The following quotation comes from William Shannon's often lovely book on prayer, Silence on Fire (pp. 81-82), first published in 1991. In this "quotation within a quotation," Shannon references R.S. Thomas, a Welsh poet and Anglican priest who penned a poem entitled, "The Bright Field." The little verse is "about our deep spiritual need of being aware of the reality of the present moment, of living now," a familiar theme to those who read these posts...
The poet makes clear to us that every moment, if we saw it aright, could be like Moses' vision--seeing the burning bush: a bush on fire yet not consumed, a bush whose fire betokened the Saving Presence of God. At any moment we can be aware of God, for God is there. Every moment hides the "pearl of great price." Every moment the "treasure" is there in the field for us to unearth. Here are the poet's words:
I have seen the sun break through
to illumine a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the pearl
of great price, the one field that had
the treasure in it. I realize now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying
on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.
Alright, so the poem doesn't rhyme, but consider...
This verse features images that are quite lovely as well as meaningful. If you could choose a small portion of the poem--a word or two or a phrase--as an object of meditation, what would it be? Be creative. Come back to the poem on another day to reflect upon another portion.
By the way, on the subject of meditation, here's a wonderful insight from Rick Warren: "If you know how to worry, you already know how to meditate." And from another, anonymous source: "Worry is like praying for what you don't want."
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