A Lenten Invitation for all Spiritual Pilgrims
By Surprisedbyjoy@yahoo.com and Gods_gnome@yahoo.com
--------------------
By Surprised by Joy
Spiritual Watchfulness
Mark 13: 32-36
This is one of the hardest sayings of Jesus. In the earlier part of the chapter, he begins teaching his followers about the end of the age. He speaks about them being handed over to authorities and publicly flogged, arrested and brought to trial for their faith in him. He speaks about family members betraying other family members to death. There will be natural disasters that defy description. Many false Christ's will walk the face of the earth. And Jesus tells his disturbed disciples that "heaven and earth will pass away," but his words "will never pass away."
This brings us to today's teachings and reminds me of my beloved Grandmother's favorite saying. "Keep looking up," she'd wisely say. "Jesus is coming again, maybe even today." Her saying truly sums up today's reading. No one knows when these things will happen. Only God does. So stay alert. Live with a sense of expectation. Don't be found spiritually sleeping! Jesus is saying to everyone: "Watch!"
I found a Navy sailor sleeping on watch once. We were on a heavily loaded ammunition ship in the Persian Gulf. As the ship's chaplain I tried to visit all the sailors on every watch. One very dark, starless evening I decided to visit the midnight watch. And I found this particular sailor sleeping at his post. He woke up started and frightened at being discovered. Falling asleep on your watch is deadly in the military. During wartime, soldiers and sailors who slept on their watch could expect arrest, jail, trial and possibly death. This young man could have caused the deaths of his shipmates as he took a nap in the dark.
Be alert. Pray. Watch and wait for Jesus' return. Only God knows when that will be. Will we be ready? Or will we be sleeping on watch? For the remainder of Lent, ask for a spirit of watchfulness.
Prayer: God, wake us up spiritually! Help us to "keep looking up" and remember that you are coming back for us someday. Maybe even today. Amen.
-------------------------------
By God’s Gnome
Life’s Choices
Psalm 27: 4
One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
What do I really want from life? What would make me happy? These questions we ask at different times in our lives are necessary if we are to clarify our purpose and goals from time to time, else we remain uselessly expending effort with no result, like wheels churning up a bog. On whom or what am I willing to gamble my life? Not many of us would ever dare to place our lives on a card table, watching with anxious breath for the next spin of the wheel. Yet the reality is that we do gamble with our lives.
Where do I live at present? Am I living in a place that reflects my tastes and interests, or am I forced to spend my life in circumstances I did not choose? Currently we find the populations of many nations without homes or adequate shelter, for they are the victims of the madness of war, while others have been displaced by earthquakes or floods. Are there in fact any who live "in the house of the Lord"? What do these words mean?
To be "in the house of the Lord", need we withdraw from the ordinary routines of living? Could monastic and convent life, or perhaps the existence eked out by the Desert Mothers and later by the Desert Fathers, be perceived as dwelling in God’s house? Many of us have enjoyed spiritual retreats, and "mountain-top" experiences, yet these experiences are fleeting. None of these seems to satisfy the longing and love conveyed in the Psalmist’s words. Is "the house of the Lord" a spiritual rather than a physical place?
God’s house is not fixed in any place or time for God is outside the barriers humanity has erected. Jesus reminds us that God does not intrude into our lives, but patiently waits outside until we are willing to open the door of our souls. Here God would commune with us. Here we would know joy and gladness, for at last the longing of our souls would be satisfied. Whenever we reach out to God, for however long we choose to spend in God’s presence, or for whatever purpose we come, it is in our seeking that we find God and the intimacy of God’s love. "One thing I ask of the Lord" - is it really my deepest desire to spend each moment in God’s presence?
Prayer: God, open my eyes to the priorities which would allow me to serve you better. Amen.
------------------------------
By God’s Gnome
Crying to God
Jeremiah 17: 14
Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed, save me and I shall be saved.
Here we have the cry of an anguished soul, "Heal me, help me, save me." In desperation, fear, pain and loneliness we call out for we are unable to help ourselves. At times we direct our pleas to friends or family members. But when there is no-one to whom we can turn, when we are not even sure God cares, in our pain and distress we cry aloud: "O God, if there is a God, help me." Such an honest appeal for assistance is not embellished by hypocritical wordiness. And such an honest appeal touches the heart and will of Jesus, God incarnated.
To Jesus, the Anointed One, we bring our hurts and wounds both past and present, for he offers free healing to all who are broken-hearted. Perhaps it is our relationships which have been damaged and need healing. Maybe we seem to be lurching from one disaster to another. It could be that right now we come seeking healing for our tenuous faith. Jesus can save us from those emotional illnesses which can destroy our personalities. As we listen to Christ’s voice we become aware of solutions to problems which threaten to overwhelm us. In the company of Jesus our loneliness is dispelled and, as is the mist by the sun, so is our absorption in what we regard as our failures dissipated.
