Categories
Meditations

BEHOLD A MAN, BEHOLDING GOD!

( To gain a further understanding of the meditation that follows, a reading of the suggested scriptures will be most helpful)

Acts 16:19 – 34
Psalm 144: 1 – 15

He is my loving God and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge. Ps.144: 2

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a violent earthquake ..Acts 16:23

This Psalm is a moving expression of one individual’s discovery of the impact that God’s envisioned purpose makes upon life. So awe-inspiring is the vision of human life, which God reveals to him, that David is in a state of ecstatic disbelief. “Is it possible, that what he glimpses now is a plausible expectation of human life? ” What is man that You, God, care for him, or the son of man that You think of him? Can creatures whose days are like ‘a fleeting shadow, a mere breath,’ ever accomplish such magnificence, that will endure the test of time? Even though the Creator is the author of the brevity of human existence, nevertheless, He appoints humankind to an indispensable obligation in the unfoldment of His end plan for this world. We shall realize that the will which the Creator reveals to David, finds total consummation in the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus.

The introductory verses of Psalm 144 will appear to many to be utterly devoid of any trace of religious piety. Here we learn that the impetus for David’s lavish praise of the Almighty is his belief that the Almighty has prepared his “hands for war, and his fingers for battle.” It must be unequivocal that David’s belief does not constitute, in any way, the approval of the Almighty to engage in war as the final resolution of difficult problems. David’s responsive psalm to God goes much deeper than that.
David realizes that the underlying dynamic of his life is an entrance into another stratum of reality, where his physical being is entirely understood and therefore equipped. The idioms of preparing the hands for war and the fingers for battle would be commonplace among an ancient nomadic race where the survival of the fittest is a daily consideration. But how empowering is the belief that humans can, generally speaking, find an open door, which by entering, they can acquire preparation for the tasks which everyday living presents? David, in Psalm 144, reveals that in finding ‘ the door,’leading into a stratum beyond that which is purely physical, he was being accessed by a force of unconditional love, in preparation for tasks yet to be.
Andrea  Bocelli,  an Italian classical tenor, selling more than 80 million records worldwide, attests to the brilliant success of an outstanding artist. In 1998, Bocelli was named ‘one of “PEOPLE’S” 50 most beautiful people.
Sometime before his birth, Andrea’s mother, Edi, suffering from appendicitis, sought medical attention. It was at this time that Mrs. Bocelli received advice from her doctor to abort the fetus which she was carrying at the time, because of substantial evidence that the child would be born with a disability. Andrea’s mother refused the advice. Sometime later the child was born with a severe vision defect. By the time he celebrated his 12th birthday, Andrea Bocelli was entirely blind.
Bocelli is a devout Catholic whose faith informs many – if not most – aspects of his life.
” Faith holds first place in my life.
I do not think anyone can ever do
anything without the help and will
of God.”(2)

Millions, the world over are enraptured by the sound of that magnificent voice singing:
‘ Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I am found;
was blind but now I see.”(3)

There is another truth needing an emphasis here. It is this; Every individual who successfully finds access to that ‘ other strata’ of existence, and thereby sees God, leaves the influence of that encounter as a blessing in the world, even after they depart hence and are no more.
This world is not a solid orb drifting aimlessly in uncharted space. It more resembles a honeycomb, whose interior is housing undeniable evidence that God always finds the right solution to fulfill His will for individuals, and His purpose for this world. This world is being made a better place because of the permanent effects left behind any person’s encounter with the living God, whether one realizes it or not. That is a part of the divine mystery of God’s unconditional love.
Neither is this earth, to recall a phrase of the poet, George MacDonald, ” a place of tombs.” (3)The earth is not a place where human frailties and disabilities inter our fondest dreams and highest hopes. If instead, we find here on earth “a fortress, a stronghold, and a loving God,” as David did, then we experience victory for ourselves, and renewed hope for the world. There is no frailty or disability in the experience of any human that can diminish the willingness and the power of God to affect. God’s presence prepares David’s physical body to meet the challenges that his present situation demands, and you are no different, and the promise is no less sure. Is it fading memory? slowing footsteps? dimming vision? – Nothing can separate you from the love of God.

