The Bead of God’s Love

On this bead  we thank God for his infinite love…
Thank him for the greatest gift of all (John 3:16)
in which he has shown us the fullness of his love.
On this bead I give thanks to the Lord for every gift of love through others…

…for everything in my life ~ for life itself.

Love, the greatest gift, given to us freely by God, who looks upon us with infinite, intimate love, deeper than we could ever imagine. Recall the feeling you experienced when you first gazed upon your newborn child. Time it by 1,000,000. You’re not even close.

Thinking of God in this way is quite overwhelming. Just as we can build walls between ourselves and God’s peace (as I wrote yesterday) we can build walls between ourselves and God’s love. In recognising our intrinsic unworthiness, we can forget that we have been made worthy by His love. Perfect love, that took Jesus, as a voluntary sacrifice to the Cross.

Sometimes, in confusing unworthiness with ”un-loveable-ness”, we cut ourselves off from the full realisation of God’s love and it’s redeeming transforming power in our lives. In the Eucharist we experience the culmination of that love, made visible before us. Receive…

Today, let your God love you…

Let Your God Love You

Be silent.
Be still.
Alone.
Empty
Before your God.
Say nothing.
Ask nothing.
Be silent.
Be still.
Let your God look upon you.
That is all.
God knows.
God understands.
God loves you
With an enormous love,
And only wants
To look upon you
With that love.
Quiet.
Still.
Be.

Let your God ~
Love you.

~ Edwina Gately

The Serenity Bead

Touch this pearl often. You need it!

It is said that “fear not”, and other expressions with the same meaning, are mentioned 365 times in the Bible. That is one such encouragement for each day of the year! May this thought be in your heart and in your thinking…that every day God is telling us not to fear!

Pray for lightheartedness in your life. “Don’t worry – be happy!” and thankful!

This bead is sometimes called the lightheartedness bead! Think of it ~ to have a heart that is light! I prefer the word “serenity”, as serenity calls to mind a peace of heart, a sense of calm and all being right within us. Serenity is a still pond, unruffled by the winds of strife. All is quiet; all is still…

Sometimes serenity can be hard to find, tantalisingly out of reach, yet Jesus promised us the peace that “passeth all understanding”. He is true to His promises, it is us who block the path of His peace, bu building walls of worry and anxiety, stress and concerns. Why not let the Holy Spirit dismantle your walls, brick by brick…

“When you are worried and restless, you may lay down your heavy load, forget your worries and leave them in front of the One who says: ‘Do not worry’ and ‘My peace I give unto you’. You may pray:
I give away my load of worries. I receive Your peace.
(I breathe out my worry, I breathe in Your peace.)”

“Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you” (Matthew 11:28)

The Desert Bead

Sometimes we live like in a desert.
Here I face the trials of life,
the fight and the everyday struggle for life.
I have to live it through. I can’t avoid the desert of life.
I become aware of the temptations, my shortcomings,
my doubts and fatigue.Sometimes I hurt others.
Often I fail in my good intentions.
I feel dirty and full of scars.
Oh, Lord, I live as if in a desert!

I can grasp the desert pearl and pray:

Lord, cleanse me – that I will be clean!
Heal me – that I will be whole!
Draw me close to you – that my soul will find peace!

Where is the desert place?
It is within each of us. We carry it inside our hearts. We can be in a room full of people, in a crowded place, surrounded by life and colour, sound and movement, and yet feel utterly alone and as dry as sand under a baking sun. The early Christians recognised this place as one where God resides, and so moved to the desert in order to seek Him. We now know them as the “Desert Fathers”.

In the desert we are stripped of both comfort and distraction. The world loses its power to lure us away from God. As with the prophet Hosea’s wife, we are lured into the desert places of the heart so that God can woo us back to Him. The desert is a mirror, held up to us, so that we can see our true reflection and be humbled. Though dry and arid, it is a blessed experience. I am thankful for my desert places…

Dear Lord…
Please grant that I shall
Never waste my pain; for…
To fail without learning,
To fall without getting up,
To sin without overcoming,
To be hurt without forgiving,
To be discontent without improving,
To be crushed without becoming more caring,
To suffer without growing more sensitive,
Makes of suffering a senseless, futile exercise,
A tragic loss,
And of pain,
The greatest waste of all.

