Category: Meditations

Suggested Scripture Reading: Romans, Chapters 4-5
Scripture Emphasis

Romans 5: 1-2 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.”

Here is one essential fact for everyone to grasp;
for both those who have travelled far on faith’s road and those just now contemplating a beginning on that path. Bind this truth to your heart with ‘hoops of steel’; It IS NEVER ONE’S FEEBLE HOLD ON GOD THAT MATTERS MOST; IT IS RATHER GOD’S MIGHTY GRASP ON YOU.

Christians across the spectrum know that the Old Testament personage, Abraham, is identified as “the father of faith.” From youth, Bible stories of Abraham’s remarkable faith in God become a catalyst helping to develop our own. 

But where does Abraham’s faith have its origin? Was faith something that had an arbitrary beginning somewhere within the human psyche? Is Abraham’s faith a sincere attempt to grapple with earthy mysteries, therefore making necessary the creation of a deity?

The only possible answer to any such suggestions is “NO.” It is never from within that one can expect to discover the origin of such endowments as faith, love, hope and mercy. None of these virtues flow from the fountain of our ‘ humanness.’ Someone or some Force has been there before to plant the flag of sovereign ownership. 

 Each person is more than a mere physical container to hold the world’s abundant offerings. There are latent energies that slumber in the depth of each soul. Aptitudes and talents and the essence of every possible virtue wait for the human will to discover and assimilate. To be truly human is to understand that a twofold destiny awaits our discovery. The body’s mind insists that the whole body is little more than an entity of materiality, part and parcel of all that has life. The SOUL, however, is created with the double function of relating the body to all that has life; BUT as well, it conveys to the mind news of a spiritual entity that implores us to explore the origin of our being. That spiritual entity is God, Who remains ‘The Prime Mover.’

Abraham’s initial experience of God was not the result of human thought but instead the revelatory activity of God. Abraham began to think about God because God first thought about Abraham. God left a God-shaped blank inside Abraham, with the longing to have it filled with Himself. Before Abraham became known as ” the Father of Faith, to the nations, God guided him to that inner sanctum where the mystery is made known to him.

 Every infant step along his way now reveals an unseen hand to guide. Songs, unintended, coming to his soul in the dark of the fearsome night, could no longer be dismissed. His uncommitted attitude, so prevalent in his life, now in God’s presence, is a panacea of faith undertakings.  And God counted Abraham’s total birthing experience as righteousness. 

I imagine that Abraham’s response at that moment must have been,” It was YOU all the time; You were there all The Time.”   God’s mighty grasp on him finally replaces Abraham’s feeble hold on God.

St. Paul, in his majestic Letter To the Romans, gathers the strands of ancient Hebrew history to reveal the greater revelation of God’s Redeeming Love for our Salvation.” 

It is God’s mighty grasp on Jesus that is His greatest manifestation to us, earth dwellers. Every attempt to maintain one’s grasp on faith, love and truth and all other virtues in this world will amount to naught. Jesus demonstrates this truth throughout His life and ministry.

 His helplessness in Bethlehem’s manger evokes the company of God’s angels.

 Every worldly attempt to have Jesus fulfill God’s mission fades in the grasp of God’s mighty hand.

 In His parting cry from Calvary’s Cross,” Father, into Thy Hands, I commit my spirit,” the glorious truth is undeniably upheld in the mighty Grasp of God’s hand even the last enemy, death, is itself destroyed! 

                  A Prayer To Follow This Meditation
Faithful Father,
Our most carefully crafted words are impotent to capture our thoughts of Your faithfulness towards us all.
A little child is far too young to understand the mysteries that tax even the genius of great minds to comprehend the vast universe fully. You faithfully provide for a child to feel perfectly at home here. When the night is dark, and the temptation is to feel afraid, You fill the sky with twinkling stars. You provide a simple melody, and before long, the night resounds with the music of an innocent child’s praise, ‘Twinkle, Twinkle little star, How I wonder what you are.’ Fear is gone, and the child engages in awesome wonder.

The prodigal son left behind a life of promise and fell for the mistaken image of freedom offering in some free and undisciplined environment. He soon realizes the vision was a cruel mirage. But he also becomes aware that You, God, are there all the time offering to deliver him.
Many times, Father, the night pauses again to hear some other sing a melody of liberation,
‘ Shackled by a heavy burden, neath a load of guilt and shame, Then the hand of Jesus touched me, Now I am no longer the same.’

And again, in that sacred moment when one is sitting at the bedside of one who before long will leave an empty void. It is a thought that drips like molten lead on your naked heart. Until with perfect empathy, that departing loved one intercepts,” Good night, my child, I will see you in the morning.”
 Even that moment is a time of Your divine revelation. I have known God to use the parting words of a beloved to initiate ‘the glory of the lighted mind.’
 One then knows as never before, that God’s mighty grasp on you far exceeds your feeble grasp on Him.

All thanks and praise be to You, O faithful Father. Amen.

Hymn: All the Way My Saviour Leads Me

  

 

 

 

The meditation that follows is in audio form. It is an attempt to imagine something of what it might have been like to be present at the scene of our Lord’s Crucifixion. While it is far beyond the scope of the present attempt to capture the historical milieu and the ideologies of that day, many of that scene’s unfoldments reveal striking similarities of our humanity still. But, more so, the promise of God’s Love and Redemption stand revealed.