The whole of the Old Testament and David, himself, are but shadows of the revelation that Jesus more perfectly completes. Jesus demonstrates this truth that George MacDonald so eloquently expresses: ” this earth is not a place of tombs.” The only people who find it so, are those who have forgotten, or perhaps have never known, that God is not finished with us yet! And that is precisely why God raised Jesus from the dead! Behold men, who Behold God! They are never defeated! On they go from strength to strength!

A PRAYER TO FOLLOW THIS MEDITATION
No prison wall is thick enough to keep You away from me, O Loving God; no binding chains are strong enough to shackle the eagle within me, from soaring above the thunder clouds to find You.
I have seen that in the darkest night You surround us with examples of other humans, who are leaving Heaven’s door ajar, inviting us to share in their victory and find restoration in You.
( 4)Peter and Silas were in a dark Roman dungeon. They were wounded and bleeding, the victims of violent injustice. Father, how mightily You trained them and equipped them for that offensive hour. There  must have been a chorus of Angels on hand to strengthen the sounds of praising and singing issuing from that inner dungeon. Prepare us, Lord, so that in our most hopeless situations the victory that always comes from You, will be a true celebration. If we live in You, we will keep rising from the dead. Amen.

 

Hymn:                   Amazing Grace – Andrea Bocelli

Editorial  Notes
1. Here and elsewhere throughout this text,
all quotes from THE HOLY BIBLE are
from the NEW INTERNATIONAL
TRANSLATION, (NIV)
2. Andrea Bocelli. Quoted in an article: Andrea
Bocelli – Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Bocelli
3.George MacDonald in ” A Prayer for the Past

www.online-literature.com › George MacDonald
4. Reference: Acts 16: 19 – 34 .in #1 abov

Photo: Taken from our son-in-law’s yacht  – somewhere in Notre-Dame Bay , Newfoundland, August 2017   

        

 

 

Categories
Meditations

SEEKING PEACE IN A RESTLESS WORLD

 

 

                         Peace, perfect peace

( To gain a further understanding of the meditation that follows, a reading of the suggested scriptures will be most helpful)

Luke 13: 31 – 35
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,…….how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing !” (1)
Restlessness is almost a definition of our humanness. Perhaps it is restlessness that differentiates us most of all from our Creator. The Divine Spirit rests after brooding over the deep, to create all things. Our rest is mostly spasmodic and seldom serene. It is restlessness, like the waves of an ever ebbing sea that best characterizes the human condition.

There is an uneasiness here on earth that is generic! It comes all unbidden, even as the world tries to make us comfortable, and gain that ” at home” feeling. The world’s consuming embrace soon reveals the phantom-like quality of its promises until one becomes disillusioned and filled with restlessness. Then there begins the endless quest for something more.
We make concerted efforts to curb our discontent, and on occasion, we enjoy some temporary relief.
For the poet, John Masefield, a trip on his challenging sea is all that is needed. Others  find a meandering stroll down memory’s lane to enjoy the reveries of some far off yesterday is enough to restore life’s peace and tranquility. Still others, like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, find complete release from restlessness in the pages of some treasured book:

Come read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.

Such songs have power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer.

And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs
And silently steal away. (2)

But in the morning the delicate equilibrium steals away with the evening star.
The book providing yesterday’s pleasure is closed! The too-brief sea voyage ends! Someone or something awakens us from our reveries, and chaos and perplexities come again to knock upon life’s door!

We learn from Luke’s Gospel account of the life and times of Jesus, that human restlessness is not a sign that God forgets us. In the words of Jesus to the people of Jerusalem, He expresses the exact empathy and tenderness we humans crave. The illustrative picture that follows is God’s response to the chronic restlessness of the human spirit:

” O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
how often I have longed to gather
your children together, as a hen
gathers her chicks under her wings,
but you were not willing.”(3)

It is a common conclusion of many who undertake a reading of the New Testament, that Jesus is something ‘completely OTHER’ than human. Therefore, all the mores and standards associated with Him lie beyond a human’s ability to achieve. I suggest rather that this image is the result of observing life from a vantage point above the restlessness and the chaos of the world. This vantage point ‘above,’ what we now are, is the result of one’s finding God. And consequently, we view life, with all the glorious possibilities our Creator sees. It is imperative that we understand that herein lies the only hope for the human race.