~ Dick Innes

The Baptism Bead

The bead is about to give oneself completely to God, it’s about Christening, about new life. White means that every single day we may start again. Every single day we may trust that God takes care of us. Just as the Virgin Mary held Jesus in her arms, so does God, our heavenly Father, He holds us in his arms.

This is the pearl also for regenerating.

Use it in your prayers for committing yourself and your life to God.

Over and over again.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I was blessed this weekend to attend a Catholic baptism, that of my young nephew. During the service, I was given an opportunity to renew my own baptismal vows. Every day a new beginning. Every morning when I wake, a chance to recommit myself again to God, to remember my baptism and be thankful. Through baptism, we are welcomed into God’s family. Each day, I accept that welcome afresh ~ I align myself with the family of God; I take on the yoke of my Christian birthright; I choose to step out into the light of the Holy Spirit and be His ambassador in the world.

You have invited me O Lord;
Into Your hands I commend my life…Amen

The “I” Bead

This is a small pearl to remind me of my place in the creation.
I am small. I am just one part of it all.
But I am precious in the eyes of God.
He created me in his own image!

The “I” bead is one of the smaller beads in the Pearls of Life. It is also closest to the God bead. It tells me…

I am small and insignificant

But I am close to the God of all

He watches over me

He takes care of me

St. Therese of Lisieux recognised how small she was. She called it her “littleness”, like a little child totally dependant on her parents. The smaller I become, the lower God has to stoop to reach me, the more His love and mercy are revealed.

The “I” bead helps me to connect with who, and what I am…

I am tired, weary, burdened…

I am a child of God, loved by Him, created in His image…

“I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine” (Song of Songs 6:3)

The “I” bead helps me to see all that I am in the Light of His Love, and from a heavenly perspective.

Lord, lead me to the place where I can be ALL that I am in You.

The Silence Bead

This is a pearl for meditation.
It is meant for the “in-between-moments” you need in life.
The pause is important.

Look at the sentences “God is nowhere” and “God is now  here”.
What is the difference?
Yes, the interval, the pause, which changed the feeling of an absent God into the God who is present.

“For in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28)

It is time for silence, withdrawal, retreat. Life has become increasingly more frantic, busy and full. Demands fly at me from all sides. In the act of juggling the demands of home, work, friends, family the voice of God has become ever quieter, smaller, more distant.

I step back.

Breathe.

Focus.

…in the quiet space, I hear a whisper. It is God’s voice, calling me to a deeper unity with Him. Inviting me to lay the cares and burdens at the foot of the Cross. Welcoming me into sacred, healing space. I feel the caress of God’s love upon the worn and weary places of my heart. I remain still, and allow Him to bring healing and hope. In the silence, I connect with Him, and with me. All is peace…

I wait.

The God Bead

The Gold bead of the Pearls of Life is the largest and most beautiful ~ it is the God bead.

As you pray, hold this bead in your fingers, and turn your thoughts to God. Who is God to you…how do you relate to Him, what does He mean to you? Are you in awe, a little afraid perhaps, or do you feel comfortable in contemplating the Father. Is He close? Far away and distant? Do you sense His presence, or His words whispered to your heart?

God begins the prayer of the Pearls of Life. Whether you pray the Lord’s prayer; whether you pray to God the Father, Son or Holy Spirit; whether you pray in heatfelt words of your own, or simply in tears, sighs or silence ~ He is with you. His presence is a real as the bead you hold between your finger and thumb. Allow the physical sensation to ground you in the love of the Father, and rest awhile with Him.

Pearls of Life

I have discovered a new doorway into silence and prayer ~ Pearls of Life ~ a wonderful discovery by the Swedish Lutheran Bishop Martin Lönnebo. Very simply, it is a kind of Rosary, a prayer aid, a way in to our hearts and the Heart of God. It is not magical, but meditative. The pearls carry no power of their own, but through them we can connect with God’s love, and then allow that love to be channeled and move outwards towards others. In Sweden, they are known as Frälsarkransen, or The Wreath of Christ. Each bead or Pearl has its own unique meaning, and through them, we can stop, pause, touch, connect during our day ~ or simply hold and pray through all the Pearls, allowing our thoughts to move from God, to ourselves to others, interspersed with silence.

