Silent Saturday: Selah

John 16:16, 20, 22 

A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me. Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

Ecclesiastes 3:1,4

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn, and a time to dance

The word Selah appears 71 times in the Psalms.  Although scholars do not agree on its specific meaning, they do agree that it means something like a pause, rest, silence, or breath. This Saturday is a gift to us, for between the overwhelming grief of Good Friday and the equally overwhelming joy of Jesus’ resurrection on Sunday, we need to take time to pause, to reflect, and to yes, just breathe.

Selah also can mean “to lift up,” as in raising our thoughts to meditate on God’s word. It implies meditation leading to prayer. Meditation in the Bible is an exercise of the mind and heart, focusing on God’s Person, His Word, His Works. It is a spiritual discipline that involves intentional and sustained thought on Him with Him.  Students who have taken the Spiritual Disciplines class at Pusch Ridge have practiced meditating on God’s word in silence and solitude. I invite you to join them in this spiritual practice.
 
While the Bible does not provide a detailed methodology for meditation, it clearly emphasizes its importance as a means of spiritual growth and intimacy with God. By meditating on Scripture, believers align their thoughts with God's will, leading to a life marked by obedience, peace, and joy.

Prayer: MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does, in fact, please you. - Thomas Merton                                                                                               

Sonnet XIII by Malcolm Guite

His spirit and his life he breathes in all
Now on this cross his body breathes no more
Here at the centre everything is still
Spent, and emptied, opened to the core.
A quiet taking down, a prising loose
A cross-beam lowered like a weighing scale
Unmaking of each thing that had its use
A long withdrawing of each bloodied nail,
This is ground zero, emptiness and space
With nothing left to say or think or do
But look unflinching on the sacred face
That cannot move or change or look at you.
Yet in that prising loose and letting be
He has unfastened you and set you free.
                                

Pieta by Michelangelo

Michelangelo (1475-1564) sculpted the famous Pieta when he was just 24 years old. It is cut from a single piece of Carrera marble and currently resides in St. Peter’s Church in the Vatican. The Pieta shows Mary in her grief holding the dead Jesus, who has just been lowered from the cross. Possibly, she is reflecting on when she held him on her lap many years before when he was a baby and toddler. The beauty and sadness of the sculpture have moved many people.