Catherine Doherty's Island

Years ago I read a wonderful and challenging book called The Gospel Without Compromise. Its author, Catherine de Hueck Doherty, was a Russian lady who emigrated to Canada. Her writings brought the orthodox practice of poustinia to light for many western readers. "Poustinia" is the Russian (and Bulgarian!) word for desert, but it also recalls the place where the Desert Fathers went to be alone with God, seeking Him in solitude, silence, and prayer. We can practice spending time with God in our own poustinias.

I ran across a quote today in which Catherine Doherty refers to her poustinia (her hermitage) as "my island." It just seemed to fit in with the theme of my blog too well not to share. I pray that it rings true with my island (and yours too!).

My island teaches me new truths, or deepens the truths I already know. Like life, the island is never the same. Who of us has not known those 'naked days' when we feel the world is against us, that its prying eyes strip us naked and leave us crucified: days when we feel we could give anything for a little privacy; days of sorrow and pain when we want to hide and have no place to hide?

But if one reads the Scriptures and comes across its lovely poetic words about 'a garden enclosed', a 'fountain sealed', and wonders about it all then my island will reveal the secret of those holy words, and it will lead gently to contemplation, which is the key to that garden. Someday, unseen and unheard, the Bridegroom will come to such a garden. Then one will understand what it is to be all His.

From I Live on an Island by Catherine de Hueck Doherty (emphasis mine)
I found the quote on p. 342 of Celtic Daily Prayer.

If you have a chance to read some of Mrs. Doherty's writings at the above website (the link on her name), I'm sure you won't regret it.

Learning from Our Brothers in Christ

I haven't posted in a while, but tonight I was checking to see what some of my favorite blogs had to say.
I was blessed by Joseph's words about ambition, moved by the beautiful poetry at Wild Grace, encouraged by words of wisdom at Ben Witherington's blog, and I remembered.
I remembered why these blogs are my favorites. I have something in common with all of these folks. I am inspired to see the faith of people expressed in this format. So many of them I have never even seen, and yet I have a kinship with them. The truth of what they believe resonates with my spirit.

I wanted to recommend a post to you from Michael Spencer's blog. Liturgical Gangstas 6: Unappreciated Strengths and Overlooked Weaknesses In this post, Spencer asks Christian pastors of various denominations to assess certain "underappreciated strengths" and "overlooked weaknesses" of their tradition. The answers were pretty cool. I especially liked the Orthodox priest's comments, Joseph. I, like him, find that a practical agnositicism has crept into Christian culture, especially in the sphere of education. I am often told that any talk of faith would be "inappropriate" at school. Even Christians espouse this thinking. Tonight I read from Acts 4:18-20.

18Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. 20For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."

I was convicted that I too have been more concerned with being politically correct than with speaking about "what I have seen and heard."

Anyway, I hope you read the post I've linked to. It's a good one.

Abbey of Gethsemani

Last weekend I went on a spiritual retreat. I spent the weekend in silence with God at the Abbey of Gethsemani, a Trappist monastery outside of Bardstown, Kentucky. It was great. I'd been wanting to do this for a long time, but I finally made the arrangements and did it.

I had first read about this monastery when I discovered Thomas Merton and read about his story. Merton is a great Christian thinker, and I was blessed by his writings. When I first drove out to Asbury to visit, I remember passing near the Abbey of Gethsemani and recalling that this is where Merton was a monk. I thought it would be great to visit someday.

It was only 75 miles away. I made reservations months in advance, and I drove down Friday after school let out. My goals were just to spend time with the Lord, reconnecting. I felt as if my prayer life was really weak, and I just needed to rekindle my relationship with God. As I drove down to the monastery, I felt giddy.

The monks pray 7 times a day: Vigils (3:15 AM), Lauds (5:45 AM--Communion follows), Terce (7:30 AM), Sext (12:15 PM), None (2:15 PM), Vespers (5:30 PM), and Compline (7:30 PM). The only time we spoke was to pray. When we weren't praying (by we I mean the other retreatants and I), we were free to do whatever we wanted. I read a lot, rested a bit, walked the surrounding grounds, sat and thought, and prayed. The silence wasn't uncomfortable at all. It became like a friend, and the unspoken friendship between the retreatants grew perceptibly as the hours passed. Gestures, looks, and smiles spoke volumes. We knew that we were there for a common purpose: to seek the LORD.

