Mother Nadine, founder of Bellwether, more famously known as the Intercessors of the Lamb (http://www.bellwetheromaha.org/), is a friend I made during a visit to Omaha a couple of years ago. She is a contemplative whose writings on the subject you may want to read. One of the methods she suggests is taking "an elevator ride from the mind down to the heart". I found this a useful technique that I adapted to suit my own needs, and I share it with you here.
Find a quiet place — a must for any contemplative prayer — and after a time of worship, imagine getting into an elevator that's stopped on the floor of your mind. You press the button to the heart, and very slowly the elevator begins to descend. It gets slower as it goes down, and quieter as well, until it finally stops at the heart. There you open the door and you find Jesus (or the Father/Holy Spirit) waiting for you. He takes your hand as you step out and leads you to a secluded spot where you begin to engage in contemplative dialog with him. Ask him a question. Wait for an answer. That may lead you to another question. Ask. Listen. But let these questions and answers be heart to heart, rather than mind to mind. When you are done, review the conversation in your mind and extract insights or lessons that you have obtained.
Another good method is Ignatian contemplation, which makes use of active imagination within a selected gospel text. It is a method I followed for years before I discovered that St Ignatius had already put his mark on it, though my method was more meditative than contemplative. Difference below.
Read a passage from the Bible and ponder over it for a few seconds, running the entire scene in your mind's eye. Read it once again to take in any details that you may have overlooked. Read it a third time if you feel the need to do so, then close the book—and your eyes—and put yourself in the scene. Identify with a person or situation in the narrative and re-live what the Bible describes happened. It can prove to be a fascinating exercise.
We followed a similar method a few days ago as we meditated on Jesus's agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (see link) but meditation involves more of the mind, whereas contemplation involves more of the heart. Therefore, when contemplating the Agony, there is more passivity when you re-live the scene, with others controlling the events of the scene and you just going along, making no judgements or comparisons, or trying to arrive at intellectual conclusions.
After you are done contemplating, you go through what actually took place during the time you spent in contemplation, writing down what you felt, thought, etc.
It's a lot of fun, really, and if you do try it, let me know how it went for you. God bless.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Pillars of Contemplation
Jesus prayed a lot. He understood that prayer was not merely about petitioning God for favors, it was also about seeking his will, and Jesus did so before every major undertaking in his life (and presumably every minor undertaking too). Look at this narrative from Luke as an example:
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. (Luke 6:12-16)
We can learn a lot about contemplation from this little passage.
Pillar 1: Solitude
One, we see he went to a mountainside. He often went to the mountainside to pray. Why? Mountains are places of solitude. When in solitude, we set ourselves apart from all human beings, so that we can spend time exclusively with God. This is what Jesus advises us to do when he says, "When you pray, close the door and pray to your father who is unseen" (Matthew 6:6:). Not only does this build our relationship with God, time thus spent has remarkable purgative benefits, because it is in times like these that we are often, tried, tested and found to be true. Immediately after his baptism in the River Jordan, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. When he came out, it was in power, ready to begin his mission.
Pillar 2: Silence
Mountains are also very quiet places. I am sitting in my study as I write this. It is a relatively quiet place, with just the occasional aircraft flying overhead and the main door opening and closing to disturb the peace. Yet, I am aware that there is a lot of noise that I cannot really hear because I have become so accustomed to it. I discovered this a month ago when we suddenly had a power cut and all the appliances in the house shut down. Only then did I realize how much noise these devices made. But that is not the only noise there is. There is a perpetual noise in our heads too, with thoughts chasing each other like a million bees. It is so hard to think, much less listen, with all this noise going on, and if we really want to hear the voice of God, we need to have silence all around us.
Pillar 3: Prayer
What was Jesus doing on the mountain? He was praying. Read that as communicating. He was talking to the Father, telling him about the disciples who were following him, and asking which of them he needed to select as his apostles. I imagine Jesus speaking first, telling the Father about each man in turn, and then keeping quiet and listening as the Father started speaking, showing him the men he was to choose, and telling him why he needed to choose them. I imagine the anguish Jesus felt as Judas was named as one of the twelve, knowing the nature of the man and what he was going to do. But, still in prayer, he is comforted and strengthened as his Father explains. This is the real fruit of contemplation: obtaining understanding along with comfort and strength.
Pillar 4: Penance
It was morning before Jesus left the mountain side, having spent the whole night there. I don't think he took a tent and sleeping bag with him, which meant he was probably awake the whole time. Choosing God and his will over everything else will always cause discomfort—and even pain—but with it comes immense blessings as we cooperate with God in fulfilling his plans for us in our lives. Jesus didn't begin carrying his cross the day he walked toward Calvary; it began the moment he began his mission, and it is the same for us. Jesus said, "Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:27). We often believe that carrying a cross means carrying the burdens of life, but in Jesus's time carrying a cross meant only one thing: it meant death. We need to die, too, not so much to our body as to ourselves, and contemplative penance is a way of preparing ourselves.
Next: Pathways to Contemplation
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. (Luke 6:12-16)
We can learn a lot about contemplation from this little passage.
Pillar 1: Solitude
One, we see he went to a mountainside. He often went to the mountainside to pray. Why? Mountains are places of solitude. When in solitude, we set ourselves apart from all human beings, so that we can spend time exclusively with God. This is what Jesus advises us to do when he says, "When you pray, close the door and pray to your father who is unseen" (Matthew 6:6:). Not only does this build our relationship with God, time thus spent has remarkable purgative benefits, because it is in times like these that we are often, tried, tested and found to be true. Immediately after his baptism in the River Jordan, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. When he came out, it was in power, ready to begin his mission.
Pillar 2: Silence
Mountains are also very quiet places. I am sitting in my study as I write this. It is a relatively quiet place, with just the occasional aircraft flying overhead and the main door opening and closing to disturb the peace. Yet, I am aware that there is a lot of noise that I cannot really hear because I have become so accustomed to it. I discovered this a month ago when we suddenly had a power cut and all the appliances in the house shut down. Only then did I realize how much noise these devices made. But that is not the only noise there is. There is a perpetual noise in our heads too, with thoughts chasing each other like a million bees. It is so hard to think, much less listen, with all this noise going on, and if we really want to hear the voice of God, we need to have silence all around us.
Pillar 3: Prayer
What was Jesus doing on the mountain? He was praying. Read that as communicating. He was talking to the Father, telling him about the disciples who were following him, and asking which of them he needed to select as his apostles. I imagine Jesus speaking first, telling the Father about each man in turn, and then keeping quiet and listening as the Father started speaking, showing him the men he was to choose, and telling him why he needed to choose them. I imagine the anguish Jesus felt as Judas was named as one of the twelve, knowing the nature of the man and what he was going to do. But, still in prayer, he is comforted and strengthened as his Father explains. This is the real fruit of contemplation: obtaining understanding along with comfort and strength.
