Rule of Benedict 35
July 21, 2009
I am in San Antonio, Texas, enjoying my 24 hours old grandson Brae. The miracle of life possesses indescribable beauty. Bless God with me for Brae.
The life of monastics at times seems restrictive. Some see it as impossible because of its restrictive characteristics. On the other hand a different perception of restrictions is possible. Restrictions can also be freeing. If you chose to only do some things you free yourself from having to do others.
What do you think of Benedict’s Rule 4:51-54.
Keep your mouth from evil and wicked words. Do not be excessively talkative. Do not speak vain words or words intended only to provoke laughter. Do not love excessive laughter.
Is this sound advice? Would yo follow it? Why do you think Benedict insists here about the use of words and laughter?
Comment: The key to this advice is the words excessively and excessive. With silence selling cheap and words of pundits earn them in the millions I see Benedict’s advice as a corrective. Silence is short changed and words are over valued. Our words can lead us astray and distance us from Christ. That is why we should measure them and consider what comes out of our mouths to see its real worth. Does it contribute to godliness or not? Laughter, we are told is therapeutic. But laughter also easily distracts us from life with God. Again, silence here gives us the needed corrective to words and laughter. Certainly words and laughter are not bad by themselves. But when when they distract us Christ, or when we neglect to use them for the cause of Christ, perhaps we err and refuse word and laughter for the sake of the kingdom.
Prayer: Lord, you gave us speech. You gave us silence. You gave us laughter. Whatever we use to draw near to you, words and laughter, bless them. Teach us to be silent and to know when not to speak nor laugh. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Running on Empty
July 16, 2009
Learning to Run on Empty
Last month I wrote about pride and asked myself “why am I at times like this?” This month, I want to offer a cure: The Antidote to pride is humility, or poverty of spirit. Other biblical words are also synonymous with humility: meekness, submissiveness, and lowliness. A song in the 70s speaks about running on empty. Empty of a false self is a good way of describing humility. So is this you? Is it becoming you? Is humility the condition of my soul?
For Monica Baldwin, “What makes humility so desirable is the marvelous thing it does to us; it creates in us a capacity for the closest possible intimacy with God.”
Declared by Einstein as the greatest scientific mind, Sir Isaac Newton said: “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” May his tribe increase in the scientific community.
“Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.” It took Saint Augustine, who said this, over a decade to arrive at a humble stance before his Maker.
Aspiring to a humble life is worthy of all the effort we can put into it. Ask the world and it will tell you in so many ways the humble get nowhere. Make your mark on the world, step over anyone in your path, and get to the top at all cost. And when you do… Few are they out there in “Egypt Land,” who say: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Perhaps we shouldn’t expect it when even in “Beulah Land” humility is easily forgotten.
In the church… our mandate is humility. In our Life Manual our best models and highest instructions are humble people and lowliness. Numbers 12:3 says “Moses was very humble.” Honor, wisdom, grace, fairness, honoring others, greatness, victory, and other attributes worthy of Christ’s kingdom citizens come fast upon the heels of poverty of spirit (peruse these Scriptures and follow references in your study Bible: Proverbs 15:33; Colossians 3:12 1 Peter 5:5; Philippians 2:3; 2 Chronicles 12:6, 30:11; Matthew 18:4; James 4:10; Micah 6:8; Zechariah 9:9). False humility is possible (is it ever; I know it by personal acquaintance, see Colossians 2:23).
The humble in spirit don’t need to worry about the wrong thoughts of others, the morality that others live by. Their main concern is their own attitudes toward God, others, and all living things. Humility comes from seeing ourselves properly, that is, truthfully, realistically, honestly, without any guile or pretense. The humble know they have gifts, abilities, strengths, and worth. They also know that all they have can be developed further (Jeff Cook, The Seven Deadly Sins).
The humble minimize or eliminate comparative living. They know and appreciate and praise others’ gifts, abilities be they few or many. They do not compete to outdo others to shine in the eyes of all. They may set as a goal to outdo the whole world in well doing but only to please the Master with whom they walk humbly. They come along side others and throw what weight they have to make them even look better than they by encouraging and edifying them. When others succeed the humble rejoice. When others fail they shed tears of sorrow in sympathy. They offer help.
