The Inner Space !

I found this Bill Board hanging outside a shop, in a shopping complex in a sub-urban village, which sold household articles, decorations and some antiques. 

I waited outside to look at the age spectrum of the customers at the shop. They were elderly people. During that fifteen minutes all the five who dropped in for a casual look left without buying anything. 

The logo, which to me was well designed, exemplified the concept of the inner peace. They are spaces left in between the blocks which occupied the space. 

We are occupied people with our ides, thoughts, work, responsibilities, vision, aspiration, family, plans, etc. 

 

For someone like me, I have often a sense of clutter, which reduces the inner space, occupied by existential questions. 

For the last one month, with only two months left for my work contract to expire, I have had thoughts that occupied my mental space about planning for retirement. 

With the above thoughts occupying my mind, I turned to look at the other side of the street. I noticed a tree bare with only some autumn leaves left. Soon the tree would be devoid of leaves  in preparation for the winter. 

There are times when the outer identity of the tree would change depending on the seasons of the year. But the inner identity of the tree is rather constant. 

What then is the inner space !

The inner space occupies the true identity of a person. 

The person of Jesus of Nazareth lived in His inner space and reached out into the outer space. On one occasion, Jesus withdrew on His own to the mountain, while His disciples towards the evening set out in a boat to go to Capernaum (John 6;15-21). Th sea was rough and after rowing for three or four miles, the boat was caught in a strong wind. It was then Jesus appeared to them walking towards them on the water, whose presence and words stilled the storm. The disciples 'were ready to receive Jesus in to the boat' and immediately the boat moved towards the land.  

Jesus perceived the struggle of His disciples to steady the boat in the wind, although He was physically away from them in a distant place. This inner consciousness of the events outside is a gift, of those who practice the creating inner space, where there is a heightened inner attentiveness and sense of presence. Often a sense of the outer events about to take place will be experienced by those, who have the habit of renewing the inner space with sensitivity and thoughtfulness. 

I get a sense of the inner readiness that is required to respond to different situations. Jesus reached out to the disciples in response to the promptings He received during His time alone in the mountain. The disciples were ready to welcome Jesus into the wind-blown boat at that troubled time, having exhausted themselves rowing against the wind.   

The inner space is what offers us an awareness of how we are to respond in various situations. It also creates an awareness about how and whom we are to engage in an attitude of mindfulness. 

The inner space is where God abides! It is this reality, which makes our inner space, in one sense serene and sacred. To keep the inner space in that godly orientation is possible through  periods of silence and waiting!

The outer event of the autumn tree shedding its leaves is a sign of preparing for transition for the winter. 

The inner space needs readiness and receptive orientation to welcome the outer events. 

For me,  this season is that time of preparing myself to welcome the outer event of retiring from work after fifty years! It is also the time to wait for awakening within the inner space about what ought to be my way of responding to the opportunities to live mindfully of others from now on !

The inner space is a sacred space within each of us, where we live. The outer space is our theatre of activity into which we come to be present from our inner space!

It is to this inner room we are exhorted by Jesus of Nazareth to come to pray (Mathew 6:6) ! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)