The Logos Prayer

"The Glory of God in the Face of Christ"

2019-08-06T06:30:00.003-07:00

Throughout the Bible, God displays divine glory. God shows this glory in many ways--in the beauty of creation, in miracles and wonders, in the giving of the Law, but most fully in the face of Jesus. John 12 (NIV) relates Jesus as praying:

27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”
Then a voie came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

What did the Father mean, that He had glorified His name, and would do so again? Perhaps the first glory was that of the Law, but the second, better, glory, was that of the grace of God through Christ. Or, maybe the incarnation of Christ was one kind of glory, and the coronation of Jesus on the cross was the second. Or, the first coming was one glory and the second coming is the one to come. Who knows--but regardless, it is clear that Jesus is the fulfillment of God's glory. This is why Paul writes:

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:1-6).

Today, Jesus' glory should shine brightest in the face of his followers. Unfortunately, sometimes by their actions, Christians damage the reputation of God by their own actions instead of bringing God glory. It should be the goal of every believer to shine like Moses did with the presence of God (Exodus 34:29-35).

Today, I'd like to suggest a meditation in which you invite the glory of God to shine in you.

If you are using the Protestant (Anglican) prayer beads:

Invitatory: "Let light shine out of darkness"
Cruciform: "The glory of God in the face of Christ"
Weeks: "Father, glorify your name."

If you are using the Roman Catholic rosary:

For the "Our Father" bead: "Let light shine out of darkness"
For the "Glory Be" beads: "The glory of God in the face of Christ"
For the "Hail Mary" beads: "Father, glorify your name."

In both cases, say each phrase on the exhale and let the glory of God fill you on the inhale. Feel yourself being filled with the glory of God. Then, when you are done, go into the world and let your soul shine with God's presence. Glorify God with your life, and let others see Jesus in you.

Never Alone

2018-12-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

Today, I'd like to share with you a bit of writing that is not my own. This is from Tensions, by H.A. Williams. It is published on pages 29-30 of A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants. The Upper Room: Nashville, TN. 1983.

God is no longer the Friend I meet, the Father with whom I hold converse, the Lover in whom I delight, the King before whom I bow in reverence, the Divine Being I worship and adore. In my experience of prayer God ceases to be any of these things because he ceases to be anything at all. He is absent when I pray. I am there alone. There is no other.

If this experience persists--and is not the effect of 'flu coming on or tiredness--it means that something of the greatest importance is happening. It means that God is inviting me to discover him no longer as another alongside me but as my own deepest and truest self. He is calling me from the experience of meeting him to the experience of finding my identity in him. I cannot see him because he is my eyes. I cannot hear him because he is my ears. I cannot walk to him because he is my feet. And if apparently I am alone and he is not there that is because he will not separate his presence from my own. If he is not anything at all, if he is nothing, that is because he is no longer another. I must find him in what I am or not at all.

Psalm 16:7 (NIV) says, "I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me." This suggests that there are times when I am communing with myself, that I am really communing with God. Not that I am God, but that I am in God and God is in me to the extent that when my heart instructs me, it's really the Lord who gives me counsel.

As I practice contemplative prayer, entering into silence and sitting alone, in the silence sometimes I find only myself--but in communing with myself, I also have fellowship with God. In this, I am never alone.

The Blessing of Descent

2016-11-21T14:50:00.002-08:00

Luke 10.30-37

Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.

“By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.

“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’

“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.

The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”

Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

In the story of the Good Samaritan, we read a lot about the blessing of descent. The traveler is going from Jerusalem (the high place of worship) DOWN to Jericho (remembered as the city whose walls became a heap of rubble). This symbolizes the both physical descent in altitude as well as descent from the pinnacle of spirituality, down to the once pagan city that was the first one conquered in the Promised Land. On his way down, the wayfarer is set upon by robbers, beaten, and left DOWN on the ground. The high-born people, on their way UP to Jerusalem pass him by, but the LOWLY Samaritan comes DOWN off his donkey, bandages his wounds, puts him UP on his own animal, and takes him to an inn to receive care.

All of this is to illustrate the Greatest Commandment, to show the legalist how he could love God not by piety but by loving his neighbor. Jesus literally tells him to get off his high horse and become a servant. If you want to have a hero, Jesus says, emulate the lowly Samaritan rather than the "upstanding" priest and Levite.

By this story, Jesus demonstrates that the pinnacle of our divine experience isn't RELIGION, but RELATIONSHIP. God is far less concerned with religious activity and Temple mentality and Temple practice than He is with compassion and mercy towards our fellow human beings. Loving my neighbor is loving God, because Jesus said, "Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me."

Surrender as Atonement

2016-07-20T07:37:00.000-07:00

When the American South declared its independence from the North, it decided that it was its own sovereign nation. It printed its own money, elected its own president, and established its own capitol. In establishing the Confederacy, the South committed treason and broke the Union of the United States. The resulting war cost more lives than any other American war. Then, finally, when the South reached the end of its resources, the Confederacy surrendered to the Union at Appomattox. With this peace accord, the war was over. Yet, there were still battles fought even after peace was made. Because news did not travel fast, men died in defense of a Confederacy that no longer existed. Even once news was broadcast everywhere that the Confederacy was dead, rebel flags continued to be flown. Throughout the South today, the Stars and Bars fly in defiance of the North. Though the war is over, the South has never forgotten. Though official peace has been made, the way of the rebel still remains.

When humanity declared its independence from God, the resulting war broke the union between heaven and earth, claiming untold souls. Yet, in his own blood, Jesus drafted the peace treaty that broke down the dividing wall of hostility. Through Jesus, the war is now over. Sin has been defeated. Peace has officially been made. Yet that doesn't mean that those who are ignorant of this peace have quit struggling against heaven. Some, those who have never received the news of peace, continue to fight as if in a war. Others, those who have raised the white flag of surrender, still occasionally replace that banner with the battle flag. These little rebellions have no eternal effect, because they cannot undo the peace enacted by the cross. They can, however, impede our witness as people of peace. Being like Jesus means practicing the art of surrender. This surrender becomes the way of atonement.

In the garden of Eden, Adam became the model of brokenness and our need for atonement. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus modeled surrender as the way of atonement. In Adam’s fall, the first man demonstrated rebellion against God. In Jesus’ submission, the Savior displayed surrender as the path to union. Surrender breaks down the dividing wall of hostility so that God and humanity become one. Jesus shows that surrender is the way of peace. He calls believers to live a life of surrender as well.

Perhaps nothing models this surrender more than Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane. Mark 14:35-36 says, "And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, 'Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will'.”

Today, make that your One-sentence prayer: "Not what I will, but what you will." By practicing surrender, we find atonement, at-one-ment with God.

Contemplative Christmas

2015-12-22T18:44:00.000-08:00

The Christmas story is full of contemplatives. Zechariah gave ear to the archangel. Mary responded to God’s heavenly messenger. Joseph discerned God’s will through dreams. Shepherds echoed angelic voices in their praise of God. Wise men followed celestial signs. Simeon and Anna prophesied what they heard from the Holy Spirit. All of these required one thing: contemplative believers who were willing to take the time to listen to God.

In this busy season, taking time to listen is not always a priority. There is food to cook. There are parties to plan, gifts to buy and wrap, worship services and children’s plays to attend, and so many other things that compete for your attention. Yes, even religious observances can become just another thing to crowd out your spirituality, if you allow it. Somehow in all of this, we can’t find the time to simply sit in God’s presence and listen to the Divine Voice. But just as there could be no Christmas story without contemplative people, light can’t come into our souls without a Silent Night.

