Isaiah 42:16 – I will lead the blind on their journey; by paths unknown I will guide them. I will turn darkness into light before them, and make crooked ways straight. These things I do for them, and I will not forsake them.
God says: I remind you constantly that you are precious to me. I tell you daily that I turn all harm to good. I place my hope in you continually. Why do you think I might abandon you? There is nothing you can do – or not do – that will cause me to disown or desert you. I abide with you endlessly. You are my life.
We doubt God because we doubt ourselves. We become anxious when we stumble into unknown places; we panic when we cannot see around the next corner in our life journey. We look for straight ways and find crooked paths; yet despite all our fear, throughout our stumbling, we are well-loved. If only we might rise to God’s best hope for us. Let us act as though we believe that we are not forsaken.
A re-post from August 20, 2012.
To reflect more on overcoming our fear of the unknown, visit The Jesus Bridgereflection on this blog; or spend some time taking a Journey of Transformation to discover your own blind journey.
Perhaps the reason that we humans cannot maintain fidelity is as Adrienne von Speyrwrites: With us, the call is always in danger of being relegated to the past. We rest in it instead of growing in it . . . we should attach much more importance to the call and its duration.
This is what the prophet Jeremiah sees in Israel. It is what we humans too often find in one another. We try to restin a relationship without growing in it. We find someone we think will allow us to be comfortable, who will in fact work at keeping everything at the status quo of first flush, who will not ask the question we do not want to answer, who will turn aside as we continue to worship our idol gods. We work hard at not suffering, not going to the limit, not growing. We work hard at keeping things static.
Von Speyr continues: In instructing his disciples, the Lord said many things to them that have much relevance for us and can become rules of conduct for us. He does not spare them; on each occasion he gives them the whole burden with which they must come to terms. “This is a hard saying.” “Let him understand it who can.” We see from this that the Lord accommodates his teaching as little as possible to mankind, so that those who follow him will not have the impression that they are equal to it.
No Christian – certainly no apostle – can ever be equal to the Lord’s teaching. All they could do was leave everything to him and follow him as well they were able, accepting the whole burden of his words in the certainty that even what was difficult, incomprehensible, or alienating in them was rightfully there, since it came from the Lord.
This is what Yahweh expected from Israel. It is what Jesus expected from his apostles. It is what the Lord expects from us: our fidelity to the call, our remaining with our call, our growing with that call and not our resting in it. No wonder so many relationships are broken rather than enduring. No wonder there is so much unhappiness rather than serenity. No wonder there is no peace, for we can only find true peace by answering, remaining, following, and growing. There is no other Way.
Speyr family photograph: Adrienne standing behind her parentsToday’s evening intercessions in MAGNIFICAT reflect the ideas reflected in today’s MEDITATION. Let us pray to the Lord Jesus Christ who is our peace: Grant us patience, Lord, grant us peace.
To the angry and to the envious: Grant us patience, Lord, grant us peace.
To the bitter and the persecuted: Grant us patience, Lord, grant us peace.
To the kind who find no kindness in others: Grant us patience, Lord, grant us peace.
To the compassionate who meet no compassion in others: Grant us patience, Lord, grant us peace.
To the forgiven who are not forgiven by others: Grant us patience, Lord, grant us peace.
May we remain with God as God remains with us. And may we grow in this remaining.
Written on August 5, 2008 and posted today as a Favorite.
Cameron, Peter John, Rev., ed. “Meditation for the Day,” and “Evening Prayer”.MAGNIFICAT. 5 August 2008. Print.
We have looked at Chapter 5 of this letter before and when we did we reflected on God’s time as being different from our own, and how in this immense time of God’s there is always the opportunity to begin again, to offer friendship to those who have harmed us, and to have the impossible become possible through God. Today when we reflect on chapter 4 along with chapter 5 we have the benefit of reading how Paul begins a list of general exhortations for our Christian conduct. He gives a list of “to dos”: Be holy and honorable in your intimate relationships, aspire to a tranquil life while minding your own affairs, pray for those who have died before us, be prepared for the coming of Jesus, magnify Christ’s light in the darkness of the world.
These guidelines seem simple enough as we read them; yet oh how difficult they become in practice. How many of us use and are used in our closest connections? How many of us are drawn in by the private affairs of others? How many of us remember with hope those who have died? How many of us are prepared for the Parousia? How many of us stand in the light and call others to that light?
Honor, Holiness, Charity, Hope and Vigilance.
Paul reminds the Thessalonians and he reminds us that our conduct is an outward sign of our interior relationship with God.
What do our actions have to tell us about our most intimate relationship of all?
What do our gestures and demeanor tell our God about how we see him?
What do we want to change?
First written on August 4, 2008, re-written and posted today as a Favorite.
1 John 3:16 – The way we came to know love was that [Christ] laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
Jesus tells us that it is easy to love the ones we love; it is difficult to love those who do us harm. This is one of his most fundamental – and most difficult – lessons for us.
God says: Believe me when I say that I understand that you do not want to love your enemies; yet this is the fruit I ask you to bear, the harvest I ask you to reap. When the grain of wheat breaks open to plant something new, it plants my love within a hardened heart. You become frustrated with the world and yet all of your struggling changes very little. Plant the seeds I have given you to sow – use the gifts I have given you. And do not worry about the weeds that grow up with the wheat. My workers will tend to them in good time. Do not worry about how much rain must fall and where you will find the harvesters. I am with you always, offering you my love – laying down my life for you.
Let us take up the gifts we have been given to share. Let us use God’s gifts lovingly. And let us offer ourselves as broken grains of wheat in the Spirit. Let us offer ourselves up to rise again in newness bearing fruit for the master harvester. In this way we come to know Christ’s love.
