Dear Group Leaders and Friends in Christian Meditation,
When I got home from today work, pulling into our driveway, my mind was everywhere else but “here.” I was even thinking of buying a hat that I had seen on Facebook that bore the quote from Ram Dass, the American spiritual teacher: “Be here now” — yet I definitely wasn’t “here.” I don’t know where I was exactly. My attention was scattered. I’ve been fighting a cold over the last couple of days. I was thinking about how I felt and needed rest. I was thinking about completing my letter to Fr. Laurence Freeman to make my full oblation in a couple of weeks in Bonnevaux, our Center for peace and meditation in France. I was thinking of the book group that I was hoping to attend on zoom on altruism. I was thinking about dinner; we are having tacos. I was thinking of the coffee waiting for me that my wife Michelle had picked up for us for a little coffee hour before dinner. I was thinking about the patients that I needed to see tomorrow and what my day might look like. Interestingly, I was thinking that I needed to meditate. I was everywhere but here. I needed to “Be here now.”
It shouldn’t be surprising for any of us how scattered we become and how divided our attention can be so often. Sometimes we need a proverbial knock on our heads. I got a literal one that left a mark. When I got home, I used the garage door opener to head into the house. I paused for a moment to collect work items. Forgetting that I had opened the garage door, I hit the remote again. Unfortunately, I realized this too late as I walked into the garage, and the door began to close. Not paying attention again, holding a grocery bag, my work tablet and notebook, I knocked my head on the bottom of the garage door as it lowered.
A knock on my head shouldn’t have been surprising since my head wasn’t where it should have been: paying attention — in the present moment. That damn door immediately brought me to the present and nothing else seemed to matter. Life has a way of doing that when we lose our attention.
When Father Laurence responded to my request for full oblation, he reminded me of what this “self-offering” means for each of us. Oblates are women and men who offer themselves to a monastic community. In our case, a monastery without walls. Not all meditators become oblates, and oblates are not super meditators with special powers. It is a way of life that seeks humility. It is a lifelong way of living a life that we are drawn to as disciples of Jesus and Christian meditators: to deliberately live following the Rule of St. Benedict. St. Benedict’s Rule constantly calls us to humility. There is nothing so humbling as having one’s head in the clouds and getting walloped by a garage door. Attention is the greatest gift we can give to anyone, maybe especially ourselves. To “be here now.” Our daily meditation and recitation of the mantra is meant to be a vehicle to the present moment during the time of meditation and throughout our days. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus. Show me the way to “be here now.”
On the international website wccm.org there are rotating quotes. There is one from a meditator from Australia named Kerry. Kerry said, “Meditation breaks down defensiveness, encourages generosity and helps us become more open to seeing all creation forming one extended household or estate on our planet.” I am inspired by these words. Like all of us there are times when I need to be inspired. It is a reminder that meditation isn’t an isolated part of our day. It is meant to be transformational. It is relational. We might meditate alone but we are never really isolated. Even when we meditate in a group, it is me saying the mantra, but the discipline of meditation isn’t ever about just me. It is about being part of something far larger than me. It is participating in the kingdom of God, recognizing that with Jesus, the reign of God has begun.
We are part of the household of God, and the earth is our common home. We are meant to take care of each other and take care of our home that we call Earth. Certainly this is food for thought as we continue along the way of meditation.
Meditation, ironically, calls us away from self-centeredness to center our attention on God, our neighbor and our world. A teaching that continues to challenge and inspire me is that attention is the greatest gift we can offer. I would encourage you to explore wccm.org (and our national website https://wccm-usa.org/ or the website of our friends to the north https://www.wccm-canada.ca/ and to the south https://www.wccm-mexico.org/) and see what wisdom you might discover in our Christian meditation community.
Warmly,
Kevin Maksym