Luke 2:19 (NASB) says, “But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.” This holy season, take the time to treasure the Truth that God brings to light within you. May the presence of Christ will be born in you, so that you become attentive to the Holy Spirit’s voice. As you ponder these things in your heart, take time to be still. Take time to keep silence.

Follow the Father

2015-11-04T11:34:00.005-08:00

A few days ago, I was at a friend's house, watching him change the brake pads on his jeep. I wasn't the only one watching him. His three-year-old son was also watching. Will didn't just allow Wyatt to watch--he involved him in the process. He let the boy hold his shop light while he crawled safely into the wheel well and inspect the brake pads with the scrutiny of a toddler. He helped him remove and replace the pads, talking him through the process each step of the way. It reminded me of Jesus, who said in John 5:19-20 (ESV):

Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.

Just as Will showed Wyatt how to change the brakes on the jeep, Jesus said that the Father was showing him what to do. He paid close attention to every detail so He could perfectly follow the Father's will.

Now, we're not Jesus. We're a bit more like toddlers, trying our hands at something that's really too complicated for us. But the Father is patient with us, demonstrating His love again and again until we get it. When we think we're turning the wrench, we are unaware that His strong hands are holding ours. He lets us help, and He helps us learn. Then He trusts that one day, when we're more mature, we'll be able to do it ourselves. I pray today that you'll be like Jesus, that you'll follow the Father, that and that you'll let Him lead you to even greater things.

Mustard and Yeast

2015-11-04T08:06:00.001-08:00

Luke 13:18-21 (ESV)
18 He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”
20 And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

Jesus' parable of the mustard seed is about four things: willingness, rooting, spreading, and nurturing.

The faith of a mustard seed is about willingness. It does not seek to control its environment. Neither does it try to be something it's not. It is content with being such a tiny seed. When used poorly, mustard can overpower any recipe that it's in, but when used properly it enhances flavor beautifully. The faith of a mustard seed is willing to be used humbly, without the need to over-assert itself. The faith of a mustard seed is willing to grow.

Growing means reaching both upward to the sun and downward to the earth. The seed doesn't know which way is up and which way is down, but something directs it. That something is God. As it grows downward, being rooted and grounded in love, the seed receives all the nutrients it needs. As it grows upward, it gets sunlight and rain which feed it. It grows and spreads, just like the Realm of God does, until what was once a tiny seed has become a great bush.

Jesus said this bush becomes a shelter for all kinds of birds. It's not just one kind of bird but all kinds make their nests in these branches. This nurturing means being a shelter for people, and not destroying them. It means accepting their weight upon my branches and their waste on my roots. Having the faith of a mustard seed means that this kind of nurture comes naturally, because I am rooted in Christ and receive his energy like the rays of the sun. This love then extends from myself to my family, community, country, world, and universe.

I Shall Not Want

2015-06-30T06:17:00.000-07:00

Some of the greatest troubles we have in life is because we attach ourselves to things and people that at first seem desirable, but that gain too much control over us. In Special Sermons for Special Days, Dr. George Sweeting wrote:

"Several years ago our family visited Niagara Falls. It was spring, and ice was rushing down the river. As I viewed the large blocks of ice flowing toward the falls, I could see that there were carcasses of dead fish embedded in the ice. Gulls by the score were riding down the river feeding on the fish. As they came to the brink of the falls, their wings would go out, and they would escape from the falls.

"I watched one gull which seemed to delay and wondered when it would leave. It was engrossed in the carcass of a fish, and when it finally came to the brink of the falls, out went its powerful wings. The bird flapped and flapped and even lifed the ice out of the water, and I thought it would escape. But it had delayed too long so that its claws had frozen into the ice. The weight of the ice was too great, and the gull plunged into the abyss."

The finest attractions of this world become deadly when we become overly attached to them.
(http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/a/attachment.htm. June 30, 2015.)

As he wrote Psalm 23, King David reflected on much simpler days, when he had been a shepherd. He remembered the perfect care with which shepherds tends the sheep. Those under a shepherd's care don't need to worry about whether they will have everything they need. They lack nothing. Their food and water are provided for them by one who knows the territory better than they do. In times of storm, shelter is provided. If a sheep went astray, the shepherd would seek it out and bring it back to the flock. Sheep lived a contented life, never worrying and never wanting, because they were well-tended.

Yet for some reason we human beings forget that we are also well-tended. God knows our need even better than we do. He will feed and clothe and shelter us. He will put people in our lives who give us just the right kind of love and support that we need.

If we let Him, our Shepherd will help us determine those things in our lives that we actually don't need. We attach ourselves to too many things and people that weigh us down. Like gulls that get stuck in the ice, we fall to our demise because of our over-attachment. Better to let go, to fly over those things in life that will pull us down, rather than lingering and letting them destroy us.

Today, I invite you to meditate on one sentence - Psalm 23:1. Spend a few minutes, simply sitting with your eyes closed, breathing deeply, and repeating this verse. Then, switch translations and do the same thing. Spend fifteen or twenty minutes just repeating this verse. Remember that God provides everything you need, and that wanting what you can't have or don't need simply brings over-attachment and discontent to your heart. Allow the Good Shepherd to give you His contentment and peace.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. (KJV)

The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need. (NLT)

The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. (NIV)

The LORD is my shepherd. I am never in need. (GOD'S WORD Translation)

Or, if you'd like to use the Ecumenical Prayer Beads, here's a meditation:

Cross - The Lord's Prayer

Invitatory - Psalm 23:1-6

Cruciform - "The Lord is my Shepherd."

Weeks - "I shall not want."

Benedictory - Psalm 23:1-6

Cross - The Lord's Prayer

My Strength and My Shield

2015-05-26T05:36:00.000-07:00

Where is God?

Some people think of God as "out there" - in Heaven, on a throne, far away.

Others think of God as "right here" - in their hearts, in their heads, in their homes.

The truth is that both are right. God is everywhere. God is here and there, within and without. He is the One "in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28)." We have "one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4:6)." God is "all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28)."

Just as God is both here and there, God is also inside us and outside us. Psalm 28:6-9 (ESV) shows both God who is internal to us and external to us.

6 Blessed be the Lord!
    For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
    and with my song I give thanks to him.

8 The Lord is the strength of his people;
he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!
Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

In verse 7, "Strength" represents God's internal quality, His vital energy inside every believer. "Shield" depicts God's presence around the believer, providing protection and security.

Also in verse 7, trust is an internal action, responding to an internal faith that can only be a gift from God. Help is an external resource from God.

Again in verse 7, the heart exults internally, but externally gives its expression in song.

In verse 8, again we see that God is both the internal strength and the external refuge of his anointed. Anointing itself is applied from the outside, facilitating an inward change.

So God is here and there, inside and outside, blessing God's people and heritage forever.

Today's meditation, using the Protestant Prayer Beads, highlights both the internal and external qualities of God's power. As you do this meditation, focus on your slow breathing. As you inhale, be aware of God's presence inside you. As you exhale, feel God's shield around you.

Invitatory - v. 6
Blessed be the Lord!
    For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

Cruciform - v. 7b
My heart exults,
    and with my song I give thanks to him.

Weeks - v. 7a
Inhale - The Lord is my strength
Exhale - and my shield;
Inhale - In him my heart trusts,
Exhale - and I am helped;

Benedictory - vv. 8-9
The Lord is the strength of his people;
    he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!
    Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

Listening in the Coastlands

2015-03-24T05:43:00.000-07:00

Since the beginning, people have sought God the most in the liminal, or in-between, places of the world. Holy men have gone to the deserts on the borderlands between one country and another, places that are neither here nor there. Prophets have found God on mountains, where the earth meets the sky. Beaches are places of spiritual connection for most people--partly because the ocean is so powerful, but partly because beaches are liminal spots, where the sea and sky and land meet. Somehow it's easiest to find God in those in-between places. Even the moments when you are in-between sleep and wakefulness can be special times of peace and connection to God.

