The Contemplative Companion for Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain,
and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.
As he drew near to the gate of the city,
a man who had died was being carried out,
the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.
A large crowd from the city was with her.
When the Lord saw her,
he was moved with pity for her and said to her,
“Do not weep.”
He stepped forward and touched the coffin;
at this the bearers halted,
and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!”
The dead man sat up and began to speak,
and Jesus gave him to his mother.  – Luke 7.11 – 15

Following yesterday’s miracle story, we again read of a further miracle – this time, a type of resurrection. Such miracle stories are often one reason rational people have a hard time with the Bible.

For many, it’s easier to dismiss miracles than to leave room for the seemingly impossible and irrational. Such stories are only meant to be inspirational and devotional, not literal, or so the thinking goes.

But if there is no order of difficulty in miracles, isn’t the first miracle all of us can experience, the miracle of a transformed, changed perception?

And isn’t that transformation of perception what the touch of grace always does? Instead of seeing an enemy, we see a fellow human. Instead of seeing a problem, we see an opportunity for creativity.  Instead of seeing suffering, we see a fellow member of the human family that we can serve. I could go on.

The prayer of quiet. The prayer of surrender. The prayer of stillness. The prayer of resting in God. These can become doorways into such a shift of perception. They are places where our coffins and sorrow are met by the graceful word of God, that touches us in the silence and raises our perception as if from one state of being to another.

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