Do You Really Want to be Well?

23 01 2012

In my reading and research today for my “Unhurried” book project, I came across this good word in Joan Chittister’s Wisdom Distilled From the Daily, which is a thematic commentary on the Rule of Benedict.

“The ancients tell the story of the distressed person who came to the Holy One for help. ‘Do you really want a cure?’ the Holy One asked. ‘If I did not, would I bother to come to you?’ the disciple answered. ‘Oh, yes,’ the master said. ‘Most people do.’ And the disciple said, incredulously, ‘But what for then?’ And the Holy One answered, ‘Well, not for a cure. That’s painful. They come for relief.’” (Joan Chittister, OSB. Wisdom Distilled from the Daily. New York: HarperCollins, 1990, p. 128.)

Ouch! How often am I coming to Jesus, settling for mere relief, when I could actually be healed. Relief is good, but usually temporary. Being well is longer lasting and more deeply rooted.

Do you want to be well?


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A Good Retreat Leader

20 01 2012

Because I find that intentional retreat has become a frequent mode of spiritual leadership for me over the last twenty years, both in my life and in my ministry to Christian leaders, I’m always watching for resources on this theme.

One older book I came across on the theme of retreat is Time to Spare, written by Douglas Steere in 1949. Listen to this description of a good retreat leader (and thanks for understanding the male-focused language reflecting the writer’s time if not his heart):

“The retreat leader who in all that he does and is shows that he honestly cares for each of the retreatants, that what happens in each of them matters to him, that he is the kind of person who understands and yet is deeply respectful of the hidden life in each, is one who is likely to become a true guide. But in his instruction he must speak bluntly and plainly to these questions that are consciously or unconsciously in the hearts of his listeners. He must diagnose and expose the hindrances and must make wholeness attractive. If he can speak in simple parables, in illuminating examples, no matter how personal they may be, and in convincing experiences and do it in such a way that room is left for the Invisible Companion to speak to the heart of the listener while this is going on, he is again moving in the way of the true guide. Sympathy, good sense and a veteran’s experience in the life of prayer are good qualifications in such a guide.” (Steere, Douglas V. Time to Spare. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1949, p. 65-66.)

For reflection: What line in this extended quotation hits closest to home for you? Which one either captures something you long for in your own life, or in your ministry to others?

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Prayer: God’s Transforming Presence

9 01 2012

Prayer is both the life of all lives, but also the death of everything that isn’t life. I find that a challenge because there are still so many ways I think of something as life that just isn’t. I read about this sort of wisdom in some of the older writers:

“…Augustine Baker can be understood when he speaks of the crisis situation into which genuine prayer plunges man and insists that the steady practice of prayer is the greatest mortification of all. He does not mean that prayer itself is the sacrifice. But that persistent prayer brings man into a situation where the presence of the living God will irradiate him and leave him no alternative but rebuild the room, or to break off the contemplation. Jean Grou has said, ‘The holy spirit will either control all of your actions or cease to govern your prayer,’ or the matter could be put still more bluntly in Russell Maltby’s words, ‘When we go into God’s presence, we must surrender.’” (Steere, Douglas. Work & Contemplation. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1957, p. 44).

If prayer is relationship with God, then living my life as prayer means continuing to linger in God’s presence. This will mean an exposure of that in me which is contrary to God, even opposed to God. Either that impulse will win and I will neglect the Presence, or I will bring that impulse into God’s loving, healing presence and He will win. And He’s a much more gracious Winner!

For reflection: What draws to you to prayer? What drives you away from prayer? Are you able to discern the source of these impulses and recognize the Spirit’s nudge? 


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The Divine Undoing

4 01 2012

Fifty years ago, a Quaker professor wrote these words about the busyness he witnessed in the churches of his day. They seem at least as true today:

“In religious circles we find today a fierce and almost violent planning and programming, a sense that without ceaseless activity nothing will ever be accomplished. How seldom it occurs to us that God has to undo and to do all over again so much of what we in our willfulness have pushed through in his name. How little there is in us of the silent and radiant strength in which the secret works of God really take place! How ready we are to speak, how loathe to listen, to sense the further dimension of what it is that we confront.” (Steere, Douglas V. Dimensions of Prayer. New York: Women’s Division of Christian Service, 1962, p. 4.)

