If John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from before the time of his birth, how much more was Jesus, the seed of the Holy Spirit! Yet, at His baptism by John in the river Jordan, "the Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove."
As we emerge into our own as persons, we take up the ministry of our lives---that which we were born to accomplish on this earth. At that moment, or in those moments, we are given a measure of the Spirit of God to prepare us, to strengthen us, for ministry.
Isaiah describes the Spirit of the Lord as the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. As a result of the release of the Spirit into the world, "the wolf will lie down with the lamb......they will neither harm nor destroy...and the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord" (Is. 11:1-9).
Any mother or father knows that he/she has need of wisdom and of understanding, of counsel and of power, of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. We cannot operate on a day-to-day basis without the gifts of the Spirit, for only the Spirit knows what is going on the heart of a child and what that child needs.
We often think of "ministry" as what we do outside of the home, but if we would only begin by seeking the gifts of the Spirit where we are, we would find that we are not alone in our daily work. As Paul said, "I planted the seed; Apollos watered it, but God gave the growth." No matter what we are doing today, we are hoping that something or someone will grow from our efforts; to that end, we open our work to the Holy Spirit, awaiting and expecting His gifts in our lives.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Magnetic Fields of the Soul
One of my favorite books for over 30 years has been Dag Hammarskjold's Markings. In 1953, Hammarskjold was elected Secretary-General of the United Nations, and he was re-elected in 1957. He died in a plane crash in 1961 while flying to negotiate a cease-fire between U.N. and Katanga forces.
Hammarskjold described his journal as "a sort of white-book concerning my negotiations with myself and with God." In it, he records how he "marked" his own spiritual conduct, how he measured the integrity of his soul, how he regarded his life as a call from God, and his premonition of death.
One of the 1952 entries in his journal describes an experience that most of us have had at one time or another:
Hammarskjold described his journal as "a sort of white-book concerning my negotiations with myself and with God." In it, he records how he "marked" his own spiritual conduct, how he measured the integrity of his soul, how he regarded his life as a call from God, and his premonition of death.
One of the 1952 entries in his journal describes an experience that most of us have had at one time or another:
Now you know. When the worries over your work loosen their grip, then this experience of light, warmth, and power.
From without---a sustaining element, like air to the glider or water to the swimmer.
An intellectual hesitation which demands proofs and logical demonstration prevents me from "believing"--in this, too. Prevents me from expressing and interpreting this reality in intellectual terms.
Yet, through me there flashes this vision of a magnetic field in the soul, created in a timeless present by unknown multitudes, living in holy obedience, whose words and actions are a timeless prayer.
---"The Communion of Saints"---and---within it---an eternal life.
Carl Jung writes of a "collective unconscious" that influences each succeeding generation, whether they know it or not. Over a period of 20 years beginning in 1948, 5209 people in Framingham, Mass., were studied, along with the next generation (their descendents), and a third generation, to determine if happiness was "contagious." What the researchers found was that the happiness of individuals (i.e. peace, joy, contentment) depends on the happiness of others with whom they are connected. They concluded that happiness, like health, is a collective phenomenon--when an individual becomes content, that contentment spreads to those around them. The "contagion," interestingly, does not apply to people at work, but only to true relationships. So, working side by side with other people does not mean we absorb their moods, but rather, "happy people tend to be located in the center of their local social networks and in large clusters of other happy people." In other words, the health and well-being of one person deeply affects the health and well-being of others in the network, up to three degrees of separation.
Dag Hammarskjold "knew" this phenomenon from experience, even though at the time, there was no Framingham study to express what he knew in terms he could intellectually describe. He intuitively called it a "magnetic field of the soul."
When we are spiritually open and transparent to God, it makes us also spiritually open and transparent to others, "making space" for them to be themselves without fear of rejection. In God's presence and warmth, we grow more fully into ourselves and allow others to grow in our presence to be more fully themselves. No wonder we are happy! No wonder that happiness is contagious!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
on Humility
St. Teresa remarks to her sisters that humility is the foundation on which all the other virtues rest; St. Augustine said that the spiritual life depends on three things: humility, humility, humility.
But in a way, humility always puzzled me; it seemed that the more one "tried" to be humble, the more chance we had to be "proud" of our humility. Finally, I am beginning to get a glimpse of true humility.
Mary said in the Magnificat: My soul rejoices in God my Savior because He has done great things for me.
Humility has nothing at all with trying to be humble; it does not try to do anything, in fact. The focus of the person who is truly humble is not on himself, but on God, who can and will do everything necessary in us and for us.
