Saturday’s Sanctuary
Opposing Voices. Find and hum that tune.
I was gifted a wonderful book this week while visiting a friend. Actually several books he felt I would enjoy. Seems he knows me well enough, as I have indeed found them all a delight to my senses and my spirit. This morning as I sat to watch the sunrise, I picked up the book and noticed something that looked like a bookmark. Upon opening it, I discovered a receipt from Mean Mug coffee shop in Chattanooga TN dated October 15 2015. My friend had been there nearly 8 years ago next week enjoying a nice cup of black coffee - their usual.
The masterpiece I was given is call The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo which contains small poems of inspiration with guided meditation. The page that was marked was on February 22 - Opposing Voices. It reads:
Let the opposing voices in your head speak.
They are only finding their part in a larger, yet-to-be-heard song.
Being alive is a paradox, an ongoing mix of things that the surface don't always seem to make sense. But voicing what doesn't seem to make sense helps. It's like an orchestra tuning up to play together. We have no chance of discovering the fullness of our inner music, if we don't let the players in our hearts and minds and spirits tune.
Often, confusion is the tension of trying to make sense of things too soon, before enough of the inner players have learned their parts. Often, experience is the way that the heart and mind and spirit practice what they need to play.
Isn't the trail of our relationships the time it takes for the heart to practice its part in the movement we call Love? Isn't the trail of our honest questions the time it takes for the mind to practice its part in the movement we call Wisdom? Isn't the trail of our changing beliefs the time it takes for the spirit to practice its part in the movement we call God?
And isn't our trail of Oneness, those brief moments when everything comes together, isn't this the time it takes for Love and Wisdom and God to bring the common place in us alive?
After reading the entry, I came to see how a brief conversation I had yesterday would benefit from this reflection. My friend and I had talked about something similar - not knowing what all these things mean was the theme. I also took note of the dates on the bookmark and page and thought: What might 10:15 and 2:22 be reminding me of elsewhere? Is there any significance or is it random? So I turned to scripture to see if there was any confluence or some parallel to the message. I found these:
“The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.” Hebrews 10:15-18 NIV
“They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.” John 2:20-2:22 NIV
While these are two different stories/messages in scripture they are part of the same movement and the same song - the song of Love, Wisdom, and God within Me. These reminded me while there are many things happening in, around, and for me that I can’t make sense of at times, I don’t know exactly what they mean together, or where all this is going, I can know this - that God does and He is at work in it all. He speaks and has spoken to me many times and in many ways. His voice is also among the many other voices. As I sit to ponder about whatever puzzles or feels uncertain - recalling what God has said, what He has already shown, what He wrote on my heart and mind - helps me believe the scripture and His words. I don’t need to make sense of it all. It will come together on it’s on. I simply need to remember and believe. When I look back over my life, there are answers there. There are answered prayers there. There are promises kept there. There is goodness there. Even among all the other opposing voices, life experiences and uncertainties, God is and always has been there. I may not always be able to trust myself or another person, but I can always trust Him. Meeting with Him every morning and several times a day, is to bring all things together to begin the process of making sense of things.
So, today’s question is not one I will give you but the one you will ask yourself as you meditate. Concluding the February 22 entry, Nepo writes:
• This is a guided thought meditation. Center yourself and bring into view an issue that carries indecision or confusion for you right now.
• Though it will feel initially chaotic, breathe slowly and let the opposing views of this issue bubble up uncensored.
• Take your time, breathe deeply, and let the opposing energies play themselves out.
• Rather than struggle to understand how these things go together, breathe steadily and, as if each energy is an instrument, feel the duet they are trying to play in you.
• Enter your day humming that tune.
