A Walk in the Desert with Amma Syncletia

There are many who live in the mountains and behave as if they were in town, and they are wasting their time. It is possible to be a solitary in one’s mind while living in a crowd, and it is possible for one who is a solitary to live in the crowd of his (or her) own thoughts.   ~Amma Syncletia

Eagle Eyrie Retreat Center, Virginia, USA

In the deserts of Egypt around the 3rd to the 6th centuries, various forms of monasticism arose led by the desert mothers and fathers.  In this vast wilderness you would find hermit, cenobite and ascetic monks.    Ammas (mothers) and Abbas (fathers) dispensed wisdom to those who followed them, fleeing a world that looked much like our world today.  They found themselves stripped of all of the excess that dulled their senses and their sense of God's presence.   They found an increasing awareness of God in the silence and solitude of the desert, much like Jesus in his own wilderness wanderings.   The desert is a place of deep encounter, not superficial escape ... much like lectio divina is a deep encounter with God within a passage scripture, not a surface reading.


I invite you to encounter God within Psalm 121, a classic ode to the spiritual journey.   There are 4 movements to lectio divina.  Move with me ...

 Psalm 121

 I look up to the mountains—
does my help come from there?

My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!

God will not let you stumble;
the one who watches over you will not slumber.

Indeed, the God who watches over Israel
never slumbers or sleeps.

The Lord watches over you!

The Lord stands beside you 
as your protective shade.  

The sun will not harm you by day, 
nor the moon at night.

The Lord keeps you from all harm
and watches over your life.

The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever.

Movement 1:  Read and Receive.  Read through the text slowly and meditatively, line by line, noticing where there is energy arising for you in a word or a phrase.  Receive the word or phrase through which God is calling you.


Movement 2:  Read and Reflect.  Read through the text again.  Perhaps the same word will continue to attract you and yet on this reading it may be another word or phrase.  Go with it, wherever it leads you.  Spend time, turning it over and over in your mind until it sinks into your heart.  What invitation do you hear from God through your word or your phrase?


Movement 3:  Read and Respond.  Read through the text a final time, with God's invitation in your awareness.  How is God calling you to respond to what you are hearing, feeling and knowing?    Respond with prayers and commitment to action if you feel so called.


Movement 4:  Rest.  Spend time in silence, allowing all of your thoughts and feelings to settle.  When it is time to move on, create a breath prayer to close your time of praying with scripture through lectio divina. 


If you desire, use this one:

Breathing in ... my Lord, my helper
Breathing out ... keep watch over me

Amen. 

Lanterns in the Desert/Lenten Labyrinth: Do not put the Lord your God to the test

This week we are considering the 2nd temptation of Jesus in the desert as we walk the labyrinth.      Do you have easy access to a Labyrinth that you could walk?   If not, you can take this Link to a finger Labyrinth that you can download and print: PDF File/Labyrinth.  If you prefer, here is a link to an online virtual labyrinth. If you didn't experience the text through Lectio Divina last week, you may want to take this link:  Lenten Lectio 2 before considering the text as you walk the Labyrinth.  If not, you may simply want to read the foundational text and let the words embrace you as you read.

When you are ready, read Matthew 4:5-7 from The Message:

For the second test the Devil took him to the Holy City. He sat him on top of the Temple and said, “Since you are God’s Son, jump.” The Devil goaded him by quoting Psalm 91: “He has placed you in the care of angels. They will catch you so that you won’t so much as stub your toe on a stone.”  Jesus countered with another citation from Deuteronomy: “Don’t you dare test the Lord your God.”

Jesus has been on a 40-day spiritual journey in the desert, just as we are in the midst of our own 40-day Lenten journey.  He is tested 3 times and each time, he responds to the "test" with words from the Jewish scriptures.  These words are his "Lanterns in the Desert."  

Jesus relies on Deuteronomistic history of Moses and Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.  As Jesus relived the tests of his ancestors, we live these same tests in our daily lives.   The 2nd test that Jesus encounters in his own wilderness wanderings is what I call "control." Satan is calling upon Jesus to take control of his own life.  It is quite a dare-devilish thing to do, to throw oneself from a building to see if God will act ... in effect, "testing" God.

Take a few moments to think about your life and your desire to control the things in your life. Have you ever bargained with God.  In the past, I have said this kind of prayer ... God if you will just do this for me, I will go to church every week for a year!   Have you?

Now, settle into a place of loving openness within yourself with a simple Breath Prayer.  Use this one or allow one to emerge as you breathe in and breathe out for 5-10 minutes.

Breathe in ... God, my Refuge
Breath out ... Let me enter your Rest
   
Pray: Holy God, your Word is my light and my lantern!   Sometimes I feel like I am wandering in the desert with Jesus, struggling with the same issues he is confronting.  Help me to accept my struggles as a chance to grow closer to you.  Amen.  