As Andrew Murray points out in his work on Humility, Jesus had the utmost confidence in the Father as the One Who did all of the work. He saw Himself as the instrument through which God had total freedom to do His work. His surrender to the Father was absolute---God had permission to do whatever He saw fit with the instrument of His only Son. Jesus was not here to do great things, but only to bring men to the Father, who would do great things for them, as Mary recognized.
The Son can do nothing of himself (Jn. 5:19).
I am come not to do mine own will, but the will of Him who sent Me (Jn. 6:38).
My teaching is not mine (Jn. 7:16).
I do nothing of myself (Jn. 8:28).
I have not come of myself, but he sent me (Jn. 8:42).
The words that I say I speak not from myself (Jn.14:10).
The words that you hear are not mine (Jn.14:24).
Andrew Murray points out that this is the life Jesus came to impart to us:
He teaches us where true humility takes its rise and finds its strength--in the knowledge that it is God who works all in all, that our place is to yield to Him in perfect resignation and dependence, in full consent to be and do nothing of ourselves.....Let us, above everything, seek the holy secret of the the knowledge of the nature of God as He every moment works all in all; the secret, of which all nature and every creature, and above all, every child of God, is to be the witness, that it is nothing but a vessel, a channel, through which the living God can manifest the riches of His wisdom, power, and goodness.
[Jesus] felt Himself the Servant of God for the men whom God made and loved; as a natural consequence, He counted Himself the Servant of men, that through Him God might do His work of love.
What a difference from "trying to be humble"---to recognize that God wants to do great things for us, if we will only let Him do what He wants in us and for us. Yeaaaaaaaaa, God!
But in a way, humility always puzzled me; it seemed that the more one "tried" to be humble, the more chance we had to be "proud" of our humility. Finally, I am beginning to get a glimpse of true humility.
Mary said in the Magnificat: My soul rejoices in God my Savior because He has done great things for me.
Humility has nothing at all with trying to be humble; it does not try to do anything, in fact. The focus of the person who is truly humble is not on himself, but on God, who can and will do everything necessary in us and for us.
As Andrew Murray points out in his work on Humility, Jesus had the utmost confidence in the Father as the One Who did all of the work. He saw Himself as the instrument through which God had total freedom to do His work. His surrender to the Father was absolute---God had permission to do whatever He saw fit with the instrument of His only Son. Jesus was not here to do great things, but only to bring men to the Father, who would do great things for them, as Mary recognized.
The Son can do nothing of himself (Jn. 5:19).
I am come not to do mine own will, but the will of Him who sent Me (Jn. 6:38).
My teaching is not mine (Jn. 7:16).
I do nothing of myself (Jn. 8:28).
I have not come of myself, but he sent me (Jn. 8:42).
The words that I say I speak not from myself (Jn.14:10).
The words that you hear are not mine (Jn.14:24).
Andrew Murray points out that this is the life Jesus came to impart to us:
He teaches us where true humility takes its rise and finds its strength--in the knowledge that it is God who works all in all, that our place is to yield to Him in perfect resignation and dependence, in full consent to be and do nothing of ourselves.....Let us, above everything, seek the holy secret of the the knowledge of the nature of God as He every moment works all in all; the secret, of which all nature and every creature, and above all, every child of God, is to be the witness, that it is nothing but a vessel, a channel, through which the living God can manifest the riches of His wisdom, power, and goodness.
[Jesus] felt Himself the Servant of God for the men whom God made and loved; as a natural consequence, He counted Himself the Servant of men, that through Him God might do His work of love.
What a difference from "trying to be humble"---to recognize that God wants to do great things for us, if we will only let Him do what He wants in us and for us. Yeaaaaaaaaa, God!
Saturday, August 28, 2010
A Special Prayer
Someone gave me this prayer to say when I had lung cancer. I am still saying it every morning, for myself and for others, and it means so much to me that I want to share it with everyone I know:
Heavenly Father, I call on you right now in a special way. It is through your power that I was created. Every breath I take every morning I wake and every moment of every hour I live under your power. Father, I ask you now to touch me with that same power. For if you created me from nothing, you can certainly recreate me. Fill me with the healing power of your spirit. Cast out anything that should not be in me. Mend what is broken. Root out any unproductive cells. Open my blocked arteries or veins and rebuild any damaged areas. Remove all inflammation and cleanse any infection. Let the warmth of your healing love pass through my body to make new any unhealthy areas so that my body will function the way you created it to function. And, Father, restore me to full health in mind and body so that I may serve you the rest of my life. I ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
God's Sense of Humor
God uses the weak and foolish things of this world to shame the great and powerful, according to the words of St. Paul. Indeed, in the period of Judges in the nation of Israel, before the time of kings, there was a woman by the name of Deborah, who sat under a tree, "judging" the nation. What it meant was that people would come to her for advice and wisdom with problems and disputes they could not solve themselves.
