Jesus became holy through the struggle that was constantly His to surrender Himself completely to the Father. Jesus became sinless in this struggle as He yielded to God's Spirit within Him, and went against the urge toward independence away from the will of the Father.
George A Maloney, S.J. “Alone With The Alone”
George A Maloney, S.J. “Alone With The Alone”
In the Gospels, we read of Jesus, after His baptism and full of the Holy Spirit, being led into the wilderness for forty days. And during those forty days, during this time of intense prayer and fasting, a purification process took place, and Jesus’ mission as the Messiah, Son of God, was fully revealed to Him.
Forty days of fasting and prayer is, in itself, not without great significance. In fact, it is significant not only in our Judeo-Christian faith tradition, but also in other world religions as well. In our own Judeo-Christian tradition, we know that Moses prayed for forty days on the mountain during which time he received the Ten Commandments. In scripture, forty days is associated with the time recommended for mourning, to be released from the grip of grief experienced by the loss of a loved one. Also, in scripture, forty days is the time of purification required by Jewish law after the birth of a child. Many other religions of the world claim that it takes forty days of prayer and reflection to be able to break the deeply engrained habits caused by our secular conditioning. Examples of this might be as an excessive attachment to security or excessive fears that have become crippling to us. Little did I know that my forty days in the desert on the outskirts of Tucson would blow away boundaries and embark me on an inner journey of faith that would take months to resolve and years to understand.
Forty days of fasting and prayer is, in itself, not without great significance. In fact, it is significant not only in our Judeo-Christian faith tradition, but also in other world religions as well. In our own Judeo-Christian tradition, we know that Moses prayed for forty days on the mountain during which time he received the Ten Commandments. In scripture, forty days is associated with the time recommended for mourning, to be released from the grip of grief experienced by the loss of a loved one. Also, in scripture, forty days is the time of purification required by Jewish law after the birth of a child. Many other religions of the world claim that it takes forty days of prayer and reflection to be able to break the deeply engrained habits caused by our secular conditioning. Examples of this might be as an excessive attachment to security or excessive fears that have become crippling to us. Little did I know that my forty days in the desert on the outskirts of Tucson would blow away boundaries and embark me on an inner journey of faith that would take months to resolve and years to understand.
This inner journey started off very similar to the shorter retreats taken during the preceding ten years. It takes time, through meditation, to begin the process of surrender. So setting apart times each day is important to begin to enter into this process. This retreat, because of its length, gave me the time to devote to meditation interspersed with reflective reading and prayer.
Although we often hear others speak about surrender (or “let go and let God”), it is beneficial to have an understanding of what this means if we are to move towards discovering, as Carl Rogers puts it, this innermost self as something apart from the exterior self.
The fourteenth century mystic, Ruysbrock, describes surrender in this way. This is the practice that I followed as I entered into this retreat experience.
-Believe and accept through Grace that the God dwells within, and therefore turn within to discover and expect to find God dwelling within you.
-Be diligent to rid yourself of all distracting thoughts, images and attachments of the heart to any created being or thing, to escape into God. Guard your outward senses from all worldly attractions which cling so easily, to be carried away in union with God.
-Freely turn your will towards God so that your whole being is absorbed and directed by His presence - body, mind and spirit - in complete dependence and submission.
-Acknowledge your weaknesses and the impossibility of doing this on your own. Only in faith is this possible. So surrender to God, and allow your souls to be over-powered and absorbed into oneness with Him.
We all have experience of surrendering. Every night, we surrender to sleep. Meditation is not surrendering to sleep but to “attentiveness” to God within. In loving, we surrender in that moment to the one we love. We are led by our desire to enter deeply into this act of giving of self to the other in love. This is surrender. Meditation is a giving of ourselves in love to God who dwells within, to discover the One who lives in union with our innermost being.
Gerald May in his book “Will and Spirit” describes the qualities of surrender in meditation in this way:
It is intentional: It is the result of the free and unencumbered use of one’s will. It is a free choice. It may be called forth from one’s heart, but it never forced or compelled in any way.
It is conscious: One is wide awake and aware of everything that is happening at the time of surrender. There is no dullness, no robotic mindlessness.
It involves responsibility for the consequences as well as for the act itself: We are willing to accept the full consequences of whatever may result from the surrender. We let go of ego involvement in the desire to surrender. Even if the surrender at any time or in any may way results in destructiveness, one is willing to accept the responsibility for this. There can be no blaming of any other person, cause, force or entity. We accept the consequences of "letting go".
It is not directed toward any fully known object: Thus it cannot in anyway be a means of furthering one’s self-definition or self-importance. It must be directed toward the true Godhead, existing beyond all images and concepts. Thereby, it becomes the giving of one’s own mysterious soul to the ultimate Mystery that created it, energized and sustained it, and called it forth.
It represents a willingness to engage the fullness of life with the fullness of oneself: It cannot be an escape or avoidance. It must be a “yes” rather than a “no”.
In meditation, we are intentional in our desire for union; it is a fully conscious and an alive action; we desire God with a heart-felt love and our desire is directed towards Him; and it is a “yes” to the new life that springs from our faith in the One we love.
It represents a willingness to engage the fullness of life with the fullness of oneself: It cannot be an escape or avoidance. It must be a “yes” rather than a “no”.
In meditation, we are intentional in our desire for union; it is a fully conscious and an alive action; we desire God with a heart-felt love and our desire is directed towards Him; and it is a “yes” to the new life that springs from our faith in the One we love.
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