"Wonga Beach, Qld Australia" by Jan Smith
**Creative Commons info in footnote

Yet the borderlands can be frightening places as well. While mountaintop experienced can be exciting, the thought of a fall is terrifying. Beaches might be beautiful, but the undertow can kill. Desert vistas are stunning, but beware the scorching sun, the frigid nights, and the danger that might lie beneath any rock. Even that place between sleep and wakefulness can bring haunting imaginations and fearful thoughts.

Sometimes we find ourselves living in the coastlands. Lingering sickness can put regular life on hold. Joblessness causes uncertainty as you dangle between the past and the future. Yet not all of our coastland experiences are negative. Pregnancy is an in-between time that promises that nothing will be the same as it used to be, but still the little one is not here yet. Marriage engagement is past the point of dating, but the wedding day hasn't arrived. These metaphorical coastlands are dramatic places to be, wonderful places to visit, but you don't really want to live there. Unfortunately, sometimes we feel stuck on the borders, at the coasts, on the summits--and it's hard to tell what comes next.

This is where listening to God becomes very important. In Isaiah 41:1, God says, "Listen to me in silence, O coastlands; let the peoples renew their strength." In those liminal, in-between places of your life, listening is more important than ever. It's only through silence that strength can be renewed. Rather than trying desperately to tread water, it's better just to quietly float, and let God carry you. You can trust Him to hold you up.

The Lord continues: "Let them approach, [and] then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgment." Too quickly in our conversations and in our prayers we jump hastily into talking. We listen little, filling the air instead with our own words. God's counsel is to first approach in silence. Quietly attend to the people in your life. See what they have to say. Silently sit before God without saying a word. Centering Prayer is a great way to quietly approach God and listen. Only after a time of silent listening should you speak your thoughts to the Lord. Then you and God together can draw near to one another in the kind of partnership where you can judge or discern God's will.

Do you find yourself living in the coastlands of life right now? Do these in-between places fill you with fear or with awe? God advises you to listen in silence. Quietly approach God and attend to His presence before you say anything at all. It is in listening that you can determine your next step, your next breath. As Habakkuk 2:20 says, "The Lord in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him."

The following is a meditation using the Protestant Prayer Beads. I hope that by contemplating God's Word, you will find His will in those in-between places of your life.

Invitatory - Isaiah 40:28-29*
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Cruciform - Isaiah 41:1a
Listen to me in silence, O coastlands;
    let the peoples renew their strength;

Weeks - Isaiah 41:1b
Let them approach, then let them speak;
    let us together draw near for judgment.

Benedictory - Isaiah 40:30-31
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

*All scriptures are taken from the ESV.
** http://www.flickr.com/photos/26085795@N02/5151233404/in/photolist-nnvDgY-nkyV1x-nxY9Ud-pdzTmR-aDD87u-dwBkrf-bJVEZz-cd6Wzj-btm1E4-6qc6qN-dELWGP-5QXd9M-dhwHo5-8Rcqe3-4zyHt6-54564D-dpG9eg-bGudU4-6ct8Zf-4A3tnr-cAWhKS-mEWFPP-5syggv-4zCXXo-Mi216-nYESVN-o7PVkv-4AErME-7wfjiL-a4bVoP-pCak9W-2GBBD5-nQJ4xr-dXxUZm-7sJ2nU-oEWp1N-pGujda-h6KXhq-acj54L-5ppxTV-rAoSeA-4xGSH5-3SYBW-upYRW-dFRTDK-oXoWEy-n6wDiJ-9LSrWv-pJXp8r-jXTRL. No changes made.

Contemplation: The Temple Within

2015-03-23T08:42:00.002-07:00

Today is the fourth day in our 45th week, reading the Bible through in a year. Our scriptures today are: Ezekiel 40-42; John 14.

A couple of days ago, at our Virginia Baptist state convention, I went to a breakout session that was led by members of the Epiphany Institute of Spirituality, a group of Baptists who are seeking to go deeper with God by reclaiming some ancient contemplative traditions. They led us in a time of contemplative prayer and worship, followed by a Q&A session about contemplative Christianity.

One lady had a hard time grasping how you could have an entire worship service without a sermon. Her died-in-the-wool Baptist roots had a difficult time thinking outside the box that she'd been raised in. She just couldn't get it. "What do you mean by contemplative?" she asked, more than once. Then, I think I saw a light bulb went off over her head when Michael Sciretti, one of our presenters, told her that the root word for "contemplate" and "contemplative" is "temple." So to contemplate is to go into the temple of your heart and meet one-on-one with God. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says that we are God's temple, so to meet with Him in contemplation is to go on an inner journey through the temple, into the Holy of Holies.

In today's scriptures, we read about Ezekiel measuring out a visionary temple, with all its many chambers. Jesus says in John 14:2-3 (ESV), "In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."

We have heard these words from John 14 in many funerals, when the preacher talks about Heaven. The beauty of contemplation is that we don't need to wait until we die to enter the Father's house. Just as God designed the temple in Jerusalem with apartments for priests to live in, so God desires for us to dwell in His inner temple, here and now. Living a contemplative lifestyle means making God's house, your home.

The Epiphany Institute of Spirituality's website states: "The Epiphany Institute of Spirituality (EIS) exists to reclaim and revive these early Baptist emphases within our own historical tradition through adapting teachings and practices of contemplative streams of Christianity from the Latin West, Greek East, and Syriac Orient." Workshop presenter Randy Ashcraft put it this way: "We are open to all traditions that point to Christ." Jesus said it like this: "In my Father's house are many rooms."

Authentic Christianity is open Christianity--a faith that is open to all traditions that point to Christ. I'm proud to call myself a Baptist--but I'm a Christian first. This means I've got to be open to all Christian traditions that lead to a deeper walk with Jesus. Limiting myself to Baptist expressions prevents my exposure to forms of Christian prayer, meditation, contemplation, and understanding of the Bible that might otherwise enrich my spiritual life.

Even within the Baptist tradition, most of us are unaware of the depth of contemplative thought that has been expressed through our rich history. Michael Sciretti has written a book entitled Entempling: Baptist Wisdom for Contemplative Prayer. In this book, Sciretti quotes many famous and less-than-famous Baptist preachers and authors, pointing to a stream of contemplation that has run through the centuries of Baptist thought and practice. Sciretti's work can be used both as aid to personal devotion, and as a tool for corporate contemplative worship. Of this book, musician Drexel Rayford (also an EIS presenter) says, "Dr. Sciretti has pulled together wisdom from a long ignored 'spring.' Anyone who drinks of this water will experience a unique sort of soul-thirst quenching. I highly recommend it!" C.S. Smith says, "The editors of this book are trusted spiritual directors of the highest order, both of whom have had positive impact on my life... So pleased that this book has come into being." Why not follow the link to Amazon and pick up a copy for yourself?

In John 14:1 (ESV), Jesus says, "Let not your hearts be troubled." The word "trouble," according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, comes from the Latinturbulare, from the Late Latin turbidare, "to make turbid." To let your heart be troubled is to allow it to become like water churned by a storm. Don't let your heart be turbid. Let it be the opposite of turbid. Instead, let it be like the stormy sea that was calmed when Jesus said, "Peace, be still." Let it be peaceful and still, like the sea of glass before God's throne (Revelation 4:6).

I pray that you'll find Jesus' peace in His temple--in contemplation. I pray that His temple, His Father's house with many rooms, will be a shelter for you. I pray that in that temple, you'll be at peace, that you'll be still, and that you'll know that God is God (Psalm 46:10).