Pillar 4: Penance
It was morning before Jesus left the mountain side, having spent the whole night there. I don't think he took a tent and sleeping bag with him, which meant he was probably awake the whole time. Choosing God and his will over everything else will always cause discomfort—and even pain—but with it comes immense blessings as we cooperate with God in fulfilling his plans for us in our lives. Jesus didn't begin carrying his cross the day he walked toward Calvary; it began the moment he began his mission, and it is the same for us. Jesus said, "Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:27). We often believe that carrying a cross means carrying the burdens of life, but in Jesus's time carrying a cross meant only one thing: it meant death. We need to die, too, not so much to our body as to ourselves, and contemplative penance is a way of preparing ourselves.
Next: Pathways to Contemplation
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Christian Unity: Do We Really Want It?
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity began in 1908 as the Octave of Christian Unity, and focused on prayer for church unity. The dates of the week were proposed by Father Paul Wattson, cofounder of the Graymoor Franciscan Friars. He conceived of the week beginning on the Feast of the Confession of Peter, the Protestant variant of the ancient Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, on 18 January, and concluding with the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul on 25 January. That's tomorrow.
Our parish has been making a prayer for Christian unity in all its masses and the entire congregation drops to its knees as one. Yet, as we pray, I can't help wondering if we really want it in our hearts, given the prejudices we harbor against our Christian brethren. I reproduce an article that I wrote a few years ago here and invite your comments.
Ending the Catholic Protestant Divide
King Solomon was the third King of Israel. He was famed for his wisdom, and many people came to him for justice from far and wide.
One day, two prostitutes came before King Solomon, each claiming that the child they brought before him was hers. They had both recently given birth to a child but during the night one of the prostitutes rolled over her child and killed it. She exchanged her dead baby with the live baby of the other prostitute while she slept. When the other prostitute awoke, she found her baby dead but realized, upon close examination, that the dead baby was not hers.
So who did the baby belong to?
King Solomon ordered that a sword be brought and the baby be sliced in two, with each woman given one half. One of the prostitutes nodded her assent, saying she believed that justice was being done. The second woman, however, screamed a protest saying that the other woman could have the baby, but not to kill it. Solomon promptly had the baby given to her.
I heard this story as a child and I don't remember being particularly impressed by it. What person, no matter how miserable he or she was, would have it in their heart to have a little baby cut into half, I wondered. But after I returned to the faith, I realized that not only did a lot of people have it in their heart to do so, they went about it with great enthusiasm. I refer, of course, to us Christians from all sides of the divide who use the sword, which is the Word of God, to cut the baby, which is the body of Christ, into little, little pieces!
It is not hard to see why. There is tremendous pleasure — and power — you get from wielding this particular sword, and the temptation to do so is often overpowering, even when you don't quite know how to use it. Or, perhaps, especially when you don't know how to use it. I must confess to being tempted to do so myself on several occasions. When I first started reading the Bible, for instance, I remember coming across several references to Jesus's brothers, which disturbed me greatly, because I knew that Catholic dogma stated that Jesus had none and here it seemed "obvious" that he did. I promptly went to Jesus and asked him outright, "Jesus, did you have brothers?"
"How does it matter?" he asked quietly. "Would you love me less if I did?"
The questions threw me entirely off balance. "No, I wouldn't," I answered finally. "I just wanted to know the truth."
Jesus merely smiled.
That smile shamed me. He knew it wasn't the truth I wanted. What I was really looking for was a sharpened blade to cut down my opponents. Which is what a lot of us Christians use the Word of God for. We ignore the prime commandments to love God and love our fellowmen and focus on things that will lead us to widen the rift between us and hate each other more. And we do it in the name of truth!
This isn't to say that truth is not important. It is. There are truths that I hold dear to me. And I will die for some of them because I believe that there are truths worth dying for. But I do not believe that there is any truth worth killing for. God's Word does not tell me otherwise. There is nothing in the Bible that says I should take you out into a dark alley and pound the truth — or what I believe the truth to be — into you so that you may be saved. Or that I should savage you in an argument, leaving you wondering if salvation requires erudition or faith in Jesus.
I rarely get argumentative on issues of theology; it tends to be unproductive. If asked what I believe to be true, I state my beliefs. If asked why I believe what I believe to be true, I explain the reasons for my beliefs. But only if the questions are asked with a desire for understanding, not confrontation. If the latter, I simply mumble something about how Matthew 7:6 makes for a good answer and walk away. I have enough forums to state my views if I am inclined to do so and it is then entirely up to the people who choose to read what I write, or listen to what I say, to accept what I say or reject it. I am happy if they do the former, and though I might be a trifle disappointed if they do the latter, I don't let myself get unduly upset; I see no reason why I don't have to get along with somebody because he happens to disagree with me.
Holy Spirit Interactive is one of the forums that I use to state my views and thus far has been a superb forum. It is Catholic and unashamedly so. So am I and so are most of the writers who write for it. We all write about issues related to our faith. But the reason we write is not to cut down our Protestant brothers (for whom we have the deepest affection), but merely to teach Catholics about their faith. Blind faith is not something God asks us to have and it is important to know why we do what we do and why we believe what we believe. This often has to be taught. If there is something that others can learn about our faith, they are welcome to find out about it here. It might give them more understanding of the immense body of knowledge and wisdom the Church has gathered over 2000 years, and also let them know that much of the prejudice that they have inherited is unwarranted and needless.
There is no shame in learning from us, just as there is no shame in us learning from them. I have learned a lot from my Protestant friends over the past several months and so, I am sure, has the Catholic Church over the years. We can learn a lot from one another if we can only stop the ungodly hatred that flows through our hearts and come together in love. We do not have to resolve all our differences to do this; we share enough in common for the differences not to matter. All we need to remember is that we are all one family, parts of this huge wonderful body of Christ, and there will be so much of healing that we can bring to the world if we can come together in love. It is simply doing what Jesus asked us to do, after all. Love one another, he said. And if we do, then the song we sing about them knowing we are Christians by our love will be more than a series of words strung together by a pretty tune. It will become a truth. A truth worth dying for.
Our parish has been making a prayer for Christian unity in all its masses and the entire congregation drops to its knees as one. Yet, as we pray, I can't help wondering if we really want it in our hearts, given the prejudices we harbor against our Christian brethren. I reproduce an article that I wrote a few years ago here and invite your comments.
Ending the Catholic Protestant Divide
King Solomon was the third King of Israel. He was famed for his wisdom, and many people came to him for justice from far and wide.
So who did the baby belong to?
King Solomon ordered that a sword be brought and the baby be sliced in two, with each woman given one half. One of the prostitutes nodded her assent, saying she believed that justice was being done. The second woman, however, screamed a protest saying that the other woman could have the baby, but not to kill it. Solomon promptly had the baby given to her.
I heard this story as a child and I don't remember being particularly impressed by it. What person, no matter how miserable he or she was, would have it in their heart to have a little baby cut into half, I wondered. But after I returned to the faith, I realized that not only did a lot of people have it in their heart to do so, they went about it with great enthusiasm. I refer, of course, to us Christians from all sides of the divide who use the sword, which is the Word of God, to cut the baby, which is the body of Christ, into little, little pieces!
