Morning Has Broken – Cat Stevens
Father Richard teaches that a practice of contemplation carries us into the “Big River” of God’s love, enabling us to release our fears.
Grace and mercy teach us that we are all much larger than the good or bad stories we tell about ourselves or one another. Our small, fear-based stories are usually less than half true, and therefore not really “true” at all. They’re usually based on hurts and unconscious agendas that persuade us to see and judge things in a very selective way. They’re not the whole You, not the Great You. It’s not the great river and therefore not where Life can really happen. No wonder the Spirit is described as “flowing water” and as “a spring inside you” (John 4:10–14) or as a “river of life” (Revelation 22:1–2).
I believe that faith might be precisely that ability to trust the Big River of God’s providential love, which is to trust its visible embodiment (the Christ), the flow (the Holy Spirit), and the source itself (the Creator). This is a divine process that we don’t have to change, coerce, or improve. We just need to allow it and enjoy it. That takes immense confidence in God, especially when we’re hurting. Often, we feel ourselves get panicky and quickly want to make things right. We lose our ability to be present and go up into our heads and start obsessing. At that point we’re not really feeling or experiencing things in our hearts and bodies. We’re oriented toward making things happen, trying to push or even create our own river. Yet the Big River is already flowing through us and each of us is only one small part of it.
Faith does not need to push the river precisely because it is able to trust that there is a river. The river is flowing; we are already in it. This is probably the deepest meaning of “divine providence.” So do not be afraid. We have been proactively given the Spirit by a very proactive God.
Ask yourself regularly, “What am I afraid of? Does it matter? Will it matter in the great scheme of things? Is it worth holding on to?” We have to ask whether it is fear that keeps us from loving. Grace will lead us into such fears and emptiness, and grace alone can fill them, if we are willing to stay in the void. We mustn’t engineer an answer too quickly. We mustn’t get settled too fast. We all want to manufacture an answer to take away our anxiety and settle the dust. To stay in God’s hands, to trust, means that we usually have to let go of our attachments to feelings—which are going to pass away anyway. People of deep faith develop a high tolerance for ambiguity and come to recognize that it is only the small self that needs certitude or perfect order all the time. The true self is perfectly at home in the River of Mystery.
Reference:
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer, rev. ed. (Crossroad Publishing, 2003), 142–144.
Jesus Calling -Sarah Young
Come to Me with all your weaknesses: physical, emotional, and spiritual. Rest in the comfort of My Presence, remembering that nothing is impossible with Me.
Pry your mind away from your problems so you can focus your attention on Me. Recall that I am able to do immeasurably more than all you ask or imagine. Instead of trying to direct Me to do this and that, seek to attune yourself to what I am already doing.
When anxiety attempts to wedge its way into your thoughts, remind yourself that I am your Shepherd. The bottom line is that I am taking care of you; therefore, you needn’t be afraid of anything. Rather than trying to maintain control over your life, abandon yourself to My will. Though this may feel frightening–even dangerous, the safest place to be is in My will.
RELATED SCRIPTURE:
Luke 1:37 NLT
37 For the word of God will never fail.”
Daily devotional book
Ephesians 3:20-21 (NLT)
20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.
Additional insight regarding Ephesians 3:20-21: This doxology – prayer of praise to God – ends Part 1 of Ephesians. In the first section, Paul describes the timeless role of the church. In Part 2 (chapters 4-6), he will explain how church members should live in order to bring about the unity God wants. As in most of his books, Paul first lays a doctrinal foundation and then makes practical applications of the truths he has presented.
John Chaffee Five on Friday
1.
“Lord, teach me to be generous,
to serve you as you deserve,
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to look for any reward,
save that of knowing that I do your holy will.”
– A Prayer from St. Ignatius of Loyola
For several months now, I have been working through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
Ignatius was a 16th-century Spanish infantryman who left his sword and shield behind after taking a cannonball to the legs. During his recovery, they had to rebreak his legs to help them to heal better, and it left him with a limp for the rest of his life. These were some of the most formative years of his life, and during his life, he founded the Jesuits and wrote the Spiritual Exercises (something like a military-style manual for spiritual formation).
Over the years, I have found Ignatius of Loyola’s life and wisdom to be quite helpful. This prayer has recentered me more than once, and is doing so for me again this week.
2.
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.“
– Saul of Tarsus in Romans 6:7-9
Just before Easter, I was able to go to St. Paul’s Basilica in Rome to pray, where the Apostle’s bones are buried beneath the altar.
Actually, it is more that I tried to pray. I couldn’t quite do it.
Not because of some lack of reverence, but because of some surplus of it.
Something within me glitched as I knelt in that massive church.
I could not comprehend what was in the bone box right in front of me.
The bones of St. Paul? Really?
Sure, there is plausible deniability, but if there is deniability, then there is also a plausible possibility!
I had studied the life and letters of Paul for literal decades of my life. I was even given the opportunity to learn ancient Greek in seminary and read about his life and letters in their original language. What a privilege!
Since that day of visiting St. Paul’s bones, I read his words in a different way. I can’t quite pinpoint it, but his words now resonate as if on a new frequency for me.
It is fascinating how ancient words we know so well can suddenly take on a new freshness we could not make happen ourselves.
3.
“The vast majority of people walking away from Christianity in America are not rejecting the person and work of Jesus. They are rejecting faulty biblical interpretations that lead to bigotry, oppression, and marginalization. This rejection isn’t unchristian. It is Christlike.”
– Zach Lambert, Texan Pastor of Restore Church
I have said this in other ways, but this is pretty well to the point.
It is actually a form of devotion to true Christianity to reject and walk away from a false one.
4.
“Emotionally immature people have a poor sense of personal history and resist being accountable for their past actions or future consequences.”
– Lindsay C. Gibson in Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
Thanks, Mark. This book you bought for me (and for Mike) is kind of rocking me.
Fortunately, I believe my parents were/are emotionally mature and healthy people who did a great job in our household.
That said, this book is doing much to help me understand people in general. As someone who pastors and gives spiritual direction, anything that helps me better understand how we cope and how we respond to one another is enormously helpful.
The human person is infinitely complex, and with so many nuances and exceptions to the rule that it can be disorienting, and so I admit that a book like this is enlightening.
When I see immaturity in myself or in others, it irks me terribly.
I firmly believe that a healthy Christian spirituality helps us to “clean up, grow up, wake up, and show up” to our own lives. Authentic faith helps us take accountability for ourselves and puts us back “on the hook” to become the best versions of ourselves.
I firmly believe that we have an ethical and spiritual responsibility to those around us to be the most virtuous, whole, and loving versions of ourselves. The world already has enough trauma from our general immaturity and vices that I actually believe Jesus is in favor of whatever helps us to grow more fully into human beings who help one another to heal and be well.
5.
“The only hope, or else despair
Lies in the choice of pyre of pyre-
To be redeemed from fire by fire.”
It is either one fire or another. That is the choice.
Do I want the fires of my own self-created hell? Do I want to be in the midst of the conflagration of my own vices?
Or…
Would I prefer the purifying fires of my own conscience leading me into repentance and into reformation/transformation?
Pyre or pyre?
Will I consent to the fires of God’s purifying Love that will redeem me?
Or, will I avoid that holy fire and choose to be painfully subject to the terrifying flames of my own self-destruction?
The question is not, “Will I be burned?”
The question is, “Which fire do I consent to be burned by? The holy one or the unholy one?”
