For thus says he who is high and exalted, living eternally, whose name is the Holy One: On high I dwell, and in holiness, and with the crushed and dejected in spirit, to revive the spirits of the dejected, to revive the hearts of the crushed.
We are accustomed to thinking of the high and exalted as above all who are weary and disheartened from the stress of their labor. We usually think of rulers as those who set themselves apart from the common masses. Our societies today reflect this thinking. Isaiah conveys comforting words from the One who is Lord of all to those who are afflicted.
God says: Isaiah tells you that I live on high and this is true; yet I dwell with you. I raise you up to live in me. Isaiah also tells you that I live with you who are crushed and weary; and this is also true. My favorite dwelling is with those who have no hope. Do you see the inversion that I bring to you? I live with those who are rejected and lowly, and raise them up. I revive those who have a darkened spirit. I live through those with a tired heart. My shoulders are broad and my spirit willing; my heart encompasses the universe; I am eternal. And it is to this eternity, this holiness, this revival that I carry you. Allow me to heal all that weighs you down.
This is no false promise. God always reverses what we humans see as the natural order and God wants to transform weary hearts into hearts afire with eternal love.
Enter the words inversion or God’s heart into the blog search bar and continue to explore.
Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality. Bless those who persecute [you], bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly; do not be wise in your own estimation. Do not repay anyone evil for evil; be concerned for what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, on your part, live at peace with all.
If we are ever in question about where happiness lies, we have our answer here. Paul gives us a simple recipe for how to turn harm to goodness.
God says: My faithful servant Paul has written out a clear recipe for your happiness. It is like a string of beautiful pearls; look at each one and examine it. Spend time today with each of these ideas. If you are quite occupied, choose a few that puzzle or trouble you and turn them over in your mind and heart. This recipe for contentment will serve you well. Return to this circle of gems as often as needed. Carry them with you wherever you go. Touch them. Ponder them. They are a gift to you this day and all days. You may hold them close or pass them along to another. In either case, they remain forever yours.
Pieter Brueghel de Jonge: Pearls Before Swine
We often look for quick fixes and sure solutions. Once we surrender our will to God, this kind of struggling ceases to nag at us. Once we begin to live by the recipe Paul records for us The Way becomes a bit more smooth. Once we take these words into our hearts, we find that peace settles into us like a welcome guest whom we urge to stay the night.
We might want to spend time with Matthew 7:6 in which Jesus reminds us that we do not want to cast our pearls before swine . . . we want to remember that our recipe for loving as Jesus loves includes the holding of our relationship with Christ as holy.
Let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
In this modern age we often discuss being in or out of control. We struggle with understanding how much our genetics govern our behavior; we conduct studies and gather research about parenting and how to best nurture the human spirit.
God says: I have come to dwell among you in the form of the man, Jesus. I live in you and you live in me. When you spend time with me – truly spend time – you come to know me better with each minute and hour. When you dialog with me – truly dialog – you grow in wisdom. Dwell in me richly that your hands and feet and lips and mind and heart move and act in me. Admonish one another lovingly. Give thanks continually. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father.
Through human history we see that humankind prefers to be in controland we like to think that we govern our own destiny or at least have a hand in forming our circumstances. We are most comfortable when we dictate conditions to others. We are also content to follow blindly if questioning our goal and means makes us a bit too uncomfortable. When we arein one bodywith Christ the conflicts and struggles that surround us resolve themselves well and sometimes easily. When we live and act in one accord with Christour petty differences and obstacles disappear as if they never existed. When we give thanks to God through Christin all we are and do,our need to control everyone and everything will cease.
Enter the words Mystical Body in the blog search bar, choose a reflection, and spend some time in a dialog with God.
