The Mind of Christ

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God...no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God....we have received the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us....The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned...but we have the mind of Christ (I Cor. 2: 11-16).

The mind of Christ?  How can this be true, that we have the mind of Christ?  I don't mind confessing that the first time I read this, I chalked it up to hyperbole.  My own mind felt so far from the mind of Christ that I wondered whether we had much in common at all.  Jesus is the Wisdom of God, and I have often borrowed a phrase from the book of Jonah to describe my own mind -- God tells Jonah that the Ninevites "don't know their right hands from their left," and so Jonah should not protest God's mercy on them.  So often in prayer, I have said, "Lord, you know that I don't know my right hand from my left; I am totally dependent on and in need of your direction here."

And yet, when I look more closely at Jesus during His earthly sojourn, I see His total dependence upon the Father.  He withdrew often from the crowds that He might commune with the Father.  He said, "My words are not My own; they belong to the One Who sent Me," and "The Father works until now, and I also work."  Clearly, Jesus had no thought other than to seek the Father and the Father's work in His own life.  Here, we absolutely can have the mind of Christ-- even in our ignorance and waywardness, we can continually seek the Father's words and work in our lives. 

The first letter of St. John tells us that we have an anointing from the Holy One, and that we all "know the truth."  He contrasts this knowledge to the knowledge of those who love the world and everything in it:  For everything in the world -- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does -- comes not from the Father but from the world (v.16).  The man without the Spirit, according to the letter to the Corinthians, cannot accept the things of God, for they are foolishness to him.  But "whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also...and his anointing teaches you about all things, and that anointing is real, not counterfeit" (1Jn. 2:23 and 27).

John goes on to tell us that in the "lavishness" of His love, God has made us His "children" and that is what we are.  Now, it seems that children, even though they may stray for a time, have the mind of their parents, to the 3rd and 4th generation.  The reason we do not have the mind of God is sin -- but the "reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work...."because God's seed remains in [the one born of God], he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God," and "in this world we are like Him" (1Jn. 3:9 and 4:17).

The very end of John's letter reiterates his central thought:  We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one does not touch him...We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true.  And we are in him who is true -- even in his Son Jesus Christ.

So when we read that we "have the mind of Christ," we know that the Son of God is at work in us, destroying the work of the devil (sin) and purifying us from all unrighteousness, so that we can understand the things of God.  We know that He has come to give us understanding of the things of God through an anointing that remains with us.  And we know that we are "in Him who is true." 

To know these things is to allow ourselves to be taught by the Holy Spirit -- and to encourage us to withdraw from the things of the world in order to receive the mind of Christ.  Prayer, then, takes on a whole new dimension for the children of God -- no longer beseeching Him for favor, but running to the Father to be taught wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of ourselves and the world by His Spirit.  Like Jesus, we seek solitude in order to receive the words and thoughts of the Father.

If we read the first letter of John, it becomes very clear that we no longer think at all like those who ...are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and who knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us.  This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood (1Jn. 4:5-6).  The deep divisions in our society highlighted by the recent Presidential election make it even more easy to recognize those who 'have the mind of Christ' and those who do not.

Inspiration

Elisabeth Leseur (1866-1914) was a devout Catholic who offered her life for the conversion of her husband, a determined atheist.  After her death, he found her secret diary, experienced while reading them a profound conversion, and went on to become a Dominican priest.  Reading her writings is likely to have a similar effect on other readers, for as she examines her own life and spirituality, she causes the reader to do the same about his/her own life.

Here is a selection from her journal:

I know well what this word apostle means and all the obligations it creates.  First, the necessity of an interior life that becomes stronger all the time, of drawing more than ever charity and gentle serenity from the Eucharist and from prayer, as well as making wholly spiritual intentions. Then, to cultivate my own mind systematically, to increase my knowledge of all those subjects that I am ready to learn; to do nothing precipitously or superficially; to achieve, as much as possible, competence in the subjects I study.  To transform and make this intellectual effort holy through a spiritual motive, doing it humbly without any self-centeredness, but exclusively to help others.

To bring to all conversation and discussion a tranquil spirit, a firmness, and a friendliness that will eliminate bitterness or irritation from the opponent's mind; never to give in where principles are concerned, but to have extraordinary tolerance for people.  Above all, to try, after discovering the opening, to present the divine, unchanging Truth to each one in such a way as to make it understood and loved.

Leseur was ill much of her life, with a disease of the liver, which curtailed much of the activity she would have like to do for others.  Yet, through her writings and her efforts to cultivate the peace and patience she needed with her husband's opposition to spiritual truth, she has become an apostle in every sense of the word.  I dare say I am not the only one to find inspiration in her writing.

