Inner Flame Meditation

People have asked me to give another example of meditation.


First thing first.  THERE IS NO BAD WAY TO MEDITATE!


Some forms of meditation work better for others and some don't work at all.  That's OK.  There are as many ways to meditate are there are people in the world.


What I am going to explain is the Inner Flame Meditation.


Inner Flame Meditation
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First, as always, get in a place where you will not be disturbed for at least 10 minutes.   This is really important.  There is nothing so interrupting as almost getting to a place of inner peace and then having the phone ring or the front buzzer buzz.


Get comfortable.  Lay down.  Sit up.  Stand on your head.  Do whatever makes you comfortable.


Now.


Picture an old style oil lamp.  Not Alladin, but more like the kind that used to be used in old locomotives or ones you've seen on Little House on the Prairie .   


See the glass enclosure.  See the small space between the glass and the base to let air in.  See the small cotton wick.  See the glass flume.  This is to be the focus of your thoughts.  The more detail you can give this lamp the better.  Can you smell the oil?  Can you feel the warmth coming off of it when lit?  Can you see it cast light in all directions in your mind?


Now picture this lamp lit and placed in the center of your mind, your thoughts.  See the light, see the shadows cast.  Feel the warmth given off.  


Now, concentrate on your breathing.  With each breath in, picture more air getting to that lamp.  As you breath in, the light gets brighter; the flame gets a bit bigger, the warmth increases.


Now breathe out.  Let the flame go down to a flicker again.


Repeat this several times.   With each breath the flame reacts.  With each inhalation, the flame is stronger, brighter.


Now, we are going to give this flame more fuel.  Now when you breathe in, think of a time of receiving love in your life.  This love is the fuel for the flame.  The air makes it brighter.  The fuel of love makes it bigger.  Think of a loving moment.  Breathe in.  Feel that love you experienced.  Let that love saturate the oil lamp.  See the flame grow.  Breathe out.


Now, this flame is dependent on the air (spirit) and the fuel (love).  Think of moments of love in your life.  Infuse them with air (spirit) and send them to the oil lamp.  


See the flame become the center, the focal point of your inside mind; your thoughts.


If you think of a passionate example of love, let the flame become redder.  If you think of a brotherly or sisterly moment of love, make the flame greener.  If you think of a divine moment of love let the color turn blue.  If you use a memory in which you were not only loved, but loved another, turn the flame yellow-blue.  


During this meditation, as you breathe in, as you focus on a moment of love, see how many colors you can make that flame become.  Go through all the flavors of love you have experienced and have shown others.  


At some point, vanish the lamp itself.  Let it fade from view and have only the flame remaining.  Move around the flame in your own mind.  See the multicolor reflections as you re-experience those moments of love.  See the hue, the texture, the ambience, the warmth, the body of the flame.  


Now, with each breath in, let the flame turn on itself.  With each breath out, turn it some more.  Let each indrawn and exhaled breath be like a kick on a merry-go-round.  Let it turn the flame.  With each remembered moment of love, let the turning flame flare outward.   See the light flow out of you, bathing everything around you in its brilliance.  Soon the flame is a turning ring of fire, shedding light to the ends of the universe.   


Now, with each breath and each remembered moment of love, see the ring of flame expand outside of yourself.  See the millions of other rings of flame that join together and spread that light and warmth of love.  See it affect all things around it.  See the dancing of the rings together, rejoicing in the spirit and love which are their existence.


Take some time here.  Then slowly reassert the vision of the lamp and the light.  Leave the flame lit.  And remember at any time, you can see that flame and know it is but a point of light in the dance of the infinite rings of fire in life.  You may go back to that place in your mind at any time, and go through this meditation again, to join in the dancing fire of life.

The Story of Brother Service

There was a story from the Middle Ages of an Acolyte and an Abbot that goes something like this:

In the course of his training in the Monastery, new acolytes were given their first interview by the Abbot.  They all knew that the Abbot was looking for a grounded and correct interpretation of the Gospel from each before they would be given their new name, and could continue their studies, otherwise they would be sent back to the Proctor and would have to try again the next year.  The catch was that none knew the time in which they would be summoned before the Abbot.  So all studied continually the Gospels and the teaching of Jesus, waiting for their time.

It came to pass that one acolyte after another was called and some were passed, and went on to other teachers, and some were sent back to the proctor.  

Finally, the youngest acolyte was called in.  In some trepidation he entered the chapel, genuflected, and sat down at the feet of the Abbot.

The Abbot looked at this young acolyte and asked, "If this chapel were on fire, and the very flames were licking the altar, and you had only time to save one thing, what would it be?"

Quickly the acolyte went through an inventory of all the irreplaceable things, and tried to decide what to take.  Would it be the sacred urn, taken back from the Moors in the war.  Perhaps it would be the crucifix, the gold encrusted symbol of this fine Chapel?  He looked about and saw the rare tapestries, the carved birds in the pews, the Passion Story unfolding in the stained glass above the altar.   He saw the silver baptismal font, and the cup of the Eucharist.   Any of these things would be hard if not impossible to replace.

Then he closed his eyes, bowed his head, and prayed that God would show him the answer, for he did not wish to be sent back for another year to the Proctor.  

At that moment, a single drop of sweat fell from his face and hit the feet of the Abbot.  It spattered in the dust on the Abbot's feet, and hit the simple leather of his sandal.

