Matthew under the arm 72

In the corner of the room yesterday evening, kneeling on his bunk bed, there was Columba. His eyes were half open looking at the simple little wooden cross he always carried in his pocket. He had laid it on the end of his bunk. There was a simplicity, almost a naivety in his face. It was a captivating, even a beautiful sight. He didn't know I was watching. However, I felt a sadness. I realised he had a love in him which reached away out beyond him.... I have always throughout this pilgrimage assumed he had a special love of me. But somehow at that moment, I wondered whether I had 'lost' him. After a while, he rose and went to wash. He had left his cross on the bed. I picked it up and turned it over. There, scratched on the back of the words were the words as if spoken by Christ: 'My Love for you is for your love for others.'


Matthew 15:29-31....
‘By the shores...on to the mountain.’ Two images are striking here - of Jesus being 'on the edge' - the shores - with those who were probably pushed to the edge by their circumstances, and moving up to where Jesus was sitting: a sense of relaxation and freedom to be open that being on a mountain brings. The healings give a freedom to speak, a loosening of being confined, the ability to have the wider view, to walk and be expansive. So healing is not freedom ‘from’ but ‘for’...as love in Christ is not love 'of' but love 'for'....

Come and be still with Me. Be healed by Me, so that you can be free for Me.


The tragedy is that religious practice has brought some to illness and it has been the cause even of hideous brutality, instead of bringing freedom and adventure. Religion is open to being coercive, even in subtle ways. Spirituality draws you into freedom - to be who you are - your 'real' self. In the depths of your prayer, speak from your heart to God. Straighten your body out and be erect whatever your posture is. Have in front of you a painting or an icon and look with attention. Then stand up for a moment or two and walk slowly and carefully for a few steps. Focus on your movement. Adore this little experience of freedom - God- that you have had. Then settle down with the sentence to deepen the experience.

+Martin
Argyll and The Ilses