Abiding: Holy Inactivity

2015-03-23T08:40:00.002-07:00

In John 15 (ESV), Jesus makes the analogy of a vine and branches. As the vine draws its nourishment from the branch, so Christians need to draw our sustenance from Christ.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you,that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

One way to think of abiding in Christ is the practice of the Logos Prayer. How better to let Jesus' words abide in you (v.7) , than to meditate on them? By sitting quietly, repeating God's Word in your heart, you abide in the word, and you allow it to abide in you.

To abide is to rest, to live, to dwell. This holy inactivity isn't laziness. On the contrary, it's from our times of resting that we receive the wisdom and energy we need in order to perform the many tasks to which God has appointed us. Abiding in the Word cleanses you from the world's dirt and grime (v.3). It helps you to share God's cleanness with others, because it's only when the Word abides in you that you have it to give to those around you.

Contemplative Prayer is also abiding. When you simply sit in God's presence, silently soaking in your nourishment from the Branch, you grow to be a healthy vine. The vine doesn't struggle to suck its life from the branch--it simply abides, and lets the branch fill it. In contemplative prayer, we simply abide in Christ, allowing Him to fill us, feed us, complete us.

I hope that you'll practice Contemplative Prayer and meditation on God's Word every day. By doing so, you abide in Christ, and you allow Him to abide in you. And the fruit of that kind of holy inactivity is sweet!

"Fire and Glory" - A Meditation from Zechariah 2

2015-02-17T15:35:00.001-08:00

"Fire" by martinak15

In the book of Zechariah, God tells His people that He will cause them to return to Zion, out of their captivity. He reminds them that they are the apple of His eye. Even as they return, He promises to come and dwell among them.

The person who seeks God through contemplative prayer undergoes a similar journey. Leaving behind the world and all the thoughts that hold us captive, we travel inward to reestablish God's temple within our hearts. Just as the people of Israel could claim God's promise to surround them and dwell with them, so every praying person can know God's fire and glory.

As you enter into your prayer time, using these words of Scripture along with your Ecumenical Prayer Beads, imagine God's protective fire surrounding you like a wall. In the center of God's swirling flame, like the calm eye of a hurricane, you can rest in God's cloud of shining glory that envelops you. Feel God's love and care, and know that just as you dwell in God, the Lord also makes His home within you.

When God comes to dwell in the midst of His people, there are two responses we may give. Singing and rejoicing (v. 10) correspond to meditation--repeating and reveling in God's goodness as revealed in His word. Silence (v. 13) corresponds to contemplative listening for God's still, small voice.

As you leave life's captivity and enter into the temple of your heart, I pray that you'll know God's fire and glory, and that you'll meet the Lord who dwells in your midst.

A MEDITATION WITH ECUMENICAL PRAYER BEADS:

(Click here to get your own)

Invitatory - 2:10
Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord.

Cruciform - From v. 5
I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord.

Weeks - From v. 5
I will be the glory in her midst.

Benedictory - 2:13
Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

Image: "Fire" by martinak15. https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinaphotography/6546142215/in/photolist-7ebqCe-zW9UJ-9nhBRr-sRqX2-f9ydAa-6nC8fP-dax5Ai-ndrba4-txvMx-6nUQa-7Pvt8g-9aPR5N-aYsG1X-8FKgee-9nhBRv-4fDWXN-8Yqy8L-8N9LaR-HHny6-mVekFz-dax6Us-azQqrk-b4KVkB-aiBite-2F4PN-6wWffb-9kDh74-3BurVd-mfGib3-7Bu3bk-4y2gKq-9GwFjW-qddyRU-2jjwyB-5E4TKh-pEyTT-5QDYBT-8qk6n-kKgYaj-dLsTJf-5KSobd-2V8q3J-2V8pQw-NKDGp-bnSwqy-a1JFeD-3DRvTU-8zkWQS-4PqVbj-bgwVD8.

When the Parties are Over

2014-12-26T04:09:00.001-08:00

The day after Christmas has its own let-down effect. The parties are over, the gifts are unwrapped, the surprises revealed, the guests have gone home. Here's a meditation to keep your focus where it needs to be--on Christ.

Today's Scriptures focus on God's favor toward those who are humble. The angel's song proclaims peace, not for those who please God, but for those with whom God is pleased. This may seem like an insignificant difference, but the distinction here is important. The tense is passive, indicating not a person who earns God's pleasure, but someone who simply receives it. God's favor rests not on those who triumph by their mighty deeds, but on those who quietly trust in His love and grace.

Zachariah's prophecy about his son John reveals God's supremacy over all things, and the calling He gives to the humble. Zechariah was the last person that anyone would expect to become a father in his old age, yet God favored him with a son who would be called the greatest of all men. John's way of life would demonstrate his humility, yet God would use him to proclaim the Messiah. God still lifts up the humble today, and calls His servants from the ranks of the small, not the great.

The focus on Bethlehem reminds us not just of a small town that God exalted, but that God continuously lifts up the humble. Bethlehem had an inferiority complex. It thought itself to be the least in Judah. But God had bigger and better plans for Bethlehem than its residents could imagine. In the same way, we tend to have a lower estimation of ourselves than God has. If we could see ourselves through God's eyes then we would realize that His purpose for us goes far beyond our wildest imaginations.

Simeon's song mentions that Christ came as a light of revelation for the Gentiles, before he says that Jesus came as the glory of His own people Israel. This reverse order indicates the favor God shows to those who we would normally count as the least. Even the fact that God choose Simeon, a man who was old and long past his prime, to deliver this message, shows the Lord's favor and leading on "the least of these."

Maybe you're feeling small, insignificant, or used up on this day after Christmas. Let God's word remind you that the Lord has a plan of blessing for you, too. Let it fill you with the peace, live, hope, and joy of Christ.

A MEDITATION WITH ECUMENICAL PRAYER BEADS:
(Click here to get your own)

Invitatory - Luke 1:68-79
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71 that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Cruciform - Luke 2:14
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Weeks - Matthew 2:6
6 “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel. ’”

Benedictory - Luke 2:29-32
29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”

*Scriptures taken from the ESV

A Christmas Meditation

2014-12-25T04:42:00.003-08:00

Lights, decorations, gifts, parties, lavish foods, carols-- Christmas offers so much that overwhelm the senses. Yet the inner feast is so much greater than the one upon the table. The glorious mysteries of Christmas fill the contemplative soul with wonder at the birthday of the babe. They also bring to light the cosmic Christ, and usher His reign into the heart of the believer who meditates on these mysteries.

The mystery of the Incarnation, the wonder of submission to God's surprising will--these are the things that fill the heart of the one who celebrates a quiet Christmas. Many will observe this holiday alone. Whether it's from the confines of a prison cell or a nursing home bed, or perhaps in a solitary home where no family or friends gather. Yet, while alone, the contemplative soul is not lonely on Christmas if they spend the time reflecting on the glory of God in the mysteries of the season.

As you do this meditation, you will become aware that Mary isn't alone in being impregnated with the Christ. "The pure in heart will see God" means that all of virginal spirit may bear the Lord inside them, may bring to life His glorious light. Seek God's purity in your own heart, and you too can host the Savior in the womb of your heart.

Today you may be alone, in which case you have plenty of time to meditate. Or, your schedule may be filled with visits and festivities. If that's so then it may be even more important to observe some quiet time. Remember that favorite Christmas carol "Silent Night." Take the time to be alone and silent before God this Christmas. Soak in His mysteries. Bask in His glory.

A MEDITATION WITH ECUMENICAL PRAYER BEADS:
(Click here to get your own)

Invitatory - Luk 1:46-50
... “My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.