It is not hard to see why. There is tremendous pleasure — and power — you get from wielding this particular sword, and the temptation to do so is often overpowering, even when you don't quite know how to use it. Or, perhaps, especially when you don't know how to use it. I must confess to being tempted to do so myself on several occasions. When I first started reading the Bible, for instance, I remember coming across several references to Jesus's brothers, which disturbed me greatly, because I knew that Catholic dogma stated that Jesus had none and here it seemed "obvious" that he did. I promptly went to Jesus and asked him outright, "Jesus, did you have brothers?"
"How does it matter?" he asked quietly. "Would you love me less if I did?"
The questions threw me entirely off balance. "No, I wouldn't," I answered finally. "I just wanted to know the truth."
Jesus merely smiled.
That smile shamed me. He knew it wasn't the truth I wanted. What I was really looking for was a sharpened blade to cut down my opponents. Which is what a lot of us Christians use the Word of God for. We ignore the prime commandments to love God and love our fellowmen and focus on things that will lead us to widen the rift between us and hate each other more. And we do it in the name of truth!
This isn't to say that truth is not important. It is. There are truths that I hold dear to me. And I will die for some of them because I believe that there are truths worth dying for. But I do not believe that there is any truth worth killing for. God's Word does not tell me otherwise. There is nothing in the Bible that says I should take you out into a dark alley and pound the truth — or what I believe the truth to be — into you so that you may be saved. Or that I should savage you in an argument, leaving you wondering if salvation requires erudition or faith in Jesus.
I rarely get argumentative on issues of theology; it tends to be unproductive. If asked what I believe to be true, I state my beliefs. If asked why I believe what I believe to be true, I explain the reasons for my beliefs. But only if the questions are asked with a desire for understanding, not confrontation. If the latter, I simply mumble something about how Matthew 7:6 makes for a good answer and walk away. I have enough forums to state my views if I am inclined to do so and it is then entirely up to the people who choose to read what I write, or listen to what I say, to accept what I say or reject it. I am happy if they do the former, and though I might be a trifle disappointed if they do the latter, I don't let myself get unduly upset; I see no reason why I don't have to get along with somebody because he happens to disagree with me.
Holy Spirit Interactive is one of the forums that I use to state my views and thus far has been a superb forum. It is Catholic and unashamedly so. So am I and so are most of the writers who write for it. We all write about issues related to our faith. But the reason we write is not to cut down our Protestant brothers (for whom we have the deepest affection), but merely to teach Catholics about their faith. Blind faith is not something God asks us to have and it is important to know why we do what we do and why we believe what we believe. This often has to be taught. If there is something that others can learn about our faith, they are welcome to find out about it here. It might give them more understanding of the immense body of knowledge and wisdom the Church has gathered over 2000 years, and also let them know that much of the prejudice that they have inherited is unwarranted and needless.
There is no shame in learning from us, just as there is no shame in us learning from them. I have learned a lot from my Protestant friends over the past several months and so, I am sure, has the Catholic Church over the years. We can learn a lot from one another if we can only stop the ungodly hatred that flows through our hearts and come together in love. We do not have to resolve all our differences to do this; we share enough in common for the differences not to matter. All we need to remember is that we are all one family, parts of this huge wonderful body of Christ, and there will be so much of healing that we can bring to the world if we can come together in love. It is simply doing what Jesus asked us to do, after all. Love one another, he said. And if we do, then the song we sing about them knowing we are Christians by our love will be more than a series of words strung together by a pretty tune. It will become a truth. A truth worth dying for.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Contemplation: Heart to Heart Communication
Jesus said: "When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matthew 6:6).
If we need to develop intimacy with somebody, anybody, we need to spend time alone with them. We might meet someone we like at a party, but there is only so much we will get to know about that person in the midst of so many others. To further the relationship, a certain degree of privacy is required. It is the same with God. If we want to get to know him better, we need to get to some place quiet. Some place where we will be alone with him. Some place where nobody can see us or bother us.
And once there, what? Jesus has the answer to that too. "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him" (Matthew 6:7,8). Simply put, once there, shut up and listen.
Many of us are used to communication that involves using a lot of words, usually ours, and that is carried foward to our communication with God as well. There are times when it is okay, even necessary, to say things to God; but, if we are to develop a deeper relationship with God, we need to let him do the talking with us doing the listening. And it's best when this listening is done from the heart. That is contemplation.
Through it, we get to know the heart of the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The more we get to know them, the more we begin to love them, and the more we love them, the more we are prepared to do for them, which helps us immensely on our journey up the mountain. Contemplation also helps us to yield to the Spirit (see Surrender Your Life to God), achieving the purification that we all (hopefully) seek. And, thirdly, contemplation helps us discern his will and his plans for us. We often blunder through life without the faintest clue of what God wants us to do, and this applies even to "spiritual" people. Listening to God's voice in contemplative prayer helps to bring meaning and focus to our lives.
Next: The Pillars of Contemplative Prayer
If we need to develop intimacy with somebody, anybody, we need to spend time alone with them. We might meet someone we like at a party, but there is only so much we will get to know about that person in the midst of so many others. To further the relationship, a certain degree of privacy is required. It is the same with God. If we want to get to know him better, we need to get to some place quiet. Some place where we will be alone with him. Some place where nobody can see us or bother us.
And once there, what? Jesus has the answer to that too. "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him" (Matthew 6:7,8). Simply put, once there, shut up and listen.
Many of us are used to communication that involves using a lot of words, usually ours, and that is carried foward to our communication with God as well. There are times when it is okay, even necessary, to say things to God; but, if we are to develop a deeper relationship with God, we need to let him do the talking with us doing the listening. And it's best when this listening is done from the heart. That is contemplation.
Through it, we get to know the heart of the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The more we get to know them, the more we begin to love them, and the more we love them, the more we are prepared to do for them, which helps us immensely on our journey up the mountain. Contemplation also helps us to yield to the Spirit (see Surrender Your Life to God), achieving the purification that we all (hopefully) seek. And, thirdly, contemplation helps us discern his will and his plans for us. We often blunder through life without the faintest clue of what God wants us to do, and this applies even to "spiritual" people. Listening to God's voice in contemplative prayer helps to bring meaning and focus to our lives.
Next: The Pillars of Contemplative Prayer
Friday, January 22, 2010
In the Garden of Gethsemane: Discovering Meditation
The very first psalm in the Book of Psalms begins with these lovely words of encouragement:
Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Christian meditation is often associated with prayer or scripture study, and comprises largely of continual, focussed thought on God and his word. It is not as difficult to meditate as people imagine. In fact, most of us are experts in meditation. Do you worry about anything? That's meditation! Continued, intent, focussed thought on something. (Do you have a credit card? That's cause enough for a little meditation. Do you have two? Double cause. Six or seven cards? I can practically guarantee that you are a serious meditator.) Such meditation does nothing for us besides giving us ulcers and shooting up our blood pressure. Meditating on God's word, however, has some benefits. "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful" (Joshua 1:8).