Suggested  Reading: Mark 16: 21 – 47

Text: Mark 15:39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
(click the link below)

 

Hymn: Were You There?  ( click the link below)

 

https://youtu.be/0xVR70BjF  K8

 

Editorial Notes

1. The Scripture references are from The NIV translation.
2.  The prayer is from a medieval Latin hymn.
3. A word edition of the meditation is available upon request.

The following addition to our blog is in a different format from those previously posted. Others generally appeared as text only. The following is the spoken word. However, the post will contain other written features designed to add to your meditation experience.

Scripture Emphasis: Matthew 9:20 – 21

(Click on the link below)

 

 

            A Prayer To Follow This Meditation

My Father, with the eyes of Faith, I have beheld the most beautiful demonstration of Love.
How can Your world long remain cold and uncaring
when we are children of such a Father?

It was that Love that penetrated the cold stone prison walls
of a woman’s soul, that she inhabited alone, tormented and afraid, to foster Hope.
It was that Love that refused barriers of age, race or colour to keep children away from His tender embrace.
It was that Love that met the broken-hearted at the gates of ‘God’s Little Acre”  to assure them that God’s victory swallows death in victory.

It is that Love, showing us the empty tomb, that hasten us towards a more gracious world. Help us, dear Lord, to make this our mantra”He is not here, Hi has risen, and He goes before us into the world. This prayer we make for Your Love’s Sake. Amen.

Hymn: Jesus, Saviour, Pilot Me  (click on the link below)

 

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

Additional Suggested Scripture Reading:
Mark9:17 – 27

Text For This Meditation
Exodus 3: 4-5 When the LORD saw that he (Moses) had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

“Moses, Moses,” the voice out of somewhere sounded within his soul, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is Holy Ground.”  So begins Moses’ appointment with his Divine Destiny.  He would yet stand in many unholy places on this earth. However, Moses will never forget that he had played host for God’s visitation in a secret space within him. From this moment forward, that intense reality remained.

In the profane courts of Egypt’s Pharoah, God continues to manifests His Presence to Moses.  Then later, at the Red Sea, the law, separating the sea from the land at the time of creation, yields to the command of this one man, whose soul has received the visitation of God. From the sacred space of Moses’ soul, come words to encourage the despairing tribes, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm, and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today”.
(Exodus 14:13)

There is an unspeakable mystery here that calls for our heartful celebration. God creates human beings, mere creatures of the dust, with the potential capacity to house the Divine! 

Moses is but the shadow of that truth which finds completion in Jesus Christ. By sending ‘The Word made Flesh,’ God manifests how that entity, within each of us, is made ‘HOLY’ through His indwelling.
There will yet arise, from within, visions that will change the course of our history too.  These visions, however, will require that we each live, habitually and as completely as possible, on that level of our being where Christ dwells with power and love.

My seminary training had me serving as a student chaplain in a large city hospital. There, I was to minister to a young patient named Luke. Luke was married, thirty-two years old, and the father of two beautiful daughters. Their photos, along with that of their pretty young mother, adorning his bed-side table, suggested that he had been a patient here for a considerable time. 

One morning sometime following my first encounter with him, I found Luke extremely upset. “Frank, you know what these stupid people told me this morning? They told me,” Luke fell silent, seeking composure; he turned his face away from me. Then in a voice, scarcely more than a whisper, he continued,” They can’t do anything for me, and, and, I am going to die.”
Over the following weeks, I observed the various stages of approaching death and, I sought desperately to be with my friend all the way.
One day further along the way, he, in an angry tone, hissed these words at me, ” Frank, you’re going to be a minister? I don’t believe in God anymore! Please don’t come to see me again!”
“I understand you, my friend. Even though I can’t be with you physically, Luke, my spirit will always remain with you.”   

In response to his request, two of the most painful weeks of my journey followed. And then I could stand it no longer. I tapped on Luke’s door. The worn and wasted face now bore a smile. “Oh, Frank, I prayed that you would come back.” 

The days which followed provided some of my most precious memories.
 One evening as I was about to leave his room, Luke surprised me with this request.
 ” Frank, my friend, can I ask you something? When the time comes, could you be with me?”

That time came one afternoon as I prepared to leave the hospital to travel home, some fifty miles away. Urgent paging stopped me in my tracks. I hastened back to Luke’s room. As I entered his room, he summoned the fleeting resources of his failing strength to beckon me to his side. He smiled as I held his hand. Surrounded by his family and some hospital staff, I knew we were all standing on holy ground.

 A Prayer To Follow This Meditation

 Gracious Father,
Your unconditional love, seeking some humble space to indwell, infiltrates every atom of our earthly being.
 That inner space, the hallmark of our humanity, can never be satisfied apart from You alone.

Gracious Father, we are utterly dependent upon the working of Your Holy Spirit:
– without the Spirit’s activity, we become aware of needs around us but quickly freeze in the position of those who conclude that  there is nothing to be done;
Until Your Spirit  intercepts with ” Go, and certainly I will be with You.”