When Jabin, a king of Canaan, attacked Israel with nine hundred iron chariots and cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help. Deborah sent for Barak, the leader of Israel's army, and told him to take his troops to Mount Tabor, where Jabin's army (under Sisera, the commander) would be given into his hands. Barak refused to go without Deborah; she agreed, but told him that as a result, "the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman."
Amazingly, this story is almost duplicated in the 1400's with Joan of Arc, who led an army to defeat the invading king of England.
Recently, I've been reading the writings of Teresa of Avila without knowing the background history and context of her life. Now I discover that in her lifetime, the scholars and theologians of the Inquisition were banning books on mental prayer, contemplation, because women would be led astray by them, and "the Our Father and Hail Mary were sufficient for women." If they needed a book, according to the experts, it could be read to them while they sat sewing at their husband's side. The prevailing wisdom was that women should be allowed to leave their homes only three times: at their baptism, for their marriage, and for their burial.
And here comes Teresa, traveling all over Spain, founding houses of contemplative prayer, and writing books on prayer for women, teaching them how to enter into contemplation. She would not allow anyone to join her order if they could not read, because reading was such an aid to prayer. Ha ha ha. Does God have a sense of humor, or what?
When Jabin, a king of Canaan, attacked Israel with nine hundred iron chariots and cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help. Deborah sent for Barak, the leader of Israel's army, and told him to take his troops to Mount Tabor, where Jabin's army (under Sisera, the commander) would be given into his hands. Barak refused to go without Deborah; she agreed, but told him that as a result, "the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman."
Amazingly, this story is almost duplicated in the 1400's with Joan of Arc, who led an army to defeat the invading king of England.
Recently, I've been reading the writings of Teresa of Avila without knowing the background history and context of her life. Now I discover that in her lifetime, the scholars and theologians of the Inquisition were banning books on mental prayer, contemplation, because women would be led astray by them, and "the Our Father and Hail Mary were sufficient for women." If they needed a book, according to the experts, it could be read to them while they sat sewing at their husband's side. The prevailing wisdom was that women should be allowed to leave their homes only three times: at their baptism, for their marriage, and for their burial.
And here comes Teresa, traveling all over Spain, founding houses of contemplative prayer, and writing books on prayer for women, teaching them how to enter into contemplation. She would not allow anyone to join her order if they could not read, because reading was such an aid to prayer. Ha ha ha. Does God have a sense of humor, or what?
Monday, August 23, 2010
Why Pray?
God wants to teach us great mysteries---but unless we sit still for awhile, we cannot hear His voice.
Why should we pray? Isn't God ultimately in charge of the universe? Well, no; He gave man dominion over the earth. We rule spiritually over the events of the world. When we pray "Thy kingdom come," we are relinquishing/ surrendering our control over the world to a divine and wiser power. We, in a sense, are giving God permission to act in the areas that concern us and over which we have some control or interest. We step aside and say to God---this is now Your purvue; I am no longer "in charge" of this area. I wait to see how You will resolve this problem. And we wait in faith, knowing that if we have asked in confidence, He hears us and will not fail to act for the good of all concerned.
Why should we pray? Isn't God ultimately in charge of the universe? Well, no; He gave man dominion over the earth. We rule spiritually over the events of the world. When we pray "Thy kingdom come," we are relinquishing/ surrendering our control over the world to a divine and wiser power. We, in a sense, are giving God permission to act in the areas that concern us and over which we have some control or interest. We step aside and say to God---this is now Your purvue; I am no longer "in charge" of this area. I wait to see how You will resolve this problem. And we wait in faith, knowing that if we have asked in confidence, He hears us and will not fail to act for the good of all concerned.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
When it comes to he things of God, all of us are blind and deaf and dumb. It is just as imperative that we ask Jesus to open our eyes to see and our ears to hear as it was for those physically impaired while He was on earth. A person born blind does not know what it is he is not seeing; one born deaf does not know what he is not hearing. So it is with us; we cannot even guess what it is we do not see or hear in the realm of the spirit. We think we understand, but we are in the dark.
Jesus said to the Pharisees, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, 'We see,' so your sin remains (Jn. 9:41). Pride is thinking we are seeing clearly, whereas humility knows that it understands nothing and asks for sight.
