Dear Group Leaders and Friends in Christian Meditation,
Happy Easter!
We did celebrate Easter Sunday a month ago, but many of us are still celebrating the Easter season. As Christians, we are always living the implications of Easter, that God would take such horrific violence as the cross and make it a revolutionary act of nonviolence. God didn’t act with vengeance on those who killed his son, but with compassion. Resurrection is an act of nonviolence. After the raising of Jesus, Jesus simply said to his first disciples, and us as well, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19). It has always been my hope that God will take what is most violent within me and re-create it into peacefulness. I believe that is one of the reasons that God brought meditation into my life when He did, to break the cycle of violence in my heart, and to paraphrase and personalize Philippians 4:7, to bring me peace beyond understanding. I am still working on it, and God is still working on me. That is the gift that comes with the discipline of our meditation and the saying of the mantra: our re-creation into the image of our God who is Peace itself.
Recently I took part in a conversation during a meeting about Christian meditation. We were talking about clergy meditating. The consensus of the group was that there aren’t many clergy who meditate in our tradition. I recall when I was an active priest going to WCCM events, it was unusual to meet other priests in attendance. I would go back to the parish and members of my community would ask about other priests being at the retreat or conference, and I would often reply that I was the only priest at the event. I am not implying that clergy aren’t praying. The role of clergy in our Christian faith is one that of the designated prayer. I am suggesting that maybe the priest or pastor hasn’t been exposed to meditation in our Christian tradition.
I think of the example in my own life. I was ordained for two years and had spent what seems like most of my life preparing for ordination to the priesthood. It wasn’t until I was asked by a retreat director if I meditated that it even crossed my mind. I can only imagine my future if that spiritual mentor had not introduced me to silent sitting prayer. Many of our groups meet in churches and others know clergy of a variety of Christian traditions in our local communities. I would encourage us to invite our local pastors to meditate. Maybe no one has ever asked them, and maybe like me it never crossed their minds. Maybe now is the time. I am going to take my own advice and invite the priest in the parish where I worship to attend our group and give meditation a whirl. Maybe no one has ever asked her. We all have a call to be meditators, and all of us who meditate can teach meditation.
I want to offer a reminder that the Christian meditation community here in the United States is hosting the Annual WCCM John Main Seminar. The international yearly John Main Seminar will be held in-person and virtually in New Harmony, Indiana, USA July 8-13, 2024. You can find more information and register at this link: www.johnmainseminar.org. The title of the seminar is “Widen Your Tent.” In our fractured and isolating world, we need to widen our tents. Many of us live in a world where politics divides us into warring factions. We can see this in families and in churches. Please consider signing up to be there in person or join us virtually. It is a good way to use technology in the way of unity rather than distraction. These simple days in July might be a step in the right direction to live as God has created us, to be in unity and peace. To live in the Kingdom in the here and now. To say to each other, “Peace be with you!”
Warmly,
Kevin Maksym