Cruciform - Luk 1:37
For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Weeks - Mat 1:23
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).

Benedictory - Luk 1:38
...“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

*Scriptures taken from the ESV.

God With Us

2014-12-19T08:57:00.008-08:00

During this time of year, one of my favorite things is to attend a musical concert featuring Handel's Messiah. I love the majesty and meaning of the music that declares that "He shall reign forever and ever." Within this elaborate work of musical art, we find five names of the Messiah that are worthy of reflection and meditation. Those names are deeply meaningful, and contemplating them makes us aware that indeed, God is with us."

The first is from Matthew 1:23. The ESV renders this as:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).

Everybody needs to be reminded that God is with us. At times, when the troubles of life threaten our well-being, we need to feel God's presence and care.

The other for names of God come from Isaiah 9:6 (ESV):

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

These names emphasize God's wisdom, power, intimate love, and authority to work peace in our lives. Using the Christian meditation beads, I suggest the following:

A MEDITATION WITH ECUMENICAL PRAYER BEADS
(Click here to get your own)

CROSS: The Lord's Prayer

INVITATORY: Matthew 1:22

CRUCIFORMS: Simply say the name "Immanuel." If you want, you could breathe slowly and steadily, dividing out the syllables by pronouncing only one syllable per breath. This means that the whole name would take for breaths to say, "Im-man-u-el." Feel the presence of God with you, so that the name itself becomes God's resonance within your spirit.

WEEK 1: "Wonderful Counselor"
WEEK 2: "Mighty God"
WEEK 3: "Everlasting Father"
WEEK 4: "Prince of Peace"

BENEDICTORY: Isaiah 9:6

CROSS: Lord's Prayer

Restored Relationship Through the Mind of Christ

2014-12-05T12:23:00.001-08:00

If you're anything like me (or like any other human being, for that matter), you have relationships. From time to time, these relationships can become strained. Whether you're struggling in your marriage, friendship, relationship with a co-worker or someone in your church, or other family member, there is hope. In Philippians 2:1, Paul appeals for the restoration of relationships that may have been damaged due to lack of encouragement, too little participation in the Spirit, not enough comfort from love, or a deficit of affection or sympathy for one another. With one word, 'ANY,' Paul points out that there's hope for these kinds of relationships. "If there's ANY encouragement in Christ, ANY comfort from love, ANY participation in the Spirit, ANY affection and sympathy..." then there's joyful hope for that relationship.

In verse 2, Paul continues to tell how it can be restored. "Being of the same mind" does not mean agreeing on everything. Instead, it means deciding to be unified, despite your differences. One example of this is that our children know not to pit my wife and me against each other. If they want something and one of us says no, then even if the other one would give a "yes," the answer is still "no." One yes and one no equals no--and we mean it. We decided long ago to present a united front to our kids, so that they know that even if we disagree on something, we'll agree to agree for their sake. "Being of the same mind," says Paul. The Greek word here translated "mind" comes from the word meaning "diaphram," an inner mechanism for regulating breath. It has to do with an inner working that has an outward dynamic. You could say that for two people to have the same diaphragm means that one is the inhale and the other is the exhale, and that working together they keep the body alive.

"Having the same love" does not mean that you love or value the same things. Instead, the word "love" that's used here is agape, which speaks of unconditional perfect love. If both people have the same unconditional love for one another, then they learn how to look past their differences in values. They cherish one another more than they cherish their own opinions or their own need to be right.

When Paul says, "Being in full accord and of one mind," it may sound like he's just being redundant--in fact, the Greek word here rendered as "full accord" is the same as "same mind" above. But Paul adds "of one mind" to the mix. The actual word is sympsychoi, which means "same-soul." Genesis 2.24 says that husband and wife will become "one flesh," but here the expectation is stepped up a notch. We go from one flesh to one soul--and not just for husband and wife but for all believers. In this we realize that the good I do for someone else I also do for myself. In the same way, I harm myself when I harm someone else who is made in God's image. To be of the same soul means that I would not dream of hurting the other person unless I want to do irreparable damage to my own soul as well.

In verses 3-4 Paul says, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. " This is not the kind of humiliation that comes from low self-esteem, that puts other people first because it believes itself worthless. Instead, it's the kind of humility that Jesus demonstrated when He washed the disciples' feet. It's the sort of humility that He showed when He left the glory of Heaven to serve humanity. When we put other people's needs ahead of our own, we're not saying that they are better than we are, but that we'd rather take care of them than ourselves. By doing this, we give godlike love, which can't help but be reciprocated.

This may all sound like an impossible task for anyone. It certainly would be, were it not for what we find in verse 5--we have the mind of Christ in us. Now, this is an amazing thing: when we receive Jesus into our lives, the mind of Christ takes up residence within us. At all times, believers have at their disposal the very thoughts and attitudes of Jesus. Where we would normally seek our own glory, the mind of Christ in us helps us to not constantly grasp after recognition or power. Where we would naturally be full of ourselves, by supernaturally accessing the mind of Christ we are able to empty ourselves of ego and become servants to all. The mind of Christ replaces rebellion and stubbornness with humility and obedience. It allows us to be Christlike, laying ourselves down for the good of others.

Restored relationships can only come through the mind of Christ. Albert Einstein is attributed for saying, "Problems cannot be solved by the level of awareness that created them." This is as true in spiritual matters as it is in physics. If your mind got you into trouble, how can you think that your mind can get you out? If your mind has systematically been destroying a relationship, then quit trying to solve the problem by using your mind. You need the mind of Christ. Only by thinking His thoughts, with His mind, can the Holy Spirit repair you, and then your relationships can be restored.

****************************

A MEDITATION WITH ECUMENICAL PRAYER BEADS

(Click here to get your own)

Today's meditation on Philippians 2.1-11 (ESV), using the Ecumenical Prayer Beads, has the same verses for the Invitatory and Benedictory beads. For the weeks, use whatever word or phrase stands out to you from the cruciform verses.

Invitatory - verses 5-7

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Cruciform - verses 1-4

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Weeks - Select a word or phrase that stands out to you from the Cruciform Beads, to use as your meditation for the Weeks beads.

Benedictory - verses 5-11

Run the Race Set Before You

2014-10-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've been running. Since this past May, my wife and I have been training for a 5k that we just ran a couple of weeks ago. It was the Color Run in Richmond, Virginia--what they affectionately call the "happiest 5k on the planet!" Click here to read more about my experience running. What made the Color Run so much fun was that every half mile or, volunteers who were cheering us on also covered us with colored corn starch. Click here for more information on the Color Run. By the end of the race, the thousands of runners were covered head to toe in green, blue, pink, and yellow. Folks made it even more fun by showing up for the run wearing garish colors, tutus, and other festive attire. We started running just a few months ago, and had run 3 miles (5k) plenty of times in our training, but I have to admit that I was a little intimidated about my first official event. But the Color Run was a blast! Honestly, it was so much fun that it ended way sooner than I expected. Time seemed to fly by. By the time we crossed the finish line, I was wishing it was a 10k instead. Now, we are training for a the Wicked 10k in Virginia Beach, which we'll run at the end of this month.

Now, I have to admit--I never saw myself as becoming a runner. It's been physically tough, getting my body to the point where I can run 6 miles at a stretch. But it's been even tougher mentally--convincing myself that I can do it, pushing through the discomfort and even pain, getting to the point of determination that leads to achievement. What do I do when the running gets tough? I meditate.

Some of my favorite verses to repeat to myself as I run are:

Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Isaiah 40:31a - "They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles" For some reason, the second part of the verse, "They shall run and now be weary, they shall walk and not faint" doesn't work for me. I think it's because just by using the word "weary," it makes me weary.
2 Corinthians 4:16-17 - "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison."