In a flash of inspiration, he turned his head up to the Abbot and said, 

"A fire would destroy many wonderful and beautiful things in this place; and it would be a shame.   But they are only things.  Even the sacred relic is only a thing.  But I see two things in here which are truly the most valuable of all.  And if I had time only to save one......."

"Yes my son?  What would you save?"

"Father Abbot.....I would save you; even if it meant me staying to face the flames."

And then the Abbot surprised the young Acolyte.  He reached down and took the acolyte's hand in his own and said in a soft voice:

"And I, my son, would save you; even if it mean that I faced the flames in your stead."

"You understand, as it took me many many years to understand, that is that you and I who are the most valuable instruments of God.  With these hands (and he grasped the acolyte's hand harder), and these feet (motioning to his foot that received the drops of sweat) are what God uses to love and serve the world.  Not even the greatest, gold leaf crucifix, or the most holy of relics could serve a single soul, the way that you and I may.  They are symbols of the living God, but we are servants of that same God.  We are the ones using the symbols, the services, the sacraments to minister to the world."

"So now that you have passed the interview, and done it so well, you may choose with whom to continue your teachings.   Your choice?"

The acolyte then surprised the Abbot when he replied, 

"Father Abbot.  I wish to go back to the proctor."

"Why do you choose this my son?" asked the Abbot in bewilderment.

"You have shown me that my purpose is to serve others.  What better place may that be than in teaching the new acolytes the lesson I have learned here today.  To show them in my chores and in my duties that they, the newest of our brothers, are worthy of being served."

Then the Abbot smiled and said, 

"In your humility, you have taught me the lesson that I wished to teach to you.  From now on you shall be named Brother Service.  Now go forth and spread the Gospel through your simple service.

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The Front Row to the Happy Show

The Front Row to the Happy Show

Sometimes I am privileged to be a witness to supreme expressions of joy and happiness.  Such times make it impossible, upon witnessing them, to be anything but happy myself.

At one of the camp retreats I saw an entire family supporting their daughter as she attempted to climb a rock wall.  At first she was hesitant, and uncomfortable, looking up at that 40-foot tower.  Yet her brother, sisters, and parents urged her on.  Her dad rigged up and was right next to her.  He took a step, reached out for a stone, and she followed.  Then he would give her encouragement by saying that the next step, the next reach up was hers.  She took it and then he went up a step.  In this way, with the shouts of "you can do it!", "Look at how far you are already!" and "You're great!" in the background, they both moved step by step.  At one point, the girl's legs were shaking.  She was so very fatigued.  Her father got on her side of the wall and gave her his hand. With his help she got on the first platform and could rest.   He got there two.  They sat side by side and talked then.  I thought she would request to come down.  Her legs and arms acted to tired.  I don't know what conversation they had up there, but within minutes she was going for the top again.  When she pulled herself up to the top, all the family was clapping, whistling, and shouting.  And the girl.....She was BEAMING!!!   It was like a super nova of joy going off inside her.   And you know what?  When she burst into joy, so did I.

That is having a front row seat to the Happy Show!

Don't Mind the Man Behind the Curtains

Don't Mind the Man Behind the Curtains

It is strange going through my spiritual biography.  Some things I would rather not look too closely at, and others are kinda nice to see again.  Trying to pry some underlying direction, mission statement, or life's goal out of them is difficult to say the least.

There were the painful times when I tried it on my own.  This whole faith thing.   Times when I was reminded that I was a very (and still am) flawed person in a flawed world.

One year when I first became assistant director at camp, I learned that most of the work behind anything, much less a functioning Christian Community, is done behind the scenes.  I thought, back then, I would have more time to hang out with the campers, more time to do Bible Studies, more time in the limelight, so to speak.  This was not the case.  I remember clearly so many times that during the Community Celebration (the non-competitive talent show held at the end of the week) that I had no campers that stood up and gave me compliments.  No "What was good about the week" observations that included me.  I felt left out.  When I was a counselor the year before, there seemed to be a whole lot more little recognitions.  Sounds petty and egotistical doesn't it?  It was.

There were other times that I led the worship services and that was so much fun.  However, as an Assistant Director, my job was to encourage the staff, and through them, the campers to lead their own worships.  So I had Sunday a lot of the time, and the rest I was a participant.  Again, such a petty thing, but I missed it.

It is not that I wasn't being used by God, just not in the particular way that I wished to be used.  What did God use me for?  When the kitchen dishwasher ran out of chemicals, I knew where they were stored and how to change them out.  When the chlorine injector failed on the pump house, I knew how to fix it.  Also, when a camper went missing, I knew what needed to be done, how to organize search parties, how to interrogate campers from the cabin from which he went missing. 

Also there were the times when God used me to support those that were on the front lines of ministry with the youth.  When staff were having a rough time, whether job related or personal, I was there to talk with them. When they needed encouragement, directions, or time and space to just grow (time and space equates to allowing them to make and learn from their own mistakes). 

This was not only camp, not only college years, but I found as I went over my life, I was not the front-runner, nor the motivational speaker, nor the person in the limelight.  God has used me to grease the pulleys of life, to dust the curtains, to adjust the spotlights so that other people could shine.

I am God's maintenance man, using love to keep the stage of Grace working, and the lights on.