Under ‘the wings of God’ there is no tension based on the color of one’s skin; or how many millions one can lay claim to, while his brothers and sisters suffer the pains of starvation; no race towards the production of weapons of mass destruction to settle human-made dilemmas.
The gross misunderstandings, the partial truths, the warped and twisted ideas permeating the ancient city of Jerusalem, thrust the local populace into a sea of confusion, restlessness, and despair.
Jesus shows us the true meaning of empathy. Empathy does not mean to observe from the outside what lies inside a broken heart, or the longing to find some certainty in the quagmire of constant change. The essential meaning of empathy, Jesus demonstrates, is to take the offending circumstances that belong to other people, and graft them into one’s own experience long enough to put upon them, the mark of that spirit. Then upon their return to their owner, by the Grace of God, they will inspire victory.
During the Crucifixion, when mob hysteria reigns in the boisterous, and unthinking crowds, Jesus endures their insults and accusations. He silently gathers all inside Himself. Finally, He responds to His tormentors, and indeed to the world, by offering the most gracious moment ever lived. He impregnates the noxious air that is invading everything, with the prayer: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Our experiences of restlessness, whatever initiates them, need never be supplemented by any fear of God’s forgetfulness. We forget that God is always present in Jesus Christ, to gather us within the shelter of Himself, and thereby provide for us the peace that passes all understanding. As a hen gathers her brood under her wings, so He desires to shelter each of us.
In the end, however, our peace of mind and serenity of soul is contingent upon our willing obedience in this life. The full meaning of life becomes apparent only “In Him,” from ‘UNDER HIS WINGS! It is here alone that we can learn ‘To Be As He Is’ and therefore ‘Do As He Does!’ Our lives are to be the conduits of His unconditional love, and continuously drawing from the deep well of His empathy we must go out into the troubled world to bear one another burdens. Only  in this way can we bring peace to the restless world.
There is a profound thought captured in a poem titled: “THE PULLEY” by the 14-century poet, George Hebert:

” When God at first made man,
Having a glass of blessings standing by;
‘Let us, said He, ‘pour on him all we can:
Let the world’s riches, which dispersed lie,
Contract into a span’.

So strength first made a way;
Then beauty flow’d , then wisdom, honor, pleasure:
When almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving that, alone of all his treasure
Rest at the bottom lay
‘ For if I should,’ said He,
‘Bestow this jewel also on my creature,
He would adore My gifts instead of Me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature:
So both should losers be.’

‘Yet let him keep all else,
But keep them with repining restlessness:
Let him be rich and weary, that at least,
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to my breast. (4)

Prayer to Follow This Meditation

O God, our Father
May the Peace of Your Heavenly Home come once more to change the world, we now call ‘home.’
Many of Your children are afraid, disillusioned and beginning to despair. They hear grown men shouting at each other and threatening one other with utter destruction. ‘ Man’s inhumanity to man’ is exploding everywhere. Everywhere, greedy people flaunt their wealth while infants in the global village or on the next street cannot find milk to sustain life. There are governments glassy-eyed over the promised revenue to be gained from legalizing substances that may well increase the wailing because of lives similarly destroyed and broken by addictions. O God of all mercy, show us the way of Peace.
Show us again that Heaven’s Peace is not the “greenhouse” variety that too soon fades. Show us once more that Heaven’s Peace is the product of LOVE. Love that binds together all who bear Your Image. O God, Please, for Your sake, and for ours, hasten the reign of Your Peace on earth. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, AMEN.

 

Sweet Peace The Gift Of God

‘https://franksmeditations.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=367&action=edits Love

https://youtu.be/Zx9XvhVtD9o

Editorial Notes

1.All quotations from The Holy Bible are from The New International Version, NIV
2. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in “DAY IS DONE,” stanzas 7,9 &11. Bartleby.com
3. See #1 above
4.George Herbert in ‘THE PULLEY’
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44370/the-pulley

Photo: taken at our summer cottage at Michael’s Harbour, Newfoundland , August, 2017.

 

 

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