Soon, I'll create a page on this website, dedicated exclusively to meditation verses for runners--and how to breathe in tandem with your footfalls, while you repeat the words to the rhythm.

It's enough to say for now that for me, meditation and running go together. A lot of runners talk about getting in "the zone." I've found this zone without meditation, where the wordless rhythm of your footfalls and breaths creates a metronome-like effect and you lose yourself in the run. I've also found this when I repeat scripture over and over, losing myself in God's Word.

Today's meditation, following the rhythm of the Protestant Prayer Beads, is taken from Hebrews 12:1-2. If you don't have a set, you can order one by clicking on the picture of the Protestant Prayer Beads on the left side of the screen. Begin with the Lord's Prayer as you take the cross in your hand. Then proceed to the Invitatory, around either to the left or right (your preference) as you touch each one of the Weeks. Move through the Weeks beads and the Cruciform beads until you return again to the beginning. Then, the Invitatory becoms the Benedictory. Finally, repeat the Lord's Prayer again when you get the cross--and you're done.

Whether it's an actual run or just the journey of life, I pray that the race you run in today will be blessed. I pray that you'll set aside the sin and entanglements of life, and look to Jesus. I pray that as you're strengthened by Christ, you'll be able to press through the struggle and know God's blessing. And I pray that when you get to the finish line, you'll hear the Lord say, "Well done!"

A MEDITATION WITH ECUMENICAL PRAYER BEADS:
(Click here to get your own)

Invitatory - From v. 1
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses (Spend some time thinking about this, remembering the saints you know who have gone on before you)

Cruciform - From v. 1
Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely.

Weeks - From vv. 1-2
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,

Benedictory - From v. 2
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Be Still

2014-06-18T06:27:00.001-07:00

This morning in my quiet time, I was meditating on Psalm 46.10 (ESV), which says, "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" This notion of stillness, and the meaning of stillness, struck me more than ever today, so I thought I'd share it with you.

First, I found many other scriptures that have to do with our need for stillness, such as:

Psalm 37.7 ESV
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

Mark 4.39 ESV

And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Click here for a longer list of scriptures having to do with stillness.

Next, because my wife calls me a "word nerd," I looked up the etymology of the English word "still," to find out its origins and history. Here's what I found on the Online Etymology Dictionary:

still (adj.)

Old English stille "motionless, stable, fixed, stationary," from Proto-Germanic *stilli- (cognates: Old Frisian, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch stille, Dutch stil, Old High German stilli, German still), from PIE root *stel- "to put, stand," with derivatives referring to a standing object or place (see stall (n.1)). Meaning "quiet, calm, gentle, silent" emerged in later Old English. Euphemistic for "dead" in stillborn, etc. Still small voice is from KJV:

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. [1 Kings 19:11-13]

Used as a conjunction from 1722.

still (n.1)

"distilling apparatus," 1530s, from Middle English stillen "to distill" (c.1300), a variant of distillen (see distill).

still (v.)

Old English stillan "to be still, have rest; to quiet, calm, appease; to stop, restrain," from stille "at rest" (see still (adj.)). Cognate with Old Saxon stillian, Old Norsestilla, Dutch, Old High German, German stillen. Related: Stilled; stilling.

still (n.2)

c.1200, "a calm," from still (adj.). Sense of "quietness, the silent part" is from c.1600 (in still of the night). Meaning "a photograph" (as distinguished from a motion picture) is attested from 1916.

still (adv.)

"even now, even then, yet" (as in still standing there), 1530s, from still (adj.) in the sense "without change or cessation, continual" (c.1300); the sense of "even, yet" (as in still more) is from 1730.

So, "Be still" can mean three things:

1 - It can mean being motionless, quiet, and calm. Taken in this sense, being still before the Lord means listening to God rather than filling the air with your own words. It can mean settling the spirit rather than ceaselessly striving. Not only can this be taken as an adjective (being calm), but it can be taken as a noun (being a calm). Being still means being the calm in the world's storm, being the place where others can go in order to get some rest.

2 - It can mean being "even now" with God. Or, put more simply, it can mean being in the present moment with the Lord. Rather than letting your mind drift to failures of the past or future plans, being still can mean simply enjoying God's presence in the present.

3 - It can mean understanding that you are, in fact, a distilling apparatus for God's presence, peace, and Word. To be a still and know that He is God means to fully process the knowledge of God--to let God's presence drip through you until you can offer an intoxicating draught of God's Holy Spirit to the world (Ephesians 5.18 ESV).

So, this simple phrase, to be still, is packed with meaning. This one word, still, is a prayer in and of itself. Simply sit and breathe, repeating this one word with every breath. As you do so, ask God to make you you to be still, or to be a still. As you exhale, let the word be your request to God, to give you His stillness. As you inhale, receive the essence of still-ness that God wants to give you. You'll find that stillness is worth so much more than striving.

We Will Not Fear

2014-04-24T07:26:00.000-07:00

Psalm 46 deals with the problem of fear. Fear that stifles, torments, and overwhelms the soul. Fear that makes it feel like the earth's foundation is crumbling, like creation is falling apart from the inside out. When the soul is overcome with fear, God's presence is our refuge and strength. Practicing God's presence enables the fearful soul to know God's peace, even in the midst of turmoil.

The river described in verse four is the River of Life that is found in Revelation 22.1-2 (ESV):

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

This river isn't simply a water feature in some faraway Heaven. It flows from the altar, from the very Temple of God in the New Jerusalem. As the Bible says that you are God's Temple (1 Cor 6.19), this also applies not only to an otherworldly landscape, but to the soul of the believer. Jesus said of the believer:

"The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life...Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water (Jn 4.14; 7.38 ESV).’”

This River of Life is the flow of Holy Spirit within you. Like the ebb and flow of breath within your lungs, this living moves through your soul, gladdening the heart and giving peace to your spirit. When you become sensitive to the Spirit's flow within you, peace overwhelms the fear that threatens. God is at your center, and your center is in God; you shall not be moved.

Psalm 46.5 says, "God will help her when morning dawns." The morning the psalmist speaks of is God's illumination within the heart of the person who prays. By centering yourself in God, practicing His presence in the River of Life that flows through your soul, you find yourself strangely calm, though the nations rage and the kingdoms totter around you. The morning dawning reminds us that:

God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

So the light of God (illumination of dawn) and the life of God (river whose streams make glad the city of God) keep the believer in perfect peace, even when surrounded by natural and human disaster. Verse 8 reminds the reader that if we think the world brings desolation, just compare that to God's capacity to bring destruction. Yet, in verse 9 we learn that God is the bringer of peace. How can we know God's peace, even as the world rages around us?

"Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!"

Practicing the presence of God, allowing His light to dawn on you, feeling His living water flow through you, knowing God's peace that conquers fear--all these things are accomplished by one simple act.

Be still, and know that God is God.

Yet, as simple as that seems, how rarely do God's people avail themselves of this peace! In contemplative prayer, we do not rehearse our fears and then ask God to take our fears away. Instead, we simply rest in God. As we find the word "Selah" (Hebrew: "Pause and reflect") three times in these eleven verses, the believer must get still, get quiet, and listen to God. In meditation, we repeat God's words of assurance to our hearts, until His promises become a reality in our souls.

I invite you to practice contemplative prayer, using the a one-word Logos Prayer like "peace," "refuge," "strength," "river," "still," or "selah" to re-center your spirit everytime your mind wanders.

I invite you to meditate on God's Word, using the Christian Prayer Beads, with the following verses. I pray that you'll find God to be your "very present help in trouble."

A MEDITATION WITH ECUMENICAL PRAYER BEADS:

(Click here to get your own)

Invitatory - vv. 1-3

God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

Cruciform - v. 5

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.

