This is my favorite appearance of Jesus after the Resurrection; the truth is that I find all the appearances helpful, but this one really touches me. John's Gospel (21:1-14) is too long for me to copy but it begins with Simon Peter saying that he is going fishing; the six disciples who are with him say they will go with him and so they go out and fish all night and catch nothing. When it is dawn, Jesus is standing on the floor, but they do not recognize him When he tells them to cast the net over the right side of the boat, they do it and cannot pull up the net as it is so full of fish. John immediately says, "It is the Lord" and Peter jumps into the sea to be the first to shore. There they find that Jesus has a charcoal fire with fish on it and he invites them to come and have breakfast. He "took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish."
This scene lends itself to prayer, but I also have another quote to share today:
Set your heart on God. Make your love and your will one act. God is not silence, nor speaking; not fasting, nor eating; not loneliness, nor friendship. God is in neither of the two sides of any paradox. Instead, God is hidden between these, and nothing your mind does can help you find God - not your reason, not your thoughts, not studying - only your love. God can be loved, yes. The genuinely loving heart can choose to find God. Love, and the sharp arrow of your simple longing will not fail to reach its mark, who is God. Contemplate God, rest in not setting and not knowing, and you will experience the dark mystery of everything beyond our understanding. Then - and only then - does God sometimes flash out a spiritual ray of light for you, piercing the cloud of unknowing between you and God, and allowing you a glimpse of the divine secrets, which are beyond anybody's ability to describe. -Anonymous: Discretion of Stirrings and the Cloud of Unknowing.
No comments:
Post a Comment