“Take the Wreath of Christ in your hands. Think, say, feel, have courage to believe: I am here, God is present, it is totally quiet. Take the golden God bead between your fingers and say the prayer that belongs with it. Move on to the first colourless Silence bead. Say the prayer associated with it.

Then you may either go through all the beads or select the beads that you at that moment feel important. Finish your prayer with the Lord´s blessing at the last Silence bead and the Lord’s prayer at the God bead.”

From here

Over the next few days, I will post a meditation on each of the Pearls of Life. I pray that they will enrich your life, as they have mine.

where do I look when I am lost?

Life is finding oneself…

People change their lifestyles to find themselves.
Marriages break up when one spouse feels the need to go on a voyage of self-discovery.
Others diet, overeat, take drugs, have cosmetic surgery.
All are not to be judged. They are seeking…

It is easy to lose oneself in the midst of the noise, chaos and demands of a busy life. We may have caught a glimpse of the real person within, that core of ourselves which is made in the image of God, and one day realise we have lost sight of that person. We may never have found her at all.

All humanity is on a journey of searching and seeking, and most of us look in the wrong places. For our true selves are “hidden with Christ in God”. The discovery of self lies in the discovery of He who made us: our Creator God. “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity;” says the Prophet Jeremiah.

Let us seek…

Discussions with “self”…

The cloister and cell only assure an external solitude. It is only the first step whose goal is to encourage interior solitude, or purity of heart: to keep one’s soul away from any and all things not of God or which do not lead to God. It is at this level that the Carthusian meets the sudden impulses of his thought and the changes of his feelings. As long as the monk discusses with his “self”, his sensibilities, his worthless thoughts, unreal desires, he is not centered on God. It is here that he experiences his weakness and the power of the Spirit which he learns bit by bit “…the habit of the tranquil listening of the heart which allows God to enter by all path and access.” (Carthusian Statutes 4.2)

These words burrow their way under your skin, into your heart; they challenge and convict. How can they be “translated” into an everyday language for the ordinary person? As laypersons, are we troubled by “sudden impulses of thought” and “changes of feeling”?

Of course. For monks are human, we are human, and such distractions are the very nature of our humanity. One could say that Humankind’s fall from Grace was the triumph of “self” over God, and every person upon this earth, bar Jesus and His Mother, has struggled with this interior battle.

This passage defines self “sensibilities”, “worthless thoughts”, “unreal desires”. Sensibilities has a number of meanings, but captures the nature of our thoughts and our emotional life, which often express themselves turbulently and selfishly; worthless thoughts are those which are centred on the trivialities of everyday life; unreal desires are those desires which lead us away from the source of all Truth and reality. In all of them, we are not centred on God.

Anyone who has experimented with contemplative prayer will know how hard it is to switch the mind off, and focus all ones attention on the God we seek to contemplate. It is a journey made all the harder by living in the world, with all it distractions and temptations, which often seem brighter, more glamorous, more exciting than seeking God in silence. Perhaps, more often than not, we give up before we have even entered into that place of contemplation. Or maybe contemplation merely seems to bring us more starkly face to face with our “self” and all that it comprises.

I am a novice on this journey. In fact, less than a novice ~ a postulant even. I am testing the waters without really getting wet, paddling in the shallows without taking the risk to swim out to the depths. It is a slow, and often tortuous journey. I often feel discouraged and return to noise and hustle and bustle where I find familiar comfort. Seeking God’s face is a “stripping-away” experience which can often leave one feeling exhausted.

But surely it is worth pursuing if we truly desire communion with God, and to come face to face with the source of all Love. We cannot help but be transformed by such Love, and as a result be able to hold all God’s creatures in Love’s embrace. For emptying oneself of “self” leaves room not just for God, but for others too: we become less as He becomes more and our works turn to dust.

Mary of Bethany chose the better part, and that is the choice He places before us.  Lord, give me the strength to end the incessant “discussions with self” and choose instead to converse with You.