Matthew under the arm 27

[Woops the last blog should have been No 26.... ]

We stopped to eat our sandwiches today, a little late. It would be about 3 in the afternoon. It was calm and still. I just adore simple food while walking on pilgrimage. Columba asked if he might use my knife to cut up his apple. As I handed him the knife, he smiled and asked if I would like a piece of his apple. 'I have my own', I answered. 'Yes, I know', he replied. He then sliced the apple carefully. I was puzzled. You would think he was a sculptor, the way he applied maximum attention and care to his cutting. He then handed me a slice. It wasn't just that I was eating a piece of his apple. It was if I had never seen or tasted an apple before. Columba's attention turned our sharing into a sacrament.

Matthew 7:6
This verse demonstrates a disturbing aspect of Jesus’ unpredictable personality. What lies behind this is that all things are holy. We will, therefore, have veneration for all creatures, including dogs and pigs. Particular places and people are sacred. They are there, however, to remind us to discover the sacred in the profane. We move into a sacred space in order to leave it and discover and create with God sacredness wherever we are. We don’t leave it to the saints!


Let My Holiness go before all your words and actions




Wherever you are praying – in a shrine, a church or by your prayer corner… anywhere, you are in a sacred place and in a sacred time. Maybe you have a favourite place to pray but are not there now – a shrine that you love to visit or have heard of. Imagine it now. Be there. What makes it holy? You can go there any time in your imagination. Then use the sentence and linger in the holiness. As you leave your prayer ask God for the strength to ‘be’ that holiness in your words and actions. You will then bring sacredness to the people and places where you are. But remember, you will be the last to know, if ever!

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 25

Great! Ihave been able to find access to going 'online' while away...

I am not at all pleased! Joining us on this part of the pilgrimage, a group of people asked me whether I knew God, whether I had allowed Jesus to show me forgiveness, whether my life has been transformed by Christ... Judgement? Oh yes, I judged them alright. So I slowed down, so that they would walk on and bother Columba! 'He'll know how to deal with them', I thought. Sure enough, the group made up with Columba and started to 'preach at him'... He listened and watched them. All he said was 'thank you'. However, he then asked them whether they would help him to build a little shelter for us all, because it was getting dark and a storm was breaking. They looked at each other, put down their ruck-sacks and rolled up their sleaves... That night when the wind was howling and we were clutching mugs of soup, there was no more preaching, just the telling of stories.


Matthew 7:1-5...
If we give time to God in prayer which is the 'Opus Dei': the 'work of God', then judgement of others becomes more a more redundant. The word judgement, in the context of the Gospels, means 'negative or destructive criticism'. Positive criticism is intent on something creative happening out of present circumstances. Judgement tends to rise from our own fear of; irritation with and feeling threatened by others. There is a strong relationship between meditation on finding God in all around us and the lessening of judgement.


I would discern Your Hope in all around me



The practice of silence increases the likelihood of looking, of being deeply aware of what is happening and who is around me... what their presence signifies. To enter into the experience of the mystery of God leads to seeing others through that mystery: to see them as they really are. Look back over the last few hours and recollect the people you have been with. See them in the presence of Christ...Observe carefully...take time. Then after a while, use the sentence to enable you even to see signs of hope in the most unlikely circumstance of your life.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 24

I am increasingly aware as I walk along on this pilgrimage that anxiety is a considerable 'presence' in my life. In my ruck-sack is a little pocket radio.... I listen to the news. For most of my life, I have been anxious about international crises. The truth is that that anxiety is about my life and my survival. So the anxiety has become a kind ofm guilty secret..... the poison at the root of the tree, indeed. Columba has noticed this habit of mine. He makes no judgement. Only those who have not come to terms with fear and anxiety make judgements. I ask him if he is afraid. 'Of course,' he replies with a smile. 'There is a wisdom in insecurity. That is the way things actually are. The rest is illusory. That wisdom of insecurity,' he then went on to point out, 'leads me and you into the mystery of the God of Love.'....


Matthew 6.25-33...
The two psychological roots of worry are the threat of rejection or the threat of physical insecurity and possible death. Both are inteimately related, of course. To be rejected is a death. Everyone is afraid. Those who say they are not, either have a way of 'handling' being afraid, or else they are attempting to hide. For Jesus te proximate Kingdom of God added urgency to his attitudes. Guilt at being afraid is poisonous. The simple command provides the opportunity to reassess where my trust is. If what I buy, wear, eat.... is an attempt to protect myself from threat - then there is a question mark over what place my belief in God has in the way I live and in the way I die.

Bring me into a deeper trust in You and transform the anxieties of my heart.

