Advent greetings. As we begin another liturgical year, wouldn’t it be something if these brief weeks before Christmas be filled with as much silence, prayer and meditation as it is likely to be filled with shopping, gift-wrapping, Christmas cards and baking?
It has been six months since our last issue of Agnus Dei, the newsletter for the Community of the Lamb. During that time the ongoing prayer groups have continued meeting with consistent high commitment, and individuals have been given instruction in the Prayer of the Lamb and have put it into practice in their daily schedules.
As executive director and seminar leader I had less time for presentations and conferences with congregations considering holding introductory seminars. This has been due to increased time and involvement with St. Elizabeth Parish, Burien, where I have been serving as Interim. The work there has been complex and longer in duration than the usual interim situation for parishes between rectors, but it has also been important for aiding the congregation in undergoing major transitions. This has called on skills I previously had used with congregations involved in “Total Ministry,” while also drawing significantly on what has emerged for me out of my own major transition through the meditation sabbatical that began in January of 2000.
While the parish work has taken more of my time away from further developing the Community of the Lamb at this time, it has also contributed greatly to my own learning and practice. I have been given a wonderful opportunity to practice what I preach, to test out personally the application of the Prayer of the Lamb to praying throughout the day. Is it really possible to pray without ceasing while carrying on a 21st Century life in Western culture? If we are not in a position to be able to go away to a monastery or retreat center, can we nevertheless hope to grow and thrive in the spiritual discipline of this form of the Jesus Prayer?
The answer is that we have positive indications that this is possible, and we are to be encourage in our own daily practice. Making the connection between sitting practice and waking practice has been possible in, of all places, vestry meetings, for instance, where sitting awake and alert in meetings, worship, conversations and all sorts of interactions shares the same consciousness as in sitting in silence with the eyes closed. One can learn more about the transpersonal nature of our corporate being, how huge the truth is that what I see in others is a reflection of who I am and who we all are in Yeshua, the Lamb of God. I can also see how hard it is for people to be truly present with each other, and to hear one another, as I observe how I listen to others.
Yet also how adaptable is the Prayer of the Lamb to social settings! A touch of the hand to the beads in the pocket, a silent articulation of the Name of Yeshua, and awareness is there of the Presence of Divine Love that takes one out of one’s self. Then the moment’s agenda is not at all about me, and the action is freed to move in harmony with the Way, the One who is the Way, Truth and Life.
Above all the practice of the Prayer of the Lamb with increasing awareness is still work of grace first and foremost. Even our desire to be faithful in practice comes from the faithfulness of the Lamb of God. May we realize moment by moment this grace of the truth of our being.
In the love of the Lamb,
The Rev. Beverly Hosea
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