The Gift of Attunement
May 20, 2025
It is the unexpected "kisses from heaven," simple, sweet, and spontaneous, that can open doors to Jesus' heart, to His and Mother's, and to the hungers of our own. I had such a gift very recently. During the "check-in" at an on-line meeting of sisters-in-Christ, I mentioned the disquiet I was experiencing regarding a funeral I was about to attend. Fresh tragedy meeting deep, unresolved bitterness in a family close to ours many decades ago... Old bonds melted the years of distance; my heart ached for their new grief. This would be a spiritual battleground. Such an open door for the Holy Spirit--and for my knee-jerk "you've-got-a-job" to tickle around the edges. Oh no you don't. Not I, Lord, but You. Give me your words.
We went on to the Zoom business the Lord had for us; I left our meeting early to prepare for the funeral. Enroute to the church came the text from one of my Zoom sisters: "I want to tell you that I have the sense that just your presence at this funeral will be healing and that your words are already blessed..." What a surprise gift--Instant relief! Jesus was in me, and that was enough. It was already covered. Much as my brain trusted God's faithfulness, my heart needed reassurance. My sister-in-Christ had taken the time to see the underlayer of anxiety, "go there" in prayer and in love, and convey what she heard.
And what she heard happened--divine orchestration in all the details. Post-funeral, reflecting on all the unfoldings, the word "attunement" came to mind. Other "attunements" flooded in--most especially the exquisite peace recently filling a loved one's soul after years of struggle, all because of spiritual mentors who sacrificially, patiently, compassionately tuned-in--"leaned not on their own understanding" and tracked with her, via the Holy Spirit, into all the caverns and caves and mazes of her complex journey. Not a stone left unturned. Every movement of heart and soul companioned, brought into the Light, never glossed over or dismissed. Their exquisite "entering in," accompanied by such self-emptying prayer, moved me profoundly.
Simpler, but no less meaningful "attunements" struck me as well. Years ago, for instance, I strode out of my kitchen and off down the street after a painful argument with my spouse, not knowing which was worse--the rain suddenly pelting from the skies or the rain pelting in my heart. A young Down's Syndrome neighbor stopped me cold. Refusing to confuse tears for weather, she cocked her head with great concern and inquired, ever so deliberately and straight from her pure soul, "Are you sad? I'm sorry!" Her "going there" was unfiltered--Jesus Himself. What a kiss from heaven.
A tuning fork produces the purest sound, and invites its reciprocating instrument to resonate perfectly with its tone. Is there any greater gift to our hearts than a companion who takes the time to "tune in" to a quandary we may be in, a joy suddenly come upon us, a grief overwhelming us? To be deeply seen pierces our isolation, destroys the lie that I am alone, elevates joy to a taste of heaven, satisfies our surprised, hungry hearts. There can be almost an elation, experiencing the profound degree of communion we were created for. This cannot happen lightly. Intentionality must be at work. I can so easily catch myself giving "spiritual leftovers" instead of stopping and dying to self--to the workings of my own mind, to my own agendas and understanding--so that I can be present to the Holy Spirit who groans in the heart of the person before me. Then comes the privilege of entering that holy ground with great reverence-- tuning in, tracking with, seeing.
Attunement and atonement (at-one-ment)--such close words! I think of our Mother's exquisite attunement to us this, her month. In the familiar icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a young Jesus runs to her with such anguished need for comfort that one of his sandals has fallen off. He has had a vision of the instruments of His torture, the cross and the lance. She is entirely available, completely tuned into Him, totally one with His interior. Perfect resonation, heart speaking to heart. She will not be distracted or preoccupied. All of her is His. Jesus gave her to us, that we could experience, with Him, her complete and tender focus.
The Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, in his beautiful "The Blessed Virgin Compared to the Air We Breathe," speaks of Mary's intimacy with us as
Wild air, world-mothering air,
Nestling me everywhere
..............................
This air, which, by life's law
My lung must draw and draw...
Our Bridegroom breathed in that "world-mothering air," and invites us to breathe with Him--to let His Mother tune-in to us. My Zoom sister who took the time to tune-in to me helped me experience who Mary is! She notices, she ponders. She is as near to us as our breath, which penetrates our every cell. She is intimately connected with our crosses and our nails, the mazes of our own interiors, our cries for reassurance and tenderness. Her attunement and her Son's atonement--such close words--are vitally connected. She is Jesus' Mother, but she is also--when He calls her Woman, as at Cana and from the cross--His Bride. They share one heart, and they share it with us.
Dear Bridegroom, when I allow your Mother to "nestle me everywhere," it is your Atonement--"at-one-ment"--I am in union with. Teach me to run to her as you did, my sandals flapping in my hurry, that I may experience all you did in her arms. Let me trust her attunement, breathe it in, and make my home there with You so that I can be home for others. Amen.
Bonnie West, Copyright 2025
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