I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
In his publication THE ISAIAH EFFECT, Gregg Braden “combines research inquantum physicswith the words of the prophet Isaiah and the ancientEssenes” to illustrate that when we come together to petition God in common prayer we find a “correlation between the offering of the prayer and a shift of the events in question beyond coincidence – the prayers had measureable effects”.The name Isaiah means “the Lord saves: and this prophecy was written at a critical time in the history of the people of Israel. The universal message brought to us through this prophet is one of salvation”. (Braden, Editor’s Note)
God says: You send me endless petitions and this is as it should be. I created you. I know your needs. I know your desires. I love to transform your life and open miracles to you. I want to save you in every way each day. It is true that when you agree to pray at the same moment each day it does not matter if you are physically in the same space. I also created space and I can adapt it to my ends. It is also true that if the events of your day cause you to miss or even forget your prayer appointment with your friends, you can offer your petition when you realize the missed hour. I created time and this also I can bend to my will. I only ask that you agree to gather in Jesus’ name to fold your prayers together in offering. Leave the rest to me. Walk in The Way I am showing to you.
We study God’s universe and develop themes and theories that we call quantum physics. From these studies we understand that there are more dimensions than the three we experience of pitch, yaw and roll. We also understand that time it not as linear and unyielding as we like to think. When we are willing to step out of our own time and space in order to step into God’s world of possibility, we are rewarded. Let us commit to making a prayer appointment with friends or family members who have a common petition . . . let us send our petitions forward to God . . . and let us be patient enough to witness God’s Isaiah Effect.
Braden, Gregg. THE ISAIAH EFFECT. New York: Harmony Books. 2000. Print. Editor’s Note.
I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so should you love one another.
This is so simple and yet so complicated. This is so clear and yet so foggy. This is so down-to-earth and yet so mystical. Jesus is quite clear about how we are to live and why. All else stems from this one commandment of love.
God says: I know that when you see or hear these words you are perplexed. Many of you are looking for something more vertical and less horizontal, with layers of rules and bureaucracy, with rating systems and hierarchy, but your relationship with me is as simple as this law. Others want only comfort and drifting forgetfulness but my love is wider and deeper, and more intense than a mere longing. I know that you look for guarantees, escape hatches and safety values, but none are needed here. Life with me is really this simple. Love one another. Put away your anger and hate. Put aside your gossiping and comparing. I love each of you. Deal with your greed and envy. Laziness and pride are tools you do not need for the work you complete in my vineyard. I call each of you and you need only this one quality: Love. It is all. It is everything. It is more than enough. All else stems from this one practice I long to see you embrace. Love one another as I have loved you. It is all I ask of you. It is the only command I give to you. And yet it is everything.
We humans tend to over-complicate our relationship with God. We spend lifetimes seeking wisdom and knowledge when all we need to know is walking with us in the person of God all the while. We spend hours obsessing and harboring when all we need do is forgive, trust God and live in the Spirit. We spend years alternately ignoring and anguishing about who and what Jesus is while the risen Christ takes up our heavy yoke with us each day. God gives us this one command. There is really nothing more we need do.
InJohn8:1-11, the Pharisees ask Jesus a question as they try to entrap him. Read the story to see what happens when Jesus bends to write on the ground with his finger . . . and imagine what he wrote. Then imagine where you are standing and what you are thinking . . . and tell this story to someone else today.
There was also a prophetessAnna, the daughter ofPhanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
Simeon is not the only holy voice who recognizes the Messiah in the infant Jesus. Simeon and Anna are “Israel in miniature, poised in anticipation of the new”. (Mays 932) Yet despite the celebration of the moment there is a recognition of the suffering that will also take place.
God says: I do not want to dampen your joy or bring you sorrow. I send Anna because I know that in your journey pain will always accompany rejoicing; and I want Anna to remind you that even when you believe I have duped you . . . you will have consolation. I will never abandon you even though the harsh times may cause you to think that I will not return. I will never leave you even though you may believe I have. I want you to know that I need not return to you . . . for I have never left. I am with you always.
Anna’s appearance after the words of Simeon remind us that “Jerusalem will reject [Jesus] and will instead follow a way that will lead to disaster (19:41-44). They will seem forsaken by God, but Anna is a reminder that the disaster is not God’s last word: Jesus remains for Jerusalem a sign of hope”. (Barton 930)
Enter the word hopeinto the blog search bar and explore other reflections that remind us of God’s constant presence in his precious gift of Jesus to the world.