Paul, advises us to think about "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things" (Philippians 4:8). These things that we need to ponder about are all found in God's word, and meditating upon them will help us to follow another sage bit of advice from the apostle: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:2).
Many Catholics are fond of saying the Rosary. The Rosary is a meditative prayer, where we focus on the life of Jesus. Most people just rattle it as though the mere saying of them will grant all our petitions like some magic mantra, but if we pray it as we should, it can bring about a lot of insight and understanding. Let us look at one of the sorrowful mysteries, the Agony of the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22:39-44)
Let us get into the garden with Jesus and do some meditating there. Jesus is in agony. Why is he in agony? Because he has an idea of what is going to follow—the pain and the tortuous death. Cause enough for mental anguish, but is that it? Surely he knew that is what he came for. Could it be something else? Perhaps. Why does he have to go through the pain? Why does he have to die? Because a sacrifice was needed, one that was permanent; one that would reconcile us to God for all time. How was he going to be that sacrifice? By taking on our sins upon himself. What would that have made Jesus in the eyes of his father? The most loathesome creature on this earth. Jesus had never been separated from the Father for all eternity; to be separated from him now and that too in a manner like this; how would that make Jesus feel? And then comes the insight, the understanding, of what caused Jesus's tremendous agony and the realization that the sacrifice that he made was even greater than we had previously ever imagined .....
There is a lot that I wish to share in this series, but as I will be putting my thoughts down in no particular order this series may appear a little disconnected. I will rectify this at a later date when I have some more time on my hands. In the meantime, I hope that you will find something useful in these little notes.
Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Christian meditation is often associated with prayer or scripture study, and comprises largely of continual, focussed thought on God and his word. It is not as difficult to meditate as people imagine. In fact, most of us are experts in meditation. Do you worry about anything? That's meditation! Continued, intent, focussed thought on something. (Do you have a credit card? That's cause enough for a little meditation. Do you have two? Double cause. Six or seven cards? I can practically guarantee that you are a serious meditator.) Such meditation does nothing for us besides giving us ulcers and shooting up our blood pressure. Meditating on God's word, however, has some benefits. "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful" (Joshua 1:8).
Paul, advises us to think about "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things" (Philippians 4:8). These things that we need to ponder about are all found in God's word, and meditating upon them will help us to follow another sage bit of advice from the apostle: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:2).
Many Catholics are fond of saying the Rosary. The Rosary is a meditative prayer, where we focus on the life of Jesus. Most people just rattle it as though the mere saying of them will grant all our petitions like some magic mantra, but if we pray it as we should, it can bring about a lot of insight and understanding. Let us look at one of the sorrowful mysteries, the Agony of the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22:39-44)
Let us get into the garden with Jesus and do some meditating there. Jesus is in agony. Why is he in agony? Because he has an idea of what is going to follow—the pain and the tortuous death. Cause enough for mental anguish, but is that it? Surely he knew that is what he came for. Could it be something else? Perhaps. Why does he have to go through the pain? Why does he have to die? Because a sacrifice was needed, one that was permanent; one that would reconcile us to God for all time. How was he going to be that sacrifice? By taking on our sins upon himself. What would that have made Jesus in the eyes of his father? The most loathesome creature on this earth. Jesus had never been separated from the Father for all eternity; to be separated from him now and that too in a manner like this; how would that make Jesus feel? And then comes the insight, the understanding, of what caused Jesus's tremendous agony and the realization that the sacrifice that he made was even greater than we had previously ever imagined .....
There is a lot that I wish to share in this series, but as I will be putting my thoughts down in no particular order this series may appear a little disconnected. I will rectify this at a later date when I have some more time on my hands. In the meantime, I hope that you will find something useful in these little notes.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Still Standing in California
After posting my picture of the cross standing in Haiti, another friend, this time Shellan from Sri Lanka, sent me this set of pictures. Once again, I don't know who took them.
Look at the lower right
The Day After
Step 4: Be Filled with the Holy Spirit
One of the most sensational narratives in the Bible can be found in Acts 2. Peter preaches his first sermon and by the time he is done talking, 3,000 people had accepted Christ as their savior. Just a few minutes earlier Peter had been cowering along with the other apostles in his house, afraid for his life. We had seen, earlier (see Step One), how he had betrayed Jesus despite his best intentions to stay by Christ's side. What happened to this man, never known for his great courage? What made him go out among the people, some of them responsible for the death of Jesus, and proclaim the good news to them without fear?
The power of the Holy Spirit.
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4)
We see this power manifest time and time again. In Acts 4, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, defends himself before the Sanhedrin, uttering words of immense wisdom. Jesus had promised this. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (Matthew 10:19-20)
In Acts 4:31, we find the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit speaking the word of God boldly. In Acts 6, we find Stephen, full of God's grace and power, doing great wonders and miraculous signs. In Acts 13 we find Saul, filled with the Holy Spirit, exposing the evil in people around him. Every single miracle in the New Testament performed by the apostles was through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Even the Old Testament recounts what happens when people are filled with the Spirit of God. In Judges 6:34, Scripture says the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon and we see him and his small army of 300 men securing a magnificent victory over a huge force gathered against him. In Judges 14:6, we find a similar account of Samson: The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. Scripture speaks about how the Holy Spirit moved in the lives of Moses, Joseph, David, Saul and several others in the Old Testament.
There is one notable difference, however, in how people received the Spirit in the Old Testament from how they did in the New. In the Old Testament, the Spirit was given to a few select people for a specific purpose, given by God solely according to his discretion. In the New Testament it is given to every single person who accepts Jesus as his savior. Which means that if you are a Christian who is reading this, you have the Holy Spirit within you. But if you aren't feeling his power manifest in your life, as in the lives of those we have briefly looked at, it is not because he is weak within you, but because you are not yielded to him. If you want to experience his power, simply turn yourself and all you have to Jesus. This is why the third step (see Step 3) is so important. We need to surrender everything we have into his hands. We need to surrender ourselves.
May the Spirit be with you.
The power of the Holy Spirit.
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4)
We see this power manifest time and time again. In Acts 4, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, defends himself before the Sanhedrin, uttering words of immense wisdom. Jesus had promised this. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (Matthew 10:19-20)
In Acts 4:31, we find the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit speaking the word of God boldly. In Acts 6, we find Stephen, full of God's grace and power, doing great wonders and miraculous signs. In Acts 13 we find Saul, filled with the Holy Spirit, exposing the evil in people around him. Every single miracle in the New Testament performed by the apostles was through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Even the Old Testament recounts what happens when people are filled with the Spirit of God. In Judges 6:34, Scripture says the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon and we see him and his small army of 300 men securing a magnificent victory over a huge force gathered against him. In Judges 14:6, we find a similar account of Samson: The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. Scripture speaks about how the Holy Spirit moved in the lives of Moses, Joseph, David, Saul and several others in the Old Testament.