Teresa of Avila said that to know oneself is to know God---but the hardest thing of all for us to see is what lies within our own hearts. That is the area of our greatest blindness, the area that only God can reveal to us. Unfortunately, we can see more clearly what is in others' hearts than what is in our own.
About 35 years ago, while in prayer, I had a vision where I was on a cloud overlooking a mountain. I could see the top of the mountain, and all around it the paths leading to the top. On those paths, I could see people climbing, but some had wandered off the path and were lost in the deep forest. "Can I help them?" I asked the Lord, for I could see the path and where they had gone off. "No," He said; "on the journey, they will come to know their Guide." Suddenly, I knew that I, too, was at the base of an invisible mountain. I could not see the mountain, nor any path leading upwards. I was given to understand that I would not know where I was on the mountain, nor whether I was going up, or down, or backwards, or forwards, or even where I was going. All I knew was the One Who led me on.
At that moment, I saw in front of me a library table with four small drawers. I opened the first one and saw what looked like cards inside. I understood these cards to represent the 10 Commandments. The next drawer also held cards, which I understood to be the Beatitudes. The cards in the third drawer represented the secrets of men's hearts, but the fourth drawer was stuck, opening just a couple of inches, but not enough for me to reach inside. The Lord Himself had to open the drawer for me. I withdrew a scroll, and I could hardly wait to see what it contained. When I unrolled it, it appeared blank. I knew there was something written on it, but I could not see what it was. The Lord made me understand that from childhood, He had caused me to "read" and understand the Commandments, the Beatitudes, and even the secrets of men's hearts---the one thing I could not read was the secrets of my own heart. But as I allowed Him to show me what was written therein, the scroll would unfold and lead me to heaven. I begged Him to show me what was there, and at that time, He gave me the first word: Purity. I did not understand that word then and am only now beginning to grasp its meaning---35 years later. About 20 years after that, He showed me the second word, one I am still trying to understand. But He is directing my understanding, and putting books in my hand that illumine what is in my own heart.
Isaiah 42:19 says this:
Jesus said to the Pharisees, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, 'We see,' so your sin remains (Jn. 9:41). Pride is thinking we are seeing clearly, whereas humility knows that it understands nothing and asks for sight.
Teresa of Avila said that to know oneself is to know God---but the hardest thing of all for us to see is what lies within our own hearts. That is the area of our greatest blindness, the area that only God can reveal to us. Unfortunately, we can see more clearly what is in others' hearts than what is in our own.
About 35 years ago, while in prayer, I had a vision where I was on a cloud overlooking a mountain. I could see the top of the mountain, and all around it the paths leading to the top. On those paths, I could see people climbing, but some had wandered off the path and were lost in the deep forest. "Can I help them?" I asked the Lord, for I could see the path and where they had gone off. "No," He said; "on the journey, they will come to know their Guide." Suddenly, I knew that I, too, was at the base of an invisible mountain. I could not see the mountain, nor any path leading upwards. I was given to understand that I would not know where I was on the mountain, nor whether I was going up, or down, or backwards, or forwards, or even where I was going. All I knew was the One Who led me on.
At that moment, I saw in front of me a library table with four small drawers. I opened the first one and saw what looked like cards inside. I understood these cards to represent the 10 Commandments. The next drawer also held cards, which I understood to be the Beatitudes. The cards in the third drawer represented the secrets of men's hearts, but the fourth drawer was stuck, opening just a couple of inches, but not enough for me to reach inside. The Lord Himself had to open the drawer for me. I withdrew a scroll, and I could hardly wait to see what it contained. When I unrolled it, it appeared blank. I knew there was something written on it, but I could not see what it was. The Lord made me understand that from childhood, He had caused me to "read" and understand the Commandments, the Beatitudes, and even the secrets of men's hearts---the one thing I could not read was the secrets of my own heart. But as I allowed Him to show me what was written therein, the scroll would unfold and lead me to heaven. I begged Him to show me what was there, and at that time, He gave me the first word: Purity. I did not understand that word then and am only now beginning to grasp its meaning---35 years later. About 20 years after that, He showed me the second word, one I am still trying to understand. But He is directing my understanding, and putting books in my hand that illumine what is in my own heart.
Isaiah 42:19 says this:
You who are deaf, listen,
you who are blind, look and see!
Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf but the messenger I send?
You see many things without taking note;
Your ears are open, but without hearing....
See, I am doing something new!
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
Once we "see" that we are indeed blind and deaf and dumb, we can ask for sight and insight. If we fail to perceive that we do not see, we will also fail to see the "new thing" the Lord is doing in us and for us.
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