Emily Rose Meditations

May we begin the way we intend to continue: with care.

Our quickly our innocent thoughts can shift and become sin! Today's reflection leads us through the train of thought that so swiftly moves from a fleeting memory crossing our minds to a wrathful response in our hearts (and other deadly sins).

This short chapter today tells us exactly how to engage and practice meditation. It's as simple as it gets! (but not easy, necessarily, and demanding practice)

Today we explore the active and contemplative lives of Christians; both are good and necessary. For our purposes, studying, and longing for God in Christian meditation, we pay especial attention to Mary, to what Jesus says to her, and how we might engage this practice, Put simply, "It is an impulse of love, a dark gazing into the pure being of God."

Today, we get into some nuts and bolts of meditation; our anonymous author explains "mantra" in a beautiful way!

All our knowledge, even about theology, cannot bring the intimacy which transforms the soul. We must seek God's self only as we contemplate.

Our practice is to focus and refocus and focus yet again on God's essence; our spirit becomes ever more accustomed to his presence when we practice noticing (contemplating) his being.

"You only need a tiny scrap of time to move toward God." Contemplation can sharpen our God-awareness muscles, in order to be ready when God speaks.

There are things we will never know or understand, may we accept this, and may we accept our creatureliness, as surely as we hope to accept God's goodness.

Our "job is to keep the windows and doors of our souls open, but screened against insects and vermin." Ask "How do I continue?" Ask, "What shall I do next?"

The Cloud of Unknowing is an anonymous text from the 1300s, addressing issues around spiritual contemplation, and the practical struggles in growing a relationship with God.

In the tradition of Augustine’s Confessions, and later works including St. John of the Cross, The Cloud of Unknowing urges us toward a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, founded not on our knowledge or intellect, but on a heart intimacy, and companionship of our souls. Psalm 134 tells us, "I still my soul and make it quiet, like a child upon its mother's breast; my soul is quiete...

Here ends Julian’s Revelations of Divine Love. This window into perfect, true love allows us a glimpse of the love we long for and the love that surrounds us always. It gives us a vision of how we too might join in the dance of God’s love here and now in our time-bound lives, and also what is promised in the eternal bliss of heaven. If you’d like to continue the conversation, find me on my patreon...

We’re time-bound as creatures, but we have this strange bit of eternity dwelling inside us too; so what might it mean and how might be we more free if we considered ourselves – or even just imagined for a moment! – free from time, outside of time, unfettered by time? This is inspired by the eighty-fifth chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conversation at...

Somehow faith is also charity, and charity is also a manifestation of God; today Mtr. Emily shares a meditation tool she uses to solidify charity and the peace of God in her mind and heart. This is inspired by the eighty-fourth chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conversation at patreon.com/emilyhylden

If faith is our light, coming naturally from day, it seems that faith is not something we can create or control very well, just like we can’t drag up the sun at 1am or wish it to stay suspended in the sky for longer than its time. We cannot create or manipulate the faith in us, the trust that grows like a seedling into a strong tree. We can only ask and hope for it, we can only accept faith and tr...

God longs for us to look at and know all of himself, and for us to look at and know all of ourselves, too. One of the sticky parts of ourselves is our tendency to sin, but one of the beautiful parts of God is his devotion to forgiveness. This is inspired by the eighty-second chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conversation at patreon.com/emilyhylden

What a wonder that as God reveals himself, he does not do so by images of high and mighty places, or in visages of himself in impressive power, but of himself situated and contented in his most-loved dwelling which is our own very souls. What a thing to contemplate: that within each person you meet is one of God’s favorite and most-cherished spots to dwell. This is inspired by the eighty-first cha...

A few chapters back (#77, episode 102), Julian urges us to ask God if we’re not sure how to continue in our journey with him. Here, she provides a bit of direction on that score. We’re given three things to pay attention to. The brains in our skulls balanced and tempered with the gathered wisdom, discernment, and teaching of God’s community, and the mystical work of the Holy Spirit. This is inspir...

Some of us may be given to wallow and stew, and I wonder if it’s something like is addressed in Matthew 6, where the hypocrite walks around with a dour face, lamenting himself. Julian – and God! – urge us instead not to be bogged down by memory of our sin or to get stuck in the mire of misery, but to assure ourselves, as God the truth assures us, that we are forgiven and whole, and to redirect our...

God is truth. God cannot avoid or deny or cover up what is reality. We humans, Julian sees in herself, can tend toward denial, avoidance, even delusion from what is true. We use these as coping mechanisms when there’s something big and scary in front of us – just as Julian describes sin in the beginning of this chapter. But the good news is that we’re never left alone to reckon with reality, we’re...

As we grow in our life of faith, journeying with God as our companion and guide, I wonder if we sometimes forget to ask our guide for directions. I tend to assume I’m supposed to figure things out, or perhaps its just the sin of self-reliance growing in me! But today Julian urges us to ask God to tell and show us how to become ever more united with himself, to come ever more into alignment with th...

Julian echoes the story of Mary & Martha in today’s reading, affirming that “sloth and time-wasting” are vices, but that busyness is not necessarily the thing to be sought. “Inward contemplation” is even better, as far as growth in God is concerned. This is inspired by the seventy-sixth chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conversation at patreon.com/e...

Julian describes witnessing the fruition of the promise of joy, and how she sees the whole world trembling in fear as this ultimate bliss comes to pass. Can you think of a time when you were able to watch something wonderful as it happened? How did you feel? Did you tremble? This is inspired by the seventy-fifth chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the convers...

Fear often comes from a lack of control, or power. In this case, speaking of our lives and of God, our fear comes from a lack of trust. If we look behind the fear of attack, the fear of punishment, the fear of doubt, we find that they’re all rooted in the question of whether we can trust God’s goodness, God’s love. We’ve been bandied about by life, we live in a world that is broken and the voices...