Category: Meditations

Mark 15:39. “And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus heard His cry and saw how He died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son Of God!”

Scripture Emphasis: Revelation 3:20.” Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If Anyone hears my voice and opens the door. I will come in and eat with him and he with Me.”

My desire in this hour is to show you the transforming power of the risen Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ is not recollections from antiquity, an event long since passed; instead, it is participation in the event happening in this present and will continue to happen.

The following meditation will require your imagination to fully comprehend this mystery. Robert Louis Stevenson suggests that reading Scripture with imagination will startle and move anyone who makes an effort.

Permit yourself to be transported back in time and place to a Roman barracks situated in the heart of Jerusalem, the Holy City. Inside the barracks, there is a luxury suite overlooking the more modest homes of the city’s population. Here are the temporary living quarters of General Antonio Proclurus when  away from ‘home.’

In as far as possible, I wish to assume the role and character of the Centurion supervising the Roman occupation of Judea and’ consequently, the Crucifixion of Jesus at Golgotha. According to some records of The Passion Story, this Centurion is considered unsympathetic and ruthless.
Unbeknown to the Centurion, we observe him from the dark shadows of his elegant quarters. The time is early Sunday morning, following the execution of Jesus on the preceding Friday.

General Proclurus is a strong muscular man who looks older than his thirty-three years. Proclurus is oblivious to anything out of the ordinary happening in the Garden of Joseph of Arimathea, where the body of Jesus lies. However, General Proclurus does notice some movement of figures in the pale gray of the early morning. Even though there is a definite uneasiness in his gait as the general returns, again and again, to look through the large casement window towards “The Hill,”  There, three crosses still stand silhouetted against the sky as a grim reminder of Friday’s ignominious event. Finally, with halting steps, the Centurion moves behind a large oak desk, all the while stealing uneasy glances toward the Garden; he slowly sits and begins to write:

” To my dearest Maria,
my love, and my darling wife, and to Felix, my
son, and
my hope for the future:

I cannot wait any longer to tell you about all the bizarre happenings here in Jerusalem these last couple of days. There has been ongoing unrest in this outpost of our great Empire for a long time. This tension has its roots in a complicated relationship between local radical, religious groups and our authorities.

But recently, the turmoil took on a different twist.
The focus now is a fight between the locals themselves and not so much with our Imperial presence. There is one of the Jews
who identified Himself as their long-awaited Messiah. Others rejected this claim, called Him an imposter, and demanded His death. Pontious Pilate, our trusted governor, could find no reason to impose the death penalty on Him, but the opposing team demanded that Pilate should crucify Him for treason. And finally, Pilate gave in to the demands of the angry mob and sentenced him to death. His name was Jesus! Two thieves, whose names I don’t remember, were put to death alongside Him. Of course, as part of my command, I was carrying out orders like a loyal servant of our gracious emperor. “Three more rebels for you to nail down, Antonio,” someone in the central office jokingly instructs in the execution order.

But, Maria, the look which that man Jesus gave me made me feel that I was being born for the second time. I mean not of the flesh but the spirit. No longer could I be a calloused, uncaring man; instead, I felt like a pure, innocent and trusting child again.

Maria, do you recall the day you said, “Antonio, you are ideally suited for this job? There is no need for you to wear that steel armour because you wear it naturally all the time”. I know you were only joking with me,  Maria, but that man Jesus pierced my steel armour on Friday, and for the first time in years, I felt alive, like a real man. I felt the miracle of fresh air filling my lungs. And to realize that I had to crucify Him!

Later in the morning, when it was all over, I stood guard over the three crosses. I heard Him say:” I am thirsty”! And then Maria, I broke with all protocol! And I gave Him water to drink. And the most significant moment of my entire life broke in upon me! It came with the sound of a thousand silver trumpets. He said, “Thank you, Antonio”! Quietly I tried to hide my tears from the others. How did He know my name? I watched Him dying just as I was coming to life. Sadly, I was taking
his life while he was giving me his! I told everyone standing around that day, I now tell everybody in the whole world: “Surely, this Man was The Son Of God.”
My love, Maria, grows more profound than ever, and for our precious son Felix.
With tender love
Antonio.”

Antonio rises from his chair, approaches the casement window and throws it wide open. He looks through the golden rays of the rising sun towards the Garden. Antonio blinks in disbelief. A figure, unnoticed until this moment, is approaching his barracks; At this early hour? Undoubtedly, it is a bad omen. Surely, somebody from the
guard was coming to inform me of a new disturbance! Or could it possibly be some royal emissary from headquarters? Antonio mused in bewilderment. In the golden haze of the morning sun, Antonio saw the white robe the approaching figure wears. It looks hauntingly familiar. And, what is the strange-looking thing adorning his head? As Antonio floats down the stairs in breathless wonder, he questions with
a  half-exposed hope: Jesus? Jesus? Jesus?”
And then, Just as he was about to throw the door wide open, there was a knock upon it. The silence that follows is static! No words are necessary; their exchanged looks say everything. And God saw His New Creation in the dawning glory of that Easter Morning, and God saw that it was good! This very day He is yearning still for new creations. ” Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If Anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

Hymn: Christ The Lord Is Risen Today

A PRAYER TO FOLLOW THIS MEDITATION

O Risen Christ, Take us by the hand and lift us out of our tombs of half beliefs and mouldering doubts. Set us aflame with a kindred glow of the rising sun on this Easter Day so that into this world, all people everywhere may know that a renewed force to be reckoned with has come.
Place the empty tomb nearby to receive
Our smug complacency that turns a deaf ear to pleas for compassion and understanding;
Our broken promises, destroying  hope and making  dreams impossible;
Our domesticated faith ensures that daring to be different is on a tight leash, leaving the impression that nothing very significant happened in The Garden on Easter morn.

Raise brave women and men who give the Risen Christ the space to live in this world in the offering of their spirits. May they confess with boldness,” Surely this man is the Son of God !” Then shall we each, in His strength, make this earth “His Kingdom” of justice and love and peace. In the Name of Our Risen Lord, we pray, Amen.

Hymn: Hallelujah Chorus

Editorial Notes

1. Here and throughout the text of this meditation, the quotations from the Holy Bible are from the New International Translation, Unless otherwise noted in the text.

2 . Photo:  The Arches National Park, Utah, USA.

UNFURLING THE BANNER

Suggested Reading: John  14: 15 – 31
Scripture Emphasis: Psalm 60: 4

Psalm 60:24 “But for those who fear You, You have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow.”

