Beside Restful Waters

“Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.”

Psalm 110: 1 of the Christian scriptures

I have read and pondered this phrase dozens of times. Yesterday, though, the pondering moved in a new direction. This ‘invitation’ if you will, took me in to three areas of thought.

First, I am invited to ‘sit at my right hand’. With whom do I sit? Yes, the obvious thought is to sit in the presence of my Higher Power. Yes. But I found so many others sitting with me at the right hand, or the feet, or in the presence of Higher Power. Each of us sitting carried an enemy. Each of us sitting also carried a Divine energy. While there appeared to be one Source of this Divine energy, each of us offered a unique expansion of this energy.

As we sat in the Presence of The Source, our Higher Power, we carried the energies of an enemy and a Divinity. We were both – and.

Second, I heard the word ‘till’. Till???

Till what?

I am not a patient man. Till what? I screamed!

Till what?

"Till I” make something of your enemy, Greg. I’ll do it. We will do it. Who are you

to make something of my enemy?

I AM quiet.

I AM patient.

I AM love.

I AM compassion.

I AM the faces of all who sit with me.

WE ARE Divinity!

In this quiet, in which I struggle to be; in this fleeting moment of silence, I heard our voices with that of our Higher Power calling us to rest. We were called to lay our enemy before each other and our Divine Source.

In this brief moment of stillness, one of you lifted my enemy from me for a moment. You lifted my enemy ‘till’ I experienced enough relief to rest…… to quiet…… and to know a bit of healing.

Fr. Richard Rohr reminded me that “compassion includes a willingness to identify so fully with someone that you would be willing to carry a little of their suffering.”

There you were, willing to carry a bit of my suffering, my enemy. All of us were willing to carry a bit of each other’s enemy, our suffering. All of us are willing to enter into this Divine presence and offer compassion.

Third is the footstool.

When I use my footstool, I am entering into rest. I am taking time to relax, to interrupt the chaos that disconnects me from Divinity. I find a bit of silence and breath, the inspiration to expand beyond the burden of my enemy. In the silence, the Divine experience illuminates how we express patience, love, compassion, and all those blessings that define sobriety.

Whew!

I breathe. We breathe.

Now, I rest in gratitude beside waters that nourish, cleanse, and remind me that we are not to be taken for granted.

We are not to be taken for granted.

Thank you.

Namaste’