The Breathing Of The Soul

Prayer is one of the most powerful things we can do in life.  The Lord’s Prayer was so special in the early church that only the confirmed members could pray it.  They figured that spectators and inquirers weren’t ready for the power and mystery of the prayer.   It was called the “believers prayer.”  Even today in the liturgy of the Greek and Russian Orthodox Church, the praying of the Lord’s Prayer is a moment of awe and mystery as a priest says at the introduction: “And make us worthy, O Lord, that we joyously and without presumption may make bold to invoke Thee, the heavenly God, as Father and to say, “Our Father….”
 

Jesus does not want us to day the Lord’s Prayer.  Jesus wants us to become the Lord’s Prayer.  REAL praying is God moving in us through the Spirit.   Real praying is the Spirit of God praying in and through us, making us into the likeness of Christ.  In the words of Francois Fenelon: “Lord, teach me to pray.  Pray Thyself in me.”  Prayer is the breathing of the soul.   (Homiletics)

One Solitary Life

 He was born in an obscure village, The child of a peasant woman.

 He grew up in still another village where He worked in a carpenter shop

 until He was thirty.

 Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

 He never wrote a book.

 He never held an office.

 He didn't go to college.

 He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born.

 He did none of the things one usually associates with greatness.

 He had no credentials but Himself.

 He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him.

 His friends ran away.

 He was turned over to His enemies and went through the mockery of a trial.

 He was nailed to a cross between two thieves

 While He was dying, His executioners gambled for His clothing, The only

 property He had on earth.

 When He was dead, HE was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a

 friend.

 Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure of

 the human race and the Leader of mankind's progress.

 All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the

 parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned put together have

 not affected the life of man on earth as much as that one solitary life. 
                                                                                               (Author Unknown)

12 Days of Christmas

As we make our journey through Advent our thoughts turn to Christmas.  There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me. What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to  practice their faith openly.  Someone during that period wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church.  Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

• The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
• Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments
• Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.
• The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
• The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
• The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
• Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
• The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
• Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
• The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
• The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
• The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol.              

Fix Your Eyes On Jesus

…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. - Hebrews 12:2-3     

This text has always had special meaning for me since it was my grandmother’s favorite.  It was even used as her funeral text.  She was a great prayer warrior who “fixed her eyes upon Jesus.”  Like Brother Lawrence she “practiced the presence of God.”  These precious words come from the letter to the Hebrews, which was written to first century Jewish believers who were being persecuted. Some were even considering giving up their faith in Jesus.

The unknown writer slowly builds his case for Jesus superiority, which culminates in the great faith chapter. In this chapter, he also points out that some great men and women of faith lived to see the fruit of their faith while many others— also men and women of faith—died prematurely because of persecution.  In chapter 12 he makes the key point of his letter.  How do we walk by faith? We walk by faith by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus!  Not fixed on our problems or difficult environment.  Jesus was the pioneer and perfecter of faith. He endured suffering all the way to the cross.  So we follow His example and we will also patiently endure because of the joy we know is to come.  I believe he saw the “joy set before Him” by looking past or through the cross and there He saw each of our faces. 

                 RESPONSE: Today I will take my eyes off my surroundings, my problems, my fears and my suffering. I 
             will keep them fixed on Jesus my Lord.

Ora et Labora

    One of the few phrases in Latin that I remember is ora et labora – “prayer and work”.  I first bumped up against this organizing principle of monastic life at Richmond Hill, where I go on retreat.  I am impressed and challenged by this balanced way of living.  Each of the sisters, Mary and Martha, appear to represent one side or the other.  Personally, I have found it hard to keep such a balance.  I have also noticed that the congregations I work with find it difficult as well.  We do quite well with “doing.”  We strategize, form committees, volunteer, go to meetings, use a corporate model for making decisions, draw flow charts, and all such manner of things.  At the same time, we don’t do as well “being” present to each other and to our Lord.  I sometimes wonder what life would be like if we practiced the discipline of ora et labora. 

Lord, let my prayers guide my work and my work lead into my prayers.  Amen.

How Each Apostle Died

I have always been captivated by what the Apostles sacrificed for the sake of Jesus. Tradition tells us that Matthew suffered martyrdom by being slain with a sword at Ethiopia.  Mark died at Alexandria, after being cruelly dragged through the streets.  Luke was hanged on an olive tree in Greece.  John was put in a caldron of boiling oil, but escaped death miraculously and was banished to Patmos.  Peter was crucified upside down in Rome.  James, the Greater, was beheaded at Jerusalem.  James, the Less, was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple and then beaten to death with a fuller's club.  Bartholomew was flayed alive.  Andrew was bound to a cross, from which he preached to his persecutors until he died.  Thomas was run through the body with a lance in the East Indies.  Jude was shot to death with arrows.  Matthias was first stoned and then beheaded.  Barnabas of the Gentiles was stoned to death at Salonica.  Paul, after various tortures and persecutions, was beheaded at Rome by the Emperor Nero.

What sacrifice are we making for Jesus?  We may not be asked to die for our faith, but how are we living our faith?  Pray that God might bless your journey with him this week.

Prayer Unanswered?

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve . . .

   I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for health, that I might do great things . . .

   I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy . . .

   I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of others . . .

   I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life . . .

   I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for . . .

   But everything that I hoped for.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered . . .

   I am among all people most richly blessed.  Amen.

(found in the clothing of an unknown Civil War soldier)