Barton, John, and John Muddiman.THE OXFORD BIBLE COMMENTARY. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2001. 930. Print.
Mays, James L., ed. HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE COMMENTARY. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1988. 932. Print.
My eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of every people: a light to reveal you to the nations.
In the tradition of The Liturgy of the Hours the Canticle of Simeonis sung as part of Compline or Night Prayer. For the entire prayer, go to the Bible Gateway site linked in the citation above and explore the various interpretations of these verses. For the story of Simeon, read Luke 2:22-35.
God says: Simeon is a faithful servant who waited patiently for the fulfillment of my promise that he would see the messiah before death came to him. Just as Mary and Joseph were presenting the child, Jesus, in the Temple, this loyal servant saw in this family what I see, a trinity of hope, love and faith, promise, mercy and constancy. Simeon also saw that the lives of these three people would be full of deep sorrow and great joy. Simeon spoke words that I hear in waves from the faithful as they prepare to retire for the night. Join yourself with them as you prepare for bed. It is such a short prayer that it will not tax you. Turn away from the cares of the world for a brief time and pray these verses. You sleep ever so much better for having joined Simeon to visit with me.
Another faithful servant waited patiently for the appearance of God Among Us. Tomorrow, the story of Anna. . .
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
In the tradition of The Liturgy of the Hours the Magnificatis sung as part of Vespers, or Evening Prayer. For the entire prayer, go to the Bible Gateway site linked in the citation above and explore the various interpretations of these verses.
God says: Imagine what I hear when so many voices are raised to me each evening with these words of Mary. It is most pleasing to hear the babel of your many languages and even more pleasing to hear the petitions you lift up to me as you pray. Do not worry if you find that the details of your life call you away at the appointed Evensong. As best you can, pause for a moment to remember me and our Mother Mary who bravely stepped forward so that I might come to live among you. Just say the word “Magnificat” with deep intention before you move into your evening. I will unite your word with the other prayers that fly to me. Remember always how much Mary loves you as the sisters and brothers of Jesus. And remember always that I also love you.
These words of Mary express the hope of all. Let us spend a few moments of our precious time to unite ourselves with her and those millions of others who lift these verses to God each day as the evening closes in.
They shackled his feet with chains; collared his neck in iron, until his prediction came to pass, and the word of God proved him true.
There are times when we foresee events and predict outcomes well beyond the horizon of our friends and colleagues. At those times we are tagged with various labels: over-reacting, anxious, conspiratorial, hysterical, and fantastical. When we find this branding difficult to manage we might turn to the story of Joseph and consider that we also have been sent ahead, and that we too must wait endlessly and patiently until God proves us true.
God says: You have special eyes that see me in the marginalized and down-trodden. You have a heart that finds me in all creatures and in all parts of my creation. You have a mind that understands cause and effect, action – or lack of action – and consequence. Be patient with those who fail to see you as one of my prophets. Show mercy to those whose fear overcomes their sense of my presence within. Come to me with your worries and remember that I see and know all. And pray with me as you travel beyond the narrow minds of those who do not see as well as you do.
There is nothing more difficult than being maligned unjustly and wrongly yet this is often the work of those who are sent ahead. It is essential for us to remain in constant contact with God. And it is essential that we pray . . .
Dear God, I see the work before me and still I falter. I see the slender path that leads me safely to you and still I feel blind. I see the light of your truth and still I doubt. Support me when I am weak. Call me when I lose my way. Keep me always in your loving heart as I struggle with being sent ahead for you. Amen.
![God-purpose-revival[1]](https://thenoontimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/god-purpose-revival1.jpg?w=300&h=150)
![pearls[1]](https://thenoontimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/pearls1.jpg)
![Faces_of_Christ[1]](https://thenoontimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/faces_of_christ1.jpg?w=245&h=300)
![deadsea[1]](https://thenoontimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/deadsea1.jpg?w=308&h=178)
![6157010118[1]](https://thenoontimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/61570101181.jpg?w=230&h=290)
The Noontimes 