"Help me, save me" has been the cry from many injured on the battlefields of war, those floundering at sea, or those involved in car accidents. Yet it is not only our physical life Jesus can save. Of more importance than our bodies is the matter of our souls - the eternal and unique person we are, the being God created. Our souls will never die but live for eternity. In time our bodies will age, and as we move from a finite world to an infinite existence, we will exchange them for spiritual bodies. "Help me, save me" was the essence of an appeal made that day at Calvary by one thief on an adjacent cross to Jesus.
"Heal me. Save me." Across the globe voices are crying out in their distress to God and to humanity. Only Love can bring healing and help in its wake, only God’s love as expressed by Jesus. Who will carry the cup of salvation and the balm of healing to those in distress? God continues to ask, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" Today who will choose to answer, "Here I am. Send me," using the words of the prophet Isaiah’s response to this same question?
Prayer: God, in a world racked with emotional, spiritual and physical pain we bring our needs for healing to you, so that we may offer ourselves as healers in your name. Amen.
----------------------
By God’s Gnome
The Extravagance of Love
Mark 14: 3-4, 6
"While Jesus was in Bethany, while he was reclining at a table in the house of Simon the leper, there came a woman who had a phial of ointment of pure nard. She broke the phial and poured it over his head. Some of them said indignantly to each other, "To what purpose is the waste of this ointment?" Jesus said, "Let her be! Why do you trouble her? It is a lovely thing that she has done to me."
Some opportunities present themselves just once in a life-time, and if we ignore the impulse which invites us to participate, then the chance is lost forever. Common sense may rarely fly out the window, but on occasions such as this we are privileged to witness the extravagance of love. Love which asks nothing of itself save the liberty to give selflessly, even sacrificially, is the Love of which Jesus spoke.
Here with the pouring out of nard upon Christ’s head we see the outpouring of such love demonstrated. This is love’s extravagance that even the most precious of gifts seems unworthy to the giver. The phial was not uncorked and a drop or two of perfume used as a token of respect. Instead the phial was broken and all its contents flooded out, filling the whole house with fragrance - Perfume which represented a year’s wage for the average worker, or the cost of feeding a crowd of five thousand, love offered freely as a tribute.
Was it folly or love’s impulse? We hear onlookers’ voices raised against such waste. Was it folly or Love’s impulse which Christ served when on the cross at Calvary he became God’s gift to the world? If our lives and actions were likewise judged by the crowd would we also hear Jesus’ answer that we had done what we could? Done what we could? So often we do what is necessary or expedient. We do those things which do not stretch us too much, and do not demand too heavy a cost. We argue that our lives are lived responsibly, and yet ... how often has Christ passed by in human form while we stifled Love’s prompting? How often do we follow imprudent impulses? How often instead of offering a measured portion of our lives to God have we done such a lovely thing and, at the urging of our hearts, given all?
Prayer: God, teach us to give joyfully and extravagently for there is no end to your blessings. Amen.
--------------------------
By God’s Gnome
Prepared and Ready
Mark 14: 12-15
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they were sacrificing the Passover Lamb, Jesus disciples said to him, "Where do you wish us to go and make the necessary preparations for you to eat the Passover?" He despatched two of his disciples, and said to them. "Go into the city, and there will meet you a man carrying an earthen pitcher of water. Follow him, and wherever he enters in, say to the householder, ‘The teacher says, "Where is my room, that I might eat the Passover with my disciples?"’ He will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared. There get things ready for us."
It is obvious that Jesus had already made arrangements to rent a room in which he could celebrate the Passover with his friends and that such a room had been prepared for their use. The preparations for Passover were meticulous. Each householder had ceremonially, with a lighted candle, searched every portion of his home to ensure no leaven was on the premises. Leaven was the symbol of corruption, for the Jews associated the fermentation of dough with the fermentation of putrefaction. In addition, the loaves eaten the first Passover night in Egypt had been baked in haste, without the usual leaven being added. A table open on three sides would be furnished with unleavened bread, a bowl of salt water, bitter herbs, a paste called Charosheth and four cups of wine in preparation for the arrival of the roasted Passover lamb.
Passover recalled the freedom from slavery of the Jewish people. It was therefore a time to remember the bricks they had made in the bitterness of slavery, the tears they had shed, the blood which had marked their homes thus protecting their lives, and the promises God had given them. They had been delivered from slavery in Egypt, and released from their cruel taskmasters. God had personally redeemed them, and they had been elected as God’s chosen people. These promises are no less appropriate for us in our own age. Each of us is offered God’s redemption, freedom from crippling old habits and attitudes, release from the heavy loads under which we have toiled so long, and a loving welcome as one whom God has chosen.
God’s promises for us are prepared and ready. Like the redeemed nation are we prepared and ready to follow God’s guiding? Have we cleansed from every corner of our lives all that the leaven symbolises? The Passover table is set with reminders of the tears we have shed, the burdens we have carried and the loneliness and bitterness we have endured - are we ready to take our place at the meal? But this is a new meal, a meal with a difference, for in place of the sacrificed lamb, Jesus is there. The feast of remembrance has become a celebration of new life and liberty, and the glory of God fills the room.
