John 12:24-26
Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life, lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me, must follow me.
May you feel the seeds in your belly rumbling
as they yearn to break open and release new life.
May the breaking open of these seeds be
an earthquake shifting the plates of your soul.
May you notice the tiny green shoots
breaking though the ground of your awareness.
May you feel the pull of your very being reaching
toward the abundance of God, as the stem is
drawn toward the sunlight.
May you experience the unfurling of your petals one by one in a blaze of color. May you feel yourself stretched wide in a posture of welcoming to all that is yet to be spoken within you. As your petals fall gently to the ground
may you remember that after blossoming comes the journey toward fruit. ~ Christine Valters Paintner
PRAYER OF IMAGINATION
Read over the guided meditation. Take a few deep breaths and quiet your mind. Sit in silence holding a seed/seeds in your hands. Visualize the life of the seed: decaying -rain - softening soil - sprouting - greening - blossoming - bearing fruit. Be silent and attentive to what is happening in you.
Feel the seed in your belly - rumbling in the darkness.
Feel the rain falling on the soil and moistening the seed.
Sit silently, waiting for something to happen.
All that is in you tries desperately not to surrender.
Why let go?
Feel the seed decay and the seed coat surrender, release the husk coat.
Feel the loving warmth and call - Let go! Let go!
As you let go - you feel a tiny sliver of green at the center
Something wonderful is greening deep within your heart.
Feel the pull of your being reaching toward the abundance of God.
The tender sprout moves through the hard soil to the warm sunlight.
Welcome the light - open to all that is to come.
Feel the buds forming. The petals unfurl.
Watch and wait - it grows and blossoms - brilliant colors
Petals fall, fruit begins to form and ripen.
Reflection
As you prayed the prayer of imagination? What did you notice?
How did the drenching rain and the softening earth feel?
What was decaying in you? How did it feel to let go?
What was/is growing deep within your heart? What new life was/is coming forth?
What is blossoming, ripening and producing fruit?
What is it like to feel God’s tender work in the core of your being - in every chamber of your heart?
Song: In the bulb there is a flower - DisciplesNet Church
Paintner, C. (2018). The soul’s slow ripening. Notre Dame, IN: Sorin Books
This ”greening” one is for me too! The excitement of seed being planted & growing always makes me remember Mark 4, & the man who planted his field, & then would sleep & rise, night & day, go out to check... until finally the seed would sprout & grow, but he didn’t know how! Mystery & wonder, dying, & growing & greening - they all belong together, & I need to keep on reflecting on that some more! Thanks much!!