The historical background of Psalm 60 is soul-stirring, considering the epic tragedy unfolding on the world stage.
This Psalm is a lament towards God by the Judeans following the disastrous defeat of the Judean state in 587 BC at the hands of the Chaldeans. Many of the local population blamed God for the Chaldean’s victory.

“You have rejected us, God, and burst upon us;
you have been angry—now restore us!
You have shaken the land and torn it open;
mend its fractures, for it is quaking
You have shown your people desperate times;
you have given us wine that makes us stagger.
But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner
to be unfurled against the bow.” ( Psalm 60:1-4)

But not all the suppliants are so accusing. On the contrary, at the height of the present storm, some recall the faithfulness of God in times past, apart from the current desperate scene.

Who can honestly confess to forgetting Abraham, Father of their Faith? Was it not God’s intervention that saved Abraham’s son, Isaac, from certain death when Abraham suffered a crisis of Faith?
( Genesis 22:1-19 )
Or, in God’s strength, Moses wrought great exploits, signs and wonders in Egypt that confounded and humiliated Pharaoh and all the sorcerers, magicians and wise men in Egypt. And later, lifting high the rod, symbolizing the Presence of God, Moses inspired the Israelites with renewed courage and undaunted Faith to conquer the Red Sea and witness the defeat of their pursuing enemy.
( Exodus 14: 1-31 )

Life generally produces the invariable result that keeps Faith from being reflective only to become experiential. It is one thing to reflect upon divine providence; it is something more to depend upon God for the next bite of bread or the next cup of water.

Upon looking closer, women and men, sometimes whipped by fierce winds and battered by unrelenting storms, taking them to the brink of surrender, experience the unfurled banner, announcing, despite all else, God’s immanent Presence. Such was the young English poet Rupert Chawner Brooke. He was best known for his war sonnets written during the First world war. Brooke’s poem titled Safety follows.

There it is! The Unfurling of the banner announces, amidst the stark evidence of hatred and destruction, the abiding Presence of the Eternal One!

And we who are committed to our Lord and Saviour, will we remain silent in the face of the present World crises? During this Lenten Season, will we not engage in every possible action to unfurl against every destructive force that Blood-Red Banner first raised on Golgotha? Yet be assured, that flag can remain taunt, so that all may see it, only when living souls, yours and mine, are willing to be filled with His Breath from Heaven. ” That flag, can only be unfurled , When Thou shalt breathe from Heaven!”

                      A Prayer To Follow This Meditation

Father, Your tears are wet upon faces in our broken world;
Your heart weighs heavy at the cruel evidence of ‘man’s inhumanity to man.’
Amidst the thunderous roar of destructive missiles and hovering bombers, there can be heard, still,  the tender expressions of our Father’s love assuring ultimate victory.
And alongside the soldiers, prepared to die for family, Faith, and the land You entrusted to them as their birthright, there stands The Prince Of Peace!

Father, have mercy on us all! Call the raging war inside human minds to cease! Revive our memories that warped egos have long been the root cause of this world’s misery. We praise You for Your truth granted to us in the poet’s words: “The mind in its place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, and a Hell of Heaven.” ( John Milton, in Paradise Lost)
For our own sake and the sake of Your world,
Intercept human foolishness with Your wisdom and
half-heartedness with Your conquering love.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray, Amen.

https://www.bing.com/videos/

  THE ULTIMATE FREEDOM

Additional Suggested Scripture Readings: John 4: 1- 30

Scripture Emphasis: 

John 4: 13-15 “Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” So, the woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

I have taken the liberty of naming the main character in this story Joanna. It seems fitting since the Biblical meaning of the name Joanna is ‘God is gracious.’ God’s gracious intervention saves Joanna.

More than a dozen demands jostled for immediate attention in Joanna’s over-taxed mind. Innumerable household chores mocked her every suggestion of further delay. But one is now urgent above all others. It was to fill the three empty water jars inside the cottage door of their humble dwelling in Sychar. Would she have time now to make it to Jacob’s well and return with water to cook dinner for her working husband?

 Life had never delivered on a promise of happiness in marriage for her; instead, five relationships ended in separation. And to this present moment, she had no reprieve from the demands to behave in ways designed always to please. Today the scorching noon-day sun offered assistance to make the current undertaking even more tortuous. But then, the heat of the noon-day sun would only burn her body, but the scornful approach of gossiping town’s folks seared her soul. Hopefully, no one else would be at Jacob’s well at this hour to deliver the usual treatment; even so, unseen, leering eyes had forever imprisoned her memory.

Some days, other burdens demanded attention, thereby adding weight to an already overburdened mind and body. People thought they knew all the details of her lost dreams and her broken heart. As a result, they destroyed her every effort to make a fresh start by weaponizing their half-truths.

The fact is, this world is often blind to one’s every attempt to be something other than that image decided by those who think they know. Conclusions and pronouncements arbitrarily thought to be true often determine one’s destiny. Such action forces another human being to be a mere object, issuing from combined forces. This predetermining of anyone’s future is anathema to the Creator’s will. 

Joanna’s life, as described, reflects the state of being determined. Joanna’s awareness of her seemingly inescapable situation suggests itself throughout the episode. Yet, her desire to be more than another example of human misfortune is also apparent. 

 Joanna’s effort to snap the chains that bind her to the harsh expectations dictated by the world is slow at the beginning. Therefore, Jesus finds every attempt to engage Joanna in conversation produces pat answers, indicative of her unfamiliar experience of in-depth dialogue. For example, Jesus’ polite request for a drink of water results in Joanna’s curt response,” Why are you asking me for a drink? You are a Jew; I am a Samaritan.” Likewise, every theme approached by Jesus meets with evasion, reflective of the shallow, worldly wisdom that governs Joanna’s every thought. Joanna’s entire life reveals a pattern of ‘forcible compulsion,’ which changes her from a free individual with the power to choose for herself into an object to be mastered. And everyone thus controlled becomes an object perpetually imprisoned mentally and spiritually.
When the world reduces its subjects to mere objects, Jesus Christ alone provides the sole remedy.
The record of Jesus’ encounter with Satan in the wilderness reveals how He dealt with the world’s gripping temptation to choose the world’s way of conducting His life instead of God’s way.

