This morning during my quiet time I read these words from a devotional I use often: “Shield of Souls, I place myself in your protective silence. May we meet heart to heart. To you I dedicate the unfolding acts of this day.” Because this is a devotional resource that is cyclical, I know I have read these words before but for some reason, today, they had special meaning for me. What does it mean to place ourselves in the protection of the Holy One? What might it mean to meet God ‘heart to heart’?
I think of all the times I have heard prayers for protection. I think of all the times, often in great distress, that I have prayed them. Most often these prayers are on the line of “Please God don’t let this happen.” I have to admit that even in the midst of praying these prayers, I am a bit sceptical. There is an implication in the praying that somehow I am so special to God that, whatever bad thing I am trying to outrun, will be stopped by the hand of a Superhero God. The truth is, I don’t really believe that is the way it all works. I am not more special to God than my friend who is battling a beast of a cancer. I am no more special to God than those who die in a car accident or a terrorist attack. I am no more special than the one whose house is destroyed by storm, or whose child is lost, or whatever terrible life circumstance that can be imagined.
The Celts have countless prayers for protection that I find very helpful. They are not of the superhero kind. They are prayers that claim from day’s beginning to day’s end, we travel in the presence of the Holy. Whatever befalls us, God is there. There are the tragedies of life that come to everyone sooner or later but these prayers of protection, many written hundreds of years ago, are more about a deep wisdom that God is in it all with us. No matter what.
For me, this is the heart to heart part. When I am ecstatic with joy, my heart is touching God’s heart in that experience. Whatever it is that is bringing me such a spirit of rejoicing, knowing that the very Breath that breathed my life into existence is dancing in that joy makes my days worth living. When my heart is breaking, the heart of the Holy is in the depth of my sorrow with me. I am not alone. There is no miraculous, swooping in motion to save the day. But there is the assurance of not being forgotten, or lost, or unimportant, in being loved. In that knowing, I am grounded in this relationship with God. My heart and God’s heart become one, sing together, weep together.
Wherever the journey of this day takes you, it is my prayer that you can know you do not travel alone. If your day brings joy, if your day brings sorrow, may you be held, heart to heart.
May the blessing of the
Arch of Heaven be over me,
may the blessing of the
Abyss of Earth be under me,
may I be safe-kept in your care.
~Caitlin Matthews