I loved the times of prayer. The phrase that is repeated most often is "Praise the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, both now and forever, the God who was, who is, and who is to come at the end of the ages." Repeat that 60 times in a weekend and it really sinks down into your heart. That's what these monks do. For over 160 years they have been praying and singing praises to God. Each night, while we sleep, they continue to pour forth adoration to God with steadfastness and faithfulness. I respected monks before. Now I know what a great service they perform for the world.

The time that meant the most to me was Saturday night after Vespers. I remained in the chapel, prostrate in the quiet darkness, and turned my heart toward the Lord. It was so sweet. The time flew. I felt as if I could have stayed forever. Such peace.

I hadn't connected like that with God in years. And it wasn't some big spiritual experience that happened. If you had asked me Saturday morning, I would say nothing had happened. But by Saturday afternoon, I realized that I had been with God the whole time. It was just the act of purposefully spending time together that did it. I loved Him, and He loved me.

I haven't blogged in a long time, and I hope to share more about what I learned on this trip. For now, though, it's just good to be writing again.

Praise the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, both now and forever...

God's Word

The Desert Fathers knew something about the importance of God's Word. This quote impressed me:

"Let Your tender word wear a hole in the hardness of our hearts; so as we hear Your word frequently our hearts will be opened to rightly fear God."

The Veritas Forum

This is a plug for a website I'm happy to have found. Although I had listened to a couple of lectures from the Veritas Forum, I only recently thought to look for their website. What is it? "Veritas Forums are university events that engage students and faculty in discussions about life's hardest questions and the relevance of Jesus Christ to all of life."

The link below lists various topics that speakers have addressed over the past dozen years or so. They are scholarly, yet fascinating and accessible. The few presenters I have heard were outstanding. I am currently listening to "Is Jesus the Old Testament Messiah?" by Richard Pratt.

Here's the list of topics: http://www.veritas.org/media/topics

More Christians should avail themselves of good teaching like this. I hope that an increasing number of people will utilize this site.

Enjoy!

What Men Live By

The title of this post is the title of a short story by Leo Tolstoy. Short stories are great because they can be read in a single setting and can be re-read frequently. This particular short story is one that I discovered last week. I plan on reading and sharing it many times--it's a good one.

So, if you have a bit of time, do yourself a favor and read this work of beauty. I feel sure that it will bless you. If you don't have time now, you can copy, paste, and print it. Then you may read it later at your leisure.

So, here's What Men Live By, by Leo Tolstoy.
(Click the title for the link.)

Enjoy!

Long Time No Blog

Was it the kiss of death to entitle my last entry "Ideas Aplenty"? Who would have thought that such a post would be followed by a 3 month silence? 

Well, when last I wrote I was reading Leviticus. Now I've reached the middle of Job. There are several things I've been impressed with, but the last 2 chapters of Luke have made me want to read the OT with an eye for Messiah. There is an artificial distinction between the Old and the New Testaments. I want to see the interplay between the two--one complete story. 

So...back to Leviticus. I was struck by the way this book talks about the "holy." It almost seems to be a synonym for "whole." Why does God require that sacrificial animals be without defect? The requirements for physical wellness point to the idea that God wants us to be spiritually whole. HE is whole, entire, complete, perfect. He is wholly good, wholly right, wholly pure, wholly loving, wholly mighty.... Is that a coincidence that in English "wholly" and "holy" sound the same? I don't think so.

A professor of mine, Lawson Stone, scoffs at the notion that 'holy' means 'separate.' Why would the elders around the throne continually cry out, "Separate, separate, separate is the LORD God Almighty!"? Holiness must mean something more. If we are holy, we are set apart for His purposes in the sense that we are wholly His. But it also means that we are flawless, perfect, and complete. Sin is imperfection. God will make us perfect. "Be holy as He is holy" means that we are to be complete, perfect, and whole as He is. We are to be real humans...to be what He created us to be. As the King's X song says: "We are finding who we are." 

The New Creation is holy, without blemish in Jesus Christ.

Be wholly His. Be whole. Be holy.