Here, Jesus refuses to be acted upon by worldly influences. But instead, taking control of the situation, He becomes the one who responds incisively. He is the Subject. Jesus said, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him alone”.
( Matt.4: 10). The Subject is that which determines itself to be—resulting from neither coercion nor being driven by some external force.

Jesus now approaches Joanna to change her from an object into a liberated subject with the Freedom to choose her destiny.
Even though Joanna’s response to Jesus’ suggestion concerning the availability of living water remains nonchalant, it becomes the occasion for Jesus to teach everyone that God’s gift of His everlasting Spirit is His special gift to all who live.

            “Speak thou to Him, for He heareth,
               And Spirit with Spirit doth meet.
         Closer is He than breathing, nearer than
         hands or feet.” (2)

Celebrate with Joanna in her God-given absolute Freedom. No longer is she a play-thing of fate, an object under the dictates of the world. Instead, she is an admirable subject. She learns, ” Not by might and not by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty,( Zechariah 4:6),
With a newfound boldness, it follows that she invites her accusers to come to the fountainhead of her Freedom. She acts upon the worries and cares that tortured her yesterday by leaning her Spirit upon the Spirit indwelling her. ” Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Freedom.” (2 Corinthians3:17) 

A Prayer To Follow This Meditation

Father,
I am confused about the world’s current definition of Freedom.
Please help me with the slowness of my understanding, and forgive me if I  have paid too much attention to the expressed definitions and not enough attention to Your revelation of what genuine Freedom is.
I experienced an angry crowd screaming from overtaxed vocal cords the words “Freedom, Freedom,” but yet Freedom and respect held hands and silently stole away from that scene.
Restrictions mandated because of a virus that killed millions of humans become interpreted as an infringement upon personal rights and freedoms. Father, forgive such an unsympathetic attitude that might threaten the wellbeing of other fellow humans.
Father, from the earliest times, you have shown us what Freedom looks like. To this day, You show us that Freedom always co-exists with Responsibility. You sent Your Son, Jesus, to dwell amongst us and teach us that we must always be about our Father’s business. Quicken our understanding, never to replace God-given Freedom with a fake worldly duplicate. Only then shall we be able to join in the chorus: ” Free at last, Free at last. Thank God Almighty we are free at last.” We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen. 

HYMN:  Make Me A Captive, Lord  ( click the link below)

https://youtu.be/ReNKgXAaYsE

NOTES

1. Scripture quotations are from the NIV translation of Scripture.
2. ” The Higher Pantheon” poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
3. “ Make Me A Captive , Lord” hymn by Fountainview Academy.

Suggested Reading: John chapters 9 -10
John 9:25

John 9: 24-25-A second time, they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God ” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” ²⁵He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

DEALING WITH FRUSTRATION

Frustration knows no boundaries.
It is an experience leaving its mark on everyone at one time or another. So, likewise, is the ability to deal with frustration and conquer it. But one must seek the relevant truth, and finding it, must own the courage to apply it.
The gospel reference for today captures the essence of the human experience of frustration. This one brief portion of John’s Gospel has Jesus dealing with this troublesome dilemma of frustration, not as an expose’ of his own, but as it attacks the unsuspecting.

Here we encounter a man born blind. In the beginning, the atmosphere is ecstatic since an encounter with Jesus has resulted in a miracle of healing. But sadly, that most liberating moment for the entire family is threatened by evil frustration. The religious authorities interrupt the victory celebration of persistent hopes and unrelenting prayers, with supposedly superior enlightenment. Consequently, in the face of undeniable evidence of the efficacy of the words and actions of Jesus, self-manufactured doubts and the fear of injured egos breed frustration. ” This man Jesus is an imposter,” they pronounced. ” He doesn’t even observe the Sabbath,” offered another.
Then, as it typically does, the malignant frustration metastasizes. “Are you sure that your son was born blind?” inquires the ruthless interrogators of the man’s parents. ” We know that he is our son and that he was born blind,”  answered the man’s bewildered parents. ” but we do not know precisely how it has come to pass that he can now see; ask him!”

The unquenchable flames of misinformation spread frustration like wildfire. So consequently, Jesus confronts the same dilemma again in the chapter immediately following. ” This man is demon-possessed and raving mad!” hisses another over-confident expert concerning Jesus. Yet, another would-be defendant said,” These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” ‘ ( John 10:21)
The nightmare of frustration continues its journey!

But what finally, is the way revealed to us to halt frustration’s malignant progression?
In the first instance, holding firm to God’s revealed truth to you and never abandoning it for someone else’s opinion is most important of all. Nevertheless, one must be critically aware of the ease by which one may portray the will of the Eternal as the perfect reflection of one’s personal, whimsical behaviour. Love is forever the identifying characteristic of God. Therefore, as God’s ambassadors, we will approach the world and its people with Love and compassion.

Notice how the line of questioning by the experts concerning his healing must have been frustrating for the one who now celebrates the unspeakable gift of sight. But listen to the trumpet note of his powerful retort in response to their tricky philosophical prodding! “One thing I know, once I was blind, but now I see.” At which point, frustration slinks away into the shadows!

 The second truth for the defeat of frustration is this: Commitment to someone and something big enough to demand everything you have and are. Thereby, frustration can find no place to gain as much as a feeble foothold! But in the meantime, the incidents following this blind man’s cure, frustration continues to pursue him.
In the course of their heated debate, his interrogators refuse to accord Jesus any relationship to God. ” We don’t even know where he comes from,” they aggressively assert. But,” Love’s blind instinct makes him bold’ ” so the tormented one boldly challenges them,” Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will”. Frustration bristles for a brief moment of victory as the trouble-makers chase the most insightful man among them from the doors of his synagogue. Then finally, frustration falls into the dust when Jesus, encountering him once again, receives from the formerly blind man an absolute surrender. ‘ Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped Him.’
(John 9:38)
Finally, consider that frustration cannot abide in the same space as Faith, just as light and darkness cannot co-exist. Frustration results from false, negative messages from the world arriving at your door, with the caveat that this is the unchangeable future that awaits you. But on the contrary, in the basic understanding of Faith, stand still and permit God to answer the door to your heart and mind. And then, because of the Divine Presence, you will see frustration hastily retreat and, you will rejoice in the salvation of the Lord.

    A PRAYER TO FOLLOW THIS MEDITATION

Gracious Father,
Author of Faith,
The final word to be spoken in all things
 on earth, as well as in the hereafter;
Please hear our prayer to increase
the measure of this Faith in us.
Then in the darkness of our frustrating experiences here,
we hear Your intervening command,
“Let there be light.”
Father, may the light of Your heavenly wisdom guide us through the tangled hinterland of these pandemic experiences.