There is one notable difference, however, in how people received the Spirit in the Old Testament from how they did in the New. In the Old Testament, the Spirit was given to a few select people for a specific purpose, given by God solely according to his discretion. In the New Testament it is given to every single person who accepts Jesus as his savior. Which means that if you are a Christian who is reading this, you have the Holy Spirit within you. But if you aren't feeling his power manifest in your life, as in the lives of those we have briefly looked at, it is not because he is weak within you, but because you are not yielded to him. If you want to experience his power, simply turn yourself and all you have to Jesus. This is why the third step (see Step 3) is so important. We need to surrender everything we have into his hands. We need to surrender ourselves.
May the Spirit be with you.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Step 3: Surrender Your Life To God
The third step to moving from a life that is with Christ to a life that is in Christ is to surrender it into his hands. It is not something that many of us find easy to do given the connotations of the word (to yield, give up, submit, abandon, relinquish, cede, waive), or the negative associations it brings to mind (defeat, arrest, capitulation). With Christ, however, it doesn't bring about a loss of freedom (or a loss of face), but strangely enough, an increase of it.
Consider a problem that you currently face—and don't tell me you don't have any problems because I won't believe you! It could be a relationship that isn't working satisfactorily, a financial difficulty, an addiction that you are struggling with, a health issue pertaining to you or somebody in your family, a persistant sin, a slandered reputation, or one of a million other possible things. You worry about it/them constantly, getting more and more frustrated at your inability to resolve the problem. You are burdened with it. You are chained to it. You are a prisoner to it. Where is the freedom?
Now, when we surrender everything into God's hands we relinquish all that we are holding on to, including our problems, and when he takes them over, we are free! (Picture carrying a sack of bricks on your back that you just swing over to Jesus for the right imagery!) We can't surrender, however, without the acknowledgement that God is in control over everything, including the circumstances of our lives. How do we get that understanding? Consider what Jesus once asked a crowd of anxious listeners.
"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" (Luke 12:25-26)
Surely we will all acknowledge that none of us can add a single minute to our lives, much less a single hour. We cannot because God is in control of our life. And if God is in control of the most important thing in our lives, which is our life itself, doesn't it stand to reason that he is control over everything about our lives—our families, our health, our finances, everything. Then, why try to believe that we are in control and thus imprison ourselves?
"I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! (Luke 12:22-24)
So give it all to him, not just your problems and your troubles, but everything—heart, mind, soul, body—and let him take full control. And just see what happens next.
Consider a problem that you currently face—and don't tell me you don't have any problems because I won't believe you! It could be a relationship that isn't working satisfactorily, a financial difficulty, an addiction that you are struggling with, a health issue pertaining to you or somebody in your family, a persistant sin, a slandered reputation, or one of a million other possible things. You worry about it/them constantly, getting more and more frustrated at your inability to resolve the problem. You are burdened with it. You are chained to it. You are a prisoner to it. Where is the freedom?
Now, when we surrender everything into God's hands we relinquish all that we are holding on to, including our problems, and when he takes them over, we are free! (Picture carrying a sack of bricks on your back that you just swing over to Jesus for the right imagery!) We can't surrender, however, without the acknowledgement that God is in control over everything, including the circumstances of our lives. How do we get that understanding? Consider what Jesus once asked a crowd of anxious listeners.
"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" (Luke 12:25-26)
Surely we will all acknowledge that none of us can add a single minute to our lives, much less a single hour. We cannot because God is in control of our life. And if God is in control of the most important thing in our lives, which is our life itself, doesn't it stand to reason that he is control over everything about our lives—our families, our health, our finances, everything. Then, why try to believe that we are in control and thus imprison ourselves?
"I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! (Luke 12:22-24)
So give it all to him, not just your problems and your troubles, but everything—heart, mind, soul, body—and let him take full control. And just see what happens next.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Still Standing in Haiti
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Step 2: Give the Truth of Your Heart to God
One Christmas season, Johnny and his sister Sally visited their grandparents on their farm. Discovering a slingshot, Johnny happily tried to shoot down a few mangoes. His aim was terrible, however, and after spending an hour hitting everything on the tree but mangoes, he decided to head back to the house. On the way he spied his grandmother's pet duck and impulsively let loose with the slingshot, believing he would miss it as he had missed everything that morning. To his astonishment, he hit the duck right on its head. To his horror, the duck dropped dead.
When he recovered from his shock, he decided the best thing to do was to cover up the evidence of the crime and pretend nothing had happened. Quickly, he dug a shallow grave and after giving the ill fated duck a hasty burial he returned to the house believing it to be the end of this sad story. If he had read King David's story in 2 Samuel 11-12, he may have learned that cover ups don't end any stories; they just result in horrible repurcussions!
After dinner, Johnny's grandmother turned to his sister and told her to help out with the dishes. But his sister said, ""Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen." As the boy opened his mouth to protest, Sally turned to him and said in a savage whisper, "I know about the duck!" She didn't have to say more. Johnny did the dishes.
That began the most horrible time Johnny had in his entire life. He ended up milking the cows, taking out the trash, sweeping the cobwebs out of the attic, washing the windows and doing other assorted chores, while his sister frolicked her way through the holidays. Finally Johnny could stand it no longer, and he decided to end his agony by confessing his deed to his grandmother.
He was in for another shock. When he went to apologize to his grandmother, she told him that she knew what had happened. "I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. But because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you."
I don't know who the author of this story is, but he has been brilliant in illustrating an important scriptural truth—although it is probable this may not have been his intention. The truth is this: God knows everything we do, and when we lie to him about the sinful things we do, we only end up letting Satan manipulate us and make slaves of us.
Many of us get trapped like this. We begin by lying to others, trying to conceal our weaknesses and failings from them so that they will not think less of us. We then become so adept at lying to others, we begin to fool ourselves in thinking all is right when it isn't. We eventually end up lying to God, justifying our sinful thoughts and actions. The devil has a field day!
When, however, we take the truth about our feelings to God, we take away the power the devil has over us and open ourselves to the grace of God that allows us to overcome our weaknesses and failings. Try it and see if this doesn't work. The next time somebody makes you mad, don't put on your best face and act like nothing has happened. Tell God how miserable you are and see how quickly he makes you feel better. The next time you are attracted to somebody, don't try to pretend you aren't because you are afraid it might hurt God. Confess your feelings to him and notice how his grace sweeps over you blowing the temptation away.
Take the truth of your heart to God. That's step 2 to being in Christ.
When he recovered from his shock, he decided the best thing to do was to cover up the evidence of the crime and pretend nothing had happened. Quickly, he dug a shallow grave and after giving the ill fated duck a hasty burial he returned to the house believing it to be the end of this sad story. If he had read King David's story in 2 Samuel 11-12, he may have learned that cover ups don't end any stories; they just result in horrible repurcussions!
After dinner, Johnny's grandmother turned to his sister and told her to help out with the dishes. But his sister said, ""Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen." As the boy opened his mouth to protest, Sally turned to him and said in a savage whisper, "I know about the duck!" She didn't have to say more. Johnny did the dishes.
That began the most horrible time Johnny had in his entire life. He ended up milking the cows, taking out the trash, sweeping the cobwebs out of the attic, washing the windows and doing other assorted chores, while his sister frolicked her way through the holidays. Finally Johnny could stand it no longer, and he decided to end his agony by confessing his deed to his grandmother.