Jesus carries Jewish scripture in his heart as his Lantern in the Desert.    Allow yourself to be drawn deeply into God’s Presence as you read and pray and listen for the whispers of God through the text.  "Read" Deuteronomy 6:16, Exodus 17:1-7 slowly.  Imagine yourself as one of the Israelites wandering in the desert.  What do you hear?  What do you see?

You must not test the Lord your God as you did when you complained at Massah ... At the Lord’s command, the whole community of Israel left the wilderness of Sin and moved from place to place. Eventually they camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there for the people to drink. So once more the people complained against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded.  “Quiet!” Moses replied. “Why are you complaining against me? And why are you testing the Lord?”  But tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”  Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? They are ready to stone me!” The Lord said to Moses, “Walk out in front of the people. Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and call some of the elders of Israel to join you. I will stand before you on the rock at Mount Sinai.  Strike the rock, and water will come gushing out. Then the people will be able to drink.” So Moses struck the rock as he was told, and water gushed out as the elders looked on.   Moses named the place Massah (which means “test”) and Meribah (which means “arguing”) because the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord here with us or not?”

Read the passage again.  Is there a word or phrase that captures your attention as you read?  It may even be an image that will emerge for you. Perhaps this word or phrase or image will shine light into your life.   Let it illuminate your life as you walk the labyrinth and "Reflect" on what you are hearing. 


When you are on your way, turn your word or phrase or image over in your mind. Let God speak into your heart as you listen.  Take time to "Release" anything that emerges that you need to let go of in order to move on in your prayers.

Come to a time of pause … at the center of the Labyrinth or wherever you are.  Take time to "Receive" and welcome God's word for you. Consider these questions or others that may arise in your time of pause:  Where is God speaking into my desire to control my life and make things go my way ... through my word, phrase, or image?  How is my life touched by the word of God today?
 
As you walk or move out of the center along the same path you took that brought you to your pause, know that you are gaining strength for your continuing journey of life.  How is God inviting me to see myself differently?  How is God calling me to trust more deeply?  As you walk, take the time to "Respond" to God ... it doesn't have to be in words, it may be in a body prayer or in simple silence or ... however it seems right to you!

As you reach the end of the Labyrinth pathway, it is time to "Rest" in the silence of God's Presence.  Allow God to light your lantern in the desert with simplicity and healing grace.

Simply BE with the God who always hears your prayers.

Be aware that you may find a desire to express what you have received.  This is a wonderful time to journal.  Write about your experience, thoughts, feelings, and insights.   Some persons find that God’s voice is clarified through the writing process.

To end your time of Labyrinth Prayer, stand a the edge of the Labyrinth and repeat the lectionary Psalm 95 for it is another Lantern in the Desert!

O come, let us sing to the LORD; 

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth; 

the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it, 

and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
O come, let us worship and bow down, 

let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, 

and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice!
Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, 

as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your ancestors tested me, 

and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
For forty years I loathed that generation and said, 

"They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways."
Therefore in my anger I swore, "They shall not enter my rest."

Amen ... 

If art is a pathway to God for you, you may want to gaze upon the image below and engage in Visio Divina with it...  

Temptation of Christ in the Wilderness by Juan de Flandes, in public domain

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 ... Join Jesus in lifting up his Lantern in the Desert:

Don’t you dare test the Lord your God.

Lanterns in the Desert/Lenten Lectio: Do not put the Lord your God to the test!

Your word is a lantern to my feet
 and a light to my path.

 Psalm 119:105

Our Lenten journey takes place in our desert, that place in our life where we wander and wonder and struggle with who we are and what we are called to be and to do.  It is a place of "testing."   After his baptism, the Spirit led Jesus into the desert where he spent 40 days wandering, wondering, and struggling.  He used the Word of God as his Light and his "Lantern in the Desert."  As we walk with Jesus in the desert carrying our own lanterns to light the path, we deepen our trust in God as we let go of trying to control our lives and make things happen.  We surrender to God.  We are invited to learn how to let God provide for us in our wilderness, just as Jesus did.  

For the next couple of weeks we look at the 2nd temptation of Christ as we expand our Lectio and Labyrinth experience.  This week we engage in Lectio and next week we'll walk the Labyrinth.  

Before we engage in Lectio Divina, or sacred reading, let us focus on God's loving presence by creating and breathing with a Breath Prayer.  Try this one or create one of your own:

Breathing in ... Holy Spirit of Jesus

Breathing out ... Strengthen me in my wilderness

When you are ready to enter into prayer with the text via Lectio Divina, take one last deep breath and pray for illumination of the text:

Holy Spirit, light the candle in my lantern as I read and pray with the Holy Word.  Increase my trust and help me to let go as I listen to the movements of God in my reading and reflection.  Amen.

