kim April 1st, 2009
The following meditation was one used in our worship service on the fifth Sunday in Lent, March 29, 2009.
Vessels of God
(a guided meditation based on, and drawn from, The Cup of Our Life, by Joyce Rupp)
*Choose a mug or a cup, and hold it in your hands.
Notice its shape and size, its design, its strength or fragility, the empty space within it.
Be conscious of yourself as a cup held in God’s hands, unique in ways perhaps like, perhaps unlike the vessel you’re holding.
The prophet Isaiah wrote these words:
“ I have called you by name, you are mine…
You are precious in my sight,
and honored, and I love you.”
(Isaiah 43: 1b, 4a)
Thank God for creating you as you are.
*Note the space within your empty cup, and think of the space within yourself. What is filling it just now? Is it cluttered by anything? Imagine emptying yourself enough to open the door of your heart to the indwelling God.
Hear the words of the psalmist:
“Open your mouth wide and I will fill it…
I would feed you with the finest of wheat
And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
(Psalm 81: 10, 16)
For a few moments, as you breathe out, be aware of emptying the clutter,
and as you breathe in, imagine filling up with the presence of God.
*Study your cup again as you hold it and recall that you are held in the Wise Hands of God.
Be conscious of the imperfections the cup may have: chips, stains, faded color, less than appealing proportions, rough or thick edges, too-bright or dull designs…Does the cup cast any shadow as you hold it?
Remember a failure in your life and envision writing it on a piece of paper and putting it in the cup with a prayer for grace.
See God observing how you look inside and out – and imagine being cradled in God’s hands.
(Musical interlude: Take, o take me as I am; summon out what I shall be; Set your seal upon my heart and live in me” -by John Bell/Iona/GIA)
*Hold the cup and look upon it as a container for tears, filling the space.
Let the image speak for your own pain and tears, or for the pain and tears of someone else.
Envision God’s hands around your own, holding the cup of tears.
Hear these words from the scriptures:
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev. 7: 17)
“I will turn their mourning in to joy, I will comfort them” (Jer. 31: 13)
*Turn the cup on its side.
Is there anything within you that seems unable to rise up?
Pray that you will receive what’s needed for healing or perhaps for accepting or letting go of old wounds.
*Set the cup upright and put your hand over the opening. Press down firmly.
Reflect on your resistance & refusals…
Loosen the grip of your anxiety, and take your hand slowly off the cup, noting its renewed openness to receive…
*Imagine the cup filling with God’s compassion and love. Rest in that presence.
Bring to mind a person or situation marked by pain or suffering, and picture tipping your cup over, pouring it out into that space.
“You anoint my head with oil; my cup brims over,” said the psalmist (Ps. 23)
*Extend the cup in front of you and imagine blessings –memories you have, experiences, disguised opportunities for growth, moments of beauty or tenderness –slowly filling the cup.
*Give thanks for the blessings filling your own cup and all those of others around you.
Close by simply resting in gratitude for a moment.