What must be avoided in this prayer time is the feeling of guilt about being afraid. That can deepen anxiety and can indeed be a danger to psychological health. What you are asked to look at here is the way in which you protect yourself from rejection and insecurity. Of course, there is no complete security except in the Love of God. God is the One who will deepen trust. Two other processes arise out of this prayer. One is to share anxieties with someone you trust and the other is to practice little acts of trust in relationships and in life-style.

[I'll be on a part of the pilgrimage that's going to make it difficult to add postings for the next six days... ]

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 23

A young woman joined us today. She was carrying next to nothing on her back. She seemed to be intent on little else but getting to end of the Pilgrimage. This disturbed me. These are still early moments on the pigrimage. The Gospel of Matthew under my arm, I have hardly begun and I have no intention of completing this pilgrimage (if ever I do!) until the last verses of Matthew I have read and prayed with...and walked with. So there! I asked her why she was so intent. Columba heard my question and gently squeezed my arm and shook his head as if to say: 'You are intruding. Just watch, listen to her even in her silence and you will be invited into her journey and into God's.' How did he know? I then realised that my own spiritual journey, this pilgrimage, so easily might become not only a matter of self-fulfilment for me, but I want this young woman, and Columba, for that matter, to do the same... No wonder my attention is so little on God....


Matthew 6:22-24….
Matthew’s Gospel assumes at every corner that our attention is being re-focused: centred on God. The demand in the Gospel to be obedient to that focus is uncompromising. Being that attentive to God may seem unrealistic, let alone practical. In fact, it’s the other way round. By working at being attentive to God in prayer, our work and living becomes profoundly practical. Our eyes are slaves of our desires and darkness prevails in our inner lives. To look at God brings freedom of heart and freedom of action, not separately from the darkness but through it.


Open the eyes of my heart that I may see You; my mind that I may perceive You; my hands that I may serve You.


There is a powerful way of practicing being attentive to God and that is allowing my attention to be drawn away from that which is not God. So I look at the room I am in; become aware of my body, thoughts, emotions and feelings, imaginings... and become aware that they are important but they are not God. It is coming to know God by the way of ‘unknowing’. Once you have passed through all these aspects of your life, then allow the sentence (or a small part of it) above to hold your attention.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 22

This is a day that Columba is spending fasting - not walking. He started fasting after his supper last night and he will observe it until his supper this evening. Well now! He's asked me to join him, asking me first if there was any physical condition that might make fasting inappropriate for me. He has water with him and he has simple biscuits... I am watching him now. He is in this Youth Hostel and resting on a bunk; hands behind his head and his legs crossed - just staring at the ceiling. 'Look', he says to me. 'There on the ceiling is a support that goes across the room. At right angles to that there's the wooden slats of the ceiling. So I'll use that as a cross to help me focus in my praying on those who have the starving Christ with them.' So there's no walking on the pilgrimage today, but there's an attention to those who are famished... The pilgrimage, after all, is for others...

Matthew 6:16-21….
In Christianity, practicing the spiritual life is not about self-improvement. If that is one of the 'side-effects', all well and good. Personal physical or emotional well-being for us is in the Christian community to which we belong and from which we work for the breaking-in of God’s love around us. Therefore the practice of fasting is not dieting. It is a resisting of a particular desire so that we can be open to the presence of God, God’s desire for us. That’s the treasure that is incorruptible. Carefully managed fasting heightens the awareness in contemplative prayer to obedience to Christ.

Persevere in your love for Me within your heart and in your attitudes

Remember that the sentence given in each of these meditations is to be used in the silence of your prayer. Take it into your heart so that it is rhythm with your breathing - your living.
To practice fasting, don’t just observe your eating habits. In your prayer, see what other desires for possession and consumption you have. It’s not so much a matter whether you could have used your money more effectively for others, important though that may be. Nor is it matter of whether you indulge yourself on nice food and drink. Delight in a good meal in company is life-giving. The question is: Do these get in the way of God’s desire for me? That is where it is vital to seek mature advice on fasting particularly as to what the real motivation might be.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 21

I've told Columba for some time now, that going up and down on this uneven path is tiring. He replies that he is hungry. Great! A stop! Passing through a little town, we come across a Church that has its doors locked. Great! We can go straight to the pub! The name of the priest is pinned to the door. My indignation at the apparent lack of care and absent welcome, Columba ignores. So we go to the Priest's door and he invites us in to his front room. There are 5 or 6 folk around a little coffee table; a glass and a plate with a loaf - The Eucharist. 'Why not in the Church?' 'Because,' says the priest, 'the roof is leaking!' Columba enters into a silence. The little group realises that this man has a knowledge. 'Teach us to pray', one asks. The priest adds, 'And teach me to pray too!'.... Holiness 'speaks in silences' very clearly!

