Creating Space

Imagine your soul as being like the
Tyne Bridge. There are busy times and
quiet times. The job of the bridge is not
to ask what is in the cars or lorries but
simply to bear their weight for a few
seconds and then allow them to go on
their way. There is no problem when the
flow of traffic is even, but when breakdowns
and bottlenecks occur, the fights
and the impatience begin. Your soul,
too, has to take the weight and let it go.
The suffering becomes prolonged only
when you do no acknowledge its existence
and let it pass on. Then it sits on
your soul like a judgment.

The time to repair the bridge is in the
night when the traffic is light. Your
prayer in quiet times gives you the
strength to cope with the heavy, busy
times. You dig, patch and repair in the
night. As a result, the world can flow
over your soul in the day without congestion.
You must allow the flow of
faith, love, healing, hope, joy and light
to pass through you into the world. You
must allow the flow of hatred, darkness
and sin to flow from the world through
you to God.

All of this is done by prayer, and by
forgiveness of yourself, of others and
perhaps even of God Himself for what
you feel He has done to you. Little by
little, you grow in the power of prayer,
in the ability to bear the weight and
accept the contradictions of the two way
flow between God and the world.

This passage from Aidan Clarke has popped up in a few places for me this week. I feel like I have been trapped recently in that "heavy time" Clarke speaks of. And yet, my efforts to create a quiet space, to meditate and clear my mind of daily troubles, has become a practice for me that has helped me this week. By the end of the week, I was able in visits (with Friends socially, in committee meetings, and in other meetings for worship) to see some new insights, enjoy being in the company of others, and be open to find new similarities of experiences that give me strength. The small moments, the taking time to really look at a painting, read a passage of scripture, visit a friend in need, were actually all the "big moments" I needed.