No More Blogging?

Some thoughts on SILENCE from Henri Nouwen's book, "The Way of the Heart."

A second, more positive meaning of silence is that it protects the inner fire. Silence guards the inner heat of religious emotions. This inner heat is the life of the Holy Spirit within us. Thus, silence is the discipline by which the inner fire of God is tended and kept alive.

Diadochus of Photiki offers a very concrete image: "When the door of the steambath is continually left open, the heat inside rapidly escapes through it; likewise the soul, in its desire to say many things, dissipates its remembrance of God through the door of speech, even though everything it says may be good. Thereafter the intellect, though lacking appropriate ideas, pours out a welter of confused thoughts to anyone it meets, as it no longer has the Holy Spirit to keep its understanding free from fantasy. Ideas of value always shun verbosity, being foreign to confusion and fantasy. Timely silence, then is precious, for it is nothing less than the mother of the wisest thoughts."

These words of Diadochus go against the grain of our contemporary lifestyle, in which 'sharing' has become one of the greatest virtues. We have been made to believe that feelings, emotions, and even the inner stirrings of our soul have to be shared with others.

...What needs to be guarded is the life of the Spirit within us. Especially we who want to witness to the presence of God's Spirit in the world need to tend the fire within with utmost care. It is not so strange that many ministers have become burnt-out cases, people who say many words and share many experiences, but in whom the fire of God's Spirit has died and from not much more comes forth than their own boring, petty ideas and feelings.

Prayer Advise

From the book~ Father Arseny: A Cloud of Witnesses

“I will say a few words on the subject of how we must pray. To separate yourself from the world around you and enter into the words and spirit of prayer is difficult for those who lack long prayer experience. You pray, trying to concentrate on your prayer, but the prayer comes absentmindedly. In tandem with the prayer you have earthly thoughts and you are unable to let go of them. To overcome this, you must pray more and more often; it is important in the beginning to pray aloud, if this is possible.

“Often do priests say and write that absentminded and distracted prayer is unacceptable to God and is even sinful because the one who prays does not give his soul fully to God and in that way he sins. Of course, such prayer is not of full value. The one praying tries to gather his will and put the soul in a prayerful mode, but due to his weakness is unable to do it, but at least he did try to do it. Only God can decide on the sincerity and the spiritual value of such prayer. But, as far as I am concerned, I believe that, if the prayer was sincere but, due to reasons unknown to us, the person was unable to achieve a warm and sincere prayer, he did still pray. He did not forget to pray his rule of prayer at his regular time – that is already an offering, an effort held up to God – and God will accept this prayer having weighed the spiritual state and the sincerity of the one praying. Many people, and even many priests will not agree with me, but this is what I think, and I have found some indirect confirmation of my words in spiritual literature and even in old ‘Lives of the Fathers of the Church.’”


Thanks to Christ in Our Midst

Say it with 'Meaning'

An order for Morning Prayer, By Lancelot Andrewes

Glory be to thee, O LORD, Glory be to thee.
Glory be to thee who givest me sleep to recruit my weakness,
and to remit the toils of this fretful flesh,
To this day of all days,
a perfect, holy, peaceful, healthy, sinless course,
Vouchsafe O LORD.

Teach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee, for thou art my God;
Let thy loving Spirit lead me forth into the land of righteousness.
Quicken me, O LORD, for thy names sake,
and for thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble;
remove from me foolish imaginations,
inspire those that are good and pleasing in thy sight.
Turn away mine eyes lest they behold vanity;
let mine eyes look right on,
and let mine eyelids look straight before me.
Hedge up mine ears with thorns lest they incline to undisciplined words.
Give me early the ear to hear,
and open mine ears to the instruction of thy oracles.
Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth,
and keep the door of my lips.
Let my word be seasoned with salt,
that it may minister grace to the hearers.

Brian's Translation - Thank-you LORD for a good nights rest and may this day be wonderful. Keep me in your love and protect me from my own foolishness. May I see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. May I see your grace and show it to others. AMEN

Prayer is a Matter of Love

Man expresses love through prayer, and if we pray it is an indication that we love God. If we do not pray this is indicates that we do not love God, for the measure of our prayer is the measure of our love for God. St. Silouan identifies love for God with prayer, and the Holy fathers say that forgetfulness of God is the greatest of all passions, for it is the only passion that will not be fought by prayer through the Name of God. If we humble ourselves and invoke God's help, trusting in His love, we are given the strength to conquer any passion, but when we are unmindful of God, the enemy is free to slay us. Archmandrite Zacharias, 'The Hidden man of the Heart"

Just Do It

ON A RESOLUTE AND SUSTAINED PURPOSE

IF you wish to save your soul and win eternal life, arise from your lethargy, make the sign of the Cross and say:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Faith comes not through pondering but through action. Not words and speculation but experience teaches us what God is. To let in fresh air we have to open a window; to get tanned we must go out into the sunshine. Achieving faith is no different; we never reach a goal by just sitting in comfort and waiting, say the holy Fathers. Let the Prodigal Son be our example. He arose and came (Luke 15:20).

