Prayer as expression of feelings, or change of feelings?

Lauren Winner, in her book MUDHOUSE SABBATH, says that...

"Sure it is great when, in prayer, we can express to God just what we feel;

but better still when, in the act of praying, our feelings change."

Do you agree?

St. Patrick was not a Leprechaun

This St. Patrick's Day, as with most holidays rooted (loosely) in Christian people or events (see: Christmas and Easter), a whole lot of culture and ceremony cloaks the woman, the man, or the event lying behind it all.

I don't want to bore us with a full biography of the real St. Patrick, but I do want to say a couple words about him and leave you with one of his prayers.

Prior to the fourth century the people of the Celtic islands lived in a world saturated with pagan gods. There was Lug, the luminous god, and Dagda, the chthonic (underworld) god, as well as gods for each tribe that would protect the family and keep the cattle and the earth fertile. The first attempts to evangelize Ireland were marginally successful and wrought with heretical doctrines. Patrick was the missionary who is attributed with the real conversion of Ireland. He was successful in converting many of the tribal leaders in the faith - and therefore their tribes. Many of Patrick's first disciples and key leaders in the conversion were women. Soon monasteries were established in many of the regions from where a devout form of Christianity began to grow and spread.

One of the key characteristics of Celtic spirituality following Patrick's lead was a rigorous devotion to prayer (including the DAILY recitation of the Psalms!). In their struggle against sin and temptation they developed long litanies of prayer called "loricae" or "breastplates."

Here is one "lorica" attributed to Patrick:

I arise today

through God's strength 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 for 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 the devil,

against temptations of vices,

against inclinations of nature,

against everyone who shall wish me ill,

afar and near,

alone and in a crowd.

The Celts took sin and repentance and temptation very seriously. They knew that the way to holiness and the way of Jesus required a dogged commitment to put the old life to death and allow the new life of the Spirit to come alive in us.

Ironic that a man so devoted to purity and prayer would be 'honored' by a rather decadent holiday. Don't worry, Patrick, the manger and the empty tomb know how you feel!

May today remind us of the vigilance required to follow Jesus in this new Spirit-formed life of the Kingdom. May we take up this breastplate of Patrick in our fight for holiness today.

"Jesus, Master, Have Pity On Us"

Luke 17:12

The healing of the ten lepers in Luke 17 is a familiar story to all of us.  We know Jesus healed the ten but only one came back, falling at His feet and praising God.

We are all unclean and needing of His precious cleansing.  We can all stand at a distance and cry out "unclean, unclean" before God.  Leprosy consumed their bodies as sin consumes us.  They were filled with despair and shame.  The difference in the lepers and us may be that they recognized and acknowledged that they were unclean.  When they came to Jesus and cried out to Him they were transformed.

We need transformation, too, that only comes through our coming to Jesus.  Only through Christ can we be made clean enough to come back into relationship with God, the Father.  Let's fall at the feet of Jesus and cry out "Jesus, Master, have pity on us."  We are sinful and in need of God's cleansing power.

Father, I come before you now, sinful and unclean, needing the cleansing power of my crucified and risen Lord and Savior, Jesus.  Have mercy on me, O God.  Create in me a clean heart and put a new and right spirit within me.  Praise and glory be Thine forever.  This is my  earnest prayer, in the name of your only begotten Son, Christ Jesus, Amen.

Tyne Willis

Letting Pride Go By

At work this past week, I came across an engraving of Judas receiving the thirty pieces of silver from the chief priests, the price at which his betrayal of Jesus was purchased.  It is easy for me to look back through twenty centuries of time, from the other side of Jesus' resurrection, and judge Judas for such a monumental and inexcusable betrayal.  And yet, I am forced to ask myself if the absence of thirty pieces of silver in my own pocket makes me any less guilty than he?  When I am honest with myself I know that I am as guilty as Judas, for I have betrayed my Lord for far less than a bag of silver.  Whether it is a glance to satisfy the lust of the flesh, or a decision made on the basis of my own ambition rather than the will of God, every day I recognize that there are still parts of my spirit in full-fledged rebellion against what God is trying to do in my life.  This recognition during these weeks of reflection could bring with them a load of guilt capable of crushing the soul, but my eyes have fixed their gaze on the light that is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the hope that God is capable of accomplishing in me far more than I could ever accomplish in myself.  I have found these words from the hymn "Beneath the Cross of Jesus" by Elizabeth Clephane representative of this hope:

"I take, O cross, your shadow for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face;
Content to let my pride go by, to know no gain or loss,
My sinful self my only shame, my glory all the cross"


Justin Simmons

Yearning for God

 
In my Bible I have the first two verses of Psalm 63 underlined.  They read:

God, you are my God, I pine for you;
my heart thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
as a land parched, dreary and waterless.
Thus I have gazed on you in the sanctuary,
seeing our power and your glory.

In the margin I have written the words, "Do I ever feel this deeply?"

I have a friend who was put in prison after Saigon was captured by North Vietnam.
Eventually he was released and he said he remembered his first cup of coffee.  He
had never realized how wonderful a cup of coffee could be. "I always took it for
granted," he said.  

Perhaps we should take some time (truly get still and alone) and think about
what we may take for granted.  What would happen if we were more deliberate
in appreciating moment my moment  God's gift of life and all with which we
are blessed. Even (maybe especially) that morning cup of coffee. 

And what of our walk with the Creator of the Universe and Dweller in our Heart...

We read the verses again and ask, "Do I ever feel this deeply?"


Ralph McCluggage

Focused Faith

Today's New York Times carries an op-ed piece that bears reflection.  In the wealth of possibilities for the practice of our faith, it is possible to become bewitched by the many possibilities and neglect the reality of sticking to a devoted way of life.

Week 3 Begins

Today is the third Sunday in Lent. It is about this time each year that I become less intentional and my resolve begins to slip. The planning and anticipation leading up to Lent and then the prayerful renewal and cleansing of an Ash Wednesday service are followed by a couple weeks of thoughtfulness and deliberate practice.

It is about this time each year that the purpose behind these practices begins to fade from my consciousness. Soon they become empty forms loosely held. Sometimes they turn to vapor before they have been given a full 40 days to do their work in me.

This is a call, maybe just to an audience of one (me!), to pause for a renewal of why you have chosen to enter purposefully into this season. It is time to have a conversation with a trusted spiritual friend about your decisions and what God is teaching you through your practices.

May I, nor you, allow this Lenten season to mirror the path of most New Year's resolutions.

May we strengthen our resolve together to let the Spirit purify our lives so that Christ can reign in us and live through us! May we continue to be willing participants in the Spirit's work as He leads us to the joyous celebration of His resurrection!

Only 4 more weeks to go! Hang in there!

Shawn