Written on January 6, 2021
Psalm 27: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of
my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?
God is our light and our salvation… salvation in the Greek means salve, healing, and wholeness. God is the source of our wholeness. Our true, whole selves are found in God. And the true God is within and beyond our true selves. Fear blocks us from perceiving both our true selves and the true God. We live in a world of fear. The scenes we saw today at the capitol in DC are activities rooted in fear, among other things. We are not talking about fear in the sense of a survival instinct that keeps us from being eaten by bears. We are talking about those fears that corrupt our true selves and keep us from having a loving encounter with God and each other.
Oftentimes are true selves are caught up in the exterior; our exterior image that others have of us and the image we project. We are often afraid of our true selves. But we cannot experience the reality of God in our day to day living, unless we learn how to detach ourselves from paralyzing fear.
God should have a stronghold on us, but this strong hold is not a vise-grip, but a loving embrace. Oftentimes, we find ourselves in the grip of fear. The fear of self. The fear of failure. The fear of exposure. The fear of rejection. The fear of loss. Even the fear of a God who is not really God but an image of judgment and condemnation. But every moment, the love of God is embracing us.
Today, our goal is to start on a path where we begin to exhale and release our fears, and inhale the love of God that already embraces us. As we enter into this meditation, we will be asked to contemplate and release some of our fears in the midst of silence. In the midst of inhaling and exhaling and being aware of our bodies and spirit. The challenge in this exercise is to recognize, embrace, and release the fear—not analyze it.
There will be stretches of silence in this meditation. Be comfortable with the silence. Be comfortable in the silence. God is there in the silence and in the solitude.
Remember, we are trying to get closer to our true selves and to God. The silence will tempt us to be distracted. Find something you can focus your attention on as we begin this exercise. Let the light of God not only drive out the darkness of fear, but let the light of God begin to show you God and our true selves in relation to God. This is not about us, but us in relation to God. This is about God.
If you’re are making a fist unclench your fist. If your back is rigid, loosen your shoulders. Is your jaw clenched? What is your body and breath telling you about your spirit right now…?
Faith, Hope, and Love
©2021 MJ Sales
The Sci-Fi Theologian 