MY Time!!!

C.S.Lewis in his creative book, The Screwtape Letters, writes a great truth about our feelings of time. Screwtape, a senior devil is writing to Wormwood, a junior devil, about deceiving the human's mind regarding time:

"Zealously guard in his mind the curious assumption 'My time is my own.' Let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful possessor of 24 hours. Let him feel as a grievous tax that portion of this property which he has to make over to his employers, and as a generous donation that further portion which he allows to religious duties. ...You have a delicate task. The assumption which you want him to go on making is so absurd that, if once it is questioned, even we cannot find a shred of argument in its defense. Man can neither make, nor retain, one moment of time; it all comes to him by pure gift. ... Now you will have noticed that nothing throws him into passion so easily as to find a tract of time which he reckoned on having at his own disposal unexpectedly taken from him. It is the unexpected visitor (when he looked forward to a quiet evening), or the friend's talkative wife (turning up when he looked forward to a tete-a-tete with the friend), that threw him out of gear. They anger him because he regards his time as his own and feels that it is being stolen."

I admit to having that 'feeling' many a time. 'Time is mine to give and waste', so goes the lie. It often leads to feeling that people rob me of my time, or waste my time. Frustration, impatience, lack of love, unkindness, harshness, and all manner of vice can stem from this lie that time is mine! But time is not mine. When I embrace eternal life I find that I do not get lost in the lies of having 'my' time wasted. Living for the LORD is to enter into 'His' time, and to look for the fullness of it.

St. Paul says to Timothy, "But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time." (1 Tim 6.11-15)

Self-fulfillment vs Self-sacrifice

We live in a world with a self-fulfillment mentality, and an unfulfilled life is a wasted life, or at least a tragedy. All of us fall into the trap of this thinking, and I say trap because this is NOT Christian thinking. I see the miseries of this thinking in elderly people who feel that their debilitated condition has rendered them useless, unwanted, unneeded, and a burden: in middle aged people who feel that their lives are slipping away from them and they have not been able to fulfill their dreams in meaningful ways; in young people who selfishly pursue their interests with disregard, and disrespect of those around them.

The life of Christ, and the saints displayed nothing with regard to any modern notion of self-fulfillment. Indeed just the opposite: self-sacrifice. I like to say, “No life, or act given in selfless love is a waste.” I think of all those people who sacrificed the ‘best’ years of their lives to care for a disabled child, or a bedridden relative. No self-fulfillment there. No self-fulfillment in Jesus going to the cross, or the martyrdom of saints and missionaries of days gone by. No self-fulfillment in loving your enemies or turning the other cheek. No self-fulfillment in giving until it hurts, or being a servant to others. The false dream of self-fulfillment thinking leads to frustration with others who are interfering with our dreams which leads to our impatience, intolerance, bitterness, regret, and despair.

There is much that could be said here but I think we Christians need to transform our own thinking to that of Christ and the ancient witness of the Church. We need to embrace the ways of humility and self-sacrifice. I believe this can only be done with the Spirit of Christ being our daily guide, and through intense, intentional prayer.

Blessed LORD, who putteth down the mighty from their seat and exaltest those of low degree: Save us, we beseech Thee, from pride and vainglory, from self-seeking and false ambition. Give us a humble and contrite spirit, that we may think less of ourselves, more of others, and most of all of Thee, who art our mighty God and Saviour; to whom with Thee and the Holy Spirit we ascribe all praise and glory, now and for evermore. AMEN (A prayer by Frank Colquhoun)

LORD have Mercy, Brian+

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"

Celtic Website

I was sent this website,

Faith and Worship

by a Christian friend. It is a wonderful resource of Celtic Christianity.

Enjoy, Brian+

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+

Paying Attention

I think it was Frederick Buechner who said, in reply to a question as to how people can find God in today's world, that we need to pay attention. Pay attention to what is happening to you and those around you. Jesus said, "Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. Mark 13.33 (New King James Version)

Paying attention to God means allowing the beauty and wonder of Creation to speak to our hearts: it means allowing the beauty and mystery of God's revelation in Christ to dwell in our heart: it means seeking, knocking, and asking: it means allowing for the answers of God to come in unexpected ways.

But it also means being attentive to the enemy, who would rob us of the day by day, minute by minute encounter with the source of all love, joy, hope, and peace.

Watch yourself with all diligence, lest the enemy steals near and robs you, depriving you of this great treasure, which is inner peace and stillness of soul. The enemy strives to destroy the peace of soul, because he knows that when the soul is in turmoil it is more easily led to evil. But you must guard your peace… An advance of the enemy is a self-reliant thought. Make it a rule to regard as clearly coming from the enemy every though which tends to decrease your conviction that all good comes from God, that you can succeed in nothing without the help of His grace.