 – Without Your Spirit’s activity, we lose the ability to explore the possibility that our help is lying beyond the common ground. 
Until  Your Spirit awakens us from our reverie with the challenge that” The ground where  you stand, is Holy Ground.”

– Without Your Spirit’s activity,
we will never realize that common ground becomes Holy Ground when God is present.
God’s Presence within changes a person from dealing with every situation depending only upon the common wisdom of the world to a person who sees all things and all people everywhere as contributing to the building of God’s glorious Kingdom here on earth;
May Your Spirit teach us all to pray, “Lord, I believe. Help Thou my unbelief.”
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray. Amen.

 

Hymn: Holy Ground

HOLY GROUND

“This is holy ground; we’re  standing on holy ground;
For the Lord is present, and where He is, is Holy.
This is holy ground; we’re standing on holy ground;
For the Lord is present and where He is, is Holy.

These are Holy hands. He’s given us holy hands.
He works through these hands, and so these hands are holy.
These are Holy hands. He’s given us holy hands.
He works through these hands, and so these hands are holy.”

Editorial Notes

1.  The Scripture quotations throughout are from the NIV
2.   It is recommended that a re-reading of the story of
Moses may help with this meditation. Exodus 3 – 14
3.   Photo, Internet Open Stock.

 

 

 

Scripture Emphasis:
“Then, Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”
 (Luke 18:1 – 8)   

Poet Robert Browning, reflecting upon God’s involvement with humankind from birth to old age and death, interfuses the process with beauty and eternal purpose. In his dramatic monologue, Rabbi Ben Ezra, Browning invites his reader as follows: (2)

                Grow old along with me!
                The best is yet to be
             The last of life, for which the first
               was made:
              Our times are in His hand
               Who saith “A whole I planned.”
                Youth shows but half; trust God:
                  see all, nor be afraid!                                       

Browning views human life as a progression, taking shape gradually in the Divine Potter’s skilled hands.

               My times be in Thy hand!
               Perfect the cup as planned!
               Let age approve of youth and death
                complete the same.”               

The image of the unfinished cup awaiting the final touch from the Potter’s hand is both thought-provoking and promising. The unfinished product remains in the Workman’s skilled hands while life endures. The cup is a vessel designed in preparation to contain. It is not to be a mere decorative ornament. The finishing touch of the Potter’s Hand necessitates His willful and constant input. 

There is an inwardness to individuals, as real as something one can view through a rent in the physical body. The history of every human remains incomplete until one considers this inwardness.

The evidence for the preeminence of human inwardness is profuse. Consider an incident illustrative of this theme from a parable told by Jesus. (Luke 18: 1 – 8). The story contrasts the ‘inwardness’ of two individuals. The one is a person of some social status, a judge by profession. While the other is a person with judiciary needs. The vortex of self-aggrandizement surges in the former, while the latter rests in a child-like faith in God’s faithfulness. The unrelenting appeal for justice finally leaves the judge in a state of impatient fury. ” I do not fear God or care about men, ” he muses, ” yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice so that she won’t wear me out with her coming!” Jesus relates this parable to His Disciples to illustrate that they should always pray to God and never give up. Unlike this ‘unjust judge,’ God will always bring about justice for His children.

An inquiry into the ‘inwardness’ of both of these individuals will not only be informative but rewarding as well. In the case of the widow, her approach to life remains in the hands of ‘ The Potter.”  Although she must appeal to the local judge to arbitrate her case, she does so with specific knowledge about the One Judge who remains overall. The widow’s arbitrator, on the other hand, approaches his life with an entirely different understanding. His mantra is, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” (3) There is nothing but mirrors lining the inside of this pathetic container of human existence. I, myself, and, me, make for desperately lonely company and induces a hopeless end to life.

” The whole That God Planned” for your life is not ‘A fait accompli.’ The Divine Potter is not finished with you yet. To think otherwise is to render impotent your daily prayer ” Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” You are still on the working team of God’s Kingdom builders.

But what about God’s ‘planned whole’ when human frailty leaves the mind incapable of utilizing God’s entrusted gifts?  Is there Something or Someone waiting in the shadows to complete “The Whole” for God’s Glory? 

Yes, thousand times over, the answer to all such questions is YES!

The most excellent ingredient that will finally complete the ‘CUP OF YOUR Life’ as God has planned it; is His Love for you as His loving child. Starting now while it is still day,  surrender yourself, in sincere faith, for as long as you can, into the embrace of the everlasting arms. And if ever there comes a time when you can’t remember Him, know this, He will never forget you! Then in no way does death mark an ending; instead, it is a glorious beginning!   

       A Prayer To Follow This Meditation

Gracious Lord, please grant me,
Wisdom to perceive You.
Intelligence to understand You.
Diligence to seek You.
Patience to wait for You.
Eyes to behold You.
A heart to meditate upon You.
A life to live for You.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Hymn: You Raise Me Up

                            NOTES

1. Scripture references are from the NIV translation.
2. Poem by Robert Browning, “Rabbi Ben Ezra”   Rabbi Ben Ezra 
3. William Ernest Henley,       ” Invictus”
   Invictus poem – Bing
   

 Photo: The view from “SHALOM,”  our summer place in Michael’s Harbour, Newfoundland.