How do you get it? How do you learn to run on self-empty? Because it does not come naturally to us, humility is a learned attitude and behavior. Jesus was humble and meek (Matthew 11:19). “I love this about you Jesus. How did you do it? Did you willpower your way into being humble?” “The will has no power, my child.” Did you hole up somewhere until it came to you?” “If you hole up it will certainly not come to you.” “Did you seek humility?” “It would not be humility if you sought it in your own strength.”
“How then?” Jesus answered: “Get a vision of my life, purify your intention, and learn the means I used to do life with God. Look at my life carefully. I fasted in humility before the grand will of God. I prayed constantly. I watched to see where my Father was working and worked at the same things and in the same way he works. I took long walks alone into the wilderness as often as possible just to be alone and quiet and to sort out my motives. I studied the Scriptures to learn from others. I memorized much of them so that the same Holy Spirit who gave them shaped my heart. By them I grew in wisdom. Because of them, I learned to be obedient to the end. I marinated in them day and night, taking them into my heart, mind, soul, and body. I served. I worshiped. I sacrificed. I gave my all to all. I ran on empty even of my own rights to run on full (Philippians 2:1-11).” “I see, said I. I will go and do likewise, Good and Faithful Servant.”
Walking with the Master is the humble way. It is the way of poverty of spirit, the condition of our hearts as we are brought into life in the kingdom of God. Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Confession 11
July 14, 2009
Here is the presence of Almighty God, I kneel in silence, and with penitent and obedient heart confess my sins, so that I may obtain forgiveness by your infinite goodness and mercy. The Book of Common Prayer.
The ever-ready-to-be vulnerable, Henri Nouwen, has this incidence to tell to help us reflect on confession:
This morning I had a pleasant discussion with David Molineau, the new director of Noticias Aliadas (Latin American Press). I mentioned to David how impressed I had been with the way the Peruvian people express their faith, their gratitude, their care, their hopes, and their love. I told him that it might be a special task for me to give words to much of the spiritual richness that I say, but of which the people themselves are hardly aware. David agreed, but added: “Living with the poor not only makes you see the good more clearly, but the evil as well.” He told me some stories from his own experience in a Peruvian parish, and illustrated the truth that in a world of poverty, the lines between darkness and light, good and evil, destructiveness and creativity, are much more distinct than in a world of wealth. [Do you agree with Nouwen's assessment?]
One of the temptations of the upper-middle-class [I might also add that this is true today for all classes of people] is to create large gray areas between good and evil. Wealth takes away the sharp edges of our moral sensitivities and allows a comfortable confusion about sin and virtue. The difference between rich and poor is not that the rich sin more than the poor, but that the rich find it easier to call sin a virtue [For example, destructive ambition to get to the top no matter who gets hurt in the process]. When the poor sin, they call it a sin; when they see holiness, they identify it as such. This intuitive clarity is often absent from the wealthy, and that absence easily leads to the atrophy of the moral sense [Note the connection between the lack of moral sense and wealth Nouwen makes].
David helped me see that living with the poor does not keep me away from evil, but it does allow me to see evil in the sharper, clearer ways. It does not lead me automatically to the good either, but will help me see good in a brighter light, less hidden and more convincing. Once I can see sin, and virtue with this clarity, I will also see sadness and joy, hatred and forgiveness, resentment and gratitude in less nebulous ways. From Gracias.
Could it be, just could it be, that the total absence of confession and moral sensitivity and sense) in our churches today is tied to our affluence? I have a suspicion that it is. What do you think?
Rule of Benedict 34
July 13, 2009
It’s hard to believe that I have posted on the same Rule of St Benedict so many times yet I am not even close to the end. I trust that a meditation on this rule has been as helpful to you as to me. I appreciate Benedict because he got serious about following Jesus as best he understood him in his day. There is benefit to us all from such faithfulness.
Chapter 4:50. This verse says: Dash down at the feet of Christ your evil thoughts, the instant that they come into your heart; and lay them open to your spiritual father.
