Dear Group Leaders and Friends in Christian Meditation,
In my previous incarnation as a Catholic priest, one of my priest friends whom I love and respect, yet at the same time with whom, I disagree fundamentally on both church and state, would lovingly refer to me as the “hippie peacenik priest.” I took these words as ones of endearment as I have spent much of my life looking for peace even though I know that I have struggled to be peaceful throughout many of my missteps. I have strove for peace even though in my own heart there are countless wars and insurrections. I have even stood up for peace at protests, risking arrest. I believe with all my heart that we ought to seek “…the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7) I believe that this is what has drawn so many of us to the practice of Christian meditation. We are seeking peace for ourselves, our families and communities and our entire world by taking time each day to sit in silence and simplicity and laying aside all thoughts, all needs, all desires, and say our mantra.
Recently I came across someone who I have found inspiring in his dedication to meditation and his trust in our God, who invites us continually into transformation. His name is John Butler. I discovered him on the internet quite by accident. John Butler is an 87-year-old retired organic farmer, author, and YouTuber. (Kind of an odd duck to be an influencer, yet he has over 200 thousand followers on YouTube!) He teaches meditation from his own experience. He isn’t in our tradition. He practices the Jesus prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The Jesus prayer is the mantra of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is a prayer of the heart, just as our prayer is a prayer of the heart. In one of his writings, John Butler says this, which caught my attention and my heart, “to make whole, be whole.” We might say, “to make peace, be peace.” Our world needs wholeness and we all know that we need peace. We can easily think about the political divide we are experiencing. We see it in the political ads that come to our mailboxes, and which are broadcast on our televisions. We can see the lack of wholeness in our families and our friends which are divided by blue and red. Many speak words of hate rather than peace. Some seek division rather than wholeness. As followers of Jesus, we are called to something different, the reign of God. This lack of unity and loss of peace is certainly not an American monopoly. It is worldwide. I believe that in our nation and beyond we are to make whole, and to do that, we need to be whole. The practice of Christian meditation is a small yet beautiful way to seek this wholeness as we seek to live Christ in the mantra.
September 21st is the International Day of Peace. I am not sure how many of us knew that. I think that I did, but at some point, I had forgotten. Maybe this is symptomatic of our loss of peace, that we are unaware there is even a day to recognize it. We so badly need increased peacefulness.
On September 21st, Bonnevaux, our international home for peace and meditation will be honoring this day of peace by holding a 24-Hour Meditation for Peace. We invite you to join our Global Initiative for Inner and Outer Peace. https://bonnevauxwccm.org/all-programmes/24-hour-meditation-for-peace/. You may join when you can and leave as you must. Bring a candle. This is a good opportunity for us as individual meditators or in our meditation groups to contribute to our world that needs peace so badly, a simple way to come together to make whole, be whole.
Warmly,
Kevin Maksym
