Interrupted

My usual  discipline of reading and reflecting upon the Daily Scripture was interrupted today.  Perhaps it is because I have some fairly significant concerns on my mind and heart plate and the result is spiritual fatigue.  Or maybe it is because I have been surrounded by  Bible passages almost every waking minute for the past few days as I have received, edited and formatted over 50 entries for our church Lenten Devotional.

Anyway, there's no point in pretending.  The reality is that this morning my heart and mind simply wanted to sink into God's presence.  I yearned to be still.  No thoughts.  Nothing to reflect upon other than me, Pamela, dedicating an hour to sit with God who I know was reflecting upon me, reflecting upon God.

I recalled, then, a prayer practice introduced to me at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, as I participated in the Spiritual Guidance Program.

It was a version of praying with icons.  Rather than using an icon like Pantocrator,

 we were instructed to sit before a mirror.

And sit.  And look.  And pray.  And sit.  And look.

Me, looking at me, looking at me.  Try it some time.  As you stay in that pose and pray, you become more in touch with you...the authentic you... the created in God's image "you".   And soon you experience "God in me, looking at God in me, looking at God in me."

There is something healing, actually, about being a bit more aware of the "me" that God sees.  It doesn't become self-absorbing at all, for God claims me, enfolds me, and then places me on the path outward.

So now, having spent this time with God, I move outward to the rest of my day.

I wonder what we, God and I, will do today?