He was in for another shock. When he went to apologize to his grandmother, she told him that she knew what had happened. "I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. But because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you."
I don't know who the author of this story is, but he has been brilliant in illustrating an important scriptural truth—although it is probable this may not have been his intention. The truth is this: God knows everything we do, and when we lie to him about the sinful things we do, we only end up letting Satan manipulate us and make slaves of us.
Many of us get trapped like this. We begin by lying to others, trying to conceal our weaknesses and failings from them so that they will not think less of us. We then become so adept at lying to others, we begin to fool ourselves in thinking all is right when it isn't. We eventually end up lying to God, justifying our sinful thoughts and actions. The devil has a field day!
When, however, we take the truth about our feelings to God, we take away the power the devil has over us and open ourselves to the grace of God that allows us to overcome our weaknesses and failings. Try it and see if this doesn't work. The next time somebody makes you mad, don't put on your best face and act like nothing has happened. Tell God how miserable you are and see how quickly he makes you feel better. The next time you are attracted to somebody, don't try to pretend you aren't because you are afraid it might hurt God. Confess your feelings to him and notice how his grace sweeps over you blowing the temptation away.
Take the truth of your heart to God. That's step 2 to being in Christ.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Step 1: Come As You Are; I Love You
Luke 22:31-62 relates one of the most touching stories about the nature of Jesus that can be found in the entire Bible. Shortly after the last supper that Jesus had with his disciples, where he spoke about his impending death, Jesus says something very strange to Peter.
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32)
Jesus knows that Peter is going to deny him—his comment about Peter turning back suggests that—yet he tells Peter that he is not praying that he stays firm, or remains courageous, but that his faith may not fail. Faith in what? We will discover that before we come to the end of this story.
Peter, never really quick on the uptake, doesn't understand what Jesus is telling him, and doesn't ask him to explain either. He grandly tells Jesus that he is ready to die with him.
“Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.” (Luke 22:33-34).
As we know, that is exactly what happened. Soon after Jesus was arrested and taken into the house of the high priest, Peter tried to hide himself among the crowd, but he was recognized by a servant girl. “This man was with him.” she said. But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him.” A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” “Man, I am not!” Peter replied. About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.” And Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. (cf. Luke 22:56-60)
Scripture then says, "The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter" (Luke 22:61)
Peter believed in that love and turned back. The prayer that Jesus had made was answered. The faith that Jesus wanted Peter to have was faith in his love, his forgiving love.
In stark contrast to Peter was another apostle, Judas, who also messed up, but he thought his sin was beyond redemption. He didn't believe that God's love was so great, it would forgive him his betrayal and he went and hanged himself.
Many of us, unfortunately, are more like Judas than Peter, believing God to be an angry, vengeful God, quick to punish us for our wrongdoings. We can't be further from the truth. God is our father, who wants nothing more than for us to come back home to him, and when we do, punishment is the last thing on his mind because he is simply too happy to be angry. The Parable of the Prodigal Son illustrates this remarkable truth, and it can be seen exemplified in the life of every single sinner who has returned home to the father, including this author (see Return of the Prodigal).
He also does not ask us to change before we go to Him. Many of us believe we need to be perfect before we approach Him, but as we can never be that, we never end up going to Him at all. But as the Parable of the Prodigal Son also teaches, we need to go Him as we are. The son in this story was starving and filthy, clothed in rags, stinking to high heaven, but his father nonetheless gathered him in his arms and embraced him as he was. We don't need to change first either. We can go to him as we are, and then he will change us with his love.
"Come as you are," the Father says. "I love you." Let us believe that and go just as we are.
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32)
Jesus knows that Peter is going to deny him—his comment about Peter turning back suggests that—yet he tells Peter that he is not praying that he stays firm, or remains courageous, but that his faith may not fail. Faith in what? We will discover that before we come to the end of this story.
Peter, never really quick on the uptake, doesn't understand what Jesus is telling him, and doesn't ask him to explain either. He grandly tells Jesus that he is ready to die with him.
“Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.” (Luke 22:33-34).
As we know, that is exactly what happened. Soon after Jesus was arrested and taken into the house of the high priest, Peter tried to hide himself among the crowd, but he was recognized by a servant girl. “This man was with him.” she said. But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him.” A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” “Man, I am not!” Peter replied. About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.” And Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. (cf. Luke 22:56-60)
Scripture then says, "The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter" (Luke 22:61)
The Lord Turned and Looked Upon Peter
Photograph by George P Landow courtesy The Victorian Web
I believe that this was a moment of tremendous significance for Peter—and consequently for the Church—because it was in that moment that Peter's life changed completely. He remembered what Jesus had said about his betraying him and stricken with remorse and guilt he went out and wept bitterly. And, although Scripture doesn't say what happened here, I think that the image that kept flashing before Peter's tear filled eyes as he wept—grieving over his betrayal, grieving over his cowardice, grieving over his failure—was the look in Jesus's eyes. It was not one of condemnation, or of anger, or of disappointment. It was simply one of love. Peter believed in that love and turned back. The prayer that Jesus had made was answered. The faith that Jesus wanted Peter to have was faith in his love, his forgiving love.
In stark contrast to Peter was another apostle, Judas, who also messed up, but he thought his sin was beyond redemption. He didn't believe that God's love was so great, it would forgive him his betrayal and he went and hanged himself.
Many of us, unfortunately, are more like Judas than Peter, believing God to be an angry, vengeful God, quick to punish us for our wrongdoings. We can't be further from the truth. God is our father, who wants nothing more than for us to come back home to him, and when we do, punishment is the last thing on his mind because he is simply too happy to be angry. The Parable of the Prodigal Son illustrates this remarkable truth, and it can be seen exemplified in the life of every single sinner who has returned home to the father, including this author (see Return of the Prodigal).
He also does not ask us to change before we go to Him. Many of us believe we need to be perfect before we approach Him, but as we can never be that, we never end up going to Him at all. But as the Parable of the Prodigal Son also teaches, we need to go Him as we are. The son in this story was starving and filthy, clothed in rags, stinking to high heaven, but his father nonetheless gathered him in his arms and embraced him as he was. We don't need to change first either. We can go to him as we are, and then he will change us with his love.
"Come as you are," the Father says. "I love you." Let us believe that and go just as we are.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Four Steps to Being In Christ: Introduction
Lalith Pereira, an international preacher from Sri Lanka was in Dubai a couple of weeks before Christmas to conduct his flagship 4-Step Retreat in one of the city parishes. I had heard an abbreviated version of the program on CD and, quite taken in with it, I looked forward to listening to the full version with much anticipation. I was not disappointed.
Much of his content is mirrored in the steps I suggest in my own Discipleship Program, but his approach is so vastly different, I felt I should share it with my readers as another way up the mountain of the Lord. There is more than one route up and preachers should realize that, rather than believe their way is the only way and insist everybody follow it (and get mad if they don't!). Lalith's is a particularly good route, and involves moving from being with Christ to being in him.