        

 

 

                         INTRODUCTION

The following meditation is a creation of my own imagination. The intent is to capture the spirit of God’s sending Jesus into the world to bring salvation to all. I invite you now to engage your imagination. 

There are three scenes. 

The First scene: at the crowded Bethlehem Inn amid confusion resulting from an influx of people seeking accommodations for the night.
The Second scene: A shepherd’s cottage somewhere in the Judean hills valley.
 The Third scene:  The Bethlehem stable, where the Baby Jesus is born.
************************************************
                 (Scripture emphasis)
Luke 2:15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the LORD hath made known unto us.

The Innkeeper is addressing his patrons:

   “Listen! Did you hear that? I could have sworn I heard another knock at the door! Keep it down; keep it down, you rabble-rousers! One would have to knock with a Roman mallet to get attention over this din!
No use for anyone else to come knocking on my door this night. My inn is full, like every other spot in Bethlehem! There is just no more room, not even if King Herod himself came looking. Well! I might consider it if the king came seeking! I may sleep out of my bed just for one night to have the honour of having him under my roof. But, no way will that ever happen. No king will be around here this night, just this despicable rabble from the hills.
Listen, there it is again! Someone with urgent business according to how they’re knocking on the door! “Hold on there! Don’t break the bloomin’ door down! ‘Got no room for you anyway. Might as well be patient”!
“Keep the noise down in there, will you? I am going to see who is at the door”.

“Well, that didn’t take long. Like I said, It is someone looking for lodgings for the night! I feel sorry for them, a young man and his lady, who is about to give birth. As I told you,’ I might sleep out of my bed if King Herod was the one asking me. The fellow at the door was far from being a king. I could not offer him and his lady anything. He said he had tried everywhere. And that this might be the night, whatever that meant! I felt a kind of pity for him! I told him there was a stable out back where the stable boy lives year-round with the cattle. I suppose last chance he’d put them up there for the night.

The second scene is set in a humble cottage in the foothills of the Judean Hills. It is the home of a shepherd Benjamine, and his wife, Naomi. 

 Benjamin is making ready to return to his shepherd’s responsibilities on the Judean hills. He has had a two-day reprieve from his tedious work of caring for the numerous flocks of Bartholomew, his master. Naomi is so very concerned about Benjamin, the love of her life. She looks at him now, and pity rushes into her glance! Her eyes grow misty at the thought of his being out there on the hills without the company he had at one time dreamt of having. Naomi felt that way ever since the family crisis, about which Benjamin rarely broke his silence.

Some believe that one’s destiny in life is somehow pre-determined. The old folks say that if a boy becomes a fisherman like his father or grandfather, it is because, before his birth, the sea laid claim to him, throwing a little salt spray into his soul! Benjamin chose to be a shepherd! His life’s dream was to have a herd of his own one day. One day he would share ownership and responsibility with his son. That goal was about to be a reality when a dreaded situation came to pass! He couldn’t pay the Roman taxes, and he watched his dream fade into a heart-wrenching spiral. He had no choice but to sell everything and eke out a bare existence in service to someone else. That someone is Bartholomew. There are twelve shepherds in Bartholomew’s employ.

Naomi moves towards him for their last embrace. She seems almost reluctant to break in upon his solemn reverie. Naomi knows well what is on his mind! She lays her head on his breast, and after a moment, sobs, “ O Benjamin, this is his birthday. He will be twenty years old today! O Mark, where are you? Benjamin’s chin quivers. His eyes fill with tears, and without another word, he leaves the house.

Mark is an only child! It was he that made Benjamin’s life worth living. All of Benjamin’s plans centred around Mark. When the farm failed, with it went all prospects for the future. Mark took his few belongings and left home. Rumour has it that Mark strayed far from the standards he had known, but no one knew for sure. For whatever reason, Benjamin and Naomi hear no word from him. Three years of silence now, and hopes are fading for their reunion.

Somewhere on the Judean hillside
The heavens are brilliant, with a million stars dancing as though commanded to contrast the dullness in Benjamin’s mental sky. When he reaches the grazing herd, the moon has dressed the whole hillside in a garment of glorious light. And then, just as Benjamin and his co-workers finish their rounds, the night bursts open with fantastic wonder. It is as though the curtain of the night rises, and with their naked eyes, they all stand face to face with the unfolding of the most beautiful pageant of the universe! One star appears as the director of this incredible symphony and summons the shepherds to fulfill their part in the most spectacular event that this world has ever experienced! 

  Benjamin is one of four shepherds chosen to engage in the wonders of the night. Under the watchful surveillance of the star, they shiver their way through the frosty night. Cold outside, still, warmed with the inner thought that the Great Creator of the universe is holding them in His arms.

 “ And they came with haste (to Bethlehem) and found Mary and Joseph, and the Baby, lying in the manger.” 