I am reminded of these lines from the hymn: Oh (a cry of lament) what peace we often forfeit, Oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
Dashing the temptation the moment it enters our mind (the window of its opportunity) or carrying it to God in prayer, is the smartest thing we can do. Another thing we can and should do more often is dash them at the feet of an experienced spiritual companion or brother or sister int he Lord. These are practices that will save us much suffering. Dash (as if out of hate) the temptation against the feet of Christ. It is where it belongs. There it will dissolve as Christ’s tears wash over it. Tears of joy because we did not indulge it. The speed at which we learn to do this can save us much fear, much shame, much anxious living.
Prayer: Have mercy on me O God, I cry with the sinner of old. O Christ, tempted in everyway as we, sin never entered thee. Its power without influence on thee. In thy perfection thou hast shown, in thy mercy thou has proven, that I in thee am able of the same grandeur of spirit, victory over sin, and largess of life. The victory is mine as abiding with thee be mine. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
The Word, Faith and Salvation
July 11, 2009
“Jesus, unlike the founder of any other major faith, holds out hope for ordinary human life. Our future is not an ethereal, impersonal form of consciousness. We will not float through the air, but rather will eat, embrace, sing, laugh, and dance in the kingdom of God, in degrees of power, glory, and joy that we can’t at present imagine.
Jesus will make the world our perfect home again. We will no longer be living “east of Eden,” always wandering and never arriving. we will come, and the father will meet us and embrace us, and we will be brought into the feast. ” Timothy Keller; The Prodigal God p 104
5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that
was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care (1 Peter 1:5, 9-10)
It appears to me that for Peter, salvation is future. IF we yearn for spiritual nourishment (1 Peter 2:2) we will grow into that final salvation that is being protected for us by God as we continue in our faith (1 Peter 1:4,5).
In other words, the “hope of salvation for ordinary life” is begun by faith when we first believe. Is it fair to say that birth is not a guarntee of an abundant and full life, but it does provide the opportunity. New birth is only the beginning, followed by a long, hard, joyous journey to salvation (future hope). Therefore we should strive to rid ourselves of sin and desire the word of God which nourishes our faith. It is only the faith that expresses itself though love that has value (Gal. 5:6).
Therefore today I want to feast on the word of God which nourishes my faith. Today I desire that my faith would express itself in love and I look forward to the day when my ordinary life has been restored.
Missio Dei 13
July 9, 2009
The mission of God and the people of God go together as glove and hand. It is true that God sent individual missionaries to other nations to preach repentance and righteousness and the love of God. However, the missionary was the representative of God and the people of God on mission to the nations (i.e. Jonah). Individuals who are sent are always part of the larger community of God. The community witnesses to its “sentness” by inviting, blessing, and harvesting the nations for inclusion in the kingdom of God. Behind the bringer of good news, the “blesser”, are two communities: The Trinitarian community of love and the church community the trinity inhabits. The people of God in the New Testament are represented by the church gathered/scattered as apprentices of Jesus who adopt the mission of Jesus to be grace, love, and light unto the nations, their communities, and their neighbors.
The church that does not see itself and acts as a sent people to the nations, to the peoples that surround it is not a missional church no matter what it claims. By being sent, I mean what I said above: inviting, blessing, and harvesting those who decide to obey Jesus’ invitation. Inviting the community by grace (doing for the community what the community cannot do for itself, to turn to God), blessing the community through generous self-sacrifcing actions, and harvesting winsomely those who obey and enter the kindgom.
A good indication of whether a church is actively seeking the missional posture is to see what it has budgeted of its collected resources (people, money, time, and space) to accomplish its part of the mission of God.
Prayer: Jesus, make us at missional order a community that truly lives the mission of God in whatever community we belong to. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Praying Colossians 7
July 8, 2009
Today, we have before us to form a prayer from Colossians 1:15-16.
1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation,
1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.
Prayer: Jesus, you are the image of our Father whom we have never seen and whom only in you do we see. How much like him you are! How much like you he is! How much love flows between you! You have experienced our Father’s suffering at the hand of his creation in the same way as earthly fathers suffer when their children go astray. Except, in your case, Jesus, you were always the apple of our Father’s eye. You have never fallen short of his glory. You have never been at enmity with Him. You have always done his will. We haven’t. What we mortals love so much about you is your obedience to death because of your deep love to our Father.
