Prayer in a Julian meeting
This week we are going to look at one of the ways of growing spiritually in a group, in a ‘Julian Groups’ they follow the teaching of a spiritual writer of the fourteenth century, Julian of Norwich, a woman who dedicated her life to serving the poor and to prayer. Just as many spiritual greats before and after, Julian put a lot of emphasis on silence and in a typical Julian group, there will be time for input but the majority of the time will be spent in silence contemplating God.
Here’s Denise Newman, who belongs to an Ashtead Julian Group as she shares what a typical meeting might be like with her own thoughts on what ‘lock down’ has meant for her.
Sharon Seal
Prayer in a Julian Meeting
Opening stilling exercise:
As we prepare to enter this time of silence I invite you to take a few minutes to still yourself.
As you sit, make yourself comfortable, check that you spine is straight, your shoulders are relaxed and your head is balanced.
Now focus on your breathing. As you breathe in imagine the Holy Spirit filling your lungs.
As you breathe out let go of all that hinders and weighs you down.
Then quietly say to yourself....my body is relaxed...my heartbeat is steady...my mind is calm and peaceful.... my heart is open to God...with every breath I am more deeply at peace....
As you breathe become aware of God’s peace deepening within you. Imagine it flowing through your blood vessels to every part of your body.
Now imagine Jesus saying to you 'My peace I give you'…..drink in His peace…..rest in His peace….
Lord Jesus thank you for your precious gift of peace, I receive it now into my body, mind and spirit. Open my heart, my mind and my spirit to receive all that you have for me during this time of silence.
Reflection:
For many years now due to my limited energy levels I have lived in the slow lane. Even my parents who are in their 90s seem to have more energy than me. Whenever I try to join the dance of normal everyday life I find myself feeling overwhelmed and fearful due to the uncertainties surrounding how my body will respond to what others simply take in their stride. So when in March we went into lock down it was as if the world had joined me in the slow lane. It felt as if I had been given a new lease of life. Life for me became more predictable. I felt more relaxed and able to take things in my stride. Somehow it felt as if everyone was in the same boat.
However the longer lock-down continued, as others found themselves furloughed or made redundant or the pressures of home working and home schooling took their toll this analogy no longer suited the circumstances. At about this time I participated in a Workshop put on by Mary Frances Trust for their volunteers. The workshop resonated with me: we are all in the same storm but each of us are in different boats. As I sat with this analogy I came to see that how we weather this storm or any other storm we face in life will depend on what if anything is anchoring our boat.
This realisation caused me to reflect on the story in the gospels of Jesus and his disciples out on the Sea of Galilee in the storm. I found myself wondering what it was that caused the stark differences in the responses of Jesus and his disciples to the storm: Jesus asleep with his head resting on a cushion whilst his disciples feared for their lives.
At one level of course Jesus is divine and knew that even the winds and the waves obeyed him, as his disciples were soon to discover. At another level although he was a human being, just like his disciples, unlike them he knew the security of His Heavenly Father’s perfect love which we are told in 1 John drives out fear.
So as we prepare to enter our time of silence I invite you to imagine yourself aboard the fishing boat with Jesus and his disciples on the Sea of Galilee in the midst of the storm. Why not join Jesus in the stern of the boat and there rest your head upon his chest as he sleeps on a cushion. Allow the peace and security he knows wash over you. Try to listen to the rhythm of His unfailing heart of love beating for you despite the storm raging all around you.
Then when you feel ready invite Jesus to join you in your own boat in the storm of your life right now. Ask that he would anchor you in his perfect love and drive out all your fears. Take that like him you might rest secure in the knowledge that he holds you and this world in the palm of his hands and underneath are the everlasting arms of our Heavenly Father.
A time of 20 minutes silence
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father thank you for this time of silence and peaceful contemplation. As we prepare to return to the realities of our everyday lives may we know that Jesus’ love is our anchor, that he is the joy of our lives and the hope of our hearts. Thank you that we can lean on your everlasting arms and that you promise never leave or forsake us however severe the storms of life may seem. Amen