“God wills it!”

I have been thinking  much about our idea of God’s will. Most of the rhetoric I hear from Christians professes that God has an individual plan for each of us. I often have wondered about that belief. Do we believe in this divine will for each and everyone of us because it makes us feel better about ourselves? Or does it give us a “special meaning” to the mundane existence of everyday life? Or is there some other reasoning behind this belief?

Watch the following video.

Thomas Merton – Renunciation Contemplation

I would love to hear what you think about an individual will God has for each and everyone of us or something a little more vague and abstract and maybe a little more spiritual.

Running Toward the Fire

I was reading and reflecting on desert spirituality in my life and the life of the desert mystics and came across this:

Consolation and spiritual complacency are not to be ours. If we are getting too comfortable in our spiritual lives, we are not growing. We need not only let God build a fire, we need to keep adding fuel to it. Only when the fire is hot enough and dangerous enough do we see the very reason for the fire. It is to keep us sweating; it keeps us running to God as a man with his hair on fire runs toward water! [A Retreat with Desert Mystics: Thirsting for the Reign of God by Linus Mundy]

Sometimes in life, my current season, God doesn’t allow me to run away. He says “stand here and feed the fire. You cannot move until I am done.” At that point, desperation gives way to the loving embrace as each flame licks my desolate soul and cleanses and restores. Much like the fire of the burning bush-burning but not burning up.

Looking through the Screen of Facetime

A tiny screen that bridges the gap of three time zones. Video streamed over a wireless connection. Motherboard and circuits. A bunch of commands organized and strategically put together to produce the code necessary to allow person A to talk with person B. It is more than that. So much more. Pictures and live video of what is happening thousands of miles away. Images of people who are loved and missed. Glimpses into what experiences are being missed. So goes the story of my life right now.

Following God has not led me and my family down the road we thought it would (as optimistic and idealistic youth). Somewhere on this life of faith we call a journey, the road detoured and we were unaware. We never experienced the “fork in the road” coined by the poet Robert Frost. Somehow, my family ended up on the “road less traveled”. Not by our choosing but because it was the only road presented to us.

Following God has been extremely hard over this particular part of the road. Thousands of questions that will go unanswered. Thousands of prayers offered up in humility, anger, frustration, pain and brokenness. What was a path that has been laid before us has turned into boulders and mountains to be traversed. Long valleys to walk through. Brief distances of level ground to rest and reflect. All the time realizing how little faith I have and being ashamed by that reality.

I don’t have any understanding or wisdom why God has given us a calling but not the means to act on that calling. Sure we can look to the economy or the fear that is so innate in our human experience that it is driving most everything or our own sin and brokenness.

I don’t have any understanding or wisdom why my wife and daughters and I get to live vicariously together through the screen of facetime. Brought together for those brief moments when a simple little app bridges space and time. Reuniting (to some degree) a family. Being able to share experiences and renew our love and affection for each other. Maybe the best part is being able to see each other. Being able to see the eyes of the ones you love. To be able to look into their heart (as if I were there in person) and experience life “together” again.

I don’t have any understanding or wisdom….

But…

What I do know is…

Following God allows us to keep walking. Sure we can emphasis the difficulties, wallow in self pity and pain. That is definitely a possibility and I have done my time there. But only through God have I had the strength to keep walking. Looking at the valleys, the boulders and the mountains can easily overwhelm. One faith step after another allows those emotional/physical/spiritual barriers to transform from being insurmountable into something that is climbable.

Following God allows us to truly connect with others. I’m not necessarily talking about life long friends but strangers. People who have traversed difficult roads in life. Homeless people. Beaten and abused people. People who know the reality of brokenness. And might i say, what a blessing it is to be able to connect and love them and be loved by them.

Following God allows us to be truly present to this moment. Now is so much richer and more fulfilling when our false self-created images of ourselves are destroyed. The now becomes less of a moment to pretend and be an actor in, but a moment that we become a part of wholly and truthfully. Seeing and being seen. Knowing and being known.

Thank you God. Thank you for choosing this road for my family. Thank you. Even though our journey is tough, we will praise you through our pain, brokenness and distance.

Midday Prayer

May you be blessed with the awareness of God’s presence today. 

 

In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening Sentences
Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us.
Establish Thou the work of our hands;
establish Thou the work of our hands.

The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name;
Thy kingdom come;
Thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil. Amen

Declaration of faith
We believe and trust in God the Father Almighty.
We believe and trust in Jesus Christ His Son.
We believe and trust in the Holy Spirit.
We believe and trust in the Three in One.

Canticle
Teach us, dear Lord, to number our days;
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Oh, satisfy us early with Thy mercy,
that we may rejoice and be glad all of our days.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us;
and establish Thou the work of our hands.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us;
and establish Thou the work of our hands, dear Lord.

