Connections

In response to failure, Peter repents, Judas despairs..... Despair - losing a sense of the possible, losing connection.
A focus in this meditation first on physical connection, with our own bodies.
Secondly on connection with others - and a loving kindness meditation directed towards others:
Picture in your mind’s eye, try to encounter as vividly as possible, someone for whom you feel deep love and unity. Let him or her be there with you as you express these desires.
May you be happy.
May you be blessed.
May you be free and peaceful.
May you be ever loved.
May you be always loving.
Now repeat the exercise, this time picturing someone you hardly know. Wish them the same loving desires.
Thirdly, connecting with the divine (God), which in the Israel of Jesus’ times, was implicit in the word "righteousness" - an energy-charged sphere of holy presence. To be “in the righteousness of God” (as Old Testament writers are fond of saying) means to be directly connected to this vibrational field, to be anchored within God’s own aliveness.
The beguine mystic Mechthild of Magdeburg (c. 1207-c. 1282) wrote about her experience of God’s passionate love and desire for connection. She records a dialogue between her soul and God:
The soul begins:
Ah, Lord, love me passionately, love me often, love me long. For the more continuously You love me, the purer I will be; the more fervently You love me, the more beautiful I will be; the longer You love me, the holier I will become here on earth.
God responds:
Because I Myself am Love, I will love you continuously.
Because I long to be loved passionately, My desire is to love you fervently.
Because I am everlasting and eternal, I will love you long…. [4]
When I shine, you will reflect my radiance,
When I flow, you will flow swiftly,
When you breathe, you draw into yourself My Divine Heart.
When you cry for Me, I take you into My arms.
When you love Me, we are united as one.
Nothing can separate us, for we abide together joyfully. [5]
Music from Taize - Nothing can ever come between us and the love of God...
Taize chant:
Nothing can ever come between us and the love of God,
Revealed to us in Christ Jesus