(excerpt taken from
A Desert in the Ocean: The Spiritual Journey According to St. Brendan the Navigator, David Adam, pp. 34-7)
Never believe that the world or humankind has losts its glory, the presence of God had not left it. The glory may be somewhat tarnished but it is there and awaits to be revealed. If we follow the crowds, if we fill our lives with sounds, we may never see, hear, or be aware of the wonder and glory. If we thrust out a little each day, making time and space, there are great wonders to behold. If we have lost all sense of glory it is time we moved and sought to reawaken our senses. Pelagius invites us:
Look at the animals roaming the forest: God's spirit dwells within them.
Look at the birds flying across the sky: God's spirit dwells within them.
Look at the tiny insects crawling in the grrass: God's spirit dwells within them.
Look at the fish in the river and the sea: God's spirit dwells within them.
There is no creature on earth in whom God's spirit is absent.
Travel the ocean to the most distant land, and you will find God's spirit in all the creatures there.
Climb up the highest mountain, and you will find God's spirit among the creatures who live at the summit. When God pronounced that his creation was good it was not only that his hand had fashioned every creature, it was that his breath had brought every creature to life.
Look, too, at the great trees of the forest, look at the wildflowers and the grass in the field, look even on your crops, God's spirit is within all plants as well. The presence of God's spirit in all living things is what makes them beautiful: and if we look with God's eyes, nothing on earth is ugly.(van de Weyer, The Letters of Pelagius, p. 71)
This discovery of the presence of God is to see all things in their depth and in their beauty. If we ignore the presence that vibrates in every atom then we live a lie, we become lonely and alone with a deep sense of loss. If everyone around us shares that same loss we are in danger of accepting that blindness for normality. The call to thrust out a little is a call to become more sensitive. It will ask us for a while to turn our back on our normal routine until we become more sensitive. We need move from our activity into times of solitude and silence. Albert Camus, the French existentialist, said:
To understand the world, it is necessary sometimes to turn away from the world: to serve men better, it is necessary for a moment to keep them at a distance.(Camus, A.
L'Ete, p. 13)
PRAY
I open my life to you, Lord,
I make space in the day for your coming
I move from busyness to your stillness
I move from sounds to your silence
I move from insensitivity to awareness.
I thrust out from the land and look to heaven.
I open my life to you.
I open my heart to your love.
I open my ears to your call.
I open my eyes to your presence.
I open my life to you.
.........
You seek the Lord? Seek, but only within yourself. He is not far from anyone. The Lord is near to all who truly call upon Him. Find a place in your heart, and speak there with the Lord. It is the Lord's reception room. Everyone who meets the Lord meets Him there; He has fixed no other place for the meeting of souls.(Theopan the Recluse)
(Ware, T.
The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology, p.187)
When you retreat into yourself, you should stand before the Lord and remain in His presence, not letting the eyes of the mind turn away from the Lord. This is the true wilderness---to stand face to face with the Lord.(Theopan the Recluse)
(Ware, T.
The Art of Prayer: An Orhtodox Anthology, p. 81)
