respond in waves of trust that carry us far beyond the
storms of the present to the fullness of the future.
Jesus had been warning his followers that he had to go to Jerusalem where he would suffer and be put to death. His followers would not hear of it as the Messiah was supposed to free his chosen people, not die. Jesus then took only Peter, James and John up a mountain, to pray perhaps? Was Jesus himself not sure going to Jerusalem and enduring all the ensuing suffering was what God wanted of him? Perhaps, Moses and Elijah were assuring Jesus the path he saw for himself was indeed what was needed.
The three disciples saw Jesus transfixed-saw him in a
different light-saw him as he really was. Then Jesus said to his disciples “Get
up and do not be afraid”. Their own lives were forever transfigured. We too,
can go forth and not be afraid-being confident that Jesus will lead us by his
light if we but do our part and continue to pray-to listen to the Spirit (of
God) within us.
Of all
we bring to prayer, presence is at once one of the simplest and one of the most
difficult. Being able to be present to God and remembering God’s presence
within us is difficult. We find we need to resist distractions. Where can we
find this needed silence and solitude needed for prayer?
God can
seem so far away. However much time we put into praying, God can remain more an
idea than a reality. We look for God “to come.” We do not expect to find God here. But
where else is God, if not here? And if
God is here, what creates the block, the Plexiglass between us?
“God
“is not in the whirlwind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire.” God,
Scripture says, “is in the small still voice within.” What is blocking us from
making the journey within? In a culture built on noise, talk, information,
advertisements and constant movements, it is close to impossible to really
pray. Silence and solitude are lightyears away from the list of unending
activities we carry in our heads. We say prayers; we seldom sit in the presence
of God and wait.
The very thought of simply listening for the
whisper of the soft, still voice within is not only rare, it can be
uncomfortable. Shouldn’t we be doing something, our still, small voice
shouts at us. Shouldn’t we be going somewhere, doing something,
at least saying something holy?
But it
is the voice of God within that brings calm and direction. It drains the
negative out of the present so that we can go on, calmly aware that
there is nowhere -where we are alone.
Get up and do not be afraid.
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