Step 1:  Read Matthew 4:5-7 (Contemporary English Version) with the "eyes of your heart."   What word or phrase calls for your attention in your reading?  What word or phrase is this week's "lantern in the desert" for you? 

Next, the devil took Jesus to the holy city and had him stand on the highest part of the temple. The devil said, “If you are God’s Son, jump off. The Scriptures say:

‘God will give his angels orders about you.
They will catch you in their arms,
and you won’t hurt your feet on the stones.’”

Jesus answered, 

“The Scriptures also say, ‘Don’t try to test the Lord your God!’”

Step 2:  Read the passage again and Reflect ...
How does your lantern in the desert illuminate your life and the temptations you encounter in your desire to control your own identity and the vision you have of your life?  How are you being invited to more deeply trust in God's will and provision?

Step 3:  Read the passage again and Respond ...
What do you say to God about the insights you have discerned in your reading and reflection?   How do you pray when you consider how you are being invited to leave your life and your future in God's hands?

Step 4:  Rest ...
Come to a place of silence within yourself and just "be" with God.  Try for 10 minutes or beyond. When you are ready to move on,  pray:  

Holy Spirit, lead me deeper into a wandering wilderness this Lenten season but boldly light a Lantern in the Desert so that I may find my way with you.  Help me to know who I am as a creation of God and how I can surrender my plans in order to embrace the plans God has for me.   Amen.

If art is a pathway to God for you, you may want to gaze upon this image ...and engage in visio divina ...

The Life of Jesus Christ by James Tissot:Temptation of Jesus Christ, Brooklyn Museum, in public domain

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 ... Join Jesus in lifting up his Lantern in the Desert:

“The Scriptures also say, ‘Don’t try to test the Lord your God!’”

A God of Healing!

Hello friends ... I invite you to sit for a moment and breathe deeply of God's peace and warmth.   Take a few moments to center yourself on the source of all being.  Know that God is a healer.  Are you in need of healing ... and by that I mean a deeper sense of wholeness within yourself rather than a "cure for all ills."   As you breathe and settle into a place of deep need within yourself, listen for the echoes of the deep love and care God has for you ... can you sense the gentle balm of the Spirit calling your wounds to come forth?    This can be a desolate place to be and yet you are never alone for the Spirit of God hovers over you, lives within you, and surrounds the universe with Presence.  Bask in this immersion of God's love and when you are ready ... Pray:

Healing God, Break open my heart and reveal my woundedness as I read your holy word.  Help me receive a word of healing from you upon my life.  Amen.    


Read Mark 1:29-39 slowly, visualizing this amazing story of healing as it comes to life in your imagination.   Which word or phase calls for your attention?  Mull that word over in your mind ...

Mark 1:29-39  (NRSV)
As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.  Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once.  He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.  That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.  And the whole city was gathered around the door.  And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.  In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.  And Simon and his companions hunted for him.  When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you."  He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do."  And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Read the passage again slowly and Reflect on the word or phrase that draws your attention, it may even be a different word on this reading.   Repeat that word or phrase.  Ponder this Word or phrase through which God is speaking to YOU as you let the story come alive in your mind and heart.   Where does this word or phrase touch your own brokenness or the brokenness of someone you love?   Tuck your thoughts deep into prayer and let your feelings emerge.

Read the passage again slowly and Respond.   Share with God how you feel about what you are hearing about your life through your word or phrase.   Speak your prayers out loud.  Speak petitions for yourself or intercede on behalf of another ... let your tears flow if they come and let your passion pour forth.  Let God's Spirit move deeply into your consciousness.  Ask God to reveal to you what healing and wholeness looks like in your life.  Ask God to help you surrender to this vision, even if it doesn't look like you want it to look and be content.

Read the passage again and Rest.  Allow the presence of God to surround you and deepen your sense of Presence so you are able to surrender to God's word of wholeness.  Rest until the peace of God settles into your own spirit ... Take time to journal your meditations!

When you sense the time to move on, Pray:  
Healing God, I see you in my life, I know you in my heart, I hear your word of life, heal my woundedness and make my life whole as I seek to be wholly dedicated to you and your healing in the people of the world and in all of creation!    Amen.

material from a desert altar

Cindy's Journal Reflection ...  
a deserted place, the desert to find peace and healing in my heart, praying and meditating and wondering ... sometimes wondering why the healing isn't the way I think it should be, how often we don't get the healing that we so desperately ask for in our lives and in the lives of those we love ...  how hard it is and your Presence in the desert is healing if I let it be but only if I surrender and let go and simply sit, sit, sit in your Presence letting you be God ... cradling me in your love.