The Cave is the Fire of Love for All People
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” –John 13:34–35
In February of this year I had the wonderful privilege to visit Holy Meteora, the largest monastic community in Greece outside of Mount Athos. No words or pictures can do justice to the majesty and beauty of this place, where for more than 1000 years, hermits and monks have come to seek God in prayer and do battle with the devil. Being a good Novo-tiate, what naturally caught my attention were the caves: low caves, high caves, caves perched precariously on the top of towering monoliths, caves dug dramatically into fissures high in the rock, caves everywhere! There are so many caves and rocks and monasteries proliferating the land that it is called the Holy Stone City (Lithopolis).
Take a long look at the pictures of some of these caves. What happens in a cave…?
The purpose of the cave is not personal privacy, silence, solitude, or simplicity. Sure, a cave likely includes these qualities, but none of these—in and of themselves—is the purpose of the cave. The purpose of the cave is to give our full attention to God. As we offer “the living sacrifice” of our attention to the Father, Son, Spirit, and sit in the love-light of their Face, all of our false selves, disordered desires, and inner and outer demons are gradually exposed by the Light. Outed, like ADHD adolescents, they pace and roar, frantically seeking to devour and consume our attention (1 Peter 5:8). As we resist the devil, stand firm, and trustingly give our attention to the real-presence of the Trinity, our restless hearts and eyes come to find their rest in his loving gaze upon us.
“We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)
In the cave, I learn (ever so sloooowly) to gaze at Jesus gazing at me until I come to see (ever so graaaadually) what he sees, and know as he knows, and love as he loves. In this way, the cave teaches me a holy indifference to all but God’s will. St. Ignatius says “detachment [from our disordered desires] comes only if we have a stronger attachment.”
“Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:8)
That’s the holy work of the cave. The cave is the place where I nurture that stronger attachment, and then flowing from that source—which is Life itself—I can walk in the mind of Christ and participate in his peace, love, joy, hope, faith, justice, shalom, peacemaking, etc, so that the Kingdom of the love shared between the Father and the Son in the Spirit would come “in [insert your name here] as it is in Jesus.”
In other words, Love encountered re-wires us, transforming and training us to live loved, as “beloved lovers.”
“So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” (1 John 4:16)
I experienced this dynamic two years ago, in my part-time work as a local hospital chaplain. One evening, as I entered the waiting room of the Emergency Department, a man with a two-year-old little girl in his lap saw my “Chaplain” badge and said out loud, “Oh, that must be bad news.” I assured him that my presence was neither good nor bad; I was just part of the patient support team. He then asked for prayer for his girlfriend in room 3 who is three months pregnant and might be miscarrying.
As I prayed for the man and his girlfriend (making no contact of course due to Covid protocols) something remarkable began to take place: the toddler in his arms put her hand on my shoulder (gently, softly, lovingly). And then as soon as I finished my prayer, the man (very unexpectedly) launched into a prayer for me. It was a beautiful prayer of faith (honestly, far better than mine), but the truly beautiful thing was that as the man prayed, the little girl kept her hand on me, softly and gently patting my shoulder, fully engaged and clearly aware she was praying for me. I was so struck by her participation in his prayer for me, when he was done, I asked him her name. He replied, “Her name is Love.”
“Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1–2)
As I got up to leave that waiting room, my heart was burning within me. I had just been in the presence of Love, and Love had prayed for me!
And in that prayer, something of Love passed onto and into me.
The rest of the night, I was on fire. As I visited other patients over the next several hours, I noticed a deep capacity in me to love the person in the room in whatever circumstances I found them. Jesus showed up in our midst. People were blessed. Holy conversations took place.
All people received the overflow of the Good News that had encountered me.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)
Reflection questions:
If God, in the form of Love, were to pray for you right now, what do you think his prayer for you would be? If you are not sure, why don’t you ask him?
How is the Love you encounter in the Cave with Christ flaming out toward the people around you? If you can see that it is, thank God for that gift. If your answer is “not so much,” ask God if you might need a different quantity or quality of cave time.
Is there someone in (or on the periphery of) your life you find it hard to love? How has or is God already loving you in the very way you need to love that person? If you are not sure, why don’t you ask him?
Reflect on Ignatius’s statement: “This detachment comes only if we have a stronger attachment; therefore our one dominating desire and fundamental choice must be to live in the loving presence and wisdom of Christ, our Savior.” What wisdom is here for you? If you are not sure, why don’t you ask him? (hmm, I sense a theme here….)
About the Author
Geordie Ziegler joined Novo staff, along with his wife Sharon, in March 2022 and serves on the resource team of Imago Christi as a Spiritual formation coach and spiritual director. In 2021, Geordie and his wife Sharon co-founded The Table Retreats in Sunriver, Oregon, to help couples in ministry rediscover their why while reconnecting with God, themselves, and one another. Occasionally you can also find Geordie serving as part of the teaching team for the Open Table and NW School of Theology.