 Only the dim lights from Heaven’s windows brighten the interior of the stable. Suddenly there is another light. Benjamin takes notice of it as it begins to move from a corner of the stable. This light is a lantern in the hands of someone who slowly moves towards the manager. Benjamin watches in wonder as the light draws nearer! There is something familiar in the light bearer’s gait as he kneels in adoring awe before the Baby. And then Benjamin realizes the most beautiful sight of his entire life!! The figure kneeling at the manger is Mark! Without speaking a word to the other shepherds, Benjamin hastens to the worshipper and kneels beside him. Benjamin whispers to him through his tears, “Happy birthday, Mark.” 

And the other shepherds said afterward they were sure they saw the baby smile!

                     Prayer To Follow This Meditation

O God, We are genuinely fascinated by all that takes us beyond the limits of human understanding. We pray for humility that we may know that all life’s mysteries do not find technology resolution. 

The tiny Baby, refugee, found in Bethlehem’s manger, is Your answer to the world’s dilemmas, O God. When we give sober and reflective thought to Your Gift, we are left speechless. Here is a mystery more significant than all others. How can Your chosen, ” tiny ” instrument” address not the secrets of earth alone, but instils the hope Heaven’s as well? This Baby, grown to Manhood, brings Your Heaven and earth together. Through Him, we will become transformed, in time, and we will make earth be, as it is in Heaven, in the fulfillment of Your blessed Will. 

 Father, this is the hour for the world to hear Your invitation,
” Let us go to Bethlehem and see those things that have come to pass.” But the world will not listen until the voices of those who have seen and who believe amplify it above the world’s distracting verbiage? 

Father, we kneel surrendered before the manger bed of a helpless Baby! How would such a one appearing as we to be dressed in physical weakness ever rise to the enormous complexities that life would rain down upon Him? It is the power of Your love that remains His driving force. Jesus’ Faith that You are never far from Him is the secret of His victory! Let Love eternal that produced this event, long ago, find one more place to reveal itself this night- in my heart.
And all for Your Love’s sake. Amen.

Hymn: Silent Night

Winchester Cathedral Choir – Silent Night – Bing video

EDITORIAL NOTES

1. The Biblical quotations are from the KJV.    

 

   

 

 

 John 14: 27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (KJV)

Mark 4:37- 40  (Scripture Emphasis)
And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship so that it was now full. ³⁸And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? ³⁹And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰And, he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?

What emotions raged there! What questions percolated through inflamed minds in this threatening situation?
Was this storm the offering of some malign deity designed to leave a more benevolent God helpless?
Who among them would survive to deliver the heart-sickening news to those awaiting their return? How would wives and children shake the iron grip of perpetual loneliness? If only God would break through those storm-clouds with as much as a smile, it would at least be something to help relieve the inner chaos. It was at that instant that one of the crew wondered, “where is Jesus?  Adding, He knows God, like no one I ever met!” All eyes turn in the direction of the helmsman! Incredulous disbelief, like the previous vengeful wave, sweep over them. Jesus is discovered sound asleep at the helmsman’s feet!
It was one thing to hear his gracious teaching about ‘peace’; to experience it, counterposed on tempest-swept souls, is incomprehensible! The panicking disciples are speechless, in the embrace of the invisible arms of Peace. Their anguished inquiries awaken Christ. ” Carest Thou not that we perish? How can You lie asleep? “The words come tumbling from their trembling lips. His inquest into their behaviour is equally baffling! “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith” asks Jesus? There is more than a slight hint of disappointment in Jesus’ voice over His friend’s portrayal of their lack of faith. Nothing is more grievous than the disappointment of a raised expectation.
Jesus’ life is a living assertion, unshaken by life’s vicissitudes, that God, His Heavenly Father, maintains constant, and loving commitment to watch over Him with unspeakable tenderness. Herein is the essence of His Faith.

But how can Jesus expect the disciples, and by extension us, to emulate faith like His, unless and until we come to know God as He did?  Human intellect cannot by itself deliver to us the faith that results in Peace!   Elsewhere in scripture, Jesus grants  a breath-taking revelation of His understanding of the nature of God which issues in His Peace.
 “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” (John 17: 5)

Jesus relives, on earth, life as it was in His Father’s House before His nativity in Bethlehem. With perfect recall, He captures the majesty of  His Heavenly Home and the unwavering love of His Father.

Jesus recalls:
– The ineffable peace pervading all.
– The exuberant joy expressing in all things and all people,
    as ‘ Love unleashed’.
–  The Father saw something great shining in every tiny spark of hope and desire beating inside a human heart.
– And a sacred covenant ever-present, that fear will never sit invincible upon the throne of human hearts.” Certainly, I will be with you,” is God’s abiding mantra.

Faith for Jesus remains to this day, living always in fellowship with God. Not howling winds, or crashing waves or the threat of death could obliterate the Divine Presence or replace that sacred promise, ” Certainly, I will be with you”.  Could it be for us as it was for Jesus and as expressed by poets :

Trailing clouds of glory do we come	65
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy! (2)

That is the faith Jesus expects His friends to own, then and now.
Our present experience with a worldwide pandemic is reminiscent of the night of terror on the Sea of Galilee. Conscious of our origin, and now as emissaries of Jesus’ faith, may we awaken Peace, faith and renewed hope that will make the world resemble Heaven more.