“Keep watch over the lips” of those whose virulent criticism is causing hurt and pain to the very ones You engage to help You banish suffering and death.
Father,
Teach us to be patient and reasonable in our demands when crises and confusion reign. The current path is all unknown.
Father, amidst the throes of this raging storm, strengthen our ability to Trust, that we will soon hear above the tumult, Your gracious words, “Peace Be Still.”
Lord, keep each of us mindful of the rights of others before demanding compliance with those perceived to be our own.
Father, now and forever, ‘Blest be the ties that bind our hearts in Christian Love.’ In the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray. Amen

Hymn: Peace, Perfect Peace

The photo was taken at our summer place  ‘SHALOM’  in Michael’s  Harbor, Newfoundland.

May your Christmas celebrations quicken your assurance that you are in God’s Everlasting embrace. With that knowledge, may you experience peace, hope, comfort, and abiding love.
As the Holy Child of Bethlehem is born in our hearts anew, God is preparing us to fulfil His greatest desire to change our present world for His glory.

Wishing you all a blessed Christmas, And for the New Year, hands firmly held by the Hands of God.
Frank and Vera Curtis

The following meditation is a personal (recently revised) attempt to convey the timelessness of the Christmas Event.

        THE CARPENTER

Suggested Scripture Reading: Luke 2: 1 – 20

Scripture Emphasis: Luke 2:7

“And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.”
The setting for the story is the town of Bethlehem in the land of Judah. The time is the first Christmas Eve.

Everywhere, crowds gather to discuss the latest happenings on everyone’s mind! The royal decree from Emperor Caesar Augustus, levies taxation on all the world. That edict touched everyone, the young, the elderly, the born, and the yet unborn, from every corner of the known world. Indeed, the hopes and fears of all the years are mingling unavoidably in Bethlehem’s crowded streets tonight! The atmosphere was heavily ladened with all the latest gossip.

” Well, have you heard the latest news?” one displaced migrant started:
” Someone told me that a woman who just arrived in town is about to give birth, but she can find no shelter anywhere in town.” “Well, I say, too bad.” snorted another, “but can you imagine taking a chance like that? Good enough for everyone who takes chances like that! Even when I arrived here early this morning, a notice posted at Bethlehem Inn read,” No Use Knocking! There Is NO ROOM IN The INN”. ” I say blame the corrupted government for all this,” offered another bystander, ” scores of us could find no place to lay our heads. The wild and starry sky will be the only ceiling many of us will know for as long as this thieving scheme lasts: and nobody cares”. And so, the various testy opinions continue.

However, most of the crowd were not interested in hearing about someone else’s plight, enough for each to think of his own.

      But such is the prevailing tone on Bethlehem’s streets tonight. Everyone is too earthbound by personal concerns to permit the entry of thoughts about God, and angels, and the long-awaited Messiah. So instead, this night is more suited for discussions of greed, betrayal, and idle dreams about warrior kings and corrupted schemes.

Aside from the uproar of the crowded streets, many of the town’s residents settle down for their usual night of peaceful rest. Gradually, stars become more visible in the darkening world, as from the windows of one cottage after another, lights disappear.

But, one exception stands out distinctively.

 A single light shines in the home of one, Zachariah Ben Ezra, known among the town’s citizenry as the carpenter. The light announces that Zachariah’s devoted and dearly beloved wife, Rachael, continues her untiring vigil. For a fortnight, Rachael and her sons have been waiting to hear the footfall of the angel of death! They expect that this will, most likely, be the night!

Earlier today, the Family gathered around Zachariah’s bed at his bidding. Silence falls, as the older man, summoning his resources of failing strength, speaks:

  “Before the chariots of the morning ride on the eastern rim of the world, I shall go to the God Of our Fathers. Therefore, listen well, and always honour our Faithful God, just as I sought to do, to this present hour.
There will be many trials and heart-wrenching experiences for all of you. However, be certain; God will always come through, and His Holy purpose will prevail.

 Along with faith and trust in God, I leave you, my sons, the tools of my carpenter’s trade. Twenty-three years, six months and, five days ago this very night, I used my carpenter’s tools for the last time! The memory of that night still gives me the pain to recall.

I was finishing my last shift at the stable at Bethlehem’s Inn. The very next morning, I was to begin a new job. I was engaged to be the carpenter in charge of building our Holy Temple. That was quite an honour, a prestigious position. Indeed, it was quite a promotion from constructing a manger in the stable at Bethlehem’s Inn to creating ‘The Holy of Holies’ in the Sacred Temple. For me, it was the dream of a lifetime. And It was on the verge of becoming my reality! 

 Suddenly, hopes and dreams ground to a torturous halt! My right arm became severed from my body. Consequently, it was several days later before I realized just what this accident meant for me! I must admit to you, I cried! But through it all, I could not determine whether the tears were my own or God’s! Of one thing, I remain certain: I was never alone! Not then! Not now, Not never will I be! My hope in this life was to accomplish something good for God, Who has done so much for me! But I have learned that it is not my feeble hold on God that counts; instead, it is His powerful hold on me! Therefore, I now place this broken instrument in God’s hands, and I know that the touch of His hand will produce a tune befitting for the courts of Heaven!”

Death lingered for Zacharias. It was about midnight when a friend of many years hastened to Zacharius’ bedside. Ecstatic with excitement, he stoops to whisper into Zacharius’ ear, “Zacharius, my dear friend, Your Friend, Israel’s Messiah has come! He is lying in your manger bed in Bethlehem’s stable! ”                           

   Prayer To Follow This Meditation

O glorious Light of Heaven,
 Shine upon the pathway that will bring us to the manger of Bethlehem at this Christmas time.

Kneeling there before the Light Of The World, who arrives again this night into our midst, fix in us reflectors that we may show by word and deed the message of this Season, ‘Emmanuel, God is with us.’ Fix in us, though humble, a dwelling place so that we may prove ourselves to be ambassadors of Thy Peace on earth. So may we add to the legend of how the beasts of the field offer all they had to honor the Baby. Even now, He lies helpless in our crowded world, waiting for humble hearts to become His dwelling place.

O Light of Heaven, send Your effulgent rays into the far reaches of our world, so that people of all nations, coming to its rising, will constitute One Family for the glory of God! Amen.

