Coracle Trust E-Reflections

And now with God’s help I shall become myself

Tuesday 18 May 2010

You are not a troubled guest on this earth,
you are not an accident amidst other accidents
you were invited from another and greater night
than the one from which you have emerged.

What to remember when waking, David Whyte

Stilling music: Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 Prelude, Yo-Yo Ma

Scripture: People conceived and brought into life by God don’t make a practice of sin. How could they? God’s seed is deep within them, making them who they are. (1 John 3:9, The Message)

At home, coming home

This pre-infant stage is a profound one of moving towards differentiation.  The growing awareness of being a ‘self’ as distinct from the ‘other’ (especially mother) generates an anxiety yet also a hope.  The seeds of healthy identity are grown in trust and a mutuality with carers that engenders a sense of being home.  This foundation for faith is crucial but is also reinforced by the Holy Spirit who is given to assure us that we belong and that there is somewhere to go.

The noted Trappist monk and social activist Thomas Merton reflected that our ultimate journey‘s end is a return to self.  This self is not separated from or differentiated from the Other, as we were undifferentiated from our mothers when in the womb.  In union we become truly ourselves. We end where we start.  David Whyte continues…

What shape waits in the seed of you
to grow and spread its branches
against a future sky?

Title:  from a Soren Kierkegaard text
On home: James W. Fowler, Stages of Faith, p.121