There are ways you are like the Father that we cannot imagine unless we live to imitate you. But you have revealed enough of our Father that we could see what we need to see. When our Father spun the world into existence, you designed it together. You put your beauty in it. You stamped it with your design. How wonderful it is. You colabored with our Father. You breathed life into dry ground, into dead bones, into shriveled lives. Grant that I may see all you have done and all that has your signature on it and marvel that you, creator of all, died for all. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Confession 10
July 7, 2009
Do you have a time of confession daily? Do you think it is necessary?
Acknowledging our weaknesses before God is helpful and instructive. It helps us in the humbling of ourselves before the Lord our God. It situates us in the right place as creatures before our creator, as sinners before the Holy One.
Confession works when we understand ourselves as God understands us. Deeply flawed persons who are deeply loved and graced. But beyond understanding there is agreement. In confessing my sins to God (or to others I offend) I am turning or changing my mind about my innocence before God and others. Love and grace flow to me to cover me and heal my brokenness.
Because confession takes courage and strength of character two implications follow:
1. The Holy Spirit initiates the need for it in our lives. He gives needed courage to face our weaknesses.
2. It is developed in the process of kingdom of God living. Confession can become a discipline of our lives that shapes our character in the likeness of Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Holy Spirit of God, enable to confess freely and without excuses. Teach us to know what to confess and by doing so make us followers of Jesus who value integrity. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Rule of Benedict 33
July 6, 2009
Benedict writes in 4:48-49
Keep guard at all times over the actions of your life, knowing for certain that God sees you every where.
I didn’t grow up with this Sunday School song: O be careful little hands, feet, eyes, ears what you do, where you go, what you see, and hear for the Father up above is looking down in love… Yes indeed one must be careful. Enticements to drift away from a Jesus-abiding life are many. Outward enticements to indulge our sensual pleasures of every kind abound. Inward enticements fueled by stored memories of sinful pleasures, boredom, and a sense of entitlement or missing out, lie in wait in every nook and cranny of our heart, mind, and soul. Thus keep guard at all times is apt advice, the one necessary thing in kingdom living.
Two people I read about and read some, who have managed a keeping guard over their hearts (Proverbs 4:23) are Brother Lawrence and Frank Laubach (other than the proverb writer and of course our Master). Perhaps there are many more.
Laubach in Letters by a modern Mystic says:
As for me, I never lived, I was half dead, I was a rotting tree, until I reached the place where I wholly, with utter honesty, resolved and then re-resolved that I would find God’s will, and I would do that will though every fiber in me said no, and I would win the battle in my thoughts. It was as though some deep artesian well had been struck in my soul… and strength came forth. I do not claim success even for a day yet–in my mind, no complete success all day–but some days are closer to success, and every day is tingling with the joy of a glorious discovery. That thing is eternal. That thing is undefeatable… This spirit which comes to a mind set upon continuous surrender, this spirit is timeless life.
Does this sound doable? Is there a desire within me for this?
Laubach adds:
It seems to me now that yonder plowman could be like Calixto Sanidad, when he was a lonesome and mistreated plowboy, “with my eyes on the furrow, and my hands on the lines, but my thoughts on God.” The carpenter could be as a full of God as was Christ when he drove nails. The millions at looms and lathes could make the hours glorious. Some hour spent by some night watchman might be the most glorious ever lived on earth.
We occupy our lives with all kinds of activities. But with our thoughts we train our minds to turn upward, keeping guard over our actions because the Father up above is looking down in love to give us the desires of our hearts.
This is challenging to say the least. Keeping guard is only the starting point. The rest is to turn our minds to be stayed on Him. Much easier said than done. But willed by our Lord for us.
Prayer from Celtic Daily Prayer morning canticle:
Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
Waiting
July 3, 2009
Imagine yourself in this scene.
