All Saints' (27) Francis de Sales

"Preparation: 1. Place yourself in the presence of God. 2. Beseech Him to inspire you. . . . After completing your prayer, go back over it for a moment and out of the considerations you have made, gather a little devotional bouquet to refresh you during the rest of the day."

--from Introduction to the Devout Life, pp. 52, 54

All Saints' (25) Basil

This sermon of Saint Basil's contains some beautiful and inspiring words on prayer...
(I know this quote is a bit long, but it's worth the read.)

"Ought we to pray without ceasing? Is it possible to obey such a command? These are questions which I see you are ready to ask. I will endeavour, to the best of my ability, to defend the charge. Prayer is a petition for good addressed by the pious to God. But we do not rigidly confine our petition to words. Nor yet do we imagine that God requires to be reminded by speech. He knows our needs even though we ask Him not. What do I say then? I say that we must not think to make our prayer complete by syllables. The strength of prayer lies rather in the purpose of our soul and in deeds of virtue reaching every part and moment of our life. ‘Whether ye eat,’ it is said, ‘or drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' (1 Cor. 10:31)
As thou takest thy seat at table, pray. As thou liftest the loaf, offer thanks to the Giver. When thou sustainest thy bodily weakness with wine, remember Him Who supplies thee with this gift, to make thy heart glad and to comfort thy infirmity. Has thy need for taking food passed away? Let not the thought of thy Benefactor pass away too. As thou art putting on thy tunic, thank the Giver of it. As thou wrappest thy cloak about thee, feel yet greater love to God, Who alike in summer and in winter has given us coverings convenient for us, at once to preserve our life, and to cover what is unseemly. Is the day done? Give thanks to Him Who has given us the sun for our daily work, and has provided for us a fire to light up the night, and to serve the rest of the needs of life. Let night give the other occasions of prayer. When thou lookest up to heaven and gazest at the beauty of the stars, pray to the Lord of the visible world; pray to God the Arch-artificer of the universe, Who in wisdom hath made them all. When thou seest all nature sunk in sleep, then again worship Him Who gives us even against our wills release from the continuous strain of toil, and by a short refreshment restores us once again to the vigour of our strength. Let not night herself be all, as it were, the special and peculiar property of sleep. Let not half thy life be useless through the senselessness of slumber. Divide the time of night between sleep and prayer. Nay, let thy slumbers be themselves experiences in piety; for it is only natural that our sleeping dreams should be for the most part echoes of the anxieties of the day. As have been our conduct and pursuits, so will inevitably be our dreams. Thus wilt thought pray without ceasing; if thought prayest not only in words, but unitest thyself to God through all the course of life and so thy life be made one ceaseless and uninterrupted prayer.”

--taken from Christian Classics Ethereal Library

All Saints' (22) Saint Patrick

Though it is uncertain whether Patrick actually used this prayer, many agree that it captures his spirit.

I find it to be beautiful, powerful, and inspiring.

The Breastplate of Saint Patrick

(translation used by Philip Freeman)

I rise today
With a mighty power, calling on the Trinity,
With a belief in the threeness,
With a faith in the oneness
Of the creator of creation.

I rise today
With the power of Christ's birth and baptism,
With the power of his crucifixion and burial,
With the power of his resurrection and ascension,
with the power of his return for final judgement.

I rise today
With the power of the love of the cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection and reward,
In the prayer of the patriarchs,
In the foretelling of the prophets,
In the preaching of the apostles,
In the faith of the confessors,
In the innocence of the holy virgins,
In the deeds of righteous men.

I rise today
With the strength of the sky,
With the light of the sun,
With the splendour of the moon,
With the brilliance of fire,
With the blaze of lightening,
With the swiftness of wind,
With the depth of the ocean,
With the firmness of earth,
With the strength of rock.

I rise today
With the power of God to guide me,
With the strength of God to raise me,
With the wisdom of God to lead me,
With the vision of God to see for me,
With the ears of God to hear for me,
With the words of God to speak for me,
With the hand of God to protect me,
With the path of God before me,
With the shield of God to guard me,
With the friendship of God to keep me safe from

The contriving of demons,
The temptations of sin,
The inclinations of my nature,
and everyone who wishes me harm,
far and near,
alone and in the crowd.

I summon today all those powers to protect me
Against every cruel force which may attack my body and soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the evil laws of unbelievers,
Against the false laws of our heretics,
Against the subtle temptations of idolatry,
Against the magic of women, blacksmiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge which corrupts body and soul.

Christ protect me today
From poison and burning,
From drowning and wounding,
So that I might gain an abundant reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ below me, Christ above me,
Christ to the right of me, Christ to the left of me,
Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit, Christ where I stand,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye which sees me,
Christ in every ear which hears me.

I rise today
With a mighty power, calling on the Trinity,
With a belief in the threeness,
With a faith in the oneness
Of the creator of creation.

All Saints' (18) E. Stanley Jones

"Conversion is a gift and and achievement. It is the act of a moment and the work of a lifetime. You cannot attain salvation by disciplines--it is the gift of God. But you cannot retain it without disciplines. If you try to attain salvation by disciplines, you will be trying to discipline an unsurrendered self. You will be sitting on a lid. The result will be tenseness instead of trust. 'You will wrestle instead of nestle.' While salvation cannot be attained by discipline around an unsurrendered self, nevertheless when the self is surrendered to Christ and a new center formed, then you can discipline your life around that new center--Christ. Discipline is the fruit of conversion--not the root.
The passage gives the double-sidedness of conversion: 'As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so live in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith' (Col. 2:6-7 RSV). Note, 'received'--receptivity; 'so live'--activity. It appears again, 'rooted'--receptivity, 'built up in him'--activity....The alternate beats of the Christian heart are receptivity and response--receptivity from God and response from us."

