Reflection on the Potter and the Clay.

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me: Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. (See Jeremiah 18:1-11 NRSV).

What makes contemplative prayer unique from other forms of prayer? Isn’t going to a church service enough?

There e are many forms of prayer for the Christian. Liturgical prayer. Intercessory prayer. Devotional prayer. These and other prayer forms are all important. Contemplative prayer is about what is inside of our hearts. Where other forms of prayer seem to stop at the end of our lips and minds; contemplative prayer takes us on the longest journey; from the head to the heart. Lectio Divina or the prayerful reading of the Scriptures is a contemplative type of prayer. The words of Scripture that we read very slowly go into our eyes and mouth, then down deep into our deepest selves where the Holy Spirit speaks to us through the words. God teaches our hearts as we meditate on what God wants us to learn from what we read. The next step is to pray to God for ourselves to be led into a deeper awareness and relationship through what we learned. The last part of Lectio Divina is to sit in the presence of God in contemplation to just be there and do nothing else.

In contemplation, we allow God to be the potter to mold and shape us from within our interior self.

“We can’t see God by some sort of intellectual vision, because cognition depends on a sensory infrastructure which cannot see divinity. It is only at the level of spirit that God is visible” (Michael Casey. Toward God: The Ancient Wisdom of Western Prayer., p.163).

St. Benedict wrote The Rule as an instruction to the heart about letting go of the many things we cling to. He knew that God wants us to be so much more than what we think we can be. God is at work in us through contemplative prayer to be the most beautiful and amazing person from the inside out.

“Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may he bring us to everlasting life” (RB 1980: The Rule of St. Benedict in English, p.95).

How is God working like a potter with the clay in your heart?

Amen.

Peace be with all who enter here.

Brother Anselm Philip King-Lowe, OSB

Visit: Br. Anselm Philip’s Ministry of Spiritual and Grief Companionship.

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Reflection on Ora et Labora

“May the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us; prosper the work of our hands; prosper our handiwork.” (Psalm 90:17 The Book of Common Prayer, p. 719).

“Idleness is the enemy of the soul. Therefore, the brothers should have specified periods of manual labor as well as for prayerful reading.” (RB 1980: The Rule of St. Benedict in English. Chapter 48;1, p.69).

The times we are living through do not honor St. Benedict’s pray and work motto. Prayer is something done at home or church. Work is something that happens in an office, on a bus, plane, in a hospital, store, or construction zone. Work in our culture is about consumerism, wealth and/or power for the sake of itself.

St. Benedict tells us that our work is prayer and our prayer is what gives meaning to our work. The Divine Office is called “The work of God.” We pray to deepen our relationship with God. We work to become co-creators with God. Our work in cooperation with God’s Grace helps to build the Reign of God. And so we pray with the Psalmist; “Prosper the works of our hands.”

To live as a contemplative is to search for union with God in everything we do. The contemplative life is lived as a continuous and ceaseless prayer in our work, relationships and moments of silence and solitude. Everything we do is a part of the whole continuum of God’s goodness in the here and now. We are to let go of believing it is all up to us, or that we are alone without a purpose. We are where we are because of God’s extravagant love through Jesus Christ our Savior. In and through that love, the Holy Spirit empowers us to live into our lives of prayer and work.

How do you see prayer and work happening in your life?

Amen.

Peace be with all who enter here.

Brother Anselm Philip, OSB

Visit my website to learn about my ministry of Spiritual and Grief Companionship.

Of you feel led to buy me some coffee to help support this ministry, please scroll down to the bottom of the right sidebar and click on the Benedictine Coffee Mug. Thank you so much.