A Basque ShepherdEzekiel 34:16 – The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal, shepherding them rightly.
We know shepherds who only look out for themselves . They are rightly powerful and self-sufficient.
We know shepherds whose only concern is the appearance they make. They are rightly dressed.
We know shepherds who are poor stewards of God’s gifts. They are rightly self-centered.
None of these shepherds rightly.
God says: I know that you see many in power who mock me and my precepts. They seem to get away with bad living. I know that they do not shepherd my people rightly. That is why I shepherd each of you personally. I try to steer you toward the good shepherds I have sent to you. Look for them. They will be wearing my sign. And they will be behave as Jesus behaves.
When we become frustrated with some of our shepherds we must God to intervene. We must always remember that with God all things are possible. And we must remember that when we try to solve all problems on our own, we behave as the poor shepherds do. We demonstrate a lack of faith on God’s will. Let us help one another to shepherd rightly for this is the harvest God looks forward to reaping – the fruits of all those who shepherd rightly.
2 Corinthians 9:6 – Brothers and sisters: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
God says: I know that there are days when you feel as though I ask too much of you. I understand that there are times when you are too exhausted to take another step in your journey. This is why I have asked you to cast your troubles on my shoulders – for my burden is light and I am ready to carry your worries for you. I see how the world draws you in and I am here to accompany you each day. You have only to call on me.
At times it seems as if the only harvest we reap is anxiety and sadness and we find it difficult to believe the promise of the resurrection. Yet God abides with us in our apprehension. This is the message he wishes to give us – that despite our fears, we are saved. Despite our dread we are redeemed. And despite our wretchedness we are loved. This is the miracle of God’s love. Let us sow the love God gives to us so that we might in turn reap God’s love with the harvest.
Enter the word promise in the blog search box and continue to reflect on the promises God intends to keep.
Matthew 12:24 – Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”
God says: Put aside your fear about your earthly dying; do not store up things of the earth. They are finite and do not last. Each time you feel yourself breaking, or falling, or dying, you are preparing yourself to produce good fruit. Each time you believe you are at an end, you are at a beginning, a beginning of a new, better, and transformed self. Do not be afraid for I am with you in this as I am in all you do.
We are trained as children to steer clear of pain and this is understandable; yet pain will happen. When it does, let us take ourselves to the author of life itself, and let us allow God to produce good fruit from our suffering.
To reflect more on the opportunities, we might mistake for failures, type the word fruitinto the blog search box and take a moment to reflect on how our brokenness can bear fruit when we welcome God into our daily living.
Written on April 24, 2008 and posted today as a Favorite.
I wish I had more time to sit with this today. Since I do not, I promise myself that this evening, when dinner is done and chores are complete, I will turn back to this before falling asleep. I love when Jesus has to explain things to his disciples. It makes me feel less silly! When the people who lived, and walked, and worked and played with Jesus get things wrong, I do not feel so bad when I do as well.
Footnotes from the NAB tell us this dispute about the washing of hands before eating was more than a struggle about the rules. Jesus points out the hypocrisy of these elders who pledge to take care of their own parents but who do not. They accuse others of being slackers when they themselves truly are. Jesus escalates things a bit as he poses new thinking about the Mosaic Law concerning clean and unclean things. He, as the New Law, embodies God’s Word to us, incarnates the Law of Love for us.
At this time of year we are always reading from Acts of the Apostles – and I love this – because we see the young church struggling to form itself as the bride struggles to ready herself for union with the groom. And today’s reading is chapter 15 verses 7 to 21. It dovetails nicely with the challenge we reflect on in Matthew 15. When newness happens, it will be accompanied by conflict. This is not a bad thing.
I am looking at the morning intercessions in MAGNIFICAT.
To you we turn! Hear us!
You are our stronghold in time of trouble: grant us the wisdom and the courage to place out trust in you. To you we turn! Hear us!
You are our defender against all evil: teach us always to call upon you in prayer. To you we turn! Hear us!
You have delivered your people from death by the power of the cross: strengthen us to bear one another’s burdens in love. To you we turn! Hear us!
Written on August 2, 2008 and posted today as a Favorite.
Footnotes tell us that much of this imagery can also be found in Ezekiel, where God is seen as surrounded by worshiping figures. All of these creatures and people are symbolic; and good footnotes or a good commentary are helpful when sorting and understanding all of these ideas. What makes so much sense to me is the idea that it is right and good to live a life in constant praise of God. I like this thought. It brings me comfort to know that the angels, saints and all creatures celebrate God in heaven just as we do here on earth. I think that being in God’s presence necessitates a willingness to worship, to praise, to thank and to petition. What will we do in heaven if we have not practiced coming together to be near to God? How can we expect to understand any heavenly rite if we do not accustom ourselves to ritual here on earth? Why would we think that we might get along with lambs who frolic among lions if we cannot live in harmony here on earth?
We have many earthly opportunities to demonstrate our willingness to be humble, to build bridges between ourselves and our enemies, to be peacemakers. Where do expect to stand when we arrive at the heavenly throne room? How do we expect to know how to behave? Why do we expect that in another place we will suddenly be able to love when we have not learned to do so here?
We have this idea so often that God is in his heaven while we are in the world. We have forgotten the lesson of this story, that the kingdom is now, the kingdom is here. We are every waking and sleeping moment in God’s presence. And how do we behave?
Today we might begin anew with our lessons for Heavenly Worship. We might begin anew in our lessons of Love and Unity.
Isaiah 42:16 – I will lead the blind on their journey; by paths unknown I will guide them. I will turn darkness into light before them, and make crooked ways straight. These things I do for them, and I will not forsake them.
The Noontimes 