Becoming Simon of Cyrene - An Invitation To Imaginative Prayer

Becoming Simon of Cyrene - An Invitation To Imaginative Prayer

Simon of Cyrene

By Sieger Koder

I love this painting by Sieger Koder, of Simon of Cyrene helping Jesus carry the cross. They stand side by side, pressed together, arms around one another, holding the cross. In this heartbreaking scene from Jesus’ passion, Simon is the one closest to him, bearing Jesus’ burdens. As we pray the Ignatian Exercises we discover a deep desire to be close to Jesus, as close as Simon was that day. 

As an experience of love and to bind us more closely to him, we are invited to enter into the scene and become Simon. We are invited to use our imagination to become the person who is that close to Jesus, helping Jesus carry the cross when he doesn’t have the strength to on his own. 

Engage your senses. What do you hear? What do you smell? What do you taste? what do you feel? What do you see? -The crowds, the soldiers, the women, and most importantly Jesus. What emotions do you experience? Is there love and compassion for him in your heart? Is your heart heavy with sorrow? Do you get a sense of what Jesus feels, what is on his heart? What do you say to him as you carry the cross together? What does he say to you?

Let the Spirit lead you and inspire your imagination. Receive everything as a gift. If you feel the prompting to respond in a particular way, don’t hesitate to do so. Let this experience bind you to him in love.

When you are done spending time with Jesus in this scene, take a few moments to speak to Jesus, to say what you want to say to him about this experience. Then listen to see what he is saying to you in response. Give thanks for what you have been given.

© Dale Gish 2020. All Rights Reserved.

If you are interested in praying the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius with me starting in September 2021, please contact me.

You Loved Them To The End

You Loved Them To The End

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

“Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”

Jesus, the priests, elders, teachers, leaders of your people 

Stand to condemn you with mouths filled with lies

How do you respond? 

You say nothing but your heart radiates love

For your chosen people, who call you enemy

If only they would turn, and still some may

Then you would gather them to you

To the end, your heart aches with love for them

And then bound before Pilate

Bloodthirsty, heathen, manipulative self-interest

But child of God still the same. 

If only he would receive your living water

Your bread of life, the light you shine

But this is just another political calculation

Doing whatever to keep this bloody peace

And to the end, with love, your soul mourns his hard-heartedness

Now the crowds, chanting against you, whipped to a frenzy

You see and know each one

Timaeus, Alpheus, Sharon, Joses, Efraim

Jonath, Mara, Michah, Imma, Eli

Each created as a gift, a vessel for your love, Treasured

But they shout for your blood and choose a criminal for freedom

How your heart breaks to see them captive and ensnared in hatred

And yet you love them to the end

And the soldiers taking advantage of your helplessness

Mocking, striking, spitting, taunting

Outdoing one another with cruelty

So far from what they were created to be

To show kindness, to bless and build up

As the blows rain down upon you, you cry out in your spirit with each impact

I, Love, You, Beloved, Child, Not, Forgotten, Forgive, Them

You send out blessings as they beat you

Even the soldiers you love to the end

Now they nail you to the cross, and your blood flows freely

Crying out your love to all those gathered jeering

If only they could see the compassion in your eyes

Your deep desire for reconciliation

For thieves to join you in paradise

For an end to the mourning and suffering and death

You love them to the end and so, every fiber of your being cries out

“Father forgive them for they know not what they do” 

Even in your despair, you hold onto love

For each of these your children, gone so far astray

Jesus, we know your enemy love by this

That while we were still sinners

you loved us in your passion

You loved us to the end

© Dale Gish 2020. All Rights Reserved.

This prayer was inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. If you are interested in praying the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius with me starting in September, please contact me.

A Blessing For The Storm

A Blessing For The Storm

May the Lord bless you and keep you

May Jesus be with you in the storm 

not in your boat

but may you be in his boat

Whether sleeping or awake

Trusting or frightened

Joyful or sorrowing

May you know his presence.

May you hear him speaking to the wind and the waves

Speaking peace and calm wherever you may be

May you know how cherished you are

beloved daughter, beloved son

You are not alone

You are held in his sustaining love

© Dale Gish 2020. All Rights Reserved.

In Everything (including Coronavirus) Turn Towards Jesus

In everything (including Coronavirus) turn towards Jesus.

The Lord’s deep desire for us is that we receive his love. God is always looking upon each of us personally with a loving gaze, and we are invited to return his gaze and receive his love. So many things in our lives and in our world are broken (such as Coronavirus), not as God intends. But God is always at work, seeking redemption, bringing good out of evil. 

Jesus meets us right where we are. There is no need to be somewhere else in order to receive him. Often the first step in his redemption, in the midst of the brokenness and pain is that we turn towards Jesus and his love. Perhaps nothing in our situation has materially changed except we now notice his presence, experience his loving care. We are not alone. Jesus is right there with us and that changes everything. 

But where are we? Sometimes before we can know his presence with us we have to acknowledge the reality of where we are. We may be too busy reacting to or avoiding what we are facing that we can’t be present to the reality of our situation and to the Lord’s presence with us in that place. So where are you right now? What are you facing? What is your situation? 

Right now the Coronavirus may be a significant part of your situation. Are you sick? Are you afraid? Are you worried about your elderly parents? Has your kids’ school been closed? Is your job or your business at risk or your retirement plan evaporating? Are you separated from loved ones? Is your church canceling services or changing how it operates? Has your vacation been canceled or are you self quarantined in your house? Does it feel like the world is falling apart? Where are you?

