Dear Group Leaders and Friends in Christian Meditation,
For some time, I have been pondering becoming an oblate of the World Community for Christian Meditation. I am sure that many of you are oblates, and some for many years. I hope this sense of call is something you can relate to on your own journey. This desire has been in my heart and on my mind since I began to meditate over twenty years ago. I remember years ago reading where the psychologist and spiritual teacher Jim Finley encouraged: “Find your contemplative practice and practice it.” I found Christian meditation when I needed it most. I began the mantra in silence, stillness and simplicity. There is a beautiful fidelity in the practice. From the Benedictine perspective, there is a life-giving stability in the twice daily practice of mediation. This is the one tradition that resonated with me. With our World Community for Christian Meditation community, I quickly found a home. Again, from James Finley, “Find your community and be faithful to it.”
It has been my goal these last years, no matter where I served as a priest, or now as a hospice chaplain, that I continue to be faithful to the practice and to our community. There is something grounding and humbling to sit in silence and know that our minds want to think and that letting go of distractions is the most difficult part of meditation. John Cassian advised us to lay aside our thoughts. There are days when the old adage “easier said than done” is spot on. We are tasked with the stability of continuing to sit in meditation when on some days it’s tempting to get off our mat or off our chair and run away. This brings us back to the stability of the practice and the supportive presence of the community. Our “monastery without walls” remains with us even when we are mediating alone in the solitude of our own rooms. I am sure that we all have learned in our own ways that we need the practice (and to practice), and we need the Community.
Some time ago, someone asked me why I wanted to be an oblate of the WCCM. My answer was simple: I want to enter into a deeper commitment with the Community. I am sure my answer wasn’t inspiring, but it was the best I could share when words couldn’t justify the response that was reflected in my heart. I know intuitively that I want to give myself to something that has given so much to me, the gift of meditation. The word oblate comes from the Latin ‘Oblatus’, which means “offered.” I want to “offer” myself to the community that continues to offer so much to my daily life and stems from the daily practice of Christian meditation. I was having a conversation with a friend who is also on the oblate path, and we both agreed that oblation isn’t a merit badge, or an ego trip clothed in our spiritual practice. It is a commitment to be real with the Real in a world that often chooses illusion such as, “might makes right.” In the practice of meditation we find out rather quickly how much we can struggle saying one little word. I am not seeking to be an oblate in our community because I am an expert at meditation. Trust me, I am not. I am, however, one like you, seeking the transformation that I need each morning and each evening to get a glimpse of the Kingdom of God.
I would like to share this video with you, created by our WCCM friends in Canada.
I encourage each of us to take some time to watch this video and maybe it will speak to you and draw your heart to the oblate path in our World Community for Christian Meditation. You may also reference the USA oblate information page on our own website here: https://wccm-usa.org/christian-meditation/benedictine-oblates/.
Warmly,
Kevin Maksym