   Hymn: O Holy Night

https://youtu.be/hJw-ey1DPRA

FIRST THE CLOUDS AND THEN THE GLORY OF GOD

Supplementary Reading: Romans 8: 18 – 27

Scripture Emphasis,

Exodus 16:10 “While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.”

“I’ll walk with God,
From this day on.
His helping hand I’ll lean upon.
This is my prayer, my humble plea,
May the Lord be ever with me.

There is no death though eyes grow dim
There is no fear when I’m near to him
I’ll lean on him forever
And he’ll forsake me never
He will not fail me as long as my faith is strong
Whatever road I may walk alone

I’ll walk with God.
I’ll take his hand.
I’ll talk with God. He’ll understand
I’ll pray to him
Each day to him
And he’ll hear the words that I say

His hand will guide my throne and rod.
And I’ll never walk alone
While I walk with God.”

“I’ll Walk With God” is a popular song written for the motion picture “The Student Prince.” The film’s title character,
‘the student prince,’ sings this song at his grandfather’s casket, the king of Karlberg. (1)

The most admirable resolve in all the world, that!
And it remains equally so for the myriads of people who set out each morning with that resolve. 

When you meet them, they appear as fresh as the morning itself; talk with them, the air of refreshing faith embraces you. In their voice is the sweet music of innocence. The whole world seems vibrant with hope.

If only this view of life became the hope for all, then the world, now grown cold with fear and suspicion, would be young and vibrant again. 

But, as yet, that reality remains elusive. So instead, we see a world of threatening desert expanses with their mirages that may attack our longed-for dreams.

Why is it that one day it’s easy enough to believe that “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein.”
( Ps.24:1) KJV.
But the next day, the same world emits the vision of
“an infant crying in the night,
an infant crying for the light
with no language but a cry.” (2) 

Where does one begin to understand such diverse experiences? Is it that faith’s realities are less solid than the realities we experience? The Old Testament story of the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt suggests this.
A constant expression of faithless discontent and constant grumbling by the journeying Israelites results in a summons before God to answer their behaviour.
 “While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the clouds.”
The desert and the ominous clouds become the exclusive focus of the Israelites, not God and His glory.
This conversation between Aaron and the Israelite community follows an arduous struggle with the desert, prompting poignant questions about God’s role in this exodus undertaking. But yet, there is no doubting that there is a strong relationship between God and the people of Israel while enslaved in Egypt. “I (God) have seen the misery of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their crying out because of their slave drivers.”

The Israelite community experiences the glory of God, as with child-like faith, they move towards the open doors to freedom. Not at all physically overburdened with worldly possessions, the spirit of trust in them reigns supreme. But, tragically, the reality of physical needs and fear for the future changes everything!
Consequently:
-The glory of the Lord becomes replaced by that malignant fear.
-Their cups, once overflowing with gratitude, now are filled with demands for more physical sustenance.
-Submission to the continuing guidance of God’s hand becomes replaced, instead, with blame towards humans.
Physical needs and immobilizing fears must never overshadow God’s Presence with us. Faith knows that God remains with us even when life’s desert experiences threaten imminent dangers!
Learn again that life’s puzzles can never find solutions in our more intense personal logical efforts but in faith alone.
 Faith is God coming to assist each person on a voyage of discovery that He already is at home in our spirits. What we now endure can in no way compare to the Glory of God that ever awaits us!

  A PRAYER TO FOLLOW THIS MEDITATION

Dear Father, we bow amazed at the tenderness that greets us as we approach Your heavenly throne. We are children of the earth. Yet, here we are welcomed as loyal subjects of Heaven’s Kingdom.

Father, here on earth, we often miss the brightness of Your glory when threatening clouds capture our attention. Teach us, dear Father, to remember that just as the evening star still shines in splendour, although invisible through the covering clouds, Your presence remains constant day and night with Your children.

Unfortunately, there are many worldly distractions for us!  When coupled with the world’s threats associated with our non-compliance, they serve to energize our physical needs while blinding us to the essential requirements of our spirits. 

In this matter, we are still much like the ancient Israelites; the appeal of Heaven’s glory becomes lost in the needs visualized in some fearsome desert. Yet, ours is an even greater fallacy than the Israelites. Our concentration upon the likelihood of hardships is despite the manifestation of God’s supreme glory to us in Jesus Christ. He came to accompany us every day, even when life’s deserts stretch in front of us.

Father, in mercy, hear the prayer that Jesus left with me when He faced life’s most cruel desert, “Father, into Your hands I commend my spirit.” Amen.

Hymn: I’ll Walk With God

https://youtu.be/_OQ2Cc6yFz4

References

1. Wikipedia The free online encyclopedia, for info and lyrics to “I’ll Walk With God.”
   2. In Memoriam, Poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson
   Tennyson’s Poetry “In Memoriam” Summary & Analysis | SparkNotes3. YouTube

THE HAND THAT GUIDED

The Book of Ruth relates that Ruth and Orpah, two women of Moab, married two sons of Elimelech and Naomi, Judeans who had settled in Moab to escape a famine in Judah. Unfortunately, the husbands of all three women die; Naomi plans to return to her native Bethlehem and urges her daughters-in-law to return to their families. Orpah does so, but Ruth refuses to leave Naomi, declaring: (1)

(Ruth 1:16–17), “Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die—there will I be buried.” Ruth accompanies Naomi to Bethlehem.
(Scripture Emphasis)

One is left face-to-face with God at the end of that text! God alone can source such empathy. Only God can take the brokenness of this world and its glaring injustices and weave them into a garment of splendour to grace the soul. 

First, meet Naomi, then when you meet God, your spirit will rejoice in God’s power to change something you thought to be quite ordinary into something exquisitely beautiful. To have that experience is like finding a rose in full bloom among an expanse of ashes. 

But first, see the ashes! Naomi, herself, sees it everywhere! 

Naomi was an Israelite woman from the tribe of Judah from Bethlehem. Her homeland and her faith were among her most treasured possessions. However, a severe drought in Israel forced Naomi, her husband, and two sons to migrate to the land of Moab in search of food. 

For Naomi and her family, faith in the goodness of Israel’s God grew stronger with each passing day. Resolutely, they maintained the “hope that springs eternal in the human breast,’ that God would yet provide sustenance for their survival. Irresistibly, Naomi held to a child-like belief that nothing could resist the power of God’s Love to change and make all things new in every circumstance.