            Prayer To Follow This Meditation

Hold us in Your tight embrace, O merciful Christ. May our lives emanate
Your pulse-beat of compassion, understanding, and peace wherever we live in this hurting world.
Here are my hands to wipe away tears from the eyes of those who have lost loved ones through this horrible pandemic.
Here is my mind; make it wise to understand that I am the keeper of my sister’s and brother’s health. Help me never to obsess over demanding my rights while being reckless about the fundamental rights of others.
Here is my heart, wherein love and appreciation for this life are born. But I cannot fully live my life until I recall how You created me to fulfill Your purpose and fill my little space here by making it resemble Heaven.
Here are my lips; speak through them with authenticity, the words “Peace Be Still.” Then may others hear, not me, but the Christ who remains with us forever as the Prince of Peace. For His Sake, and in His Name, Amen.

Hymn: Peace, Perfect Peace

1. Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?
   The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.
2. Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed?
   To do the will of Jesus, this is rest.
3. Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging round?
   On Jesus’ bosom naught but calm is found.
4. Peace, perfect peace, with loved ones far away?
   In Jesus’ keeping we are safe, and they.
5. Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown?
   Jesus we know, and He is on the throne.
6. Peace, perfect peace, death shad’wing us and ours?
   Jesus has vanquished death and all its pow’rs.
7. It is enough: earth’s struggles soon shall cease,
   And Jesus calls us to Heav’n’s perfect peace.

https://youtu.be/qoDzOeSXDW4

 

                                      NOTES

1. The Scripture quotations here are from the KJV.

2. Ode On Intimations Of Immortality.
Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood by William Wordsworth – Poems | poets.org

3. Photo. Brigus at nightfall, Newfoundland- Labrador by
Vicki J. Meltzer

 

Psalm 23: 5 “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” 

Revelation 7:17 “For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

There is much value in standing back from present situations that threaten to overpower us and permit our souls space to breathe and gain a fresh perspective.

What an incomprehensible dichotomy life’s situations prove to be. Which vantage point will best allow our most trustworthy options?

David here in one breath appraisingly speaks of lying down in green pastures, and enjoying life beside calm waters; in the very next breath, he tells of discovering a banquet table spread in the company of enemies urging his involvement. It is often like that! The people who feel the essential need to gain a new perspective on present situations are afraid to take the chance to do so. Was that not precisely the situation of David’s ancestors. Their forced slavery in Egypt was ending by the command of God. Their suffering in Egypt made God appear aloof and hidden. Now realizing how tenuous their freedom was under the even more tenuous auspices of the liberating Pharoah, would it be foolhardy for them to stand back and seek the wisdom of closer scrutiny? By Pharaoh’s insidious command, his brutal forces closed the gap behind them. The Red Sea stretched before them. Freedom’s dream had now all the trappings of a banquet table spread for them in the presence of the enemy! How can they, or anyone else, ever gain a bona fide perspective under such stressful situations demanding immediate response? When unprecedented circumstances force individuals into situations never before thought of, let alone exexperienced, from which direction will a new perspective come? Any suggestion of a walk beside still waters or in green fields is comparable to an experience of suffering a mirage in a lifeless desert.

You cannot depend upon finding a new perspective in urgent situations by looking either right or left, behind or in front. Listen to what transpired with the Hebrews at the Red Sea. With the sound like a thousand silver trumpets on the frosty air of morn, they heard the voice of Moses, Look UP’ “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord!” (Exodus 14). One must learn the efficacy of the Upward Look! 

Psalm 23, which includes a text for the present meditation, does not begin with the challenging view of a banquet table set for David in the presence of enemies. It starts instead with the encouraging result of the Upward Look! It begins with what the German Jewish theologian, Martin Buber, identifies as an ” I – Thou” relationship. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.” The walk beside the tranquil waters and in the green fields are now super suggestions to gain a new perspective on what tomorrow may bring. You know that your Shepherd will lead the way. 

The centuries following the birth of Jesus record, even yet, heart wrenching experiences that demand new perspectives. Many who think they know seek an enemy rather than looking up to see the human face of God. History reveals that in our darkest hours of wars and famines, in pandemics and evils, witnesses looking up, as Christ did, see on God’s face the promise of victory.

 John the Divine, as portrayed in the Book Revelations, is a stirring example of one such. He is writing to fellow disciples of Jesus while, himself, an exile on the Isle Patmos because of his faith. ” I had a vision of you all in Heaven. In answering an inquiry about each of you, the angel replied, ‘ These before you dressed in white are they who came out of great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of The Lamb”. 

The perspective motivating us each in the Name Of Christ, amidst unfamiliar change and self-revealing fears, is to see in the faces of all, not merely their helplessness but an opportunity to share real love. That effort made now, look up into the Face of God and know that neither things present nor things to come. Neither life nor death nor anything else in all creation will separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

          A Prayer To Follow This Meditation

O God, our Father,
The glory of Your presence dissipates the foggy assertions of our earthly knowledge. We look to the North and the south, to the East and West but find little address anywhere for ” man’s inhumanity to man.”