The Light of Christ

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....without Him nothing was made that has been made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never overcome it (John 1:1-5).

The entire Good News is summed up in the first chapter of John -- and for those who can see it, even in the opening lines of Genesis:  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  And God said, "let there be light," and there was light.  God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.

These lines describe not only the earth at its inception, but our souls before we are born again of water and of the Holy Spirit.  The Good News is that God has spoken in us His Divine Word, the new life of His Son, the Word which makes us not children of the earth, but children of God.  We are brought to birth by His Word and His Spirit, the breath of His mouth, just as it is written in the second chapter of Genesis.  Over our chaos hovers the Speaker, the Word spoken, and the Breath by which He speaks.  His Word can never be "unspoken."

The darkness that engulfs us before we are born again is the profound darkness that encompasses the entire earth, even today.  The earth indeed is "empty and formless" until the Word of God shapes and forms it.  Before Christ, before the spoken Word of God, our ideas and opinions are those of the earth, "empty and formless."  When His Word is spoken in us, the Light enters and the darkness can never again overcome us.  Peter says that we have been redeemed "from the empty way of life handed down to us by our fathers" -- that is, from the empty and formless life of the world, of the natural man.  We no longer belong to Adam, for our natural man has died.  The life we now live, we live in Christ as sons and daughters of God.

Paul says in Romans that he is convinced that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God given to us in Christ Jesus --  for I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38).

This is the Word spoken at the beginning-- Let there be light!  And the Light of Christ enters into our darkness, changing us forever.  Just as the darkness could not overcome Him in the tomb, so it can never overcome us; His Resurrection is our guarantee of eternal life. 

Prayer

     Except you give us Your own life and breath, O Lord, who could stand in Your Presence?

You teach us, not mind to mind, but spirit to spirit, and only Your Spirit knows the blockages in our spirits that prevent us from receiving the breath of life.

Your Spirit is stronger than any darkness that rules the world or our hearts and minds.  You are Spirit and Truth and Life, and You have never been overcome by the darkness.

Your word is Truth, O Lord; Your Spirit is Truth, and there is none besides You.  Let Your anointing be on us, O, Lord, to the glory and praise of Your Name.

On the Incarnation

Many people consider Jesus a "great teacher" and spiritual leader on the par with the Buddha, Mohammed, and the famous Indian gurus.  But they will not admit that He is the Incarnate Son of God -- God made flesh and dwelling among us. 

However, I wonder if these people have ever considered that not one of the world's religious teachers have ever said the things Jesus said:

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Other teachers have pointed the way to the truth and the life, but they did not proclaim themselves as "The Way, The Truth, and The Life." 

Anyone who comes to me, even though he die, will live.  Whoever lives and believes in me will never die....I am the resurrection and the life.  No wonder the Jews wanted to stone him for blasphemy.  Who would dare to make these claims unless they were true?

Unless you eat my Body and drink my Blood, you will have no life in you.  To put these words in the mouth of any other spiritual leader would be horrible.  Only Jesus has the power to make these statements and to make them actually effective, or "do-able."

The Father and I are One.  Humility would prevent any other person, no matter how spiritual, from saying this -- only Jesus could proclaim that He and the Father are One.  The doctrine of the Trinity makes the Incarnation possible.

If anyone will keep my word, the Father and I will come to him and dwell with him.  What an amazing promise!  I cannot imagine any guru or teacher in the world saying such a thing.

The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.  Wow!  "Lord of the Sabbath"! 

I am with you always, even to the consummation of the world.  No one born of 'the will of a father' can make such a statement.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  How many teachers of the world would have wished to baptize with the Holy Spirit, and change the world forever.  And yet, unless they baptize in the name of Jesus Christ, they cannot baptize with the Holy Spirit.

To all who come to Him, He gives the power to become children of God.  Again, with any other teacher, who would not wish to give others the right, the power, the ability to  become children of God.  Jesus is the only gateway into eternal life; He alone has the power to forgive sins and to transform lives into the image and spirit of His Father.  And so He does:  The Father works even until now, and I work also. 

Thank God He sent His very Son to redeem us from the bondage of sin and separation!  For other teachers can appeal to our emotions and to our minds, but only the Son of God Himself can change our inner man.

A Final Word About Prayer

I have been writing about prayer, but everything I have said is simply an "aid" to prayer, a way of waiting upon the Holy Spirit, Who Himself will teach us to pray.  Romans 12:1 says, "Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -- which is your spiritual worship. ... then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--- his good, pleasing, and perfect will." 

