FEEL THE PULSE OF THE UNIVERSE ' ...........

A LENTEN PILGRIMAGE

Rev. Fr. K M George THE  NIGHT

“David got up in the thick of the night in order to sing praises to the wonderful decrees of God, and he saw the amazing beauty of the moon and the stars decking the firmament of the sky, and he marvelled at their order”.

The night is glorified in the Lenten prayers not withstanding its ambiguous symbolism related to ignorance and evil. The Lent  itself, despite its apparent dryness of fasting and abstinence, can become a night of spiritual streams and revelation of the higher knowledge of the beauty of God’s ordering of creation. For those inclined to a meditative quiet there is no better time than the night.

 Covered by the dark veil and hidden from curious eyes and with most of her children put to sleep, mother nature goes into a deep meditation herself. So the best time and place for our own meditation is the lap of nature at night. The gospels tell us that Jesus left the crowd and even His close disciples in the evenings “and went up alone to the mountain to pray.” There He had no man-made building to stay in, but it was plain nature open to the vast sky.

For most people the vision of the sky at night is more enchanting than that of the day. While the blinding light of the sun eclipses all stars in the day sky, they come out in their infinite numbers and delightfully illuminate the night sky in the absence of the sun. When things go against us, 

when we suffer from serious setbacks, loss or disease we say it is night for us. But the very night of disarray and despair can provide to us an exquisite vision of the universe in its broader and brighter dimensions. Meditating on this mystery of the night vision we will be filled with new hope and plans for the future. The night is spiritually the most creative time for a deeper perception of our life.

As a practical step we need to go out at some odd hour of the night and watch the starry sky in a meditative mood thinking of the incredible distances of the stars, the amazing rhythm and harmony of the planetary and galactic movements. Being aware of our own breathing we can listen to the music and feel the pulse of the universe, and be profoundly grateful to God our Creator for the very life in us.