In my work on this ‘unhurried time’ writing project, I continue to see evidence that our hurry, rather than getting more done, often gets the wrong thing done, and a whole lot of it. Christ followers learn to slow down enough to listen well to the Master and what it is that He actually wants.

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Writing: The Creative Present

30 12 2011

“I have learned the importance of the present, by analogy, in the writing process. If I focus on previous books and articles I have written, fretting over my failures and relishing my successes, or if I concentrate on the future, worrying about deadlines and carrying the whole book in my mind, I will undergo paralysis in the present. I must devote myself to the word and sentence before me, to the present moment.” (Yancey, Philip. Reaching for the Invisible God. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000, p. 81).

Since I’m working on a first book, the problem of past success isn’t a biggie. More generally though, if I let thoughts of past failures or shortcomings, successes or breakthroughs fill my mind and heart, there is little life or creativity for me in the present.

I find myself paralyzed when I let the many opportunities of the future pile up on the present moment, as though I could be as omnicompetent as the Father Himself. I can’t. None of us can. God prepares many good works ahead of time for me to walk in, but they come to me one at a time because that is my capacity.

There will always be enough time and resources for the good work God is giving me to do, because He will never give me more than I can handle. Period. But do I believe that in this moment?

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Repentance: A Return to Our True Heart

20 12 2011

Earlier this fall, I came across these lines from a sermon by Bernard of Clairvaux, a 12th century French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cisterian order:

“He calls upon sinners to return to their true spirit and rebukes them when their hearts have gone astray, for it is in the true heart that he dwells and there he speaks, fulfilling what he taught through the prophet: Speak to the heart of Jerusalem. You see, my brothers, how the prophet admonishes us for our advantage: If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. You can read almost the same words in the gospel and in the prophet. For in the gospel the Lord says: My sheep hear my voice. And in the psalm blessed David says: You are his people (meaning, of course, the Lord’s) and the sheep of his pasture. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

True spirit. True heart. It’s easy for me to hear the “sinner” language come with a tone of shame and even condemnation if I’m not careful. But if I recognize that “sinner” simply means one turned away from God–a wayward one—I can hear the invitation to return as a gift, a calling to return to reality, the longing of a Father’s heart to embrace His son.

What I was struck by here was the language of repentance focused not so much on returning to God as much as returning to our true spirit—our true heart—where God dwells and speaks. This is an intimate and integrating invitation. I can stray from my true heart and live from a false center. I can forget that God really does make Himself at home at the very center of my true self and communes with me there. I do not have a relationship with a distant Deity, but with an indwelling Lover. It sounds scandalous.

“Enable me today, Father, to return to my true heart. Cause me to see the reality of Who You are and who I am in You (and You in me). This mystical sounding language is merely an echo of how You speak, Jesus, in John 14:20, “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” Amen!”


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Blazing Grace

8 12 2011

2 Timothy 1:6-7 NIV, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

I was first drawn to the “fan into flame the gift of God” phrase here, but hadn’t seen the connection with God’s Spirit in us not being timid, but rather powerful, caring and decisive. God has graced us. Are we living in the full flame of that gift? Ultimately, that gift is Himself, but it is also some way in which I express His grace for the benefit of others. Am I living a life of blazing grace? How might I more fully fan into flame God’s gift to me from merely glowing embers (potential grace) to full flame (realized grace)?

The many good opportunities before me, as well as the spiritual graces and talents I have were given to me. I am not fanning my own self-developed abilities into flame. I am fanning a gift into flame. Perhaps I can rely on the Gift-giver to help me fully unwrap, enjoy and share His gifts to me today.

For reflection and response: What gift has God given you that He is inviting you to fan into flame in this Advent season?


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Trusting God Even Though…

5 12 2011

Recently read this good word by Philip Yancey:

“I have served in the ministry thirty years, almost thirty-one. I have come to understand that there are two kinds of faith. One says if and the other says though. One says: ‘If everything goes well, if my life is prosperous, if I’m happy, if no one I love dies, if I’m successful, then I’ll believe in God and say my prayers and go to the church and give what I can afford.’ The other says though: though the cause of evil prosper, though I sweat in Gethsemane, Though I must drink my cup at Calvary – nevertheless, precisely then, I will trust the Lord who made me.  So Job cries: ‘Though he slay me, yet will I trust Him.’” (Yancey, Philip. Reaching for the Invisible God. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000, p. 52-53).