But now, as they entered Moab, it became painfully clear that Moab was a pagan land. The Israelite family soon encounters strange customs, unfamiliar social mores, and intonations to foreign gods. Everything combined to make them long for home. Only momentarily did a swamp of despair remain. Naomi, as usual, summons their faith once more, and with it, courage also arrives. God often hides beauty among what, at first sight, seems to be only ashes!

 But, within a few years in Moab, Naomi faces even more challenges to her faith! Firstly, the love of her life, now surrounded by people with strange beliefs and who whisper the names of foreign gods, lies cold in death.
 And, even yet, all is not told!

If we allow ourselves to reveal the wishes that flow from every mother’s Heart, all prefer their children to continue the faith traditions they experienced from birth. But Naomi sees both of her sons marry Moabite girls. One is named Ruth; the other’s name is Orpah.

 But as alarming as it may seem, Naomi’s threatening ash heap does not increase due to those marriages. In truth, where others may likely see only ashes, Naomi observes a few green shoots of promising beauty! Could it be, she wondered, if the deity with strange-sounding names were, in reality, the same God she knew, only by a different name! 

 In secret, Naomi’s spirit made pilgrimages almost daily to her beloved homeland to find comfort and grace in the presence of the God she loved. How else would she find the strength, courage and fortitude to continue with life since her two sons had died within the ensuing decade?

Naomi’s virtual visits to Bethlehem, in spirit, were insufficient now. She must return home to Bethlehem in person!

 Now deeply moved by it all, Naomi announces her decision to her daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah.

Naomi knows only too well that the ties binding human hearts in love are never easily broken. Consequently, it is not surprising that the unpretentious witness of Naomi’s spirit had a lasting impact on her daughters-in-law. They felt Naomi’s faith in God which created such captivating beauty. Thus, the unseen Hand guiding Naomi’s life is now at work in Ruth and Orpah! 

Empathizing with the girl’s unspoken determination to remain beside her to comfort her in her crushing loss, Naomi addresses their dilemma,” Remain here in Moab with what is familiar to you,” she offers, ” live your lives in the company of the people you know, and love. Share the customs and beliefs you have in common.”
 In the Heart of both Orpah and Ruth, roses, planted by the Hand of Naomi’s God, broke into full bloom.
It follows, though, that such love induces an irrepressible desire to respond in kind.
Orpha chooses to remain in Moab. No doubt, there she will work in God’s rose garden, finding opportunities to promote the secret of Naomi’s beauty.
Ruth refuses to leave Naomi, declaring (Ruth 1:16–17), “Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die—there will I be buried.” Ruth accompanies Naomi to Bethlehem and there surrenders to the secret of Naomi’s beauty.

Prayer To Follow This Meditation

Father, we believe You envisaged a world where the miracle of love between people, and the abiding mystery of faith, would recreate it. 

Father, please show us again that supreme mystery of faith; and the transforming miracle of love. 

At the precise moment that the world unleashes a barrage of heart-wrenching experiences to destroy us, you arrive on the soul’s stairway of faith with Your, “Be not afraid, it is I.” 

When the world echoes sardonic laughter at our efforts to be good and honourable, and subsequently, we become abandoned and ostracized; into the picture, You introduce Someone to love us and Someone for us to love. 

We bless You for the very human story of Naomi, Ruth and Orpah. For the work of Your guiding Hand that builds the stairway of faith between You and Naomi, and from Naomi to Ruth and Orpah. For Your vision of love’s power which creates such transforming relationships, we praise You, Father.

All of these things and even more are made available to the world through the mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. ” For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Herewith is the world’s present darkness dispelled, and then the golden chains of God’s love will bind together people all over the world.  

” I’ll bless the Hand, that guided,
    I’ll bless the Heart, that planned,
    When throned where glory dwelleth,
     In Emmanuel’s Land.” (2)

Grant, my Father, that I will not wait ’till then to offer You praise. Unabashedly let the rejoicing begin now!

In the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord; then in Emmanuel’s Land in Thy mercy may praise continue. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Hymn: O Love, That Will Not, Let Me Go

https://youtu.be/nt69WDtYNLo

                                  NOTES
1. Suggested reading,
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ruth-biblical-figure)

2. Scripture quotations are from the NIV translation

3. From the hymn,’ The Sands Of Time Are Sinking.’
by A.R. Cousins.

                    BELIEF BEYOND BOUNDS

Scripture Emphasis

“Mark 7:24-30 ²⁴Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, yet he could not keep his presence secret. ²⁵In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter, possessed by an impure spirit, came and fell at his feet. ²⁶The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷“First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” ²⁸“LORD,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰She went home and found her child lying on the bed and the demon gone.

Belief, when it is veritably Christian, transcends all boundaries!
                  No arguments diminish it;
                 No new philosophies can ever replace it;
                  No cynical efforts can ever defeat it. Consequently, Christian belief rises again from the ashes of historical cynicism, continuing to wear the conqueror’s crown. Christian faith never wallows in stagnant backwaters, fearing the experience on stormy seas of controversies. But Christian belief undergirds every situation like the unspeakable calm that lies just beneath its surface when the sea is boiling.

All of the above is true because belief is inextricably bound to the presence of Jesus. Jesus, from early childhood, stood on the firm religious foundation of His Jewish forebearers, celebrating the fact of God’s dwelling in our spirits to manifest His love and unwavering care for us. The Deuteronomic historian pronounced this firm belief, ” The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deuteronomy 32:27). Through the advent of Christ, what were previously inspiring words ” became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have beheld His Glory.”

Christian belief is not the product of analytical research into the historicity of Jesus. Neither can the detailed application of psychological theories or consideration of philosophical archetypes unravel the mysteries surrounding Christian belief. In fact,
Christian belief does not result from consideration of ready-available conclusions made by others. Facts and theories proven true for someone else will not guarantee a well-established faith for you. On the contrary, your belief depends entirely on a personal revelation of Christ, Himself, to you. For instance, the miraculous spread of the Faith in the Risen Christ was not solely due to the testimony of the early visitors to Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning. Instead, the greater impetus in that miraculous spread was the personal and private revelations of Jesus. Women and men became demonstratively changed from their previous selves. Peter, the other disciples, and the apostle Paul were prime examples of this truth.

In the final analysis, Christian Faith results from an individual’s revelatory experience with the Risen Christ. They become Christ’s ambassadors, not by choice but by compulsion. ” I live, yet not I, but Christ who lives in me.”
(Galatians 2: 20).