"The best Man that ever lived on our planet illustrated this receptivity and response rhythm. No one was so utterly dependent on God and no one was more personally disciplined in his habits.
He did three things by habit: (1) 'He stood up to read as was his custom'--he read the Word of God by habit. (2) 'He went out into the mountain to pray as was his custom'--he prayed by habit. (3) 'He taught them again as was his custom'--he passed on to others by habit what he had and what he had found.
These simple habits were the foundation habits of his life. They are as up-to-date as tomorrow morning. No converted person can live without those habits at work vitally in his life."

-- from Conversion

All Saints' (6) Henri Nouwen

"Prayer is in many ways the criterion of Christian life. Prayer requires that we stand in God's presence with open hands, naked and vulnerable, proclaiming to ourselves and to others that without God we can do nothing. This is difficult in a climate where the predominant counsel is 'Do your best and God will do the rest.' When life is divided into 'our best' and 'God's rest,' we have turned prayer into a last resort to be used only when all our own resources are depleted. Then even the Lord has become the victim of our impatience. Discipleship does not mean to use God when we can no longer function ourselves. On the contrary, it means to recognize that we can do nothing at all, but that God can do everything through us. As disciples, we find not some but all of our strength, hope, courage, and confidence in God. Therefore, prayer must be our first concern."

--Henri Nouwen, Compassion

Pentecost

Well, today is Pentecost Sunday.

Come, Holy Spirit. Move in power.

Here is "An Invocation of the Holy Spirit," taken from Celtic Daily Prayer, p. 284.

Most powerful Holy Spirit,
come down
upon us
and subdue us.

From heaven,
where the ordinary
is made glorious,
and glory
seems
but ordinary,

bathe us
with the brilliance
of your
light
like dew.

Please pray this with me today. We need Him so much.

Come, Holy Spirit. Move in power.

Shema

Shema is the first word of Deuteronomy 6:4--"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." This verse precedes the 'greatest commandment' of Matthew 22:38, which is originally given in Deuteronomy 6:5--"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

"Hear" is a strange way to phrase a command. Often we think of listening as a more active form of hearing. But in this case, it seems that hearing may be a more profound way of listening. Hearing is more than acknowledging. It is accepting, affirming, and owning what is said. It means actualizing. Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (Mark 4:9)

Faithful Jews say the Shema (Deut. 6:4-9) every morning and every evening. I have begun praying a prayer every morning in which I ask myself, "Do you seek Him with all your heart? Do you seek Him with all your soul? Do you seek Him with all your mind? Do you seek Him with all your strength?" I don't read Hebrew that well, but it's the skill I will be most adept in upon graduating from seminary. One of the few verses I have memorized is Deuteronomy 6:4-5. While this is in no way a word study, I do want to comment on the little I know about 3 words in 6:5.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart..."
The word 'heart' is the Hebrew levav. It basically means your inner being. Holladay's lexicon lists it as: 1)physical organ; 2)seat of vitality; 3)inner self, seat of feelings & impulses; 4)mind, character, disposition, inclination, loyalty, concern; 5)determination, courage, (high) morale; 6)intention, purpose; 7)mind, attention, consideration, understanding; 8)mind & mood in its totality, the self 9)conscience, etc. The point is, our heart is the core of our being. Do we love God there?

"and with all your soul..."
The word 'soul' is the Hebrew nephesh. It is often equated with one's life, and is thought to be situated at the throat (where breath enters the body). In fact, the word means: 1)throat; 2)neck; 3)breath; (4 & 5 entail phrases concerning living beings); 6)personality, individuality; 7)life; 8)'soul' as seat & support of feelings & sensations: a)desire, b)mood, state of mind, c)feeling, taste, d) will; etc. (Holladay's Lexicon). The point is, we have been given life. Every breath is a gift. Are we loving God with what we've been given?

"and with all your strength."
The word 'strength' is the Hebrew me'od. It literally means "muchness." As a substantive noun it means: power, might. As an adverb: very, in the highest degree. (Holladay) We have spoken of our inner being, our moods, feelings & desires, now we speak of physical ability. Do you love God with your physical actions? Do you, in "whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men"?

When I ask these questions, I think of it like this:
Do you seek Him with all your heart?
Do you seek him with the very core of your being?
Love Him with your very self.
Do you seek Him with all your soul?
Do you seek Him with your emotions?
Surrender your feelings to God's control.
Do you seek Him with all your mind?
Do you turn your thoughts to Him?
Think about Him. Excel intellectually for Him.
Do you seek Him with all your strength?
Do you physically honor God with your body?
You have strength! Use it for Him.

Inner self/will, feelings, intellect, physical abilities. I want to do one thing each day to make a difference for the Kingdom--just one thing each day. My avenues are via my will, my feelings, my intellect, and my physical abilities. If I am in tune with God and in step with the Spirit...it will happen.

Amen, Christ have mercy.

Starting Out

I have postponed writing because I felt I did not have anything significant to say. While this is an inauspicious opening sentence, I think there is a lesson here. Two desires often compete within me--the desire for production and the desire for perfection. While I am certainly not a perfectionist, I am very intimidated by posting my thoughts "out there" where someone else may read and evaluate them. I am afraid to perform. At the same time, however, I know how imperfect I am. It is unrealistic to expect wonders from ordinary clay. Still, I hope for excellence, and I pray that on this "island" I will grow by God's grace. I will begin. Haltingly, I now submit my first post.

Please bless this undertaking, Lord. Use it somehow for Your glory. I love you.

Sucky or not, let the blogging begin.