Opening a Window

Although I have been writing about Lectio Divina for several days, and although that method of prayer has freed people for centuries to respond to the Presence and Power of God in their lives, there is always a danger of reducing prayer to a "method," no matter how wonderful the method may be.  If we continually hold before us the image of a close relationship -- husband to wife, friend to friend, etc. -- we will know that our relationship to God simply means that we continue to keep a window open to His Presence in our lives.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (love his name!) speaks of the Sabbeth as a 'window on eternity."  What a great image!  And Sr. Miriam Pollard, in The Laughter of God, refers to prayer also as a "window" that allows God into our lives.  Nothing could be more simple than that.  If we sit for 15 minutes a day, simply "opening a window" to eternity, our lives will forever change.  Will not the Lord of the Universe flow into our lives if we give Him an opening?  Jesus compared the Holy Spirit to the wind that blows where it wills, to something that we cannot control, but only observe.  If we "Open the windows of our souls," He will surely refresh us with His gentle breath and strong breeze to blow away the debris that clutters our lives.

We don't really need a method, although we do need to experiment to find what works for us.  More than a method, we need to give God an opening to our hearts and minds.  Scripture works to open the window because it has been revealed by God and because it is not dependent on our fears and failures; it is not tied to our history, but instead opens our personal history to the light of revelation.

Paul Billheimer, in Destined to Overcome, puts it this way:

A few hours alone with God can open up treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ which may have eluded one during years of purely academic training.  Christ is the original source of all knowledge.  One may learn much about Christ and spiritual things from the written and recorded works of others, but that is 'second-hand' knowledge, which is not to be despised.  But if one is willing to spend time along with God and make prayer the main business of his life, he may tap the original source of all wisdom and knowledge for himself (p. 80).

 

And Jesus Calling for July 28: 

 

Open yourself fully to My transforming Presence.  Let My brilliant Love-Light search out and destroy hidden fears.  This process requires time alone with Me, as My Love soaks into your innermost being.  Enjoy My perfect Love, which expels every trace of fear.

 

Anyone who has ever experienced fear -- and who among us has not?--- will run to Someone whose Presence promises to cast out fear from our hearts.  And this is exactly what Jesus promises us.  No other religion, except Buddhism, has made that promise.  And the difference between Christianity and Buddhism is that, in Christianity, Jesus says simply, "Come to me," and He will do it in us.  In Buddhism, we must discipline ourselves and practice for years turning out fear for ourselves.    Since I have never been a person of discipline and self-control, and since I have experienced for myself the Power and Presence of Jesus Christ in my life, I know my Savior and the Source of all my peace, and He is the only One Who holds in His hands the power of life and of death.  If I but "open a window" to His Presence, He will do all the rest.