A horrible pandemic ravages the earth while some atrophied minds and hearts dally in silly political vapours.
It is Your scorching Wisdom that must prevail to dissipate the fog that is threatening our planet. We see the signs of Your gracious wisdom breaking through our malaise, like the sun, despite the fog. ThankYou for brave scientists and all front-line workers, and all who are Your co-workers advancing Your creation.
 Father, You have shown us in Jesus, Your Son, the efficacy of the upward look. He was all about looking toward Heaven and always depending upon Heavenly resources. As He prayed, so now do we, “Father into Thy hands do I commend my Spirit.”

Hymn: Nearer, My God To Thee

https://youtu.be/rwLl5nY5WPI

 

 

 

“The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” “Alas, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” Jeremiah 1: 4-6  (1)

With these words, there unfolds a drama of stirring influence. More awe-inspiring is this event than the breath-taking results of God’s command that calls all things into being.
An intensely private moment between God and Jeremiah reveals God’s unique intention for the human race. “The word of the Lord came to me(Jeremiah) saying, ” Before I formed you in the womb I  knew you. Before you were born I set you apart.”
As expected, such a revelation initiates a response of disbelief from Jeremiah. Heaven’s perspectives, when revealed, are rarely, if ever, in sync with human understanding. Jeremiah suggests to the Almighty,’ Your Heavenly vision concerning me is somewhat different from my own. I must now consider Your view of me in the light of my preparation in my earthly home.

The world’s way of preparation for human undertakings is vastly different from God’s way of preparing a Jeremiah or anyone else. The most immediate impacts on a child’s behavioural development are traditions, social mores, and expectations. No-one in Jeremiah’s hometown of Anathoth expects him to be a prophet, least of all, Jeremiah himself. Past History confirms the established order for such engagements. The mere suggestion of it being otherwise plunged Jeremiah into a panic attack!

 ” I am only a child. I do not know how to speak.” At that moment, the world comes to Jeremiah’s defence with the appropriate suit of armour, the most used antidote for all such divine challenges, ” I Can’t Do That!”
However, God’s curricula for the preparation of this prophet is in sharp contrast to the world’s expectation.
Listen to the poet, William Wordsworth reflect upon that contrast :
    ” Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
Shades of the prison-house begin to close
Upon the growing Boy,
But he beholds the light, and whence it flows,
He sees it in his joy;
The Youth, who daily farther from the east
Must travel, still is Nature’s Priest,
And by the vision splendid
Is on his way attended;
At length the Man perceives it die away,
And fade into the light of common day”.
 Could this possibly be the nexus between the OldTestament story of Jeremiah and ourselves? The truth expressed by God concerning Jeremiah is the revelation of God’s way with each of us. Before we came to be, we already existed with Our Creator. It was never God’s intention that human beings depend upon worldly ingenuities and skills while living our lives here. God intends that each individual remains in His Workshop throughout his sojourn. ” Certainly, I will be with you.” affirms the Creator, to the trembling, reluctant child. “Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. See, today, I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow, build and plant.” ( Jeremiah 1:9-10)

 But as with Jeremiah, so also with us still. God is never involved remotely or arbitrarily. Instead, God, first of all, identifies situations on earth, waiting for some special revelation of His Presence. So you are here as a co-worker with Him.

The world has always been a place wherein
absolute control is the goal. The phraseology which Jeremiah uses to record his experience is noteworthy. “The word of the Lord came to me.” We must admire the astuteness of any person who hears above the noisy din of the world, the Voice of the Eternal, especially in the day when Jeremiah lived. Since then, the ‘Word Became Flesh and dwelt among us.” In God’s eternal Workshop, we are graciously equipped for His appointed task. Here,

Jesus, His Son, the master-builder, accepts us into His Workshop, thus fulfilling the Father’s promise,” Certainly, I will be with you.”

A Prayer To Follow This Meditation

Father,
I stood in silence to admire the panoply of autumn colours, and I heard You call my name! At night the harvest moon was clearly in competition with the morning sun to fix a lasting memory in my mind, and I heard You laugh and call my name. And at the end of the day, as I knelt for bedtime vespers, I felt Your hand upon my brow and knew that I dwelt in My Father’s world. 

Here am I, my Father. May You find some way to use even me to contribute to this world’s beauty and to turn human thoughts to You and Your Presence everywhere I go. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

HYMN: Here I am, Lord ( click link below )
This Is My Father’s World 

 

                    Editorial Notes
1. Scripture quotations are from the NIV
translation.
2.  563. Ode. Intimations of Immortality. By
William Wordsworth.
3. Photo. Gros Morne National Park,
Newfoundlandhttp://www.grosmorne.com/

Suggested Scripture: Mark 5: 1-20. It may be necessary to read the Suggested Scripture in its entirety to fully understand the meditation that follows.

Mark 5:18 – 19  (text)

“As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.” (1)

Where in this world of technical and scientific success does this strange incredulous episode from the Gospels fit? Believers coyly reserve the right to dismiss some of the story’s details as the product of an unenlightened age. Skeptics feel free to use it to condemn the whole Gospel narrative. 

We quickly discard as fabrication all that we cannot bring under the mastery of our reason. We suppose that we alone create order in the world, through the application of our innovative advancements. 

The present incident reveals both the mystery of our creation and the majesty of God, our Creator. The essence of our being is the primary fact that we are born with dual citizenship, of earth and heaven. But it is in our derivation from God, and not in the light of our achievements that we must understand our being.