Blessing
Let nothing disturb thee,
nothing affright thee;
all things are passing,
God never changeth!
Patient endurance attaineth to all things;
who God possesseth
in nothing is wanting;
alone God sufficeth.

 In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

silence

Thursday Compline

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone:
my hope comes from Him.

Come I this night to the Father,
come I this night to the Son,
come I to the Holy Spirit powerful:
come I this night to God.
Come I this night with Christ,
come I with the Spirit of kindness.
Come I to Thee, Jesus.
Jesus, shelter me.

I will lie down and sleep.
I wake again,
because the Lord sustains me.

By day the Lord directs His love;
at night His song is with me -
a prayer to the God of my life.

Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the Lord.

This dwelling, O God, by Thee be blest;
and each one who here this night does rest.

May God be in my sleep;
may Christ be in my dreams.
May the Spirit be in my repose,
in my thoughts, in my heart.
In my soul always
may the Sacred Three dwell.

May the Father of heaven
have care of my soul,
His loving arm about my body,
through each slumber
and sleep of my life.

The Son of God be shielding me from harm,
the Son of God be shielding me from ill,
the Son of God be shielding me with power.
The Son of God be shielding me this night.

Sleep, O sleep in the calm of each calm.
Sleep, O sleep in the guidance of all guidance.
Sleep, O sleep in the love of all loves.
Sleep, O beloved, in the Lord of life.
Sleep, O beloved, in the God of life.

The peace of all peace
be mine this night
in the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Monday Compline

O Christ, Son of the living God,
may Your holy angels guard our sleep,
may they watch over us as we rest
and hover around our beds.

* Let them reveal to us in our dreams
visions of Your glorious truth,
O High Prince of the universe,
O High Priest of the mysteries.

* May no dreams disturb our rest
and no nightmares darken our dreams.
May no fears or worries delay
our willing, prompt repose.

* May the virtue of our daily work
hallow our nightly prayers.
May our sleep be deep and soft
so our work be fresh and hard.

I will lie down and sleep in peace
for You alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

My dear ones, O God, bless Thou and keep,
in every place where they are.

* Into Your hands I commit my spirit;
I give it to You with all the love of my heart.

* How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.

I make the cross of Christ upon my breast,
+ over the tablet of my hard heart,
and I beseech the Living God of the universe -
may the Light of Lights come
to my dark heart from Thy place;
may the Spirit’s wisdom come to my heart’s tablet
from my Saviour.

* Christ without sin, Christ of wounds,
I am placing my soul and my body
under Thy guarding this night,
Christ of the poor, Christ of tears.
Thy cross be my shielding this night,
O Thou Son of tears, of the wounds, of the piercing.

I am going now into the sleep:
O be it in Thy dear arm’s keep,
O God of grace, that I shall awake.

* My Christ! my Christ!
my shield, my encircler,
each day, each night,
each light, each dark.

* My Christ! my Christ!
my shield, my encircler,
each day, each night,
each light, each dark.
Be near me, uphold me,
my treasure, my triumph.

Circle me, Lord,
keep protection near
and danger afar.

* Circle me, Lord,
keep light near
and darkness afar.

* Circle me, Lord,
keep peace within;
keep evil out.

The peace of all peace
be mine this night
+ in the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Faith Walk

“We move on pilgrimage, which is both moving with God and toward God, trusting God on a path that is mysterious and unknown in advance. The mystery of the path means that we need to stay alert, for the Holy One may appear at any time, and at any place. There is not any “no-God’s land” along the way. It is all God’s land, every step of the way.”  (Living In His Presence)

How is your faith walk today?

Lyricist of Life

Music is timeless. It’s voice never stops and always pierces to the soul of those who listen. Music brings joy to your heart like an embrace of an old friend. But music can also touch the sorrow and pain in our soul much like the unwelcome news of a lost loved one. It has the ability to bring revolution…to bring change.

Some of the greatest lyricists and songwriters have transformed how we communicate and relate to each other and our world. Listen to the words and envision the timelessness of the following lyrics:

words by john lennon

Imagine there’s no Heaven 
It’s easy if you try 
No hell below us 
Above us only sky 
Imagine all the people 
Living for today 

Imagine there’s no countries 
It isn’t hard to do 
Nothing to kill or die for 
And no religion too 
Imagine all the people 
Living life in peace 

You may say that I’m a dreamer 
But I’m not the only one 
I hope someday you’ll join us 
And the world will be as one 

Imagine no possessions 
I wonder if you can 
No need for greed or hunger 
A brotherhood of man 
Imagine all the people 
Sharing all the world 

