Companions in Contemplation, Ben Campbell Johnson, 2009
“Abide in me as I abide in you.” John 15:4
To abide means to live in, to remain with the bounds of or to last for a period of time. Where do you abide? Is your house your dwelling place? You may depart but I will remain; I will stay where I am. And, my truth will abide forever, that is, continue into the future. All these insights are valid and yet they evoke different images of abiding. There is another way to grasp the great truth of abiding.
On the spiritual journey you abide in Christ by living your life in and through him. We could say with the Psalmist, “I keep the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure.” (Ps. 16:8)
In another sense, the person abiding in Christ plays within certain bounds. Like the basketball player must stay within the lines to retain possession of the ball, the soul on a spiritual path walks within the bounds of love.
To abide in Christ means to take a direction for a period of time, for the full making of the journey. In a person abandoned to Christ every step is a step on the pathway and a move closer to union with Christ.
We abide in Christ both through meditation and contemplation.
In meditation the truth of Christ is like a lozenger dissolving on the tongue and contemplation resembles swallowing the truth whole. Once swallowed, the truth of Christ dissolves in the soul and filters through the whole person. By osmosis the abiding Christ disperses himself through all the spiritual faculties of the soul.
At some point the believer can say with St. Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Gal. 2:19-20)
Take the truth whole and it will wholly take you!
Repeat the text, “Abide in me and I in you,” and swallow what you can.
Jane Note: This morning as I listen to the news of the police shootings in Dallas and the interview of the fiancé of the young man killed by a policeman in Minnesota, my heart is heavy and my stomach sick. I wonder helplessly what I can "do" to make a difference in the hatred?
Ben's moments remind me to live into the words: "Abide in me and I in you." and swallow what I can.
“Abide in me as I abide in you.” John 15:4
To abide means to live in, to remain with the bounds of or to last for a period of time. Where do you abide? Is your house your dwelling place? You may depart but I will remain; I will stay where I am. And, my truth will abide forever, that is, continue into the future. All these insights are valid and yet they evoke different images of abiding. There is another way to grasp the great truth of abiding.
On the spiritual journey you abide in Christ by living your life in and through him. We could say with the Psalmist, “I keep the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure.” (Ps. 16:8)
In another sense, the person abiding in Christ plays within certain bounds. Like the basketball player must stay within the lines to retain possession of the ball, the soul on a spiritual path walks within the bounds of love.
To abide in Christ means to take a direction for a period of time, for the full making of the journey. In a person abandoned to Christ every step is a step on the pathway and a move closer to union with Christ.
We abide in Christ both through meditation and contemplation.
In meditation the truth of Christ is like a lozenger dissolving on the tongue and contemplation resembles swallowing the truth whole. Once swallowed, the truth of Christ dissolves in the soul and filters through the whole person. By osmosis the abiding Christ disperses himself through all the spiritual faculties of the soul.
At some point the believer can say with St. Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Gal. 2:19-20)
Take the truth whole and it will wholly take you!
Repeat the text, “Abide in me and I in you,” and swallow what you can.
Jane Note: This morning as I listen to the news of the police shootings in Dallas and the interview of the fiancé of the young man killed by a policeman in Minnesota, my heart is heavy and my stomach sick. I wonder helplessly what I can "do" to make a difference in the hatred?
Ben's moments remind me to live into the words: "Abide in me and I in you." and swallow what I can.