Weeks - v. 4

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.

Benedictory - v. 10

“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”

Patrick and Multi-Dimensional Prayer

2014-03-17T04:36:00.003-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today, I want to share with you my post on "Love the Word," my other blog, from February 8, 2013. Enjoy!

Today I want to look at Ephesians 3:14-19:

¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

^{Paul wants us to understand the multi-dimensional love of God. We thinnk of Heaven as above us, so it makes sense to talk about the heights of God's love. But God's love goes way beyond that. If a flat picture is two-dimensional (length and width), then a statue is three-dimensional(length, width, and height). But Paul says God's love goes beyond normal measures, into a fourth dimension, depth--which has to do with orders of magnitude. In fact, God's love is beyond our comprehension. I hope His love blows your mind as much as it blows mine.}

^{Sometimes, to emphasize God's multi-dimensional love to myself, I like to picture myself standing at the center of a bubble of God's love--with God's love above and below me, to my right and to my left, before me and behind me, penetrating into me and radiating from me. I'm not alone in this imagery--I borrowed it from St. Patrick, who is known for many things, among which is his prayer entitled "The Breastplate." I'd like to share it with you today.}

1.
          I bind myself today to a strong virtue, an invocation of the Trinity.
          I believe in a Threeness, with confession of an Oneness in the Creator of the Universe.
2.
          I bind myself today to the virtue of Christ's birth with his baptism,
          to the virtue of his crucifixion with his burial,
          to the virtue of his resurrection with his ascension,
          to the virtue of his coming to the Judgment of Doom.
3.
          I bind myself today to the virtue of ranks of Cherubim,
          in obedience of Angels,
          [in service of Archangels]
        in hope of resurrection for reward,
          in prayers of Patriarchs,
          in preaching of Apostles,
          in faiths of Confessors,
          in innocence of Holy Virgins,
          in deeds of righteous men.
4.
          I bind myself today to the virtue of Heaven,
          In light of Sun,
          In brightness of Snow
          In splendour of Fire,
          In speed of Lightning,
          In swiftness of Wind,
          In depth of Sea,
          In stability of Earth,
          In compactness of Rock.
5.
          I bind myself today to God's Virtue to pilot me,
          God's might to uphold me,
          God's wisdom to guide me,
          God's eye to look before me,
          God's ear to hear me,
          God's Word to speak to me,
          God's hand to guard me,
          God's way to lie before me,
          God's shield to protect me,
          God's host to secure me,
          Against snares of demons,
          Against seductions of vices,
          Against lusts of nature,
          Against every one who wishes ill to me,
          Afar and anear,
          Alone and in a multitude.
6.
          So have I invoked all these virtues between me, [and these]
          against every cruel, merciless power which may come against my body and my soul
          against incantations of false prophets,
          against black laws of heathenry,
          against false laws of heretics,
          against craft of idolatry,
          against spells of women and smiths and druids,
          against every knowledge that defiles men's souls.
7.
          Christ to protect me today,
          Against poison, against burning, against drowning, against death-wound,
          Until a multitude of rewards come to me!
8.
          Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me!
          Christ below me, Christ above me.
          Christ at my right, Christ at my left!
          Christ in breadth, Christ in length, Christ in height!
9.
          Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
          Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
          Christ in every eye that sees me,
          Christ in every ear that hears me!
10.
          I bind myself today to a strong virtue, an invocation of the Trinity.
          I believe in a Threeness with confession of a Oneness, in the Creator of [the universe.]
          Salvation is the Lord's, salvation is the Lord's, salvation is Christ's
          May Thy salvation, O Lord, be always with us.

The Repeated Blessings of Meditation

2014-02-27T05:16:00.000-08:00

Lately, a lot of people have been asking me to teach them meditation. While there are breathing techniques and postures that make meditation easier or deeper, meditation is't about the outward or physical body. It's all about absorbing the Word of God through repetition.

When you're having your quiet time with Jesus, choose a passage of Scripture to read, and read it over and over again. As you do so, look for a word or phrase (your Logos Prayer) that stands out to you. For example, in Matthew 5 (NIV), Jesus says:

2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

For me, the Logos that emerges from this passage is "Blessed." This scripture makes it obvious that Jesus wasn't against the use of repetition, as some allege. Jesus uses the word "blessed" like a mantra, driving that word home to his listeners. When you meditate on the word "blessed," you make yourself part of Jesus' audience, hearing Him repeat the word over and over. Nine times in as many verses, Jesus repeats this word "blessed." So, after repeated readings of Matthew 5.1-11, and selecting the word "blessed" as my Logos, I meditated on that word alone.

Like everybody else, my mind wanders during meditation and contemplation. Even though my mind is focused on one word, this glorious brain that God has given me knows how to multitask. So, whenever my mind wandered, I went back to the whole passage of scripture. Using it to re-focus, I then returned to my meditation on the one word, "blessed."

Now, repeating the Logos as a meditation means that I'm allowing God to speak to me through that one word. I'm receiving the Lord's gift of blessing in my life. I'm listening to what the Spirit may say to me about blessing. This meditation becomes a prayer as well if I allow that one word to become my cry to God, asking these beatitudes to take effect in my life. Think of it this way: prayer is talking to God, while meditation is listening to God. Worship is giving to God, while contemplation is receiving from Him.

After a time of reading and finding the Logos, and then meditation on the Logos, praying the Logos, and then resting in contemplation, often I find that God will give me an insight into the passage of scripture that I didn't have before. In today's case, with Matthew 5, I was simply reminded of something that God showed me during a previous meditation on this scripture. I'll share it with you here. It's simply a reworking of the Beatitudes:

You're blessed if you realize your poverty before God.

You're blessed if your spiritual poverty causes you to repent and mourn over your sin.

You're blessed if an attitude of repentance brings meekness into your life.

You're blessed if your meekness leads to a hunger and thirst for righteousness.

You're blessed if your desire for righteousness draws mercy from your soul.

You're blessed if the practice of mercy purifies your heart.

You're blessed if your pure heart causes you to make peace with, and for, others.

You're blessed if the world makes an enemy of you, because the kind of spirit you've developed is fundamentally at odds with the world's spirit. You're not alone in this--you've become like the prophets who came before you, who were also treated as enemies by the cruel world.

Last year, I challenged my church members to read the Bible through in a year. While the discipline of regular reading is good, and while the overview of reading the whole Bible quickly can be enlightening, I believe it's better to go deep with a short passage of scripture than to cast a wide net and get a shallower understanding. Meditation helps you go deeper with a passage of scripture. It allows you to truly process it. By repeatedly ruminating on God's Word, you find that you're bountifully blessed.

To Gaze on the Beauty of the Lord

2014-02-14T04:47:00.000-08:00

For the Christian mystic, nothing could be greater, more pleasurable, more sublime an experience than to be granted a vision of the face of Christ. Once or twice while in prayer, I have thought to discern the image of Jesus before me. It has always been fleeting--and never distinct, lest I should fix my gaze upon my Lord's exact features. Rather, it is the semblance of Christ that I see. It seems that He appears before me, not in the flesh but as a being of light or shining crystal. I can discern that there are features, yet I am unable to focus on them. I suppose if I were able to get a clear view of Jesus' face, then I'd balk at every artist's representation or actor's depiction of our Lord, smugly saying, "That's not what He looks like at all!" But the face of Christ is never that clear. It is His presence more than His physical face that is important anyway--and with that I am always content.

