I had posted my first reflection on the Loving Kindness exercise in a prior entry in my blog, but I am also including it here (For those who read the first one, you can skip down to "Reflection Two" below) . . .
Reflection One:
I found myself on the beach in Northern California, I was 21 again, and with the most Christ-like person I had ever known up to then. His name was Father Bernard Menard, a Quebecois, and an Oblate of Mary Immaculate.
We had communion on the beach; a loaf of bread and a bottle of California Merlot. I could hear someone playing the flute somewhere; unseen. I recalled his soothing voice, and how he held is open palms just a few inches from my ears, as I looked within and realized that Christ was mine; my Lord. I was now in love with God, and realized how worthy the experience of life is and that I would never be the same again. We made candles in the sand, adorned with seashells and driftwood. The sun was setting in the sea, and he said, "Look inside; it is just as beautiful in there". And it was. Eyes closed, the waves of the ocean's sound, the flute in the distance; like a Native Flute. Yes, I was discovering who I was in God, and yet I was not being called to abandon neither my people nor my culture. I experienced the awe and greatness of being a Human Being.
And now, back in my study, lying on a mattress, I realize that the same feelings and thoughts I experienced when I was 21 that summer, are still with me after all these years; with one difference . . . That difference is in my capacity to hold and have so much love to give to those around me. I wish I had known that then; life would have been so much different. But now, the me I was is here and I am able to dedicate my thoughts, my actions, my intentions to be a greater blessing to others. Now, I hear not only the Native Flute; but also a Symphony! It is Wonderful to be alive.
Reflection Two:
My second experience with the Loving Kindness exercise was not as fruitful as the first one (recorded above as “Reflection One”). I began the exercise with the image of each of my Grandchildren, each of whom I love dearly, but as the exercise progressed to holding the image of someone near to me who is suffering from disease the whole spell was broken. First of all, because to my knowledge all of the persons I love are in very good health; second because I don’t feel that my love for my family is an adequate source of energy for projecting healing for others. I practice a different type of meditation just about every night, which I wish to share with you. It began during the most chaotic time in my life, when I experienced seven years of clinical depression along with nearly hourly impulses to suicide . . . I would lie in my bed, and recall to my mind all of the Bible verses that I could remember, one by one, until I would finally be able to sleep a very few hours.
Today, as I continue on a winning streak of blessings of every kind, I still practice this type of meditation, paraphrasing Ancient Scriptures according to my memory and stringing them together as I worship (exercise my love for) God. Now, in keeping with the purpose of the Loving Kindness exercise, I will use my meditation as a springboard for interceding for the healing of others, whether it is for healing from disease, or for healing from other types of suffering.
Here is a gathering of some Ancient Scriptures I am very fond of; they are direct quotes from the Old King James Version of the Bible:
Here’s one written six-hundred years before Christ: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:3-5)
This one was written after the death and resurrection of Jesus: “God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:1-3)
This one is a quote from Jesus himself: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
This one was written by a disciple who was very special to Jesus: “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:3-4)
Here is one that Jesus quoted: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” (Matthew 22:37)
Cheers!
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