 The Christian Gospel is the epic narrative of a movement that refuses to be constricted by prison walls or prejudiced souls. History reveals myriad efforts to prevent the spread of Christian beliefs. The blood of martyrs stains the pages, and, sadly now, people are swelling the ranks of those content to permit the event of “the WORD becoming flesh to dwell among us” to become just a word again.

In the Gospel lesson for today, Mark goes to great length to make clear that Jesus did not go into Gentile territory to embark on a healing ministry. More likely, His journey into the vicinity of Tyre was in search of a brief reprieve from the narrow prejudices of those who owned a stinging religion. But belief about Him had gone beyond the borders of Galilee.

Mark insists on letting us all know that the house Jesus enters belongs to a pagan. He tells us that one immediately joins their company which was both Greek and, by race, a Phoenician.

Although unproven, when coupled with the wrenching cries of a sick child in the heart of a loving mother, Faith is a formula for moving mountains existing between Tyre and Galilee. But is not the door of her soul fortified against all other religious dogmas? Yet, the eternal truth remains, that embedded in the spirit of each human, the same God of all Creation instills the same knowledge of the divine, even though it be identified to them by different names. God has already come down the secret stairway into this woman’s soul. Belief has already equipped her to seek and find a pathway to victory and healing. Powerful Faith, to deliver healing, races ahead to the home of the Syrophoenician woman, and, on her arrival, she finds her child wholly healed.

Set no boundaries in your journey through life.
Be not afraid of what you think is unattainable.
Never sit back and wait, hoping that a less obstructive pathway may appear for you to travel.
God is waiting to discuss with you the path that lies ahead. The power of Belief in Him not only lights the proposed route for you to follow but at the end, He will stand alongside you to celebrate a most remarkable achievement.

                A Prayer to Follow This Meditation

       My Father, thank You for the Faith that is
   more splendid than any light needed to find my way, when the night here is as dark as pitch;
  more resilient than a young child’s smile, following a moment’s disappointed frown;
   as permanent as a mother’s love, even amidst her tears for her child’s careless loss of opportunity;
  as ready as a father’s wisdom to know of his child’s need in some trying circumstance and to travel the distance, at least in spirit, to show the way by memory’s recall.
Father, the greatness of this gift of Faith, both powerful and tireless, can change humankind; and thereby change this world to resemble a place where Your will accomplishes all things as it does in Heaven.
Father, save me from the timidity of standing out noticeably in a crowd as one holding fast to Christian Beliefs. This world, daily, makes it more normal to become lost in the crowd than to stand firm in the Faith both for Christ’s sake as well as for the future of the world.
Father, thank you for Your love! Would you please show me how to love You in return? Amen.

Hymn: Make Me A Captive, Lord
https://youtu.be/tWgpXbJTbrs

Picture Of Innocence

Words always fail to capture my heart’s response whenever I look at this photo of my four-year-old daughter, playing the piano in the presence of her most committed friend. The location was the St. Anthony United Church manse many years ago.
May innocence, gentleness, belief, and deep love always embrace your spirit too.

REST OF THE WEARY

Scripture Readings: Psalm 62: 1 – 12, John 14: 1 – 31

Scripture Text:
Psalm 62: 1
“My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress; I will never be shaken”.

People throughout the world are demanding a return to normalcy! But can one expect that demand to meet with success? Everyone’s definition of normalcy is different. Therefore, the logical question is, where does one begin the search for normalcy? Certainly not in the arena of human behaviours’ will a satisfactory definition be found. Generally speaking, when seeking an example of normalcy on the horizontal plane, ethical and social mores demonstrate the impossibility of finding a meaning of normalcy that applies to everyone.

The unpredictable pandemic that required the restriction of some activities resulted in angry protestors demanding an immediate return to normalcy. Scientists begging for a cautious approach to protect others from disease and death had accusations of human rights violations hurled at them. 

Demonstratively, a more inclusive concept of normalcy is necessary if tomorrow’s outcome is healthier and happier than present demands reflect.

 All efforts to examine truth concerning individual behaviours and the communal responsibilities of humankind require viewing them from above. Wherefore, our motivating quest is the same as a man’s question to God, many centuries ago, ‘What is a man that you (God) are mindful of him?’ Psalm 8:4.’

If indeed our present longing is to discover true freedom that makes each one of us our sister’s and brother’s keeper (Genesis 4: 1-9), a pure expression of Faith in God is paramount.  

ST. Augustine of Hippo in Augustine’s Confessions wrote, ‘Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.’

Psalm 62 expresses one man’s longing to return to a more equitable and liberating way of life. Yet, abandoned by all fellow pilgrims of the way, he concludes he is nothing more than a tottering fence or a leaning wall. Being bereft of human empathy and understanding, he appeals for rational consideration, but to no avail. Unable to find the milk of human kindness, he appeals to the Creator of all to reveal God’s intention for creating the human race. An ineffable peace wraps him around. Amidst the persisting echoes of the world of distrust and self-serving interests, he now enters a solitude that absolves him. A hymn celebrating liberation rises in his heart: ‘My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress; I will never be shaken.’

The early disciples of Jesus learned to rest in him alone while he dwelt with them here on earth. Therefore, their Faith was not a conscious effort to measure their lives by performing miracles like they saw Jesus perform. It was something far greater than that. It was the surrendering of the self to the in-dwelling miracle-working presence of Christ within. In so doing, the disciples receive a self-consciousness that is wholly independent of all self-introspection.  

Here is the secret concerning the kind of return and re-creation for which the world’s inhabitants genuinely yearn. 

 In the throes of this disastrous pandemic, He was in Christ; God was there, teaching us to pray; “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. It became restful for people to develop a renewed interest in scriptures that induce hope:

“If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways”. (Psalm 91: 9 – 11)

And now in, the re-shaping and re-building of the global community, shall we insist on our way of doing things, OR, shall we seek to have an answer to our familiar daily prayer, uttered by millions; ‘Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.”

 PRAYER TO FOLLOW THIS MEDITATION

Blessed Father,
 Inside a tomb
        Cold, dark and lifeless,
the imperceptible blessing of
rebirth of a tired and broken world burst forth, and it can yet happen once more.
Now, like a living tomb myself, I await the power of resurrection. May it burst forth in me and send me
back into a world that reeks of fear and mistrust, to
demonstrate once more the way of love.

