Today’s reading
Philippians 3:7-9
“Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith” (Phil. 3:7-9).
Prayer
Found in you? Why should those words thoroughly warm me? They immerse my morning soul in a bottomless well of warmth and blessing. I take in the breath of life, and you fill my lungs. I walk across the room, and you envelop every step like the air, parting to let me pass but embracing every pour, encompassing my entire being. I dwell in the environment of you, Living Spirit. Is this what it is to be found in you? To know you as the all-enveloping milieu of my life so that there is no moment of separation from the all-encircling arms of your everlasting embrace?
I am in you. You claim me in the cosmos-enfolding embrace of arms outstretched on the cross, Living One. There you welcome all that I am and all that is. Risen and loose in the world, you seek to draw in and fill all with the fullness you are, and you are the Everlasting More. Count me among the victories you have won in bitter woundedness. Count me among the beloved who want nothing more than to abide your fullness all our days, and at the last to fall asleep in you. You are the home for which I always yearned but never knew.
Except now, in you. In you, I have no thought or worry of righteousness. Dwelling in the space of your life, I know no thought of sin or stain, fault or failure, for all has been overwhelmed, dissolved in an infinite sea of eternal mercy. In you, everything can be surrendered. I can bring all that I am; nothing needs to be hidden or denied. In you, I can lose everything I have. It matters not. For I I dwell in you who are Everlasting Fullness, the Always More. In you there is no loss, only gain.
How can words catch your wonder? How can I praise you for sharing with me the fullness of your risen life? Today, may I bask in the freedom I know only as I dwell in the gracious space of your life. And may the joy that flows from heart, only there, give fitting praise to you who are beyond all praising. Amen.
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Thursday, November 16, 2006
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Today’s reading
Philippians 3:4b-8
“If anyone has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I amy gain Christ” (Phil. 3:4b-8).
Prayer
What have I lost for you, Dearest Friend? I wish I knew. The ease of my life sometimes troubles me. Paul surrendered an entire identity, giving up all that provided him power, status and respect. He chose you and was stripped of all that gave him joy and meaning, the respect of his people, accomplishment and status in society.
He chose you, who chose him. That choice led to suffering and deprivation beyond any he might have imagined. But all he lost was so much trash because he knew the surpassing value of knowing you, whose loving purpose surpass all other concerns.
You have this affect on those who love you, those who touch the restless blaze of your divine heart. You, O Living Flame of Love, move your saints to ecstatic lengths of self giving. They transcend narrow concerns of self and safety to surrender themselves to a love that would consume the world. And why not? It has already consumed them. You stir in them the fire you are, and we warm our chill hearts in their burning.
And I? My life is one of relative ease. I indulge my various appetites. I am easily upset when my comfort and expectations are inconvenienced. I grow melancholy when fulfillments of work, relationships or personal respect are disappointed. I live a charmed and pampered life and grow indolent.
But then there are days, and this is one, when your living flame lifts me from languor, igniting a soul fire that burns with your loving purpose to warm all in the fullness of your life. And again I want nothing more than to give myself to that purpose, which alone is worthy of total surrender. Light the fire of your eternal flame in my heart this day that I may love as you love. Amen.
Philippians 3:4b-8
“If anyone has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I amy gain Christ” (Phil. 3:4b-8).
Prayer
What have I lost for you, Dearest Friend? I wish I knew. The ease of my life sometimes troubles me. Paul surrendered an entire identity, giving up all that provided him power, status and respect. He chose you and was stripped of all that gave him joy and meaning, the respect of his people, accomplishment and status in society.
He chose you, who chose him. That choice led to suffering and deprivation beyond any he might have imagined. But all he lost was so much trash because he knew the surpassing value of knowing you, whose loving purpose surpass all other concerns.
You have this affect on those who love you, those who touch the restless blaze of your divine heart. You, O Living Flame of Love, move your saints to ecstatic lengths of self giving. They transcend narrow concerns of self and safety to surrender themselves to a love that would consume the world. And why not? It has already consumed them. You stir in them the fire you are, and we warm our chill hearts in their burning.
And I? My life is one of relative ease. I indulge my various appetites. I am easily upset when my comfort and expectations are inconvenienced. I grow melancholy when fulfillments of work, relationships or personal respect are disappointed. I live a charmed and pampered life and grow indolent.
But then there are days, and this is one, when your living flame lifts me from languor, igniting a soul fire that burns with your loving purpose to warm all in the fullness of your life. And again I want nothing more than to give myself to that purpose, which alone is worthy of total surrender. Light the fire of your eternal flame in my heart this day that I may love as you love. Amen.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Today’s reading
Philippians 3:4b-8a
“If anyone has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing knowledge of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Phil. 3:4b-8a).
Prayer
I sink into my gray chair, and nothing else matters. Nothing. There is only you and me. You draw me here before I give myself to the duties of the day that you may give yourself to me. For these few minutes I know what Paul knew. For I know you, Blessed Mystery, and knowing you I realize anything I might lose or surrender in the quest to know you does not matter.
All that matters is knowing the Unspeakable Love you are. All that matters is receiving the life you reveal in my brother, Jesus. All that matters is being here where you shape my distorted soul into the image of your love. For a few minutes every morning I know this completely, without confusion or ambiguity. I know what you taught Paul: Knowing Christ matters. All else can be surrendered.
You alone can teach this. My soul can neither grasp nor believe it unless you tutor my heart again and again, for I am a slow learner. And I forget easily. But I thank you. My heart fills with gratitude for your insistent self-giving through my confused and ambivalent years, through days when you wanted to give me you life, and I knew not how to receive.
You have brought me to this time where I have tasted enough, just enough of the love in which you hold the universe--and me--that I know what you are pleased to give all your beloved. I know you, and knowing you nothing else much matters. This day, may I receive you in the places and people through whom you desire to give yourself to me. And may my face and flesh be the places of your self giving, for the life of the world. Amen.
Philippians 3:4b-8a
“If anyone has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing knowledge of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Phil. 3:4b-8a).
Prayer
I sink into my gray chair, and nothing else matters. Nothing. There is only you and me. You draw me here before I give myself to the duties of the day that you may give yourself to me. For these few minutes I know what Paul knew. For I know you, Blessed Mystery, and knowing you I realize anything I might lose or surrender in the quest to know you does not matter.
All that matters is knowing the Unspeakable Love you are. All that matters is receiving the life you reveal in my brother, Jesus. All that matters is being here where you shape my distorted soul into the image of your love. For a few minutes every morning I know this completely, without confusion or ambiguity. I know what you taught Paul: Knowing Christ matters. All else can be surrendered.
You alone can teach this. My soul can neither grasp nor believe it unless you tutor my heart again and again, for I am a slow learner. And I forget easily. But I thank you. My heart fills with gratitude for your insistent self-giving through my confused and ambivalent years, through days when you wanted to give me you life, and I knew not how to receive.
You have brought me to this time where I have tasted enough, just enough of the love in which you hold the universe--and me--that I know what you are pleased to give all your beloved. I know you, and knowing you nothing else much matters. This day, may I receive you in the places and people through whom you desire to give yourself to me. And may my face and flesh be the places of your self giving, for the life of the world. Amen.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Monday, November 13, 2006
Today’s reading
Philippians 3:1b-4
“For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh--even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:1b-4).
Prayer
I, however, do not, my Inscrutable Friend. I have no reason for boasting. I possess little that should distinguish me or draw attention. My mind is slow, my thoughts pedestrian, my abilities average. And that’s how you seem to like it, or so it seems. Otherwise, why do you so often approve of bringing me low, exposing my weaknesses and letting me taste the dust of my humanity? You leave me laying there until I am convinced of my fragility and my inability to bring consolation to my own soul.
Sometimes it is hard to call you friend, though a good night’s sleep and a time for perspective help. But I wonder: how would you treat me differently were we enemies? How would it be were I not beloved from all eternity? Would you handle my case with different care?
It seems unlikely. You are evenhanded in the inscrutability of your love. You make the sun shine and the rain fall on the good and evil alike, and I, of course, am both. But there is something worse than the pounding rain, terrible in fact: to be left alone. And that is something you refuse to do, and for that I thank you with all my heart. You, O Inscrutable Love, refuse to leave me alone with the illusions and idols I sometimes trust more than you.
So I thank you for tearing me down, for exposing my presumption, for rending my delusions, for showing me my inability to lift my soul from the sorrow into which I fall. It is hard for me to praise you when I find myself with my face in the dust. Time must pass. Prayer must happen. Confession must occur. The heart must hurt. Then slowly life begins to flow again through my veins, as amid tears of relief and joy I realize once more that I am yours and you are mine.
You never leave me to own devices. You show me your love alone suffices. You redeem me from myself. May my confidence ever rest in the love that shines from the blessed face of my brother, Jesus. Amen.
Philippians 3:1b-4
“For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh--even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:1b-4).
Prayer
I, however, do not, my Inscrutable Friend. I have no reason for boasting. I possess little that should distinguish me or draw attention. My mind is slow, my thoughts pedestrian, my abilities average. And that’s how you seem to like it, or so it seems. Otherwise, why do you so often approve of bringing me low, exposing my weaknesses and letting me taste the dust of my humanity? You leave me laying there until I am convinced of my fragility and my inability to bring consolation to my own soul.
Sometimes it is hard to call you friend, though a good night’s sleep and a time for perspective help. But I wonder: how would you treat me differently were we enemies? How would it be were I not beloved from all eternity? Would you handle my case with different care?
It seems unlikely. You are evenhanded in the inscrutability of your love. You make the sun shine and the rain fall on the good and evil alike, and I, of course, am both. But there is something worse than the pounding rain, terrible in fact: to be left alone. And that is something you refuse to do, and for that I thank you with all my heart. You, O Inscrutable Love, refuse to leave me alone with the illusions and idols I sometimes trust more than you.
So I thank you for tearing me down, for exposing my presumption, for rending my delusions, for showing me my inability to lift my soul from the sorrow into which I fall. It is hard for me to praise you when I find myself with my face in the dust. Time must pass. Prayer must happen. Confession must occur. The heart must hurt. Then slowly life begins to flow again through my veins, as amid tears of relief and joy I realize once more that I am yours and you are mine.
You never leave me to own devices. You show me your love alone suffices. You redeem me from myself. May my confidence ever rest in the love that shines from the blessed face of my brother, Jesus. Amen.
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