A Careful Balance

Before time itself was measured, the Voice was speaking.

    The Voice was and is God.

This celestial Word remained ever present with the Creator;

     His speech shaped the entire cosmos.

Immersed in the practice of creating,

    all things that exist were birthed in Him.

His breath filled all things

    with a living, breathing light—

A light that thrives in the depths of darkness,

    blazes through murky bottoms.

It cannot and will not be quenched.

(Jn 1:1-5)

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

(Mark 1:35-39)

Somewhere we know that without a lonely place our lives are in danger. Somewhere we know that without silence words lose their meaning, that without listening speaking no longer heals, without distance closeness cannot cure. Somewhere we know that without a lonely place our actions quickly become empty gestures. The careful balance between silence and words, withdrawal and involvement, distance and closeness, solitude and community forms the basis of the christian life and should therefore be the subjects of our most personal attention. Let us therefore look somewhat closer, first at our life in action, and at our life in solitude. (Henri Nouwen, Out of Solitude)

 Prayer

Lord, grant me a taste for solitude so that I might find in my heart the holy place where you live and can tell you truthfully how I am feeling. Grant me also an understanding of when to act in response to your call to me. Amen.

Advent Action

Our Lord went out to a deserted place to pray before he started his journey throughout Galilee to proclaim the message of the Good News. Look back on your past life and identify as active moments. also examine the times of solitude you have experienced. Assess how you functioned under both conditions. Make sure that in the midst of Advent season there is a balance between the two aspects of your spiritual journey. 

 

(from Advent and Christmas Wisdom of Henri Nouwen) 

The Foundation of the Spiritual Life

Soon afterwards

Elizabeth his wife became pregnant

and went into seclusion for five months.

“How kind the Lord is,” she exclaimed,

“to take away my disgrace

of having no children!”

(Luke 1:24-25, The Living Bible)

Dear friends, even though I am talking like this I really don’t believe that what I am saying applies to you. I am confident you are producing the good fruit that comes along with your salvation. For God is not unfair. How can he forget your hard work for him, or forget the way you used to show your love for him—and still do—by helping his children? And we are anxious that you keep right on loving others as long as life lasts, so that you will get your full reward. Then, knowing what lies ahead for you, you won’t become bored with being a Christian nor become spiritually dull and indifferent, but you will be anxious to follow the example of those who receive all that God has promised them because of their strong faith and patience. (Hebrews 6:9-12, TLB)

The French author Simone Weil  writes in her notebook: “Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life.” Without patience our expectation degenerates into wishful thinking. Patience comes from the word patior which means “to suffer.” What seems a hindrance becomes a way; what seems an obstacle becomes a door; what seems a misfit becomes a cornerstone. (Henri Nouwen, Out of Solitude)

Prayer

Lord, give us patience so that we may truly see obstacles as doors, the “not-quite-rights” of life as a foundation, our suffering and indifference as eventual gateways to your salvation, to goodness, and to meaningful service. Make the challenges on our spiritual journey into opportunities to say “yes” to your love and to your help. Amen. 

Advent action

Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation, by watchful alertness. Prepare the way of the Lord by making an Advent calendar of ways to help others or positive changes in your own spiritual life. Don't plan too precisely, however; leave room for God's input. 

(from Advent and Christmas Wisdom from Henri Nouwen)

Hidden Hope

But on this humbled ground, a tiny shoot, hopeful and promising,
    will sprout from Jesse’s stump;
A branch will emerge from his roots to bear fruit.
And on this child from David’s line, the Spirit of the Eternal One will alight and rest.
By the Spirit of wisdom and discernment
    He will shine like the dew.
By the Spirit of counsel and strength
    He will judge fairly and act courageously.
By the Spirit of knowledge and reverence of the Lord,
    He will take pleasure in honoring the Lord.

(Isaiah 11:1-3, The Voice) 

 

I keep expecting loud and impressive events to convince me and others of God's saving power. Our temptation is to be distracted by them. . . .When I have no eyes for the small signs of God's presence - the smile of a baby, the carefree play children, the words of encouragement and gestures of love offered by friends - I will always remain tempted by despair. 

 

The small child of Bethlehem, the unknown man of Nazareth, the rejected preacher, the naked man on the cross, he asks for my full attention. The work of our salvation takes place in the midst of a world that continues to shout, scream, and overwhelm us with its claims and promises. (Henry Nouwen, Gracias! A Latin American Journal)
 

Prayer

 

We welcome you, small child of Bethlehem, who's coming we await with quiet attention. Shield us from the shouts, the screams, the empty promises of the season, and encourage us to turn our hopes to your coming. We know that the promise is hidden in the stable in Bethlehem and rooted in the offspring of Jesse; let us look for our salvation there. Amen.

Advent action

 

Today I will look for one small sign that God is present in my daily life. I will give thanks for his presence. If I can't hear him, I will look for what might be closing my ears.

 

(from Advent and Christmas: Wisdom from Henri Nouwen) 

Filled Up with Light

You aren’t giving up on us, are you, God?
    refusing to go out with our troops?
Give us help for the hard task;
    human help is worthless.
In God we’ll do our very best;
    he’ll flatten the opposition for good.

(Psalm 60:10-13, The Message) 

Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”

So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

(Daniel 3:26-27, NIV) 

Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.
If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives.

(2 Corinthians 4:5-7, The Message) 

 

A terrible fire ravaged the whole building, and when, afterwards, she went back to inspect the remains of her office all she could do was shake her head and be grateful that she had not been in the building at the time. Certainly none of the files of papers had survived. 

 

With one backward glance her eyes fell on a tiny blackened vase still standing on the charred remains of her desk. She had a new office now in a different place it was able to move in there instead. Well, little vase, she said, you and me have survived and you shall come with me into my new office. 

 

It stood in the usual place on the corner of her new desk, but when people came in she noticed a difference in their reaction. Before they would say, 

'Oh, what a beautiful vase.'

Now, since it had been through the fire, they said, 

'Oh, what beautiful flowers.'

(Northumbrian Aiden readings, Dec.17)

 

 

Robbing Our Monster's Power to Surprise

 Right now I can’t see because I am surrounded by troubles;
    my sins and shortcomings have caught up to me,
    so I am swimming in darkness.
Like the hairs on my head, there are too many to count,
    so my heart deserts me.

(Psalm 40:12, The Voice) 

 

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
 

But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

(Numbers 13:30-33, NIV) 

 

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

(Matthew 1:18-19,NIV) 

 

Each of us has triggers that activate irrational fears, psychological monsters that seem overpowering to us but which probably would be no problem to someone else. 

 

It may be a temptation to do the right thing the wrong way, or a lie thrown in our path by the enemy that anyone else would laugh at for its foolishness. 

 

The common denominator is the same - it is a giant bigger than our own courage and it comes out when we are alone. All of us have monsters of some kind, nightmares from our past or from our subconscious, unwelcome 'visitors.' 

 

But it was the Spirit who took Joseph off-guard and filled him with the dread of Mary's unfaithfulness, God who instructed the Israelites to subdue and drive out giants, and He is bigger than any giant or monster or problem the enemy may resuscitate or invent. 

 

Sometimes He'd rather the nightmares appeared and came out into the light to be recognized for what they are, and be robbed of their power to surprise us. (Northumbrian Aiden readings, Dec. 12)

Let God Hear Your Voice

 I am completely numb, totally spent, hopelessly crushed.

    The agitation of my heart makes me groan.

(Psalm 38:8, The Voice)

Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, 

and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 

From inside the fish 

Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.

(Jonah 1:17-2:1, NIV) 

 

When the course of his priestly assignment was completed, [Zechariah] went back home. It wasn’t long before his wife, Elizabeth, conceived. She went off by herself for five months, relishing her pregnancy. “So, this is how God acts to remedy my unfortunate

condition!” she said.

(Luke 1:24-25, Message)  

 

John Skinner's story of the novice monk has impressed upon many of us the words of council the novice was given:

 

Go to your cell, 

and your cell will teach you everything.

 

The cell is a place of being shut away with God, and with yourself. This may be a physical place or just a choice to be opened to Him in an interior way. We know it is exactly what we need, but avoid time alone and find other things to address in order to delay it. . . 

 

The son felt fenced in. His Father took him to the fence and bid him look. He looked and he did not notice a hedge of thorn or a barbed wire entanglement. He saw a fence of feathers. 

 

'With his feathers shall he make a fence for you.' The son remembered how once he had said, 'There are days when little things go wrong, one after another, and I am distracted by much serving. Such days are very trying.' Then the Father had said, 'On such days take yourself take to yourself the words of your Savior and which you have so often given to others. Let them be your solace and your tranquility. But tell me, when you are under pressure, do you turn first to your companions or to me? Your companions listen and respond, but you never tell me about it. Let me see your face, let me hear your voice.  

Amy Carmichael

Come, Thou Good and Faithful Servant

 Meanwhile, I am empty and need so much,
    but I know the Lord is thinking of me.
You are my help; only You can save me, my True God.
    Please hurry. 

(Psalm 40:17, The Voice) 

 

When he got there, he crawled into a cave and went to sleep. Then the word of God came to him: “So Elijah, what are you doing here?”

(1 Kings 19:9, The Message) 

 

Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
 

The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

 (Luke 1:17-18, NIV) 

 

God is not easily impressed - but then he never asks us to try to impress him. It is as if he turns to us when we are consumed with our own unworthiness and are tempted to avoid meeting with him, then he cuts through all our excuses and says: 'Relax, I already know you.'

 

Amy Carmichael captures the feeling of such an exchange in her book His thoughts said. . .  His Father said. . .  

 

The son said, 'But I am not successful.'

His Father said, 'At the end of the day will my word be, 

Come, thou good and successful servant? 

If only that will walk humbly with thy God it will be, 

Come, thou good and faithful servant. 

 

We are not called to be successful, but faithful - relax! (Northumbrian Aiden readings, Dec. 11)

 

In the face of a culture that worships productivity and success, 

relaxing may seem foolhardy. 

How might you practice your faith

in some small way this season 

in the God who gives his vision of success?