It is always the presence of Your Son, our Saviour so pure, Holy, sinless and loving, that transforms a tomb from winter’s killing grip to springtime’s triumphant rebirth. 

 Here am I, O Lord. Work your power in me! Equip me that I may be among those who now awaken the world to this renewed, amplified truth; NOW IS CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD! He Is HERE! The whole world will yet find rest in the embrace of God’s unshaken arms. For our sake and in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray. Amen.

Hymn: O safe to The Rock
(Click the links appearing below)

 PERFECTION? MISSION IMPOSSIBLE!

Suggested Scripture:  Matthew 5:43- 6:1-15

Scripture Text: Matthew 5:48 KJV “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”  (1)

 Were there questioning glances of surprise among the disciples seeking some degree of understanding among themselves, concerning the opening phrase of the Lord’s prayer, “Our Father, Who art in Heaven?” Not one of the disciples, I suspect, was familiar with that vocabulary when used of the One to whom they prayed. The standard expectation is for the speaker to choose comprehensible expressions so that the speaker and the hearer can understand one another. Neither the depth of their faith experience nor the suggested familiarity with the Divine was appropriate in fulfilling the disciples’ request, Lord, teach us to pray. (Luke 11 1-3). “ When you pray, say, Our Father, Who art in Heaven. It sounds presumptuous to us still to claim such a relationship to the Creator of all that exists. Yet in the more than the hundred times in the Synoptic Gospels where Jesus uses this designation for God, our hearts rejoice and feel a sense of being home.
Jesus gives further instruction to His Disciples concerning prayer. They must supplement their initial salutation,’ Our Father”, with the qualifier, ‘Who art in Heaven.’ Would that instruction not intensify their inquiry? For instance, the disciples James and John shared labours of the fishing boat with Zebedee, their father. But the instruction given is to address their prayers to their Father, Who dwells in heaven. Would it not be perfectly understandable if James and John would have detailed flashbacks to their father, Zebedee, in the fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee?
But in this present company of Jesus with His disciples, it is Jesus alone who is living out the crucial relationship that awaits each human’s discovery! Heaven is our true home and, our Creator is our true Father. “We are here and now the sons and daughters of God.”
(1 John 3: 2)

We each leave the portals of Heaven as SPIRIT, bearing the likeness and image of God. We leave the portals of Heaven to deal with the challenge of not finding awaiting us, here on earth, the abundant supply of heavenly resources that endowed our initial existence and development. Now embedded in the rich soil of readily available things, there is the temptation to claim much of it as our own. Instead, transforming it by holding it all within our Spirit, we will help to create the Kingdom of God here on earth. 

An architect aspiring to build a structure will experiences with detailed precision the finished product in his mind. The resulting design will not likely be a perfect replica of the envisioned dream. The architect will have to use whatever material is available. Within the mind of the architect, however, the unaltered image of his intention remains. The perfect creation, existing in his mind, is in no way diminished by the accident of temporal circumstances. 

The view that Jesus manifests as the most critical truth of our creation history is that the Divine Architect, God in Heaven, holds securely in His Keeping, the perfect You!  Imagine God’s intention upon viewing this creation and seeing its goodness identifies it as you. Consider now how the ideal you would appear? Remember to allow for the restrictions the world imposes upon every mortal being in this exercise! Yet, Jesus stands beside you to demonstrate to you and all His followers the satanic threats always present. But Jesus provides the way to victory. An attentive reading of the temptations faced by Jesus reveals the ever-present diabolic atmosphere of daily living here. (Matthew 4: 1 – 11)
” Be ye perfect, as your Father, in Heaven is perfect.”
Let this always be our way of life. Know with certainty that it is possible to fulfill the image of the perfect you which Heaven preserves. Jesus is the guarantor of that promise.
The most crucial undertaking for each of us is to graft the secret of Jesus’ life into our own. He lived every second of His life conscious of His Father in Heaven. It is a fact that God reserves a temple in each human as the center for Divine communication and influence. However, unlike us, Jesus entrusts the key to His temple exclusively to His Father. The poet Alfred Tennyson captures the image associated with this reality, “Speak to Him, thou, for He hears, and Spirit with Spirit can meet- Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet.”
— Alfred Tennyson (2)

It seems to me that there is far too much personal, even hysterical effort, put into trying to imitate the life and works of Christ; and not near enough trust in the LIVING CHRIST within. We may not feel at any given moment that we have attained the perfection necessary. But the fulfillment of that perfection is Christ’s if our surrender is sincere and complete.” Be ye perfect, as your Father in Heaven is perfect.”

I seek your indulgence for the personal reference that follows. It is a simple testimony of how the word ” Father” used to address God impacted me while still a child. My dad died at sea when I was barely four months old. In the fourth grade, while learning to read, one day, in secret, I opened an old family Bible and attempted to read Psalm 2. I understood but little of what I read. Suddenly and entirely unexpectedly, verse 7 leaped from the page to nestle in my heart forever. In this Psalm, God was speaking to a servant long ago. ” You are my son today; I have become your father.”

Many years have passed since the day of that discovery. I have learned much, and I am still learning. I have a post-graduate degree in divinity and have been learning from my parishioners for more than thirty years. Consequently, my faith has changed and developed over time. But it remains to this present moment that the expositions on Psalm 2 by the most eminent scholars can never uproot the understanding granted a fourth-grader one day long ago. 

A PRAYER TO FOLLOW THIS MEDITATION

Father, it’s me again.
Thank you for not only expecting me but for making all things ready to deal with every fretful worry and care that threatens to set this day apart from all others. Please forgive me, Father, for my blindness and my slowness of heart to remember that You are there beside me all the time. When I become too busy to think of You, You are never too busy for me.
Father, here is a thing that amazes me; how You never show any sign of being rushed. You always take so much time with me, as though I was the only one You had to attend.
Father, all of this makes me love You more. Is there some way You can prepare me as I live here on earth to be?
     -Your listening ears for the needy ones.
     – Your patience for the trying ones.
     – Your loving heart for the broken and lonely ones.
-Your forgiveness for the fallen ones.
– Your words of hope for those incomplete?

Father, I leave the door to my Spirit, Your Temple, open for You. Visit me throughout this night and find there within a welcoming place; thus, will I be prepared to pass through the gates of a new day and live my life as Your son/daughter. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.

Hymn: How Can I Keep from Singing – Aled Jones

(Click on the link that appears below)

Lyrics – How Can I Keep from Singing?