Rising Up Rooted

Empty Freedom and True Belonging

Photo by Felix Mittermeier on Unsplash

Opening Prayer

Take a moment to still yourself. Let a couple of slow, deep breaths help you into the present moment. Open to grace and Spirit.

Matthew 6:25-33

25 ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,^* or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?^* 28And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. ³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” ³²For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³But strive first for the kingdom of God^* and his^* righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Reflection

Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. The simplicity of the flowers in the field is far more beautiful than the rich and extravagant robes of the exalted ones, says Jesus. St Francis is an example of someone who took these words seriously – and literally. His father was a rich textile merchant and the family lived in the affluent district of Assisi. To his father’s horror, St Francis stripped himself of his brocade robe and ran naked through the streets. Eventually he got dressed! but only in a much simpler garment. He left his privilege to embrace poverty and, by so doing, found the genuine joy and peace that would make him the best-loved saint in history. 

We cannot glamorise poverty. We must always hold in our hearts those who actually need food and clothing; and not just in our hearts but through our actions. But until we embrace this deeper sort of poverty in ourselves, the simplicity of Spirit that this text implies, we will on some level perpetuate these costly divisions between rich and poor. And we will continue to destroy the planet along the way.

But, in considering the lilies of the field or the birds of the air or so many other things in nature, we are pointed towards the secret of truly good living: the simple law of surrender which allow for seasons: fallow times and times of fruiting, the falling of leaves and the bursting-forth of spring flowers; the dark nights of winter and the bright days of summer.

Letting go into God’s ways is the heart of this reading and the heart of the spiritual life. The true meaning of that direction to ‘Strive first for the kingdom God’ is very far from the way we’ve always read it. It is not to lift our head above the realities of the world to some ethereal vision but the exact opposite!

It turns out that humility and glory are flip sides of the same coin. In this week’s poem, Rilke writes: If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence, we could rise up rooted, like trees. Rising up rooted is a superb image for the paradoxical relationship between humility and glory, and a wonderful example of how nature not only delights us but also mirrors the deeper truth of who we are.  

But, says Rilke, only we, in our arrogance, push out beyond what we belong to for some empty freedom. That line speaks to me with such a force of truth that its impact is visceral. Oh how we want to push out, to be important, to fly to the sun! These are empty freedoms.

We need to return to where we belong: to surrender into the soil and ground of our being, to return to the heart of God, knowing that we are loved beyond measure. Here we become like the birds of the air. Here is where we rise up with the wings of the Spirit. And only here. 

And so let’s settle into our bodies, feeling our heaviness… with bottom on the chair, feet on the floor, the weight of our bodies falling – like gravity – into the heart of God’s love. 

This is what the things can teach us:
to fall,
patiently to trust our heaviness.
Even a bird has to do that
before he can fly. 

A Time of Silence (Suggestion: 20 mins)

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. And it will, many times. Just gently return.

Widening the Circle

As we take a moment to give thanks for this time, let’s extend the grace of the Spirit to all those on our heart and mind right now…

The Lord’s Prayer: The New Zealand Lord’s Prayer is very nice… See below

2^nd Reading

How surely gravity’s law,
strong as an ocean current,
takes hold of even the smallest thing
and pulls it toward the heart of the world. 

Each thing—
each stone, blossom, child—
is held in place.
Only we, in our arrogance,
push out beyond what we each belong to
for some empty freedom.

If we surrendered
to earth’s intelligence
we could rise up rooted, like trees. 

Instead we entangle ourselves
in knots of our own making
and struggle, lonely and confused. 

So, like children, we begin again
to learn from the things,
because they are in God’s heart;
they have never left [God].  

This is what the things can teach us:
to fall,
patiently to trust our heaviness.
Even a bird has to do that
before he can fly. 

Rainer Maria Rilke

Blessing

And so may we allow the gravity of Love to pull us ever more deeply into the heart of the world. May we root ourselves in the soil of true belonging and rise in true freedom. May we consider daily the lessons of creation. May we learn humility and find true glory.

… 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

Humility, Wim Mertens

Question for the Week:

What might it mean to you to let the gravity of love pull you into the heart of true belonging? What would surrender to love look like for you today?

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.

- The New Zealand Book of Prayer | He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa