Meditations
Below you will find various meditations. Our Facebook page also provides additional meditations and daily Bible readings.
The Magic Circle of Silence
I have a friend who believes that, periodically, moments of silence are vital for a meaningful life. Not only does he faithfully practice such a discipline himself, but he also likes to share his experience with others.
A while ago he exposed his two sons and a friend, all three of them still in primary school, to this in a special way.
They were on holiday near a big lagoon where he challenged them to a new game – one which, in his words, would demand a special kind of courage. One of the boys asked him whether they would have to swim across the lagoon, to which he laughingly answered: “No, not that. What I will ask of you will perhaps require even more courage”. And then he explained.
“Each one of you must find himself a special spot along the edge of the water. I will then draw a magic circle around you. For the next half an hour you have to stay inside this circle and you must try to remain completely quiet. You are not allowed to bring anything into or take anything out of the circle; so, for example, no throwing stones into the water. All you are to do while keeping the silence, is to be alert and watchful – to open you eyes and ears and to become aware of what is happening in and around you”.
Surprisingly, and contrary to his expectations, there was hardly any protest to his proposal. Even more amazing was that when they reunited after half an hour, the boys were eager to tell what they had experienced, what they had seen and heard. One told about tiny insects and interesting stones he had observed in his magic circle, the other about some fish rising to the surface of the lagoon. The crowning moment for all of them had been the sudden call of a fish eagle.
My friend was surprised and deeply touched by what he heard. In his words: “We did not talk about God or Christ. It was not necessary. The silence helped us to become more deeply aware of God’s wonderful creation, and to enjoy it. And that was enough.”
Which emphasised again that we should never forget or underestimate the hidden riches of silence.
Carel Anthonissen
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A Trace of Warmth
Recently I spent a few days on a guest farm in the Karoo with some Danish friends. They found the rooms, the garden and the surrounding landscape impressive. Most impressive of all, particularly for the children who found the summer heat overwhelming, was the swimming pool. They enjoyed the water quite exuberantly.
What made a deeper impression eventually, was the way our hostess received and treated us. She is what one would call a traditional homemaker. Her natural inclination to care and to be hospitable has grown into a way of living which is almost contagious. Without being intrusive she was always close by with a friendly smile and a gentle question, always intent on assuring that all her guests were satisfied and comfortable. I noticed that she had a special and endearing gesture: from time to time she would reach out and lightly touch a guest, as if to remind them that she was there, that she noticed them, and cared.
Not all people feel comfortable with such human touch, especially from a stranger. For them, such a gesture comes across as intrusive, as an overstepping of boundaries. Referring to the ways people sometimes embrace in saying hello, a friend was once very outspoken: “I actually hate it when people touch me all the time”. Even so, when human touch and embrace are sincere and respectful, it mostly leaves a trace of warmth and humanness.
How desperately we need this in a society where mistrust and wariness, caution and distance have become the watchwords. At times our divided communities exhibit a spirit that can be almost as chilly as the biting cold of the Karoo in winter. It is not surprising that our hostess’s unexpected but warm welcome and kind touch remained one of the most lasting impressions of the Danish visitors.
Carel Anthonissen
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It’s never too late
The other day at a wedding I met a woman who plays the violin. She has brought together a small ensemble that is often invited to entertain the guests with their music at some stage during the ceremony. We talked about her love of music – of how she already started playing the violin at the age of four, and how to this day she still enjoys it, also sharing her love and knowledge as a music teacher.
My conversation with her touched on an important, but sensitive matter for me because it reminded me of some lost opportunities. As do many others, I have a special love and appreciation of music. As a youngster I would have liked to make more of it, to have taken music lessons of some kind, singing or learning to play an instrument – even getting acquainted with music theory. However in our little country school such possibilities were limited, and my friends made no secret of it that they would find spending time in a music class an embarrassment. Sport, and in particular rugby, was what real guys did. Now, so many years later, I talked about how it was probably too late to pursue any dreams of making music myself.
Talking to the violinist, I shared this little frustration. To which she responded in a quite surprising way, answering: “You shouldn’t say it’s too late. My father only started playing the cello after he had turned 45. He doesn’t play perfectly, but he enjoys every moment. Which goes to show that it is never too late”.
It is never too late! Her offhand remark sounded like music in my ears. And they have significance for more than only me and my missed musical chances. These five words have something to say to all of us, because there are few whose lives do not have stories of wasted chances, neglected opportunities, moments about which we feel they are lost because we did not properly embrace them.
Our brief encounter was a reminder that when one thinks that a chance has been lost, it may not be the final word. The violinist is right – there is always another chance to start with new things, even to start all over again. It is never too late. In fact we serve a God who believes this.
Carel Anthonissen
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On the Prospects of the Year
Many of us enter the new year with good prospects. Perhaps you have secured a new job with a healthy salary; or you have plans (and the means) to go abroad this year for a long overdue vacation; or you have just heard that your first child or grandchild will be born later in the year.
Future prospects like this make our life worthwhile. They are like windows of hope. They excite and inspire us, making us look forward to the coming day – and we should be deeply thankful for having them. They are privileges and gifts that should not be taken for granted in the coming year.
Not all people are that fortunate. For many the year has started with bleak and less exciting prospects. Like a good friend of ours who has just been diagnosed with cancer. It was somewhat ironic because, different from many others who are afraid to go for regulars medical tests, she always took the necessary precautions. And then suddenly this unexpected news. ”Having received the news I was shattered. For several days I stumbled around in a daze. I could not believe that this was happening to me”. With these words she expressed her total shock and disbelief.
There are many more for whom this year is going to be a likewise struggle – those who are unemployed and poor without any proper financial assistance or housing; those who are fragile and weak because of old age and illness; those who must deal with a damaged relationship or marriage, or whose children are wasting their lives while they can only helplessly look on. The hardships which some of us will have to face and carry in the new year may seem endless and unbearable.
For those we should pray. They must know that we have nor forgotten them, that we shall be there when they need us. This also is our God given responsibility in the new year.
Carel Anthonissen
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The Coming of a New Reality
During Advent we are reminded that Christ’s birth not only changed history, but also introduced a new reality into our world – one which is movingly described in Isaiah 11:1-9.
There we read of a leader upon whom the Spirit of God will rest (2), one who will judge the poor with righteousness and not hesitate to judge and condemn the wicked (4-5). We read of the wolf dwelling with the lamb (6), of the cow and the bear whose youngsters shall lie down together (7) and last but not least, of a suckling child who shall play over the hole of the asp with no danger or fear (8).The scene gives a prophetic vision of what the earth will look like when it is filled with the knowledge of God (9).
What a powerful vision, what a wonderful world! But are we really able to believe in it? What about all the injustices, the corruption, dishonesty, crime and poverty that surround us like a cruel and angry sea every day? Is this not more real than Isaiah’s dreamlike vision? Listening to Isaiah’s words, Woody Allen remarked tongue in cheek: “The lion will lie down with the lamb, but the lamb won’t get much sleep.” Perhaps his words are voicingour own scepticism, our own sense of what is real.
Still, the Christian tradition across the ages insisted that Isaiah’s vision is no pipe dream. With the coming of Christ – and this is the consistent testimony of the New Testament – this vision became a reality. Jesus was indeed the One inspired and led by the Spirit of God, the wonderful Counsellor, our everlasting Father, the Prince of peace – the One whose words and deeds truly embodied God’s dream of peace and justice for all humankind. In fact, for the writers of the New Testament, since Christ’s coming, this dream is an accomplished fact, a reality which is with and in us; one on which we may draw in our lives every day, and particularly during this time of year, at Christmas.
For the theologian William Cavanaugh there remains one big question, namely whether we are ready and willing to acknowledge and live from this reality. Engaging with Woody Allen’s apparently sober and realistic view of life, he writes:
“In the Christian reading of Isaiah, however, God has already acted to redeem history. The shoot from the stump of Jesse has already sprouted. The longing of Advent is fulfilled in Christmas. People sometimes misunderstand the “not yet” of the kingdom of God to mean that God is holding back on us. But God has held nothing back; God has given us the Son, the Way. The “not yet” is because we are holding back. We carry on as if nothing has happened, waiting for God to realize the vision of Isaiah. But the good news is that God has acted. God has given us the Christ, in whom Isaiah’s vision of a transformed reality is fulfilled”.
Is this not a timely reminder for us during this time of Advent?
Carel Anthonissen
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The Thin Hour – 12 December, 2011
Once, while sharing about his own prayer life, a well known preacher mentioned a practice which over time became quite helpful for my own prayer life.
He told his audience how every morning, shortly after he had woken up, in that time when he is still slumbering for the last few minutes before actually getting up, he usually just quietly rests in the Biblical promise of God’s constant love and everlasting presence.
The preacher had a name for this early moment with his Creator – he called it his thin hour.
The thin hour is that moment when the boundary between the earthly and the so called heavenly, the visible and the invisible, that of which we are immediately conscious and that which is mysteriously obscure, but also present, falls away – when the reality of God becomes more transparent and tangible and we are able, in faith, to quietly rest in God’s presence; to embrace God promise that He is indeed “Abba”, our Father and Mother, who is always with us – with us when we go to sleep, but also when we wake up in the morning.
In his beautiful book on prayer Richard Foster acknowledges this kind of prayer. He calls it the prayer of the heart, or the so called Abba-prayer. According to him this is a very intimate kind of prayer. We usually pray this prayer when we as children of God have become tired of our own efforts to please God, or when sin and sorrow again cast their shadows of doubt and misery over us.
The prayer of the heart happens when we, in the words of Psalm 131, have calmed and quieted our soul and like a child peacefully rests at its mother’s breast. In this thin, intimate hour we commit ourselves anew to God’s loving care – we allow God to gently hold us so that when we finally get up to tackle a new day, even when the day lies dark and threatening before us, we may know that we are being cared for and being carried.
So why not try this thin hour when you wake up again tomorrow morning?
Carel Anthonissen
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The Cycles of Life – 5 December, 2011
The United Nations’ conference on climate change which is presently convening in Durban, coincides with our church year starting off again with the season of Advent. During Advent we are waiting in expectancy on the birth of Jesus. This birthing process makes us tap into the cycles which are part of life.
Women experience this more intimately within their bodies with their monthly cycles as a constant reminder that they are part of nature and come from it. Men can perhaps more easily get estranged from this truth. But as we start a new year cycle within the liturgical calendar, we are all reminded that there’s an inherent cycle to life. It comes and it goes. It’s like the ebb and flow of the tide which comes in and flows out again. This is like a stream flowing through our veins, through our bodies and into our lives. It ties us into the greater patterns of life and of creation.
With all of us being expectant during the birthing process of Advent, we have chance again to renew our bond with the earth. Beginning-January will take us into Epiphany which allows us to stand still at the appearances of God throughout history and up till today. As we follow the year cycle it offers us with opportunities for re-birth.
With the freshness which spring brought still fresh in our memory, we are willing to put our feet on the road that another year will take us on (Perhaps it’s more adventurous to take off your shoes and feel the grass underneath!) And we can be assured that the cycles of life will be trustworthy in accompanying us throughout the journey. May we tread lightly on the earth as we enter deeper into the heart of God. In the words of St Francis of Assissi:
‘All praise be yours, my Lord, through sister Earth, our mother, who feeds us in her sovereignty and produces various fruits with coloured flowers and herbs’.
Laurie Gaum
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The Message of the Butterfly – 28 November, 2011
And God looked at everything which He had made, and it was very good (Gen 1:31).
Last week the Centre facilitated a meeting between the ever-colourful Emeritus Archbishop Desmond Tutu and a number of South African business leaders. It took the form of a late brunch at the very scenic Tokara Deli near Stellenbosch.
The Bishop, as we have come to expect, is at his best. He recalls one humorous anecdote after the other, even enacting some of his stories. The audience really enjoys what it hears. But the address also takes a more serious turn. Tutu starts sharing truths and perspectives that are vital for our context. His talk becomes a personal testimony.
He reminds his listeners of the goodness of life, life which has its source in the bounteous generosity of a loving God. In this regard he also testifies to his own experience of and dedication to what he calls the unashamed preference of the biblical God – a God who always identifies with and favours those who are poor, forgotten, oppressed and lost. He points to the meaning this has for ourselves and for our relationships with others – if only we can believe this, and can follow the example of Jesus in this regard. Our example is of one who left ninety nine of his flock to seek the one that was lost.
The Bishop appeals to his audience not to forget or neglect the inspiring, often allegoric, stories of the Bible with which they grew up. “You should read your Bible, people”, he calls out.
Towards the end of his talk, just before his final words, a white butterfly appears in the space right above his head, almost like in a fairy tale – delicate, luminous wings moving softly against the contours of a solid wall.
I look up in wonder at this unexpected visitor. It may be purely coincidental, but then what a coincidence!
It is almost as if the fortuitous and unforeseen appearance of the butterfly crowns the day. It reminds us of our own vulnerability in a bountiful, but fragile and troubled land. It also reminds of new life and new possibilities, regardless of who and where we are.
The butterfly becomes a living symbol of what Bishop Tutu wanted to convey.
Carel Anthonissen
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When the Spirit Moves – 21 November, 2011
Three young women of my acquaintance started a music group using wind instruments – flute, clarinet and oboe – and gave their group a charming Sotho name : Umoya. It has a lovely sound, the word, and a many-faceted meaning.
Umoya is the breath that draws sound from a wind instrument, be it recorder, penny whistle or trombone. Umoya is also the wind that makes music in the reeds of the riverbed, or whispers in the dry leaves of autumn.
I am reminded of my young friends when the winter flees at last and summer comes to the Cape in the person of umoya, the wind. For the rainy season to set in in the north, the Southeaster must blow in the Cape. And blow it does, driving the dust and the pollen of the fynbos before it in great clouds. Until the whole of allergy valley, as my area is known, starts sneezing, and everyone’s hay fever and sinusitis start acting up.
We do not resent the wind. We know it brings rain in the hinterland, and we take allergy tablets as we learn to love the sound of its growling along the rooftops, whistling under the eaves, singing in the telephone wires.
For Umoya is also the name of the Holy Spirit, Who moves where She wills, making music in the souls of humans.
Cecile Cilliers
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The Sin on Injustice – 14 November, 2011
One of the surest signs that we are leading an empty and unfruitful life is when we lose our sense of justice – or put differently: when we start leading a life where violence and injustice prevails. Just listen to Isaiah’s complaint about God’s vineyard which bears no fruit: “He (God) looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry!” (Isaiah 5:7).
The sin of injustice is however much more subtle and obscure than we normally think. It does for instance not only occur or happen where you deliberately harm or injure the other; or where you subvert or undermine their cause; or where you consciously deprive them of or deny them some essential life-giving privileges. Few people will admit to being guilty of such blatant injustices.
No, injustices also and especially happen where people or a society become indifferent and apathetic; where they turn a blind eye, or look away when someone is wrongfully treated. It happens where they refuse to become involved or stand up for what is right. Like those people in China who just walked away when a child was ran over right before their eyes.
The dire consequences of such passivity and indifference were sharply articulated by the well known German pastor Martin Niemoller, who during Hitler’s reign of terror movingly wrote:
They came for the Communists, and I didn’t object –
for I wasn’t a Communist;
They came for the Socialists, and I didn’t object –
for I wasn’t a Socialist;
They came for the labour leaders, and I didn’t object –
for I wasn’t a labour leader;
They came for the Jews, and I didn’t object –
for I wasn’t a Jew;
Then they came for me -
and there was no one left to object.
We should be watchful – this can also happen to us.
Carel Anthonissen