You have just been anointed the first King of Israel, I would guess that comes with a decent amount of pressure to succeed! You have already attacked the Philistines once and have really irritated them. They have now come out in force. You are way out numbered. Much of your army has gone into hiding. Those who remain are quaking with fear. You are way outnumbered! All eyes are on you as the newly anointed King. You want to attack, you want to prove yourself, you want to serve your God and your people well. And here is the rub. When you were selected by God, through Samuel to be king, you were instructed, “God down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do (1 Samuel 10:8).
You are now caught between waiting as you were instructed and the military needs of your people. You can not fulfill both. What would you do? Would you have the discipline to wait or would you lazily give in to the pressure (and pride) to act now?
If you are like Saul, you “get creative” and refuse to succumb to the tyranny of “either/or”. You do not want to fight without having offered sacrifices, but at the same time you see your “quaking” men are deserting after a full week of inactivity. (Can you imagine waiting a full 7 days under that king of pressure?) Saul, tired of waiting, takes it upon himself to make the sacrifices Samuel had promised to offer (after all, Samuel had given Saul “priestly honor” 9:23, 24;10::4).
Samuel arrives to discover the “foolish thing” Saul has done and says, “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had , he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’S command.”
Ultimately, Saul’s action undoes him as he is rebuked by Samuel, abandoned by his people and rejected by God.
(Reflections on 1 Samuel 13: 5-15, see also Psalm 131)
Missio Dei 12
July 2, 2009
In these posts I am seeking to understand the mission of God in the world and asking God to clarify for us what it means to live this mission in a daily sacred rhythm of life.
The mission is God’s. It is only our mission in the sense that we are commissioned by God to engage the world as he does. Moses, for example, was on the mission of God to soften the heart of Pharaoh toward God and his people. Our sending into the world is his mission. If we possess it selfishly it ceases to be his mission. We strike the rock in our own strength and it yields nothing.
God is at work, his mission of having all people have the right heart toward him through his son, is also our daily engagement. When we program it or institutionalize it, it becomes ours to manage, to handle. God’s mission is always his mission. It never ceased to be his mission even when he gave us the responsibility to take it on as our mission also. It is in his name. If it is not it is not his mission but only ours, stubble and hay are plenty.
Peter in dealing with Cornelius understood that the mission he is on is God’s mission. Look at what he says to him: “You prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God” (Acts 10:31). And “God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (34-35). All this was happening to Cornelius before Peter showed up. God was at work. Peter was brought by God into that work.
How then do we engage this truth daily in the local and ordinary hustle and bustle of life? We live with open eyes to see where God’s mission is going on. We jump on the opportunity where we see it going on. If we don’ recognize it, it’s not because it’s not going on, but because there is a veil over our eyes.
Prayer: So open our eyes, dear Lord, that we may see glimpses of the Missio Dei in the lives of others. Give us the will and stoke the desire in us to engage in it as we see it. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Praying Colossians 6
July 2, 2009
Praying Colossians 1:13-14
Affirming (what we know from Scripture) the identity we know God to be is a form of prayer. Repeating to a person (face-to-face) their qualities as as person is affirming, edifying, pleasing, and honoring. Although Paul speaks of the person of Christ in the third person, changing his compliments of Christ to a direct address to Christ makes it a prayer of adoration or praise. “O how I love him, how I adore him” becomes “you are the one I love, you are the one I adore…” Here are Paul’s words from the ESV.
1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, 1:14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Jesus, your powerful light-life is able to overcome any darkness-life in me and your church. Our hope is in you for a daily exchange of kingdoms. We give you our darkness; we receive your light. Day by day, minute by minute, your presence is a light unto our feet, the sun of life unto our path. Thank you for this exchange, the best deal we have ever had. Jesus we also love what our Father did in you and what you did in him to bring us back to you from that kingdom of evil. We are not alone. We are billions strong. We couldn’t have made it back on our own, that’s for sure. You lived in that kingdom, you suffered in that kingdom, you remained devoted to God, our Father, then you died in that kingdom. Now my sins are forgiven, separated from me, beyond your sight, hidden deep in the cross of your death and life. How vast is that life of yours to absorb all sin! You deserve all the praise. Amen. Lord, have mercy.
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