Made for Goodness by Desmond Tutu & Mpho Tutu

As mentioned in an earlier post, we are reading and discussing this book in our Contemplative Prayer Group.  It is a book in which every chapter gives the reader a gift and reveals the heart of this exceptional spiritual leader.  When I read in the acknowledgements of the book, that Mpho had spent time in Hot Springs, NC while preparing this book, I felt an invisible connection and was so pleased that my area had provided rest for her as she was writing. I'm going to share two selections of the many gifts this book gave to me.

 At the end of each chapter there is a poem in which the reader is directed to "turn into the stillness and listen to God speak with the voice of the heart" .....

Failure and shame shut your eyes
So you can't see me.
Anguish and pain shriek with your voice
And you can't hear me.
Guilt makes you turn aside
And you think I have walked away.
But through it all I am right here,
Right here where you weep lonely tears for me,
Right here where you thought you didn't want me to be.
I AM.

"Why have you forsaken me?"
I hear the cry through all eternity.
Child, I am here.
I know what you are doing.
I weep for you when you slide away from all that is right,
When you turn your back on all that is good.
I weep for you.
I see the harm that you do.
In my hand I hold your hand.
In my hand I hold the hurting hand of the one you are harming.
Right now,
In this moment,
I stand between the two of you and neither of you see me.
In one hand I hold the hand of my beloved child
My dear one who is blinded by suffering.
In my other hand I hold the hand of my beloved child
My dear one whose savagery and shame hide me from sight.
But I am here
Beside you both,
Between, within, and all around you both.
I AM.  

Here is a section from the chapter of Hearing God's Voice and I have already found it to be very helpful in quieting myself for prayer.

There are many ways to still oneself.  Mpho teaches the use of breath and of the line of the Psalter "Be still and know" as a path into stillness.  "Be still and know" is mouthed on a slow inhalation; "that I am God" is mouthed on the exhalation. The words are not spoken aloud. But mouthing the words helps to hold the attention.  Although the words fall away, the inhalation and exhalation do not become shorter.  Rather, breath fills the wordless space.

Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am
Be still and know that I
Be still and know that
Be still and know
Be still and
Be still
Be

When Mpho uses this form of prayer, she will reconstruct the line word by word and then allow each word to fall away again in turn.  Sometimes that construction and deconstruction will fill the whole period she has set aside for meditation.  Sometimes the words fall away as she sinks into silence.  On occasion the words fall away and then return as some distraction threatens to intrude on the stillness. The words and breath are like a banister in an uneven stairwell: sometimes one must lean on the banister heavily; other times a light touch is all that is necessary to steady one's step; still other times the railing is not needed at all.  It is so with the words of the psalm and the attention to the breath: sometimes they are needed to push the chatter aside; sometimes they are a barely perceptible presence; sometimes they fall away completely. This kind of rhythmic repetition of a words, verse, or mantra is a prayer practice that anyone can use. When the repetition is paired with attention to the breath, it offers a path into deep silence. As we find and inhabit that silence, we will become more attuned to the voice of God.