You may say that I’m a dreamer 
But I’m not the only one 
I hope someday you’ll join us 
And the world will live as one 

Did your hear the gentle piano playing in the background as the teacher helps us cope with the violence of world all the while composing a new reality? Pictures of extreme poverty, slavery and war flash through the mind and invoke strong feelings. Faces of the people whose lives violence has touched play across my mind

The victims in Cairo (both Muslim and Christian)…
The struggle for life by mothers, daughters and sons in war-torn neighborhoods…
The hate and anger that fuel people to acts of unimaginable violence…
The desecration of humanity (maybe our own) as others are enslaved by poverty, sex trades and greed…
And one that has burned an image into my soul, the joyous dancing at the death of another…

But also pictures of hope. Pictures of humanity living together in peace embracing the life in the other.

Another lyricist would compose…

Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? 

Another lyricist would gently sing…

lyrics by foy vance

If there’s one thing that I know
It is that two shades of hope
One the enlightening soul
And the other is more like a hangman’s rope

Well it’s true, you may reap what you sow
But not that despair is the all-time low
Baby, hope deals the hardest blows

There’s once someone I loved
Whose heart overflowed his cup
And his shoes got covered in blood
Oh but he never knew 
Cause he only looked up
Well he was a troubled soul
Who’d known pain more than most I know
Yet it was hope that dealt the hardest blows

And the girl that holds the hand of
Of a somewhat distant man
Though she did everything she can
Still his heart set sail for a distant land
And she wonders sometimes if he knows
How she feels like a trampled rose
Baby, hope deals the hardest blows

Aaah oooh baby 
Oooh, oh oh

Well some people think their sin 
Caused the cancer that’s eating into them
And the only way they can win
Is by the healing of somebody’s hands on their skin
But when the cancer does not go
Baby hope dealt the hardest blows

And now all these truths are sold
With foundations below them
That were dug out in winter’s cold
When the world stole our young and prayed on the old

Well hope deals in the hardest blows
Yet I cannot help myself but hope

I guess that’s why love hurts
And heartache stings
And despair’s never worse
Than the despair that earth brings

But hope deals the hardest blows, dear
The hardest…
Hope deals the hardest blows

Pain and hope always seem to be composed together. Hope is the longing for the harmonious chord while the  dissonance  of pain and violence is being sung. Sometimes that hopeful chord comes and at other times the listener is left waiting.

One of my favorite lamenting songs is written by Thomas Moore.

words by thomas moore

 

Oh, Thou who dries the mourner’s tear,

How dark this would would be,

If pierced by sins and sorrows here

We could not fly to Thee!

 

The Friends who in our sunshine live

When winter comes are flown;

And he who has but tears to give

Must weep those tears alone.

 

Oh who could bear life’s stormy doom

Did not Thy wing of love come

Brightly wafting through the gloom

Our Peace Branch from above.

 

Then sorrow touch’d by Thee

Grows bright as more than rapture’s ray

Reveals the glorious shades of light

We never saw by day!

May these lyrics bless you and provide that hopeful chord amidst the pain and violence in your life.

Morning Prayer for April 28

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentences
One thing I have asked of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life;
to behold the beauty of the Lord
and to seek Him in His temple.

Call: Who is it that you seek?
Response: We seek the Lord our God.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your heart?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your soul?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your mind?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your strength?
Response: Amen. Christ, have mercy.

Declaration of faith
To whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life,
and we have believed and have come to know
that You are the Holy One of God.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ,
King of endless glory.

Scripture

Psalm 22:1-8  My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? ² O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. ³ Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. ⁴ In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. ⁵ They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.  ⁶ But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. ⁷ All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: ⁸ ”He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

 Isaiah 53:6-7 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

Matthew 5:11-12  “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Meditation for the day

PSALM 84
How lovely is Thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
My soul is longing and fainting
the courts of the Lord to see.
My heart and flesh, they are singing
for joy to the living God.
How lovely is Thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.

Even the sparrow finds a home
where he can settle down,
and the swallow, she can build a nest
where she may lay her young,
within the courts of the Lord of hosts,
my King, my Lord, and my God;
and happy are those who are dwelling where
the song of praise is sung.

And I’d rather be a door-keeper
and only stay a day,
than live the life of a sinner
and have to stay away.
For the Lord is shining as the sun,
and the Lord, He’s like a shield;
and no good thing does He withhold
from those who walk His way.

How lovely is Thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
My soul is longing and fainting
the courts of the Lord to see.
My heart and flesh, they are singing
for joy to the living God.
How lovely is Thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.

Prayers for others

Canticle

Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.

Blessing
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness,
protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders He has shown you.
May He bring you home rejoicing
once again into our doors.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Thank you Northumbria Community for providing online daily offices.