Zero and God

We begin our Summer Fun with Biblical Numbers with a guided meditation on zero.

Step 1: Still yourself and your surroundings.

Step 2: Start with the Sign of the Cross, welcome God, and read today’s prompt:

Zero has an interesting history. Many ancient cultures had no numeral for it. The Hebrews expressed the concept as epes (pronounced EF-es), meaning nil or nothing. Genesis talked about the void. Many women in the Old and New Testaments had trouble conceiving; their wombs were barren. After the Resurrection, Jesus’ tomb was empty. Even though the word zero is not in the Bible, the concept of zero is definitely there.

Zero’s shape is circular with no beginning and no end—just like God. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God Almighty, “Who is, Who was, and Who is to come.” (Rev 1:8) I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end. (Rev 22.13)

Step 3: Speak to God to about your thoughts and feelings.

What stood out to you? What new beginning or ending are you facing? You had a beginning, but you will have no end. Does that influence what you will do today?

Step 4: Silence yourself again and relax in the presence of God. Use a timer so you can think only of God.

Step 5: Say a prayer.   

Sample: Dear Father, You truly are the beginning and end for me, the bookends of my life. You were with me before my birth and through my life. Your house, Your Face, is the journey’s end I pray for, the reason for all that I do. You always were and always will be, but most importantly, You are! You are living. You are as near to me as I will allow You to be. I strive to make You the first Person I talk to in the morning and the last one I speak to at night.

When I see this picture of the zero-shaped clouds, I am reminded that I understand You about as much as I understand everything there is to know about clouds. I know that clouds are fun to watch and that they move across the sky–sometimes slowly and sometimes quickly. You’re like that, too. Sometimes You let things drag on in my life–or is it me that lets them drag on?–and sometimes You move so quickly that I’m not sure I’m ready to move. But as I grow older, and see more and more people I grew up with pass away, I am ever more convinced that following You is what gives me guidance, comfort and joy. When life shakes me, I’m glad to finally understand that the walls it bumps up against are the palms of Your hands. You won’t let my journey to You perish.

Father, I have a special intention about a beginning that never happened for someone very close to me. I know the pursuit of that beginning might not be what You want, but how does that person know it if You don’t make an alternative clear? How does anyone know when something should end so something better can begin?

Father, I pray that I, and those I love, will think of You as their beginning and their end. That we will consult You about what to begin. That we will go to You for comfort when something ends. And when we see a zero-shaped cloud in the sky, may we be reminded that we lack for nothing, because what seems like a hole in the zero, is really a passage way to You, for You take our zeros and make them masterpieces. Amen.

Step 6: Save a word, phrase, image, or feeling to hold in your heart until your next prayer session. Thank God for the visit.