When living under so many restrictions, we may have definite ideas as to what ‘more’ or what ‘else’ would make us content. Religious teachings often commend contentment with what is. We look at a story from the bible that speaks into this - and invite you to ask what it says to you.
The Old Man of Storr. Photo by Matt Thornhill on Unsplash
What, if anything, do you believe would make you happy? Complete release from lockdown? A simple hug from a loved one? Neither of these are likely for some weeks, if not months. We might long for them but perhaps we might also ask for the ability to experience contentment in the here and now, as it were a gift in itself.
We read in the Hebrew Scriptures of an elderly man, Simeon, who reaches a point in his life when he is so content, he is happy to die. The story infers that after this moment, nothing else could make his life any better.
We meet Simeon when Mary and Joseph, as Jewish tradition and law dictate, take the 40-day-old Jesus to the temple. The old man is described as ‘righteous and devout’ and had at some point in his life received a Divine promise that ‘he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah’.
It is this experience of seeing and then holding the infant Jesus that prompts Simeon’s exclamation which means ‘I am content!’. The awaited promise is fulfilled.
Read the story here.
One method of engaging with Scripture is to place ourselves in the scene, allowing the Divine to speak to us through our imagination. We might take up a certain character, imagine ourselves there alongside or as one of the actors, becoming aware of what is going on and how we feel about it.
Try this, if you wish. It may help to read the above story more than once, and then imagine the scene: hear the sounds, see the sights, enter the emotional landscape as Mary and Joseph bring their new-born son to be presented to God.
Watch as they enter the temple, as Simeon approaches them, the way he takes the baby in his arms. How do you feel? You can spend time with the image below, listen to this piece of music inspired by Simeon’s story - or do both! - if you wish.
How do these words make you feel? Can you imagine being Simeon, or someone holding the infant Jesus. What does that feel like? What, if anything, do you want to say? Does your response contain insight into your own capacity for contentment?
Whatever arises is fine!
You may want to listen to Bach’s Cantata again as you reflect. A translation of its words can be found here.