Matthew under the arm 44
At midday yesterday, I had my back against a tree trunk. [Excellent...that wonderful sensation of back-scratching. ] I smelt to high-heavens... not having had a wash for three days. Two pilgrims came and sat beside me. One of them mentioned that he had heard that I knew the 'art of prayer' as a way of being close to Christ. I didn't show it, of course, but I felt...well, yes... good about this recognition. 'How do I pray deeply, so as to become close to Christ?', the other asked. So I set off giving them the wealth of my experience, of course! After an hour.... yes, the two still hung on my every word...Columba passed by and spread his right hand in front of me. His index finger pointed somewhere. I was puzzled. Later I asked him what he meant... [He's so irritating sometimes, this Columba!] He reminded my of the painting of Matthias Grunewald ... the retable of the crucifixion.'So what?' I asked in some impatience. 'John the Baptist looks up at Christ crucified and points away from himself,' Columba reminded me. 'Yes - with you so far', I added almost yawning. 'Well,' added Columba softly... 'John the Baptist says...in the painting as it were..."I must decrease. he must increase." I then remembered the two piligrims. 'Did I decrease?'....
Matthew 11:1-15…
‘He will prepare your way before you’. The quotation in this passage is from Isaiah. For Matthew, the key dynamic is ‘pointing’. The Old Testament points beyond itself to the coming of ‘Messiah’ – the messenger-servant. So John, as a type of Isaiah, points beyond himself to Messiah Jesus. However, it is important to observe that there are two parts to this essential pointing. The first is that the ‘pointer’ achieves the attention of those around him. Once that attention has been ‘locked-in’, as it were, he then points to Christ.
With Your Simplicity and Wisdom within me, I would point to the Love of Christ.
How attention is achieved by the ‘pointer’, depends on the individual skills and personality of the ‘pointer’ – the disciple – the ‘John-the-Baptist’. This can be from words, it can be with actions of love, it can be through stillness and prayer. The beautiful but bewildering quality of the gentle person of prayer is that he or she attracts attention not to the ego, but beyond themselves. This is why spirituality is essential. Entering into silence is to look at Christ and be looked at by Christ. If you know Christ in this intimate way, then how you point others to him ceases to be a matter of conscious ‘method’. Strangely, it is given.
+Martin
Argyll and The Isles
Matthew 11:1-15…
‘He will prepare your way before you’. The quotation in this passage is from Isaiah. For Matthew, the key dynamic is ‘pointing’. The Old Testament points beyond itself to the coming of ‘Messiah’ – the messenger-servant. So John, as a type of Isaiah, points beyond himself to Messiah Jesus. However, it is important to observe that there are two parts to this essential pointing. The first is that the ‘pointer’ achieves the attention of those around him. Once that attention has been ‘locked-in’, as it were, he then points to Christ.
With Your Simplicity and Wisdom within me, I would point to the Love of Christ.
How attention is achieved by the ‘pointer’, depends on the individual skills and personality of the ‘pointer’ – the disciple – the ‘John-the-Baptist’. This can be from words, it can be with actions of love, it can be through stillness and prayer. The beautiful but bewildering quality of the gentle person of prayer is that he or she attracts attention not to the ego, but beyond themselves. This is why spirituality is essential. Entering into silence is to look at Christ and be looked at by Christ. If you know Christ in this intimate way, then how you point others to him ceases to be a matter of conscious ‘method’. Strangely, it is given.
+Martin
Argyll and The Isles
Labels: Humility, John the Baptist
posted by Martin at 7:24 pm
1 Comments:
Interesting... I have been considering my own position in this regard. It appears all too easy to become affected by "false pride", especially when under the impression that "I am advancing spiritually" and when everything appears to be "good" in life. Just yesterday I found myself attempting to restore my rather broken sense of humility.
It is one of the most dangerous pitfalls, when we believe that we ourselves are the active force in our lives, creating and doing rather than simply being. And it is always necessary to remember that it is by God's grace alone that we are able to do anything at all.
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