Reading the New Testament we discover that these are the two ways to experience Jesus: to be with Him, and to be in Him. The apostles were with Christ for about three years, and though they lived with Him and learned from Him and loved Him, they were pretty much the same people at the end of the three years as they were at the start of it. A little wiser, perhaps, but fundamentally unchanged.
We see this very evident in their desertion of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. After promising Jesus that they would never leave His side, no matter what, they all ran away the moment danger threatened. (One of them was in such a hurry he left his clothes behind (cf. Mark 14:51), perhaps starting the trend currently known as streaking!) They had wanted to be with their Lord, but when push came to shove, they simply didn't have what it took to stay firm.
Yet, just a few weeks later, all of them were preaching boldly, not fearing prison, persecution, or death! How did this change take place? Because they had gone from being with Christ to being in Christ. And how did this happen?
We will discover this in the next four days, and it is important that we do, because many Christians are with Christ, not in Him. Consequently, like the apostles we make grand promises to Christ—like the resolutions we made at the start of this year—fully meaning to keep them, but unable to do so, because merely being with Him doesn't do the trick. We need to be in Him as well. Stay tuned.
Lalith Pereira preaching in Dubai
Lalith, whom I met during my first visit to Sri Lanka a few years ago—he had invited me to speak to his group—is a warm, wise, simple and funny man, and they are traits that he carries forth to the podium, making for some very enjoyable and edifying preaching. Much of his content is mirrored in the steps I suggest in my own Discipleship Program, but his approach is so vastly different, I felt I should share it with my readers as another way up the mountain of the Lord. There is more than one route up and preachers should realize that, rather than believe their way is the only way and insist everybody follow it (and get mad if they don't!). Lalith's is a particularly good route, and involves moving from being with Christ to being in him.
Reading the New Testament we discover that these are the two ways to experience Jesus: to be with Him, and to be in Him. The apostles were with Christ for about three years, and though they lived with Him and learned from Him and loved Him, they were pretty much the same people at the end of the three years as they were at the start of it. A little wiser, perhaps, but fundamentally unchanged.
We see this very evident in their desertion of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. After promising Jesus that they would never leave His side, no matter what, they all ran away the moment danger threatened. (One of them was in such a hurry he left his clothes behind (cf. Mark 14:51), perhaps starting the trend currently known as streaking!) They had wanted to be with their Lord, but when push came to shove, they simply didn't have what it took to stay firm.
Yet, just a few weeks later, all of them were preaching boldly, not fearing prison, persecution, or death! How did this change take place? Because they had gone from being with Christ to being in Christ. And how did this happen?
We will discover this in the next four days, and it is important that we do, because many Christians are with Christ, not in Him. Consequently, like the apostles we make grand promises to Christ—like the resolutions we made at the start of this year—fully meaning to keep them, but unable to do so, because merely being with Him doesn't do the trick. We need to be in Him as well. Stay tuned.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Daily Examen
Ignatius Loyola, who founded the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits, was an expert in the art of spiritual direction. One of the exercises he suggested was the Daily Examen, a technique of prayerful reflection on the events that take place during the day as a method of remaining in God's presence and discerning his will. It is a simple enough technique that Ignatius suggests we do twice daily - at noon, and at the end of the day.
These are the steps:
1. Become aware of God’s presence.
Look on the events of the day, seeking God's presence in them all, even those moments when everything seems confusing and meaningless, and God appears missing from it all. He is there and we will realize it when we look for him with Spirit filled eyes.
2. Review the day with gratitude.
Every single thing that happens in our lives is a blessing and we need to look at these things, simple though they might be, with gratitude. The water we drink, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the car we drive, the health we enjoy: they are all blessings. Gratitude is a sign that we don't take any of it for granted.
3. Pay attention to your emotions.
We can learn a lot from reflecting on our emotions. Did we get angry or impatient about something? What brought it on? With the help of the Holy Spirit, not only can we become aware of our shortcomings so that we may seek his help to overcome them, but we may also obtain insights into God's plans for us. For instance, if something we planned is not working out in the manner we expected causing extreme annoyance, maybe it is not something that God wants us to do. What is it that he does want?
4. Choose one feature of the day and pray from it.
Ask the Holy Spirit to direct you to something that God thinks is particularly important. It may be a chance encounter that you had with somebody that left you in turmoil. Or it may be something that happened that got you excited. Or it may be something that seems totally without significance, yet your attention is led to it. Pray about it, allowing the prayer to arise spontaneously from your heart—be it intercession, praise, repentance, or gratitude.
5. Look toward tomorrow.
Ask God to help you to face up to the challenges of the next day, paying attention to the feelings that surface as you ponder about what lies in store. What do you feel? Anxious? Excited? Afraid? We can turn these feelings into prayer, seeking God's guidance and understanding about how to prepare for the day ahead and how best to live it.
We can end the Daily Examen, as Ignatius recommeds, with a conversation with Jesus, asking for forgiveness for our sins, seeking his wisdom in dealing with the problems that we face, looking for protection from temptation and adversity, and anything else we are moved to communicate with him about, all in a spirit of gratitude.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Cooperating with Jesus
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)
Sin is a heavy burden that rests upon our shoulders, more weighty than anything else we may carry. When we persist in sinning, despite all our efforts to the contrary, we become weary. Jesus speaks to those among us struggling with sin, telling us to go to him for the rest that we seek, rather than distance ourselves like many of us do.
He then suggests something rather strange. He asks us to take on a new burden - his yoke! However, even though this may seem as adding to the burdens on our backs, as any look at two cows yoked together might suggest, it actually succeeds in unburdening us! When we are enjoined to Jesus three things result. One, he takes on our loads, sin in this case, which he forgives, instantly lifting off guilt and shame and other assorted baggage. Two, we take on his burdens, but these are light because they are powered by the Holy Spirit. We will speak about this another time. And three, and most importantly, when we are yoked to him, we cannot move away from him, thus remaining secure, protected, guided, and blessed.
The trick is not to shed off the yoke. How do we do this? By consciously making him part of our lives from the moment we wake up to the time we go to bed. Wish him when you arise in the morning. Say a little prayer thanking him for a good nights rest and asking him for his guidance and blessings. Thank him for letting you see the light of a new day, and then continue to thank him for all the blessings he bestows upon you during the entire day, beginning with your morning ablutions (even the water you use to wash your face is a blessing often taken for granted) to the last meal you have in the night. Consciously think about him at regular intervals during the day. It may be a good idea to set an alarm to ring on the hour to remind you to do this until it becomes a habit. Play spiritual music, watch spiritual movies, read spiritual books. Call out his name from time to time. Find your own ways of staying connected with him so that you can pray unceasingly, as Paul advised (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
St. Ignatius of Loyola developed a five step technique of prayerful examination that can also be a useful aid in ensuring we are permanently yoked to Jesus. We will look at this techique, called the Daily Examen, tomorrow.
