Truly, Madly, Deeply

Going Down IN the River to Pray.

The Baptism of Christ with Dove. Daniel Bonnell

Reflection

This week we remember the baptism of Christ. By now in the church year, we have considered many great themes: longing and hope, a startling annunciation, the embrace of friendship, the joy of birth and those first wild revelations that Jesus was, in fact, someone very special. Ahead of us, gallons of wine and more epiphanies, wilderness and demons, ministry and miracles, agony, death, resurrection and ascension. These stories of Jesus that we tell and retell throughout the year speak deeply of our own truest unfolding and fulfilment – both personally and collectively. Hence my dedication to them.

This week’s story is no exception. In Jesus’ baptism we have a quietly essential moment. A voice from heaven said: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

The first thing to notice is that Jesus hears that he is loved just after a downward movement. That downward motion is characteristic: it began in the incarnation and will end in the cross. For now, he descends into the water alongside us all. For him, each humbling is followed by a more profound revelation. What is true for him, I believe, is true for us. It is in our movements downwards that we are most able to receive the truth of who God is and who we are. And who we are is, most essentially, God’s beloved.

The second thing to consider is that the words Jesus heard that day initiated his own mission and strengthened him for all the events that would follow. It was the knowledge that he was so deeply loved, that gave him courage to minister to others and to face his own agony and suffering. It’s so simple that we easily miss it. And yet, I’m not sure we can be of any real and lasting service to a world in so much trouble unless we begin and end in love.

Being privileged to accompany several people in spiritual direction, I’ve learned over the years that most people have to be brought back to this again and again. They want to know what they should do - but they are anxious and burdened. They want to know how to pray - but they often approach prayer as a matter of duty. And my response surprises them. I ask them: where and how do you connect most deeply to being loved? The answer varies from spouse to friend to dog to poetry to grandmother to meditation to church to nature to music to art to a good bath. I say, that’s your prayer for this season. Do more of that! And as you do, really relish the experience – take it in body and soul – be nourished by it.

Because these are the words God most wants us to hear -You are loved. These are the words that give us all courage to bring more love into the world and to face whatever suffering might be ours to face. From start to finish, these are the words that energised Jesus. Knowing himself deeply loved, he longed to communicate that to others. When we surrender to the waters of grace, moving downwards in humility and in solidarity with those around us, our hearts become more receptive to that message of love.

In the simple words of the African-American spiritual (below)¹, we are called to go down in the river to pray. Did you notice? Not to go down TO the river to pray but to go down IN the river to pray. This means not just looking from the banks or dangling our feet in the water. This is a call for full body immersion!

We find these waters not only in set times of contemplative prayer and meditation, but also in all truly contemplative living, which is to say anything that slows us down, opens our heart and brings us into the simple awareness of the present moment: the gift of life itself. We are daily baptised when we immerse ourselves in these vital waters that cleanse and renew. And when we emerge from these waters, we will hear the message more clearly:

You are precious in my eyes. And honoured. And I love you…

Truly, madly, deeply!

A LITURGY OF PRAYER

Opening Prayer

Close your eyes if that feels okay. Take a few slow deep breaths. Take a moment to connect with the places and faces and spaces and graces that remind you that you are loved. Breathe in. Breathe out.

1^st Readings

Luke 3.21-22

Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Isaiah 43.1-7

But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you,
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.

Because you are precious in my sight
and honored and I love you,
I give people in return for you,
nations in exchange for your life.

Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
I will say to the north, “Give them up,”
and to the south, “Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”

A Time of Silence

Suggestion: 20 mins. But take even a few minutes if you can!

Silence is not always easy. The mind is hard to quiet. If you don’t yet have a way, you might find a single prayer word or phrase - and return to it each time you find your mind wandering. Your mind certainly will wander. Don’t worry. Just gently return, repeating the prayer word.

Widening the Circle

Let’s give thanks for the gift of silence and for all in our life that connects us to love. As we remember those on our hearts tonight, let’s pray that they might know that they are loved: even in the midst of life’s cruelties and injustices. Let’s pray, too, that we might overflow with the love that we find for ourselves, to all those around us.

The Lord’s Prayer

There’s a nice version below.

2^nd Reading

"Who am I?" was written in prison by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, shortly before his execution by the Nazis. In his triumphant and utterly vulnerable last line, Bonhoeffer surrender's himself. In the end our infinite value, and the infinite value of every human being, lies in the knowledge that we are all, beloved children of God.

"Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell's confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a Squire from his country house.

Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
freely and friendly and clearly,
as though it were mine to command.

Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
equably, smilingly, proudly,
like one accustomed to win.

Am I then really that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing
My throat, yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
tossing in expectation of great events,
powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
faint, and ready to say farewell to it all.

Who am I? This or the Other?
Am I one person to-day and to-morrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptible woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me like a beaten army
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?

Who am I? They mock me, these lonely question of mine,
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am thine.

Blessing

So may we know ourselves precious and honoured. May we know, in the midst of our own trials and confusion, that we are fundamentally and deeply loved. May we find in that love all that we need to go into our world with compassion and peace. And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, evermore. Amen.

Music:

This is a simple and beautiful call to go down in the River! Oh sisters, brothers, children, people, nations let’s go down, c’mon down, down in the river to pray!

Question for the Week: for Journal or Comment

Where and how do you connect most deeply to being loved?

What are the practices that take you down in the river to pray?

The New Zealand Anglican Lord's Prayer

Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:

The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.

With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever.
Amen.

Jim Cotter

1. "Down in the River to Pray" (also known as "Down to the River to Pray," "Down in the Valley to Pray," "The Good Old Way," and "Come, Let Us All Go Down") is a traditional American song variously described as a Christian folk hymn, an African-American spiritual, an Appalachian song, and a Southern gospel song. The exact origin of the song is unknown. The most famous version, featured in O Brother Where Art Thou?, uses a pentatonic scale, common in many African American spirituals. Wikipedia