Morning Retreat: Hineni, Here I am
Part 2: outward movement (hearing the call / preparing for action)
This part of the retreat is a shift to an outward movement, where you will open yourself to listening to the Divine calling for your life, and bringing your response of "Hineni, here I am".
You are invited to bring an attitude of surrender and opening to God as your Inner Source, committing yourself to sensing the flow of the stream and bringing your consent, allowing the fountain of Living Water to flow from within you.
Opening Music: I abandon myself
Allow the following song by John Michael Talbot to be a prayer of surrender to the Beloved:
Lyrics:
I abandon myself to Your will
Do with me whatever You want
I will only be grateful for whatever You do
I'm prepared for anything at all
I commit my life to Your hands
I offer it all up to You
With all the affection of my heart and my soul
Because, O Lord, I love You
I abandon myself to Your will
Do with me whatever You want
Without any conditions and with confidence
Because You are my God
I abandon myself to Your will
Contemplation and scripture reading:
Spend 10 minutes in quietprayer now, using the audio file below as guidance, as you open yourself in quiet surrender to the presence of the Beloved, who is always responding to us "Hineni, Here I am".
Choose which of the following two passages you would prefer to work with in-depth today.
Read the passage slowly, two or three times, and sense what is shimmering or what is tugging at you.
Exodus 3: 1-8,13-14
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land ...
Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
OR
1 Kings 19: 11-13a, 15-16, 19-21
God said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of YHWH, for YHWH is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountain apart and shattered the rock by YHWH’s power – but YHWH was not in the whirlwind. After the wind there was an earthquake – but YHWH was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire – but YHWH was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
YHWH told Elijah, “Go back the way you came, to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael as ruler of Aram. Also anoint Jehu ben-Nimshi as ruler over Israel, and anoint Elisha ben-Shaphat, from Abel Meholah, to succeed you as prophet.
So Elijah went from there and found Elisha ben-Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha immediately left his oxen and ran after Elijah.
“Let me kiss my parents good-bye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.”
“Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”
So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and become his servant.
Reflection:
Take as much time as you need to work with the scripture passage, listening for the deeper stirrings of the Spirit. If there was a word or phrase that stood out for you, allow this to roll about in your mind and heart, and take a gentle walk as you do this. Allow the Spirit to animate this phrase for you.
Now listen to God's promise in the following passage:
Isaiah 65:17-18
"I’m creating new heavens and a new earth.
All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain
are things of the past, to be forgotten.
Look ahead with joy."
~Breathe in the beauty of this promise... a new earth... sink deeper into this promise... a new earth...
~Breathe deeply and fully... chaos and pain are things of the past... look ahead with joy...
~How will you co-create the new earth with the gifts you have been given... ?
~Breathe joyfully... where is your place in this new earth... ?
~Breathe your response ... Hineni - Here I am.
Listen to the following song based on the prayer of St Theresa:
Lyrics:
Christ has no Body now but yours
No hands, no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes through which He looks
Compassion on this world
Yours are the feet with which He walks
To do good
Yours are the hands with which He blesses
All the world
Yours are the hands
Yours are the feet
Yours are the eyes
You are His Body
Christ has no Body now but yours
No hands, no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes through which He looks
Compassion on this world
Christ has no body now on earth but yours
For further reflection
Henri Nouwen wrote:
"So many terrible things happen every day that we start wondering whether the few things we do ourselves make any sense. When people are starving only a few thousand miles away, when wars are raging close to our borders, when countless people in our own cities have no homes to live in, our own activities look futile. Such considerations, however, can paralyse us and depress us.
Here the word call becomes important. We are not called to save the world, solve all problems, and help all people. But we each have our own unique call, in our families, in our work, in our world. We have to keep asking God to help us see clearly what our call is and to give us the strength to live out that call with trust. Then we will discover that our faithfulness to a small task is the most healing response to the illnesses of our time."
And Frederick Buechner wrote: "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness meets the deep hunger of the world".
Reflect on the following painting of an inclusive "Last Supper", by the German painter Sieger Koder:
Now spend some time articulating your sense of calling in writing, giving expression to your deep gladness, and your heart's true yearning to be a healing response in the world, meeting the world's deep hunger. You could use writing, movement, singing or vocal prayer to give voice to your sense of calling. You could also use some other form of creative expression, using paint, crayons, charcoal, collage etc.
Questions to carry forward with you
From my own challenges in the area of ministry I offer these questions for you to carry forward with you:
-
Are there disciplines or practices that you need to build into your days that help you to remain open to the Spirit?
-
How can you work with the challenge of fulfilling the function without clinging to the identity?
-
How can you stay liberated from outer expectations so that you can respond from a place of inner authenticity and freedom?
-
How can you hold a creative balance between contemplation, action, family needs and daily tasks?
Isaiah 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Ending Music: Grace and Peace
Listen to this piece of music as a blessing over you as you respond to the call: