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?

May Your Word to Me Be Fulfilled

 I will offer You my grateful heart, for I am Your unique creation, filled with wonder and awe.
    You have approached even the smallest details with excellence;
    Your works are wonderful;
I carry this knowledge deep within my soul.
    You see all things; nothing about me was hidden from You
As I took shape in secret,
    carefully crafted in the heart of the earth before I was born from its womb.

You see all things;
    You saw me growing, changing in my mother’s womb;
Every detail of my life was already written in Your book;
    You established the length of my life before I ever tasted the sweetness of it.
Your thoughts and plans are treasures to me, O God! I cherish each and every one of them!
    How grand in scope! How many in number! 

(Psalm 139:14-17, The Voice)

 

 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

 

Then the word of the Lord came to me:“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 

 (Jeremiah 18:3-6, ESV)

Annunciation to Mary – Gabriel and Mary Watercolor, Minimalist Christian Art 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/FaithArtCreation?listing_id=4360390701&from_page=listing 

 

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

 

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, 

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. 

So the holy one to be born 

will be called the Son of God. . . 

For no word from God will ever fail.” 

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. 

 “May your word to me be fulfilled.” 

Then the angel left her.

(Luke 2:34-35, 37-38, NIV)

 

'I am his project' - those were the words on Mary Alice's bookmark, but they were the belief of her heart, too, and however great the problems in her life, He would continue to work on that project and bring the work to completion. 

AI generated

 

Paul, the Apostle, had a similar understanding and so he knew that though he was in Nero's prison he was not Nero's prisoner, but the prisoner of Christ Jesus. Any other arrest or imprisonment was irrelevant. A light shown in the cell.

 

In the late evening a believer looked over the day and was discouraged, but his Father spoke to comfort him. 

 

'In the early morning did you not bear your beloved ones on your heart? Did you not offer to Me every hour of the day, every touch on other lives, every letter to be written, everything to be done? As the hours passed over you, perhaps you did forget, but is it My custom to forget?  

Amy Carmichael  

 

Lord you never forget me, even though I often forget: I am your project. (Northumbria Aiden readings, Dec.10)

God Sees Potential More than Fault

Your thoughts and plans are treasures to me, O God! I cherish each and every one of them!
    How grand in scope! How many in number!
If I could count each one of them, they would be more than all the grains of sand on earth. Their number is inconceivable!

 (Psalm 139:17-18a, The Voice)

  Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.

 

 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

(Genesis 17:3-6,15-17, NIV) 

 

made from "The Running Shepherds"

https://www.pinterest.com/MadeSeenArt/ 

I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. (Philippians 3:12-14, The Message)

 

The thoughts of the son ran thus: 'My hopes painted beautiful pictures, but they are fading one by one.'

 

His Father said: 'Destroy all those pictures. To watch them slowly fading is weakening to the soul. Dare then to destroy them. You can if you will. I will give you other pictures instead of those your hopes painted.'

 Amy Carmichael 

 

The Torn Face

 https://www.pinterest.com/sahilrathore06/ 

God doesn't see the way I do either; I look all the time into a distorted mirror that exaggerate some features and makes others disappear. God sees a true picture of me with all my faults and limitations, but more than this he sees a picture of all the possibilities and potential I hold. 

 

'Just let me get my hands on this one,' He thinks, 'and then just wait and see what the finished picture will be.' 

 

Sometimes God gives us glimpses of that picture to encourage us and spur us on. For me it is a long process, but in the end it is all about becoming God's picture of me. (Northumbrian Aiden readings, Dec.10)

Let Your Heart Glance Up to Me

 For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

(Psalm 139:13-18, NIV)

 

You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;
    you have stolen my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
    with one jewel of your necklace.

(Song of Songs 4:9, NIV) 

 

“And this is the reason a man leaves his father and his mother and is united with his wife; the two come together as one flesh.”  There is a great mystery reflected in this Scripture, and I say that it has to do with the marriage of the Anointed One and the church. (Ephesians 5:31-32, The Voice)

 

The pilgrim worried that sometimes he would not have much time to care for his love-relationship with God. Then the Lord spoke to him and answered his unspoken question: 

"Do you have only one minute? Hem it in with quietness. Do not spend it in thinking how little time you have. I can give you much in one minute." 

The pilgrim sat by the water, and his dear Lord said to him: 

As the ripples of the river glance up to the light, let your heart glance up to me in little looks of love very often through the day. 

 

Amy Carmichael 

 

The old couple sat with each other in peaceable silence, and no signal was needed for the kettle to go on, or the tea to be poured, the fire tended to. 

 

'What do you find to do all the time, after all these years? ' someone asked the old lady, 'Don't you ever tire of each other's company?'

 

'Oh no,' she replied, 'You see, it's like this: I looks at him, and he looks at me, and we're happy together.'

 

(Northumbria, Aiden readings, Dec.7) 

 

Into the Desert with Jesus

 You have surrounded me on every side, behind me and before me,

    and You have placed Your hand gently on my shoulder.

(Psalm 139:5, The Voice)

Who is this coming up from the wilderness

    leaning on her beloved?

(Song of Songs 8:5a, NIV)

Garden of Gethsemane

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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.

(Mark 1:35, NIV)

We are asked to follow the footsteps of our Lord when they are not clear on the road, and even when the road runs through desert. 

Going into the desert we are never quite sure what to expect. Being alone can be peaceful, or frightening, or just don't nothing. But coming out of the desert we find that we are leaning on him in a new way. 

The Russian word poustinia only means desert, but is the name given to the wooden hut where someone is shut away for time alone with God. 

It is a typical experience for the person undergoing poustinia to feel nothing is happening at all, but as they emerge they find others waiting, pressing them to share what God has given them in the poustinia. 

And they will not be disappointed.

(Northumbria, Aidan readings, Dec. 5)

Meet God in His Stillness

 If I ride on the wings of morning,

    if I make my home

     in the most isolated 

     part of the ocean,

Even then You will be there to guide me;

    Your right hand will embrace me,

      for You are always there.

(Psalm 139:9-10, The Voice)

A word was secretly brought to me,

    my ears caught a whisper of it.

Amid disquieting dreams in the night,

    when deep sleep falls on people.

(Job 4:12-13, NIV)

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you. 

(1 Thessalonians 4:11, NIV)

The face of all kinds of pain we find that often there is nothing to say, but it's impossible to be still. 

A woman whose child had been killed in an accident talked about her reactions. No one could say anything that would help, she said, and God was silent too - as if he knew better than to try to say anything. 

The Scripture says to be still and know that He is God, but she couldn't be still, not at all. 

But even when you don't talk to God or have any stillness of your own to bring him, you can still be met by God in His stillness. 

That's why she discovered, that eventually

 'the stillness becomes part of you.'

(Photo by <a href="https://stockcake.com/i/cozy-morning-view_190710_33604">Stockcake</a>)

The Wastefulness of Jesus

 But I am a worm and not a human being,
    a disgrace and an object of scorn.
Everyone who sees me laughs at me;

    they whisper to one another I’m a loser; they sneer and mock me. 

(Psalm 22:6-7)

 

 

Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he replied. 

The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” 

(Exodus 4:2-3a)

 

While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” 

 (Matthew 26:6-13)

 

God tells Moses to throw down even the one thing he still holds in his hand. 

 

Jesus, having come to our world as a human being, becomes more humbled still, his life taken from him in the ugliest of executions - what a waste it looked! His life was poured out in intentional uselessness, like the expensive ointment the woman poured on his head. 

 

Some of us are indignant at the waste, like Judas was. 

 

Some of us are envious of her - at least she had the ointment. 

 

We would like to have something to give, to pour out for love of him, but we don't have even that. It seems we don't have anything. 

 

Nothing to offer except our uselessness, and our choice to be with him: and that is a choice that no one but him is likely to put any value on.

 

(Northumbria, Aidan readings, Dec. 3) 

 

 

Into the Unknown with Jesus

 Preserve my life, for I am godly;

    save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God. 

Be gracious to me, O Lord,

    for to you do I cry all the day.

 Gladden the soul of your servant,

    for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

(Psalm 86:2-4, ESV)

 

 

Alas, wherever I go, ahead or behind,
        He is not there;
        I am unable to find Him.
When He works on either side of me, I still cannot see Him.
        I catch no glimpse of Him.
But He knows the course I have traveled.
        And I believe that were He to prove me,
        I would come out purer than gold from the fire.
My foot has been securely set in His tracks;
        I have kept to His course of life without swerving;
I have not departed from the commands of His lips;
        I have valued everything He says more than all else.
He alone is one True God; who can alter Him?
        Whatever He desires within Himself, He does.
For He will carry out exactly what He has planned for me,
        and in the future there are more plans to come.

(Job 23:8-14, The Voice)

 

Do not take money with you: don’t take gold, silver, or even small, worthless change. Do not pack a bag with clothes. Do not take sandals or a walking stick. Be fed and sheltered by those who show you hospitality. When you enter a town or village, look for someone who is trustworthy and stay at his house as long as you are visiting that town. When you enter this home, greet the household kindly. And if the home is indeed trustworthy, let your blessing of peace rest upon it; if not, keep your blessing to yourself. If someone is inhospitable to you or refuses to listen to your testimony, leave that house or town and shake the dust from your feet. This is the truth: Sodom and Gomorrah, those ancient pits of inhospitality, will fare better on judgment day than towns who ignore you tomorrow or next week.
 

Listen: I am sending you out to be sheep among wolves. You must be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves. You must be careful. You must be discerning. You must be on your guard. There will be men who try to hand you over to their town councils and have you flogged in their synagogues. Because of Me, naysayers and doubters will try to make an example out of you by trying you before rulers and kings. When this happens—when you are arrested, dragged to court—don’t worry about what to say or how to say it. The words you should speak will be given to you. For at that moment, it will not be you speaking; it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (Matthew 10:9-20, The Voice)

 

It is a terrible risk to follow even a Friend into the unknown. It is made worse by the fact that he so often seems to disappear or go ahead instead of staying close by. 

 

The instructions he gives us should make it so much easier to continue our journey: but what instructions?  

 

'Don't provide extra for yourself in case I let you down.'
'Don't worry what to say.'
'I will be there when you need me, even if it's only at the last moment.' 

 

Instructions like these leave us incredibly vulnerable but they are only examples of what he is really asking from us: that we choose intentionally, deliberately to make ourselves vulnerable and to walk in that vulnerability! (Northumbria, Aidan readings, Dec. 2)

 

 

The Stranger Can See Through Different Eyes

 O my God, shine Your light and truth
    to help me see clearly,

To lead me to Your holy mountain,

    to Your home.

 (Psalm 43:3, The Voice) 

 

 After Methuselah was born, 

Enoch lived in a close relationship with God 

for 300 more years; 

he also had other sons and daughters. 

He lived to be 365 years old, 

but Enoch had such a close and intimate 

relationship with God 

that one day he just vanished

—God took him. 

(Genesis 5:22-24, The Voice)

 

If they were homesick for the old country, 

they could have gone back any time they wanted. 

But they were after a far better country than that

—heaven country. 

You can see why God is so proud of them, 

and has a City waiting for them. 

(Hebrews 11:15-16, The Message) 

 

This month's notes are on the subject of the call to a deeper life. 

One dynamic of that call is the sense that where we really belong is somewhere else, that we have heard something inside us calling us to, 'Come away.' We belong to a different Kingdom: our home is another country. It is often like this: 

'Follow me.'

'Yes, Lord, I'll follow you ... But Lord ...'

'Yes?'

'Where to? Where will I be going?'

'With me.'

From time to time the sense of alienation from everything around us may be strong, the sense of being a stranger, someone on a journey; but the stranger can see things through different eyes from those of people who live in that one place all the time. 

This world is not my home ...

(Northumbria, Aidan readings, Dec. 1)