In war and in peace - 3 February 2012

Our Christian Meditation group at Warkworth resumed this morning for 2012. We meet at the old hall beside the Anglican church each Friday morning. We begin precisely at 8.30 am and are away by 9.15 am. The meetings are very simple. Each one begins with a very brief talk about some aspect of contemplative life and prayer, and then we meditate in silence for 25 minutes. There is a space for any questions or comments -- and then we go about our Friday tasks and commitments. Anyone is welcome.

John Cassian in the early 5th century taught that we are to recite our mantra “in times of prosperity and adversity”. The writer of the Cloud of Unknowing, in the Middle Ages, said we are to say it “in times of war and in times of peace” -- in those days he or she would have known all about that. Fr John Main in our day always taught the mantra is to be said “whether we feel like it or not”, from the beginning to the end of meditation.

Of course, everyone knows that we may have restless, even stormy days, dry periods, low and sullen moods, some have times when their moods are on the edge of panic, and we know times when we are plain weary. That is the point about moods. We always have them in one form or another. They alter, they may be justified or there may be no reason we know of, it may be events that affect us, or our body chemistry, it may be something that was said, it may be anxiety, real or unreal. It may be nothing we can pin down, as we say. Moods are real but unreliable. Some people seem to know nothing much else but their current mood. A person remarked to me recently that he was “in a very good space at the moment” -- as though it might unaccountably change quite soon.

Christian Meditation is an offer of grace, and a steadiness, at another level than our current emotions. Therefore part of the discipline is that we return to it regularly, whether we feel like it or not. And those who have been around contemplative life and prayer for a while will tell you, one of the aspects they value is just that -- the meditation and the mantra are a still point. It opens to a reality, which is there within us anyway, which is not overwhelmed by moods. The world may be falling to bits -- it usually is -- but this isn’t. It is like the seed in the parable, which grows in the dark and unseen, below the visible and the tangible and all the weather, and bears fruit.

This is all somewhat amazing in an age in which, culturally, emotions are paramount. How I feel or felt is actually considered news - I feel gutted, I am in shock, I was like O my God, I am freaking out... to say nothing of multiple variations on anger. It is probably pointless to suggest to people who are committed to spending vast amounts on entertainment, ensuring they are not going to be bored -- or that if they are terminally bored or frightened or depressed some drug or other will be a solution -- that there is a freedom and satisfaction beyond how we feel.

The truth will make you free, says Jesus. Bondage to emotions, however justified, is not freedom. In meditation we come closer to where what we are hearing is steady and true. It may be the sound of nothingness. For the moment it is enough that we are still and silent, accepting, consenting to truth and love. And for this purpose we learn to set aside however we might be feeling.