If is conditional faith. Though is unconditional faith. If carries its own agenda. Though submits to God’s agenda (a good one, by the way!). If trusts God based on favorable circumstances. Though trusts God Himself regardless of the circumstances.

What are some of the ifs that linger in my faith? If our finances are strong. If no one in our family has any physical illnesses or injuries. If my emotions are always up and never down.

Father, enable me to translate my ifs into thoughs. Teach me that You have always been, are now, and always will be reliable. Period. I don’t have to wait for circumstances to be what I prefer them to be.

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Overcoming Fear Through Trust

14 11 2011

Psalm 56:3-4 NIV
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise—

in God I trust and am not afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me?

When I am afraid. I find myself afraid in many ways. I’m afraid to fail in writing the book I’m supposed to be writing. I’m afraid of looking dumb. What do I do when I’m afraid? Sometimes I distract myself. Sometimes I procrastinate. Sometimes I hide. Does it work? Not really. The fear doesn’t go away. What does David do?

I put my trust in You. Instead of hiding, escaping, or numbing, David puts his trust in God. If I learn to look past my distorted image of God that looks suspiciously like certain authorities figures in my life on a bad day, I can see that He really is faithful—more faithful than I can imagine. If I think about how easy it often is to trust Gem when I see her honesty, sincerity and lack of guile, how much more should I be able to trust God who will never let me down, neither willfully or ‘accidentally’? What helps me to rest trustingly in God more?

In God, whose word I praise—God always says what He means and always means what He says. He doesn’t waste words. I praise His word because it is true, right, good, merciful, kind and words like this could just keep piling up. When I feel it hard to connect with something in scripture because it doesn’t feel real to me, that says very little about the quality of what God says. It probably says much more about my own ability to receive or perceive the goodness of what He says. Father, Your word is most worthy of praise.

In God I trust and am not afraid. I want to learn how to do what David does here. I want to so trust in You, Lord, that I am no longer paralyzed, immobilized or hindered by fears. There is a kind of inward hurry that prevents me from sinking down and soaking in the peace and rest of God into my heart and mind. God, You really are completely trustworthy. You are not holding the failures and transgressions of my past against me. You do not desire to keep a record of wrongs between You and me. You desired to remove them, and so You sent Your Son to make this justly possible. You did it the right way. You didn’t pretend there was nothing wrong with me. You addressed the wrong in me righteously and rightly.

What can mere mortals do to me? I hear in this that the harm fear causes me to imagine is always greater than reality. What harm is actually going to happen? I remember someone once saying that fear is actually a doorway into a deeper experience of God and His love. It just doesn’t look like that from this side!

Interact:

  • What are some of the fears you are currently facing?
  • What is the harm you imagine?
  • How might God be inviting you to step right through that fear into a place of deeper surrender and communion with Him?

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Categories : A Good Word, God's love, love of God

Sinless Someday

17 09 2011

(Today is my firstborn son, Sean’s 19th birthday. I’m missing him as I am in the city of Santo Domingo, DR training a group of about 150 lay leaders at a large church in the heart of the city)

Reading N. T. Wright’s Evil and the Justice of God, I was encouraged by these words:

“This is where the personal meaning of the cross becomes very clear. There will be a time when I–even I, sinner that I am!–will be totally sinless, when God has completed the work of grace within me. But I already enjoy, in anticipation of that future fact, forgiveness in the present and the new life of the Spirit that is made available precisely when Jesus has been ‘glorified’ by being ‘lifted up’ on the cross (John 7:39, 20:22).” (Wright, N. T. Evil and the Justice of God. Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006, p. 96). Buy this book

Isn’t that encouraging. I can hardly imagine myself with nothing coming between God and me, nothing in me to be embarrassed, ashamed and guilty about. The reality, as Wright puts it, is that this is exactly how the Father sees me in the Son…right now!

(Repost from May 2007)


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Categories : A Good Word, Looking Back

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