As a spiritual director I want to encourage you. Here and now, right where you are, turn towards Jesus and welcome his loving presence. Let him meet you in the very place that you are. That’s the first step in what Jesus wants to do in your situation, whether that situation is Coronavirus or something else. And keep turning towards him. How will he care for you? What will he invite you to do in response? Where does he call you to love and serve? How will he involve you in his redemptive work in this world? Stay connected, always turning to him in whatever situation you are in.

Forgiven

Lord, I come to you in need of mercy

Your forgiveness

My sin is heavy upon me

A weight I cannot bear

But you see through my sin

and look at me with great compassion and love

And now you speak words of forgiveness to me

Words that release me, unbind me

My heart leaps for joy

Miraculous mercy

Gratuitous grace

Fantastic freedom

I want to forgive everyone

Blessing springs up everywhere

You overwhelm me with your love

There is nothing I can say or do except to love you.

© Dale Gish 2020. All Rights Reserved.

This prayer was inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. If you are interested in praying the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius with me starting in September, please contact me.

Prayer: Spirit of God Come Upon Me

Spirit of God

Come upon me

Breath of God

Anoint me for good news

That I may join with you 

In my poverty 

As you

Bless the poor

Free the prisoners

Make blind eyes see

Release the burdens of the oppressed

And manifest the jubilee of your kingdom

I can only go where you lead me

Your humble vessel

Filled with your love

Only sustained by you

© Dale Gish 2020. All Rights Reserved.

Praying Hell, With Ignatian Aikido

In the theme of sin in the Ignatian Exercises, we take on the remarkable task of praying with hell. As an instrument of spiritual growth, we imagine ourselves in hell, try to experience it as fully as we are able to. Why in the world would we want to do that? We’re supposed to be trying to avoid hell, after all, aren’t we? 

Ignatian spirituality has the same movement as Aikido, the Japanese martial art, where instead of pushing back against the attacker, instead you welcome the attack and let it become an advantage for you. And so it is with Hell, we fear hell, and try to avoid it. But in the Exercises, we are invited to welcome it, receive it, experience it, in order to grow our love for God.  

Imagine what it would be like to let your sin consume you, overwhelm you, destroy every good thing in your life, every joy, every relationship, every consolation. Imagine being filled with bitterness, malice, hatred, frustration, despair, lust, fear, dread, etc. Imagine being so consumed that you were cut completely off from God, who loves you and created you in love, so cut off that you could never praise and only curse him forever.

Then ask yourself is that good? Do I like that? Or do I like being close to, united with God? Let the absence of God and his consolation stir in your heart a longing, a longing for union with the Lord. Let this experience of hell lead you to cry out to the Lord your Savior, “I need you, have mercy, save me from the sin that only brings death.”

And as we approach Jesus on the cross, we are invited to open our hearts in conversation. “Jesus, you are my life, my hope, and my love. May I never have that taken away from me. Let me love you forever, not curse you forever. May I continue to open myself to your love and receive it. Make me grateful and joyful in the good gifts you give me. I am poor and weak and needy. Save me, Jesus.”

And Jesus responds to us with words of grace, restoration, and hope.  He says, “I am at work, leading you deep into your sin and will use it for good. Hold my hand and walk with me. I will cross every chasm, I will bring you to me. I will release you from your bondage and make you new.

Jesus takes us deep into sin, even into hell, and uses that to deepen our love, to free us from bondage and allow us to find new life and hope in him.

© Dale Gish 2019. All Rights Reserved.

This reflection was inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. If you are interested in praying the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius with me starting in September, please contact me.

You Could Pray Like This All Night

Emptied by the crowds, you dismissed them

choosing the twisting path up the mountainside

To be alone at last

to turn your face towards home

The Father came running

As if you were a prodigal

But the Spirit was faster

Igniting your heart

And coursing through your veins

Such rejoicing, delight, re-union

Not that there was ever any distance

Just subtle moments of presence amid human existence

But now, face to face, spirit to Spirit

Love like fountains intermingling

You could pray like this all night

And you did.

Grace upon grace

Joy upon joy

Kingdom breaking in

Just a taste of the fullness to come

When the three of you redeem

and fill everything to overflowing

But now as day breaks

There are boat battered disciples to tend

And a world to embrace

-A poem written in prayer with Matt 14:22-33

© Dale Gish 2019. All Rights Reserved.

This prayer was inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. If you are interested in praying the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius with me starting in September, please contact me.

Prayerful Thoughts from the Ignatian Exercises Part 2

I’ve continued reflecting on the themes and prayers of the Ignatian exercises. There are so many memorable thoughts, so I decided to share some. May God continue to use them.

© Dale Gish 2019. All Rights Reserved.

These thoughts were inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. If you are interested in praying the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius with me starting in September 2021, please contact me. You can also read more here, or see specifics for the coming year on my flyer.

Prayerful Thoughts from the Ignatian Exercises Part 1

I’ve been reflecting recently on the themes and prayers of the Ignatian exercises. There are so many memorable thoughts, so I decided to share some.

© Dale Gish 2019. All Rights Reserved.

These thoughts were inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. If you are interested in praying the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius with me starting in September, please contact me.