Prayer: God, today we bring our lives to you so that you can make them ready for Christ’s indwelling presence. Amen.
-----------------------
By God’s Gnome
Fragmented Loyalty
Mark 14: 27-31
"You will all fall away from me."
Perhaps of all the torments Jesus endured, the one most painful was the desertion by his friends. During the three years they had been together they had faced the criticism and opposition of the orthodox Jewish leaders, they had witnessed Christ’s family’s misunderstanding of his mission and they had, on at least one occasion, escaped the wrath of a crowd. From among his followers Jesus was able confidently to send seventy disciples to preach in all the towns and cities he planned to visit. To all appearances here was a man with the respect and love of many disciples. It was to these disciples that he taught they were to love each other with the same love he had for each of them. Reminding them that they were chosen with love, he called them friends, not servants.
It was with this statement he invited them into an intimacy with God, and a partnership with himself in God’s work. To these same friends he loved he gave a warning that according to prophecy, they would desert him. Brash Peter could not accept this as his lot, and challenged Jesus, only to hear the prediction of his triple denial. Three years of sharing the same accommodation, the same joys and sorrows and witnessing the same miracles had bonded this group more firmly than the bonds which hold some families. Yet when Jesus was betrayed every disciple fled from the scene of the arrest. Where then was their declared loyalty?
One of the tests of true friendship is the attitude of friends when various disasters strike our lives. Fair weather friends can be found in aplenty gathering around every event and every table at which sustenance is offered freely. Often they become mirrors of our egos, reflecting back affirmations we long to hear. But the person who stands steadily at our sides when all we have to offer is pain, loneliness and fragmentation is a friend who will stay true regardless of the cost. Jesus was aware of the price fear would demand of his disciples’ friendship, and through his sorrow forewarned them of their desertion.
It is not easy to stand alone when the world seems to crumble all around you, and when firm ground gives way under your feet. It is not easy to be honest when all around are those who seem to participate in dishonest schemes. It is not easy to be truthful, when to speak openly could cost your job, your family or your home. It is at times like this that we really appreciate the sight and sound of a loving friend to ease the awful isolation we encounter. It is at times like this that we find in Jesus the friend of all who have been abandoned. For Jesus knows first-hand about fragmented loyalties and loneliness. Jesus has watched everything he worked for apparently crumble and fall away, but Jesus has also seen the world transformed, just as millions of lives have been transformed. The friend of the friendless waits. Will we turn and flee from what might lie ahead if we welcome him, or will we stretch out our hand to our Friend?
Prayer: God, show us where we have failed as friends, and make us willing to heal our relationships. Amen.
----------------------------
By God’s Gnome
Hear Me, O God
Psalm 139: 23 – 24
Search me, O God, and know my heart, test my thoughts. Point out anything you find in me that makes you sad.
Psalm 139, telling of the love of God which never loses sight of us, is possibly one of the most personal of the Psalms because without a doubt its words reflect our own experiences. It is one that has been prayed by those who have lost their sense of the presence of God, for it speaks out their doubts. It also provides assurance that God, Creator of the universe, is actually intimate with every detail of our life. This Psalm persuades us to heed Jesus’ words about the faults in our own lives, and challenges us to speak confidently and ask God to search our thoughts, our hearts and our minds so that we will truly be the acceptable people of God. Therefore today’s meditation is offered you in the form of a personal prayer.
Loving God, you have opened my eyes and pointed out those thoughts and attitudes which I have kept hidden from view. Today I bring them earnestly into the light of your Love and ask for your healing touch.
Keep me from accumulating mental balance sheets for they show my lack of gratitude.
On days when I am being selfish, teach me to love more unconditionally. When I become impatient at being involved in other people’s disputes, remind me that today I may be the only peacemaker available.
Teach me to offer a blessing instead of using words which criticise.
May I not hold back kindness and compassion as if they were actually costing me dearly.
Open my lips so your healing words may flow forth.
Teach me not to be afraid of being a person who is different and therefore conspicuous.
Give me the mental and moral courage to combat evil and violence just as Jesus would.
Break down my physical and mental barriers of tiredness and let your healing love flow through me.
Heal the jealousy and malice which lie hidden within my heart.
Remove the planks of resentment and self-doubt from my eyes.
May I learn to stop making comparisons and excuses, stop blaming others and take responsibility for my own actions.
Show me how to be kind to my body, to appreciate its intricacy and the silent machinery which keeps it working. Teach me ways to love it as you do, including providing it with the right foods and adequate amounts of sleep.
Each time I am focused on self-pity, remind me of the blessings you have given freely to me.
Never let me refuse a task or challenge simply because I doubt my own capabilities and talents, but remind me first to call on your strength.
Dissolve my thoughts of revenge, and replace them with a willingness to forgive.
Remind me that relationships depend on people relating to each other – communicating.
I will never understand how it is that you can be so interested in me, one human being, yet I am assured yours is the "Love that wilt not let me go."
Prayer: Cleanse me, my God, melt and mould me. Make me fit for your service. Amen