Sin is a heavy burden that rests upon our shoulders, more weighty than anything else we may carry. When we persist in sinning, despite all our efforts to the contrary, we become weary. Jesus speaks to those among us struggling with sin, telling us to go to him for the rest that we seek, rather than distance ourselves like many of us do.
He then suggests something rather strange. He asks us to take on a new burden - his yoke! However, even though this may seem as adding to the burdens on our backs, as any look at two cows yoked together might suggest, it actually succeeds in unburdening us! When we are enjoined to Jesus three things result. One, he takes on our loads, sin in this case, which he forgives, instantly lifting off guilt and shame and other assorted baggage. Two, we take on his burdens, but these are light because they are powered by the Holy Spirit. We will speak about this another time. And three, and most importantly, when we are yoked to him, we cannot move away from him, thus remaining secure, protected, guided, and blessed.
The trick is not to shed off the yoke. How do we do this? By consciously making him part of our lives from the moment we wake up to the time we go to bed. Wish him when you arise in the morning. Say a little prayer thanking him for a good nights rest and asking him for his guidance and blessings. Thank him for letting you see the light of a new day, and then continue to thank him for all the blessings he bestows upon you during the entire day, beginning with your morning ablutions (even the water you use to wash your face is a blessing often taken for granted) to the last meal you have in the night. Consciously think about him at regular intervals during the day. It may be a good idea to set an alarm to ring on the hour to remind you to do this until it becomes a habit. Play spiritual music, watch spiritual movies, read spiritual books. Call out his name from time to time. Find your own ways of staying connected with him so that you can pray unceasingly, as Paul advised (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
St. Ignatius of Loyola developed a five step technique of prayerful examination that can also be a useful aid in ensuring we are permanently yoked to Jesus. We will look at this techique, called the Daily Examen, tomorrow.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Keeping New Year Resolutions
During the 25 years I spent in the atheistic wilderness, I recall making resolutions every single year. They were resolutions common to many of us - more exercise, less drinking, no gambling, etc. They never lasted beyond the first week of the year, and other than establish that there were things in my life that needed fixing, the resolutions served no purpose whatsoever.
This experience is probably shared by many of you and the main reason it is so is because keeping our resolutions depends on our will power, which is very often weak. For the Christian, however, resolutions can be made and kept, because we don't depend on our strength, but on the strength of God. As Paul said, in a statement of seeming contradiction: "When I am weak, then I am strong" (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:19).
How so? Because as Christ told the apostle: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:9). When we go to God, admitting to our inability to effect major changes in our lives and asking for his strength to do so, his power begins to move in us, making what seemed impossible possible. On another occasion, Jesus had said to his twelve apostles: "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God" (cf. Mark 10:27).
The context in this case was slightly different (he was speaking of salvation), but the lesson is the same. What was the context here? A young man once approached Jesus asking him what he needed to do to attain eternal life. Jesus told him he needed to keep the commandments. The young man told Jesus, with more than a hint of self righteousness, that he did this. "Well," Jesus said, "If you want to be perfect, sell everything you have and give it to the poor." The young man went away rather sad because he had enormous wealth that he couldn't bear to be parted from.
There are things that we can't bear to be parted from either, very often sinful things, and it requires tremendous grace from above to be able to do so. But before the grace can operate, there needs to be the desire to be parted from them. God can't/won't do anything until he sees the genuine desire in our hearts. But if we let him know the desire, take a step forward in faith by surrendering our weaknesses into his hands, we will see miraculous things happening. All those things that I tried to fix for twenty five years - the smoking, the drinking, the gambling - they all disappeared overnight. All we need to do is cooperate with him. We'll see how to do this tomorrow.
For those of you who may be curious what my own resolutions are for the year (and wanna see if the stuff I just spoke about grace and the power of God is on the level) here are a few of them: to return to a vegetarian diet (as Daniel of the Den of Lions fame knew, and Francis of Assisi as an example of somebody more modern, this is a great way of keeping both body and soul fit; explanation another time), committed prayer, regular Bible reading/meditation, disciplined spiritual reading and religious study, and frequent exercise.
I also intend updating this blog at frequent intervals (there are so many things I learn each day, but without a record of them, they slip into oblivion, lost forever), and writing a few more books . And, yeah, I plan on staying far away from sweets and chocolates. :)
I promise an honest report a month from now on how I fared, and answers to a few questions that may come up. A lot of folks say, "But it isn't a sin to eat meat; why do you want to give it up?" Or more commonly: "Jesus loved fish. If you wanna be like him you gotta eat fish!" If anybody is interested, I'll provide the reasons why I made this and the other resolutions.
Wish you all a blessed and Spirit filled 2010!
This experience is probably shared by many of you and the main reason it is so is because keeping our resolutions depends on our will power, which is very often weak. For the Christian, however, resolutions can be made and kept, because we don't depend on our strength, but on the strength of God. As Paul said, in a statement of seeming contradiction: "When I am weak, then I am strong" (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:19).
How so? Because as Christ told the apostle: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:9). When we go to God, admitting to our inability to effect major changes in our lives and asking for his strength to do so, his power begins to move in us, making what seemed impossible possible. On another occasion, Jesus had said to his twelve apostles: "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God" (cf. Mark 10:27).
The context in this case was slightly different (he was speaking of salvation), but the lesson is the same. What was the context here? A young man once approached Jesus asking him what he needed to do to attain eternal life. Jesus told him he needed to keep the commandments. The young man told Jesus, with more than a hint of self righteousness, that he did this. "Well," Jesus said, "If you want to be perfect, sell everything you have and give it to the poor." The young man went away rather sad because he had enormous wealth that he couldn't bear to be parted from.
There are things that we can't bear to be parted from either, very often sinful things, and it requires tremendous grace from above to be able to do so. But before the grace can operate, there needs to be the desire to be parted from them. God can't/won't do anything until he sees the genuine desire in our hearts. But if we let him know the desire, take a step forward in faith by surrendering our weaknesses into his hands, we will see miraculous things happening. All those things that I tried to fix for twenty five years - the smoking, the drinking, the gambling - they all disappeared overnight. All we need to do is cooperate with him. We'll see how to do this tomorrow.
For those of you who may be curious what my own resolutions are for the year (and wanna see if the stuff I just spoke about grace and the power of God is on the level) here are a few of them: to return to a vegetarian diet (as Daniel of the Den of Lions fame knew, and Francis of Assisi as an example of somebody more modern, this is a great way of keeping both body and soul fit; explanation another time), committed prayer, regular Bible reading/meditation, disciplined spiritual reading and religious study, and frequent exercise.
I also intend updating this blog at frequent intervals (there are so many things I learn each day, but without a record of them, they slip into oblivion, lost forever), and writing a few more books . And, yeah, I plan on staying far away from sweets and chocolates. :)
I promise an honest report a month from now on how I fared, and answers to a few questions that may come up. A lot of folks say, "But it isn't a sin to eat meat; why do you want to give it up?" Or more commonly: "Jesus loved fish. If you wanna be like him you gotta eat fish!" If anybody is interested, I'll provide the reasons why I made this and the other resolutions.
Wish you all a blessed and Spirit filled 2010!
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