I suppose another reason for the vagueness of Jesus' face within my mind is that, were I to enter into my time of prayer with determination to see Jesus' face, I would simply be able to pull the image up from memory. In essence, I'd be able to manufacture a vision, convincing myself that the Lord had chosen to appear to me again, whether or not He had. Instead, it's best to step carefully into prayer, meditation, and contemplation--without forming any image in my mind. If the Lord chooses to bless me with a manifestation of His presence, I do not want to be guilty of trying to manipulate the manner in which He chooses to do so.

The psalmist says that He longs to dwell in house of the Lord, to gaze on God's beauty and seek Him in His temple (Psalm 27:4). This we can do everyday in prayer. The believer is the temple of God, and it is on the inward journey that we seek and find Him. When I walk through the inner courts of my heart and mind, that's where I'm likely to find him. If I'm going to have a vision of Christ, it will be in quiet contemplation when I'm undistracted by the commotion and commerce of the world.

But that's not the only way I can gaze upon His beauty.

Psalm 27:8 says, "Your face, Lord, I will seek." I must be actively seeking God's face throughout my daily activities. I don't have to wait for mystical moments to come upon me, in order to see Jesus. Verse 13 says, "I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." This means that a practical spirituality, and not always a head-in-the-clouds mysticism, will reveal the face of Christ in ways I never expected. The beauty of new-fallen snow. The whisper of winter wind. The laughter of a child. These things reveal the face of our Maker as surely as a vision--and far more often. It's in the land of the living that I will see the goodness of the Lord. That is, if I wait for the Lord.

In The Meaning of Prayer, Harry Emerson Fosdick writes:

One has only to consider that frivolous American who in the Rembrandt room of the Amsterdam Gallery looked lackadaisically around the room and asked: "I wonder if there is anything here worth seeing"; one has only to recall the women who climbed an Alpine height on an autumn day, when the riot of color in the valley sobered into the green of the pines upon the heights, and over all stood the crests of eternal snow, and who inquired in the full sight of all this, "We have heard there was a view up here; where is it?" to see that there is a spiritual qualification for every experience, and that without it nothing fine and beautiful can ever be real to any one. "Mr Turner," a man once said to the artist, "I would never see any sunsets like yours." And the artist answered grimly," No, sir. Don't you wish you could?" How clearly then must the sense of God's reality be a progressive and often laborious achievement of the spirit! It is not a matter to be taken for granted, as though any one could saunter into God's presence at any time, with any sort of life behind him, and at once perceive God there.

No, the manufacture of mystical experience is not for you or for me. Sublime experiences in prayer are granted; they are not gotten by human striving. If I want to intentionally experience the resplendent glory of God everyday, then I must observe them with my eyes open. I must look to the sunsets, the infants, the shriveled old ladies in nursing homes, and gentle breezes that whisper the name of God. This is how I gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. This is how I see the goodness of God in the land of the living. I hope that you'll keep these things in mind as you do today's Prayer Bead meditation:

A MEDITATION WITH ECUMENICAL PRAYER BEADS:
(Click here to get your own)

Invitatory - v. 4
One thing I ask from the LORD,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

Cruciform - v. 8
Your face, LORD, I will seek.

Weeks - v. 1
The LORD is my light and my salvation...
The LORD is the stronghold of my life.

Benedictory - vv. 13-14
I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart,
and wait for the Lord.

Be Merciful - From Luke 6

2014-01-31T08:56:00.000-08:00

Everyone has enemies. Oh, they may not be like the arch-nemesis of a superhero in an action movie. They might not even be like a playground bully. In adult life, playground bullies take different forms: antagonists in the workplace, adversaries within families, and even vainglorious saboteurs within your house of worship. The way I deal with my enemies reveals the degree to which Christ dwells in my heart--or, rather, the degree to which I'm abiding in Christ. I can choose to allow them to disturb my inner peace, which is a path of contention. Assuming that they are the aggressor and I am the target (the only position a child of God should be in, when conflict is present), and assuming that I resist them on their own battleground, I am bound to lose. The fact that they are an aggressor means that they are an aggressor-type personality. While they are used to conflict, as a Christian I should be so un-used to conflict that its ways are foreign to me. So engaging in a battle on unfamiliar territory would be devastating to me, were I to engage in it.

Instead, Jesus teaches another way. He tells me to pray for my enemies. He says I should show mercy. Do good to those who persecute me. That's radically different from the way the world responds to bullies. Jesus says, "Resist not evil...turn the other cheek." If I'm going to follow Jesus' way, then I'm going to have to train myself to think differently. I'm going to have to realize that, as Simon Weil says:

We live in a world of unreality and dreams. To give up our imaginary position as the center, to renounce it, not only intellectually but in the imaginative part of our soul, that means to awaken to what is real and eternal, to see the true light and hear the true silence. A transformation then takes place at the very roots of our sensibility, in our immediate reception of sense impressions and psychological impressions. It is a transformation analogous to that which takes place in the dusk of evening on a road, where we suddenly discern as a tree what we had at first seen as a stooping man; or where we suddenly recognize as a rustling of leaves what we thought at first was whispering voices. We see the same colors; we hear the same sounds, but not in the same way.

To empty ourselves of our false divinity, to deny ourselves, to give up being the center of the world in imagination, to discern that all points in the world are equally centers and that the true center is outside the world, this is to consent to the rule of mechanical necessity in matter and of free choice at the center of each soul. Such consent is love. The face of this love, which is turned toward thinking persons, is the love of our neighbor; the face turned toward matter is love of the order of the world, or love of the beauty of the world which is the same thing. (from Waiting for God, by Simone Weil)

When I take myself out of the center, I begin to love my enemies. Instead, they become my neighbors and my friends. Absenting myself from conflict, I can find beauty in those who oppose me. I can see God in them, too.

Today, I invite you to a meditation using the Protestant prayer beads. As you repeat these words, let them soak into your spirit. When you complete the meditation with the Benedictory bead, understand that just as power went out from Jesus to bring healing to everyone, so His power flows from you, bringing healing to your friends and enemies.

A MEDITATION WITH ECUMENICAL PRAYER BEADS:
(Click here to get your own)

Invitatory - vv. 27-28
I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

Weeks - v. 36
Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Cruciform - v. 37
You will be children of the Most High.

Benedictory - v. 19
Power came out from him and healed them all.

My Soul Waits in Silence

2014-01-22T07:26:00.000-08:00

For God alone my soul waits in silence;

from Him comes my salvation.

He alone is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken...

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,

for my hope is from him.

He only is my rock and my salvation;

my fortress, I shall not be shaken...

Once God has spoken,

twice have I heard this:

that power belongs to God,

and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.

Psalm 62.1-2, 5-6, 11 ESV

I meet a lot of people who for one reason or another are waiting in silence. Some are in hospitals, waiting for their bodies to heal. Others are in nursing homes, waiting for someone to come visit them. Still others are widows or widowers, advanced in years and unable to frequently leave their homes. All these people are learning something about waiting in silence.

Unfortunately, it often takes something like this in order to make people slow down, rest, and wait in silence. However, the psalmist who did not find himself in any of these situations says that he waits in silence. By practicing the presence of God in times of quiet rest, he finds hope, salvation, and refuge. Because he does this, he is not shaken by the storms of life.

Twice in this psalm, David says that he waits in silence. Twice also he uses the Hebrew word selah, which means "pause and reflect." It is no coincidence, then, that twice David says that he heard from God. In other words, the more you wait in silence, the more you hear from God. Sometimes God speaks to you of His great power, and other times He declares His steadfast love. But it is in those moments of silence that you hear.

"Be still, and know that I am God," says the Lord (Ps 46.10 ESV). When we allow times of stillness in our lives, when we draw the curtain on the world's distractions, when we rest in God alone, we find our hope. I pray that today you will take a few moments to wait in silence. It's only by doing so that you can hear from the God of steadfast love.