The Sunday before we celebrate Pentecost (when the Holy Spirit descends upon the followers of Jesus Christ) is Ascension Sunday. According to the book of Acts, this is the last resurrection appearance as Jesus ascends physically into heaven with the disciples as his witnesses. He leaves his followers alone to "wait" for the Spirit to "come upon" them, to "fill them" with the power to spread the good news to all the world.
Do you remember the song "Spinning Wheel" by Blood, Sweat and Tears? What goes up must come down ... Jesus goes up, Spirit comes down! If you listen to the rest of the song it sings like a cotton candy apocalyptic "lite" vision! Jesus goes up, Spirit comes down! This passage is just a little different (and mind-bending for me) so this week and next week we are going to do something a little different ... Visio Divina! This is a prayer of prayer "gazing" upon an image with the same basic movements as praying with scripture via Lectio Divina.
Do you remember the song "Spinning Wheel" by Blood, Sweat and Tears? What goes up must come down ... Jesus goes up, Spirit comes down! If you listen to the rest of the song it sings like a cotton candy apocalyptic "lite" vision! Jesus goes up, Spirit comes down! This passage is just a little different (and mind-bending for me) so this week and next week we are going to do something a little different ... Visio Divina! This is a prayer of prayer "gazing" upon an image with the same basic movements as praying with scripture via Lectio Divina.
Today's image is called Ascension from the Rabbula Gospels and the artist/scribe is Meister des Rabula-Evangeliums. For more information on this Image take this link to The Vanderbilt Divinity Library's "Art in the Christian Tradition" Page on the Ascension. The Rabbula Gospel images come from an illuminated gospel text created in 586 at a monastery in Syria. These images are in the public domain.
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| Public Domain: Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial ShareAlike 3.0 License |
When you are ready to pray using the art of Visio Divina, or "sacred seeing" take a few moments to still your heart and center on the image.
Read the Image ... Allow your eyes to seek softly what you are attracted to in the image. Simply receive the gift of seeing. What image within the image is drawing you in ... Allow yourself a few moments simply to sit with this gift.
Read the Image ... Allow your eyes to seek softly what you are attracted to in the image. Simply receive the gift of seeing. What image within the image is drawing you in ... Allow yourself a few moments simply to sit with this gift.
Receive the Image ... Take a deep breath and gaze with soft eyes and a receptive spirit. After receiving, close your eyes and reflect by allowing your imagination to form that image in your consciousness ... what are you receiving from God through the image? How does this illuminate your life right now?
Respond to God ... Now take a deep breath and gaze with soft eyes and a grateful spirit. How do you sense yourself desiring to respond to God through the image you have received? What would you say to God about what you are hearing, seeing, feeling? Allow yourself to pray with gratitude ...
Rest in God ... Now take a deep breath and rest ... notice how your body feels. Is there something more here? Then go back and repeat your "gazing" prayer. If you feel that you have received all you need in this moment, simply rest in the silence and come to a place of shalom, peace, wholeness ...
To end your time of Visio Divina, take a few moments to read the Scripture passage for Ascension day ... Acts 1:1-11 (CEB)
Theophilus, the first scroll I wrote concerned everything Jesus did and taught from the beginning, right up to the day when he was taken up into heaven. Before he was taken up, working in the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus instructed the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed them that he was alive with many convincing proofs. He appeared to them over a period of forty days, speaking to them about God’s kingdom. While they were eating together, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised. He said, “This is what you heard from me: John baptized with water, but in only a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” As a result, those who had gathered together asked Jesus, “Lord, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now?” Jesus replied, “It isn’t for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. Rather, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” After Jesus said these things, as they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going away and as they were staring toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood next to them. They said, “Galileans, why are you standing here, looking toward heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you saw him go into heaven.”
So be it. Amen.
Linger in the silence ... or listen to "Come Away to the Skies" sung by Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band in A Celebration of Charles Wesley. It is rather a lovely little folk song ... with the lyrics so you can read (or sing if you dare) along with the music. God bless you ... I invite you to take a deeper journey this week "seeing" God with new eyes through the images you find in your life!
Linger in the silence ... or listen to "Come Away to the Skies" sung by Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band in A Celebration of Charles Wesley. It is rather a lovely little folk song ... with the lyrics so you can read (or sing if you dare) along with the music. God bless you ... I invite you to take a deeper journey this week "seeing" God with new eyes through the images you find in your life!
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