Consider the most evidential facts demonstrating this man’s earthly citizenship.

• There are the tombs of the dead. Indeed a strange habitat for one meant to live in a family and interact with the living!
• There are the remanents of chains on hands and feet. They tell of the tragic failures for control through the mastery of reason. 
• There is an indication of self-mutilation, perhaps the evidence of lost hope, to live up to the promptings from heaven, to remember from whence he came.
• Then there is the final prognosis, which is still too freely offered when diagnoses are uncertain,” it’s all in the head,” when the problem is often within the realm of the spirit.According to Teilhard de Chardin, paleontologist and theologian, in The Hymn Of The Universe, “there is an inwardness to a man that is as real as if observed through a rent in the body”. (3) 

Our inquiry now is into the evidence of spiritual inwardness relative to this man’s heavenly citizenship.

• Something beyond the scope of his physical environment is evident from this man’s initial responses. The fugitive’s quick identification of Jesus, and his awareness of accepted theological propositions, indicate some knowledge of the spiritual realm. ( Mark 5: 7)
• There is abundant evidence of an acutely disturbed ” inwardness.” This pitifully divided mind manifests itself in response to Jesus’ question, “What is your name?” ” My name is Legion; he replied, ” for we are many.”
•  Other creditable evidence is that a “guilt complex”  is possibly the name of one of the torturing demons. Had an earlier encounter with Jesus resulted in discipleship in name only, which ended in desertion? Is that perhaps embedded in his expressed fear of being tormented by Jesus? The feeling of guilt is possible only if something once considered satisfying is again revealed. ‘The return to man’s origin is never a new beginning out of nothing, but it is a restoration.”
  It is at this juncture that Jesus enters the inner chamber of this man’s suffering. From boyhood, I have struggled with the phrase in The Apostle’s Creed, 9 ( concerning Jesus it is written) ” He descended into Hell.” Experiencing this episode, in this way, enables me now to understand that phrase more clearly. (2)

Theologians refer to ‘ the dark night of the soul’ experience. For Jesus, entering this man’s inner being was like entering strange, eerie confinement filled with palpable darkness! It reminds one of Dante’s Divine Comedy, with the over-door inscription: “Abandon every hope – who enters here!” (4). The poor fellow’s inwardness must have been just as dark and musty as the tomb where he sought shelter for his body.

Yet in the sea of darkness amidst the internal chaos and confusion, a tiny spark of light refuses to surrender. It grows the brighter as “the Light Of The World” moves invincibly towards it. As happened one day previously in the throes of a vicious storm on the sea of Galilee, the roaring waves once more surrender in meekness. A fresh glow fills the inner sanctuary as the pathetic divided self gains control at the powerful command of Jesus. Jesus rekindles the lamp of memory and permits this epitome of helplessness to remember family ties that yet remain for him. 

Other people soon appear on the scene. Observing such a radiant light emanating from the same source of such previous darkness, they grew mute in disbelief.

The story concerning the lost pigs that drowned in the sea would have to wait for another day for broadcasting in that near-by town. Today the miracle told everywhere was about the new missionary whose presence was aglow with a new light shining from his soul.

Prayer To Follow This Meditation

Father, of all comfort, hear our prayers for those among us who are desperately lonely.
Especially we pray for the homeless who tonight will be comforted by heaven’s night-lights alone.  Some, knowing well the companionship of hunger, will snack now on the scraps from the rich man’s table. The sounds amplifying their inhuman plight are of feet rushing to escape the burdensome evidence of human helplessness and need, and those sounds of the shared miseries of a shapeless existence.
Father, come near to comfort those who have no familial ties anymore. Sometimes, in the haunting darkness, they wander among the tombs of people that used to be. Would You please acquaint them anew with the story of THE PRODIGAL SON and the account of a father whose love remained stronger than all misadventures?
Father, Your Son, relayed to His first disciples how He was homeless here. He had no place to lay His head. Save us all from becoming overly concerned with creaturely comforts here, where so many endure such a fragile existence. Equip us with a more vigorous and sincere faith to believe that You will provide, for any sacrifice we make.

“If on our daily course our mind
Be set, to hallow all we find,
New treasures still, of countless price,
God will provide for sacrifice.

Old friends, old scenes, will lovelier be,
As more of heaven in each we see;
Some softening gleam of love and prayer
Shall dawn on every cross and care”. ( 5)
For the sake of Your love, we pray, Amen.

HYMN: Son Of My Soul   (Click on links below)

hhttps://www.bing.com/videos/search?v

 

EDITORIAL NOTES

1. The translation used is the NIV.
2.  www.learnreligions.com/the-apostles-creed-p2-700364
3.Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/994259.Hymn_of_the_Universe
4.Dante’s Divine Comedy
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/abandon-hope-all-ye-who-
enter-here.html
The Divine Comedy is a long narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun c. 1308 and completed in 1320, a year before his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work in Italian literature and is one of the greatest works of world literature.”
5.  From  Hymn: New Every Morning Is          God’s  Love
http://www.pateys.nf.ca/cgi-bin/lyrics.pl?  hymnnumber=815