Matthew 6:7-15….

Prayer is not an isolated practice. It is 'eucharistic' because the Body and Blood of Christ is (note the unitive/singular here!) the sacramental wellspring of the Church, the Body of Christ. ('Eucharist' - The Thanksgiving for the offering of Christ in His Body and Blood - The Mass, Communion... etc) Christ teaches us to pray by giving himself. The Lord’s Prayer, after all, includes: ‘Give us this day our daily bread’. Prayer feeds because the Eucharist feeds. The first two words of the Lord’s Prayer are ‘Our Father’ not ‘My Father’. So even when I am apparently praying by myself, I am with the Body of Christ as that Body has experienced throughout history, both in the living and in the departed, most of whom I do not know. I am with the prophets, the saints and all the unknown ones who have prayed this prayer.

Come Source of all and draw me into the Unity of Your Son’s Body.


Immediately you say in your heart ‘Our Father’ you are acknowledging that you are with others! Humanity and indeed all of creation are ('is' !) in fact united. The difficulty lies in not realising it. Therefore, take responsibility for yourself in praying that you are one with those around you and beyond. You cannot do that by yourself as you have learnt to see everybody and everything around you as separate, except the people and the things that you desire. This sentence takes you into a deeper place to where the Spirit of God brings Unity. It is the essential work of intercession.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 20

It's getting late and it's dark. We have some miles to go until we arrive at our lodgings. Where is Columba? The wind is blowing and the rain is driving against my face. I realise that I've walked on and left Columba behind. So I retrace my steps. There he is setting underneath a fence with the hood of his anorak over his head and his hands deep inside. I bend down to ask him what on eart he is doing. I realise. He has gone 'into his inner room....' That's always the priority for him. He is not here to impress me or please me, but love me.

Matthew 6:1-6…

Being too attached to people and circumstances means that we do not listen or look as we might. Being detached is being aware of what is going on around us. We can then engage with people and circumstances more creatively. Detachment allows us to listen to God in all aspects of our lives. Prayer is the practice of this detachment. By going into our ‘private room’, we can let go the desire to create impressions or to be apprehensive when others are present, depending on our personality. Finding a ‘secret’ corner for prayer improves detachment from intrusive desires. The prayer with God then can be simple.


I would receive the inner gift of attention to Your Holiness

Even in the most cramped circumstances, you can create a little corner of a room with a candle, a favourite bible or a crucifix. You can close the curtains and turn off the radio for a few moments. The little silence you have is a gift of God. Practice stillness. No one is watching you and no one is scrutinising you. You are removed from that. God is near. So picture Christ sitting or kneeling beside you, still and being attentive to God.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 19

Coffee with a very light breakfast before we set off again.... Columba is leaning over my shoulder reading the Newspaper with me. He points out the number of times the word 'enemy' appears in articles... He seems sad as he reads about 'troops massing....' Then there is that ubiquitous word 'borders', 'boundaries'.... He notices the fear in my eyes. I look at him and he doesn't need to say anything. The fear and the dislike, the borders and resistance are in me.... 'Alright, Columba. I recognise that enmity is in me. What do I do about it to change?' He replies with a slight smile at the edge of his mouth. 'Do you want to change?... Try not changing, but just accepting that all these negatives are in you.... Then wait in prayer...' The changing will become a process in me, perhaps? Let me see and wait with Matthew....

Matthew 5:43-48….

‘Love your enemies….’ This is not a mere suggestion but a demand of the Kingdom. Furthermore, it is a demand on communities as well as on individuals. There is no concession here by Jesus to pragmatism. It may seem strange but this demand along with most in the Sermon seems to be impossible to follow. However, we read the Gospels from the 'other side' of the Crucifixion and Resurrection where what is impossible is not only possible but real in the experience of Christians. From that perspective the demand ceases to be beyond us. God calls those who follow Christ to love enemies and are given 'power' to fulfill that call.


Open the dark corners of your heart. Acknowledge your fears. Be released of your enmities

Hatred is only possible if you have loved. This is not about dislike. It’s about the deep fear that comes about as a result of alienation from those I have loved and have loved me. So the hatred is in me, not in the one I hate. What is so hard is take responsibility for the fear and enmity that is in me. By projecting it on to someone else, another country, a political figure, I take the easy route out of my deep and painful feelings. After all, dictators are created because of my unwillingness to take responsibility. With this sentence I can slowly begin to have peace in myself that may in the Grace of God affect those from whom I am alienated.

+Martin

Argyll and The Isles