When we come to pray, this is what we are doing -- offering ourselves to God, who then can perfect His will in our lives.  At the well, Jesus told the Samaritan woman, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."  When we come to pray, we are asking for living water to spring up within us, to carry us along as a bubbling brook.  Teresa of Avila instructed her sisters in prayer by telling them that at first, prayer is like drawing up and hauling water by hand to our garden, but soon it begins to be easier to draw the water from the depths of the earth, and then at last, it flows out without any effort of our own.

And her analogy exactly matches the description in Sirach 24 of "the book of the covenant of God Most High:" It sends out wisdom in full flood like the river Pishon, or like the Tigris at the time of firstfruits; it overflows like the Euphrates with understanding or like the Jordan at the season of harvest.  It pours forth instruction like the Nile, like the Gihon at the time of vintage.  No one has ever known wisdom fully and from first to last no one has fathomed her, for her thoughts are vaster than the ocean, her purpose more profound than the great abyss. 

As for me, I was like a watercourse leading from a river, like a conduit into a pleasure garden.  I said, "I will water my garden, soaking its flower bed";  all at once my watercourse became a river, and my river a sea.....Truly, I have not toiled for myself alone but for all who seek wisdom.

Jesus told us that the Father would not fail to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask.  When we come to pray, we are asking for this great Gift of God -- the Holy Spirit, Who aids us in our weakness.  Indeed, He is called The Helper, the Advocate, the Paraclete for that reason.  It is He Who leads us in prayer, and when He comes, our effort ceases.  St. Augustine said, "Pray as you can, not as you can't."  Good advice, for the Spirit leads each of us according to His knowledge and wisdom, and no two of us will pray in exactly the same way. 

Prayer is worth whatever effort it takes to begin to develop the habit of what Teresa of Avila calls "a loving conversation with One Who we know loves us."  When we are engaged in conversation, whether deep or superficial, with someone who loves us, it is not an effort, and we don't worry that we are not doing it "right."  It just flows.  That is our aim in prayer -- just conversation with our Father, in the Son, through the Holy Spirit.  And the results of prayer are so worth it.  Isaiah 58:11 says, The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.  Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

When we come to pray, if all we do at first is to stare at the above passage, I guarantee the deep waters of prayer will begin to flow within you.

A Final Word About Prayer

I have been writing about prayer, but everything I have said is simply an "aid" to prayer, a way of waiting upon the Holy Spirit, Who Himself will teach us to pray.  Romans 12:1 says, "Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -- which is your spiritual worship. ... then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--- his good, pleasing, and perfect will." 

When we come to pray, this is what we are doing -- offering ourselves to God, who then can perfect His will in our lives.  At the well, Jesus told the Samaritan woman, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."  When we come to pray, we are asking for living water to spring up within us, to carry us along as a bubbling brook.  Teresa of Avila instructed her sisters in prayer by telling them that at first, prayer is like drawing up and hauling water by hand to our garden, but soon it begins to be easier to draw the water from the depths of the earth, and then at last, it flows out without any effort of our own.

And her analogy exactly matches the description in Sirach 24 of "the book of the covenant of God Most High:" It sends out wisdom in full flood like the river Pishon, or like the Tigris at the time of firstfruits; it overflows like the Euphrates with understanding or like the Jordan at the season of harvest.  It pours forth instruction like the Nile, like the Gihon at the time of vintage.  No one has ever known wisdom fully and from first to last no one has fathomed her, for her thoughts are vaster than the ocean, her purpose more profound than the great abyss. 

As for me, I was like a watercourse leading from a river, like a conduit into a pleasure garden.  I said, "I will water my garden, soaking its flower bed";  all at once my watercourse became a river, and my river a sea.....Truly, I have not toiled for myself alone but for all who seek wisdom.

Jesus told us that the Father would not fail to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask.  When we come to pray, we are asking for this great Gift of God -- the Holy Spirit, Who aids us in our weakness.  Indeed, He is called The Helper, the Advocate, the Paraclete for that reason.  It is He Who leads us in prayer, and when He comes, our effort ceases.  St. Augustine said, "Pray as you can, not as you can't."  Good advice, for the Spirit leads each of us according to His knowledge and wisdom, and no two of us will pray in exactly the same way. 

Prayer is worth whatever effort it takes to begin to develop the habit of what Teresa of Avila calls "a loving conversation with One Who we know loves us."  When we are engaged in conversation, whether deep or superficial, with someone who loves us, it is not an effort, and we don't worry that we are not doing it "right."  It just flows.  That is our aim in prayer -- just conversation with our Father, in the Son, through the Holy Spirit.  And the results of prayer are so worth it.  Isaiah 58:11 says, The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.  Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

When we come to pray, if all we do at first is to stare at the above passage, I guarantee the deep waters of prayer will begin to flow within you.