However weighed down and entangled in earthly fetters you may be, it can never be too late. Not without reason is it written that Abraham was seventy-five when he set forth, and the labourer who comes in the eleventh hour gets the same wages as the one who comes in the first.

Nor can it be too early. A forest fire cannot be put out too soon; would you see your soul ravaged and charred?

In baptism you received the command to wage the invisible warfare against the enemies of your soul; take it up now. Long enough have you dallied; sunk in indifference and laziness you have let much valuable time go to waste. Therefore you must begin again from the beginning: for you have let the purity you received in baptism be sullied in dire fashion.

Arise, then; but do so at once, without delay. Do not defer your purpose till "tonight" or "tomorrow" or "later, when I have finished what I have to do just now." The interval may be fatal. From "Way of the Ascetics" By Tito Colliander

I'm going to say my prayers NOW!

LORD in your Mercy, Brian+

Struggling with Prayer

We should not be surprised that many, if not most of us struggle with prayer. The fallen nature that affects us all desires to do its own thing, and submitting to and communing with God is not a desire of the flesh. It is a battle ground, and often we must discipline our wills, mind, and body to do prayer. Most of the time, thankfully, prayer is a delight, but lets not pretend that it is always easy.

The brethren asked Abba Agathon, "Amongst all our different activities, Father, which is the virtue that requires the greatest effort?" He answered, "Forgive me, but I think there is no labour greater than praying to God. For every time a man wants to pray, his enemies, the demons try to prevent him; for they know that nothing obstructs them so much as prayer to God. In everything else that a man undertakes if he perseveres, he will attain rest. But in order to pray a man must struggle to his last breath."
The Saying of the Desert Fathers

LORD, in your mercy, Hear our prayer. Brian+

I Weave a Silence

I weave a silence...
I weave a silence on to my lips,
I weave a silence into my mind,
I weave a silence within my heart.
I close my ears to distractions,
I close my eyes to attractions,
I close my heart to temptations.
Calm me, O LORD, as you stilled the storm.
Still me, O LORD, keep me from harm.
Let all the tumult within me cease.
Enfold me LORD in your peace.
-Anon.
A Prayer from the Celtic Tradition

We Never Pray Alone

When going through a difficult trial a number of years ago, my heart was encouraged when a fellow priest reminded me that I never pray alone, nor was I ever without prayer, for the Church prays with me and for me. Recently, I found these words...

Prayer is by nature common. Prayer is by the power of one Holy Spirit which is drawing all creation towards its redemption in Christ and by which Spirit alone we can recognize Jesus as LORD. Prayer is the act of the Body of Christ which offers itself to the one God and Father of all through His Son Jesus, the Head of the Body and great High Priest. Because the whole Body prays through its one Head, "All prayer is the prayer of the whole Church. There isn't any other sort." (Dewi Morgan, But God Comes First) In prayer we are not alone, we are with each other and the LORD.

The multitude with whom and for whom we pray is so great that it cannot be numbered. ....The angels pray with us. Those round the throne are ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands (Rev. 5.11) They never cease to cry Holy, Holy, Holy, and our prayer is joined with theirs.

After evoking our presence with the angels in prayer, the Te Deum (p. 7-9 BCP) brings to our consciousness the company and fellowship of the saints. Common prayer has an historical continuity which serves to unite our prayers with those of the noble army which has gone before and this dimension we must not lose or forget.

Finally, we come to the saints now upon the earth, "the holy Church throughout all the World" prays with us. ...Dewi Morgan remarks that, "This is of intense personal significance for it means that at every moment everyone of us is being prayed for by the Church. Nowadays you can never pray alone. You can only pray at the same time as, and therefore in union with, the Church." (From Common Prayer: A commentary on the Prayer Book Lectionary, Volume 2, St Peter Publications, Charlottetown, PE)

Why not take some time to read the Te Deum on pages 7 to 9 on the BCP and spend a few minutes reflecting on this wonderful truth - you are never alone, we pray together no matter where we are.

LORD have mercy, Brian+