This seems a difficult lesson for me to learn. I keep asking the Lord, What is Your will? as if I will get a specific action from the Lord that He wants me to perform. But every once and a while, I see that God is concerned not with WHAT I do, but with HOW I do what I do. I should be concerned with walking in reconciliation, forgiveness and mercy; controlling my tongue and my rage, and living in the love, joy and peace of the Lord.
For those of you interested, I have posted a review of Dylan’s first Christian album at Sophie’s Ladder at www.sophiesladder.com
Tags: Bob Dylan, Slow Train Coming
Greg and I drove up to Resaca and talked to Father Justin for awhile. Years ago when I had driven out to the Roman Catholic Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, I had learned that let contemplatives spend the night there, apparently free of charge, for some solitude and spirituality. I wanted to see what the place looked like and see if they did the same.
Father Justin was working in the bookstore when we got there. He was very tall, he must have been at least 6′5, maybe 6′7 and he beard was long, his smock and robe were black. We immediately struck up a conversation. The liturgy was held this morning and there was to be no afternoon service. We learned that they are still on the Julian calender, which means that Christmas is going to be this Wednesday.
I asked him about his daily life. There were two or three services during the day and of course there were what ever chores needed to be done, plus the work in the bookstore, which is the main source of income for the monastery. He said he wasn’t much of a contemplative, so he spends about fifteen minutes in his morning prayers and he does read theology and philosophy, in particular Plato and Aristotle, during the day.
He was not raised Greek Orthodox but converted from Episcopalian as a result from searching during his college days. He was well aware of the other religions - not only Islam, but Sufi-ism, the spiritual aspect of Islam; not only Hinduism but Vedanta, its philosophical arm. He mentioned the Kabbalah and the Rosicrucians as well.
Both Sufi-ism and Hinduism, for example, he said, have an understanding of a transcendental God. In this sense, he said, the Greek Orthodox church incorporates the truth from all religions. There is truth and error in every religion, but the Greek Orthodox religion is the full expression of truth, though he remains non-judgmental of the fate of the individual.
They do indeed, allow for the stay of contemplatives as long as they attend the services. Greg bought a couple of CDs of the monks performing the liturgy and I bought a book on Gregory of Nyssa. Father Justin showed us the chapel before we left. It was beautifully decorated with red and gold and icons. The scent of incense was still strong. There were no pews, however, and we learned that the parishioners stand. Then we made our way back home.
Tags: Aristotle, Greek Orthodox, Gregory of Nyssa, Julian calendar, Kabbalah, Monastery of the Glorious Ascension, Monastery of the Holy Spirit, Plato, Resaca, Rosicrucian, Sufi-ism, Vedanta
I started out this morning not knowing which church I would attend. I just knew I was to head toward the Acworth area. My hope was to find Mt. Zion, but I really didn’t have a clue as to how to get there. I would make turns when I felt led to and more than once they were dead ends. I had to turn around. Or I felt like I needed to turn around, so I did. To my worldly mind, it seemed like a waste of time. What was getting accomplished?
Maybe the delays keep me from an accident elsewhere, I thought, as I often have. Maybe dead ends affect my timing and my timing affects my fate. At any rate at one point I had to pull over, but I got to enjoy the nearby lake in the early morning fog. Perhaps, I said again to myself, that was the point of the whole day. There can be benefits to dead ends and delays.
As it turned out, timing was an issue. It was getting close to 11:00 a.m., and I had only seen two churches and those weren’t the ones. I decided that the next church I saw was the one I would stop at.
It was a United Methodist church. The people were really very friendly but I had forgotten or maybe never knew that some Methodist churches can be very formal. This had many similarities with the Catholic mass. Prayer candles were at the front. The pastor wore a robe and when he spoke the ritual the people responded from the book. There were programs and flags and we stood up and sat down many times. I wasn’t in my comfort zone.
They were celebrating the epiphany, the visit of the Magi, so they in fact sang several Christmas songs. They were several times when I felt my spirit transcended, but I cannot now say why or what I was contemplating.
The pastor spoke on how self-centered we have become, with wires in our ears, our heads bowed and intent on texting, prostrating before the next cell phone call, too busy to make eye contact or acknowledge the others. We are alone, entangled within ourselves, the center of our own universe. It seemed to mesh well with my reading of Teasdale this morning.
But it’s not about Me. It’s about the Lord God. Get in tune with the Creator of the Universe. I like that phrase.
There were several images that were provoked. The huge cross I had bought at the Joyful Noise so many years ago that was meant to distinguish me, designate my identity. Those were days of fresh, living spirituality. In a similar manner, “The Way” opened up for me a whole new light on the Bible. I’m looking for a living light again today. Like the dove, I want to alight on what is living. The pastor and his associate symbolized an ancient way, an honored, time-worn way that resonates with the mystic in me.
Again, there are benefits to dead ends.
Tags: Catholic mass, dead ends, delays, dove, Epiphany, Magi, self-centered, the Way, United Methodist, Wayne Teasdale
Some of you might want to know how I’ve been dealing with prayer lately. During this new year I have been going into my closet to pray, lighting a candle and burning the incense. There I have tried to sit quietly and meditate on the Lord. And the Lord has been speaking to me lately, as recorded in my earlier blogs.
What Word do I meditate on? Lately, the Lord’s Prayer; Proverbs; and the Spirits and Virtues of the Lord as recorded in the New Testament. I spent about an hour in Bible Study researching these things for every half hour I spend in prayer.
Tags: Bible Study, Lord's Prayer, New Testament, prayer, Spirits, Virtues