Twenty-Eighth of Year B - The Spiritual Life
October 2009
We have all seen, and enjoyed, paintings and photos of landscapes, which very often incorporate stretches of water; either rivers or lakes, with clouds or the surrounding countryside reflected on the water. Or they might depict the interplay of sunlight and shadow on flowing water.
It is not common to see a painting or photograph which looks through the water’s surface and shows you what is underneath the surface.
Hidden under the surface is a totally different world teeming with life, and hidden from all who have not learned how to see it.
On a fine sunny day the surface, though sparkling with changing light and reflecting the surrounding ambience, is totally opaque until one enters the shade of an overhanging tree. Immediately the water becomes a crystal clear window into a hidden underwater world, which one was unaware of.
The above examples are an analogy for the spiritual life or in other words for the presence of God in and all around me. Many people go through life totally unaware of the life of the spirit. They look at the water and never succeed in looking through it; They look at themselves, at other people, at the world all round them, and never see beyond what their physical eyes see.
As Jesus said in Matthews gospel; ‘You shall indeed hear but not understand you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted, and I heal them.’
They say that the sculptor can look at a block of stone and see the beautiful sculpture within, that the potter can look at the formless lump of clay and see the beautiful vessel. I too must learn to look at myself , at others, all around me, and see the glory of God the Creator.
This is what is called the spiritual life.
This is what is called prayer.
Do I pray?
Do I teach my children to pray?