~St Nikodemos the Hagiorite and Lorenzo Scupioli Unseen Warfare

Saint John Chrysostom

Today is the day we remember St. John Chrysostom

As Anglicans we know him best for the concluding prayer of Morning and Evening Prayer in the BCP

ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us grace
at this time with one accord to make our
common supplications unto thee; and dost promise
that when two or three are gathered together
in thy Name thou wilt grant their requests: Fulfil
now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy
servants, as may be most expedient for them;
granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth,
and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.

Here is a bit of a biography from Religion.wikia

John Chrysostom (c. 347–407, Greek: Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος), Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic sensibilities. After his death (or, according to some sources, during his life) he was given the Greek surname chrysostomos, meaning "golden mouthed", rendered in English as Chrysostom.[1][2]

The Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches honor him as a saint and count him among the Three Holy Hierarchs, together with Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzus. He is recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as a saint and Doctor of the Church. Churches of the Western tradition, including the Roman Catholic Church, some Anglican provinces, and parts of the Lutheran Church, commemorate him on 13 September. Some Lutheran and many Anglican provinces commemorate him on the traditional Eastern feast day of 27 January. The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria recognizes John Chrysostom as a saint (feast days: 16 Thout and 17 Hathor).[3]

John is known in Christianity chiefly as a preacher, theologian and liturgist, particularly in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Among his sermons, eight directed against Judaizing Christians remain controversial for their impact on the development of Christian antisemitism.[4][5][6]. He was also active in destruction of pagan symbols and places of worship, including the temple of Artemis at Ephesus.

From HERE

A quote from the Saint: "Even if we have thousands of acts of great virtue to our credit, our confidence in being heard must be based on God's mercy and His love for men. Even if we stand at the very summit of virtue, it is by mercy that we shall be saved."

Contemplating Beauty

When we contemplate Divine wisdom in the beauty of the created world, we are at the same time attracted still more strongly by the imperishable beauty of Divine Being as revealed to us by Christ. The Gospel for us is Divine Self-Revelation. In our yearning to make the Gospel word the substance of our whole being we free ourselves by the power of God from domination of passions. Jesus is the one and only Saviour in the true sense of the word. Christian prayer is effected by the constant invocation of His Name: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy upon us and upon Thy world.

~Archimandrite Sophrony -His Life is Mine

The Path of Beauty

In Psalm 23 we hear of the LORD leading us in 'paths of righteousness.' Paths are interesting things if you have ever noticed. How is it that designers set out their concrete sidewalks for pedestrians only for the pedestrians to take their own shortcuts, thus creating paths? We like our own paths, but the LORD has laid out for us the paths that are life and love. Often I thought that staying on the LORD's path involved alot of not doing the NO-NOs. Unfortunately this required too much thinking about the NO-NOs. I think it was Mark Twain who said something like, "If you spend all your time doing the do's of the Bible you would not have any time to do the don'ts." Another way to say that is if you learn to obsess on the beauty, love, joy, and hope of the LORD you will not stray from the paths of righteousness. St. Paul says this in Philippians.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
Phil 4.8,9 New King James Version

May you walk the Path of Beauty today.

LORD in your Mercy, Brian+

Do the Laundry

Laundry is one of those Sisyphean tasks (always there). It never seems to be all done. I mean you can work all day, get it all washed, dried, and even ironed, and when you crawl into bed the laundry hamper will contain the dirty cloths you wore during the day. That's the way it is with Laundry.

I like to compare the laundry with salvation. I mean when does laundry become laundry? Dirty cloths in a hamper are dirty cloths in a hamper, but the dirty cloths become 'laundry' as soon as there is the intent to clean the cloths. Likewise, "To be saved" begins with intent to come to the LORD. And just as the laundry is not complete until the job is done, neither is our salvation 'done' until the Day of Christ Jesus. So one way we could look at our salvation is that it is found in a life of repentance: of constantly bringing our fouled and broken hearts to the LORD for healing and restoration. Doing the spiritual laundry.

"...being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ"
Philippians 1.6 New King James Version

Collects for the Conversion of Saint Paul

From the Book of Common Prayer

O GOD, who, through the preaching of the
blessed Apostle Saint Paul, hast caused the
light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world:
Grant, we beseech thee, that we, having his wonderful
conversion in remembrance, may show
forth our thankfulness unto thee for the same,
by following the holy doctrine which he taught;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

From the Book of Alternative Services

Almighty God,
by the preaching of your servant Paul
you caused the light of the gospel
to shine throughout the world.
May we who celebrate his wonderful conversion
follow him in bearing witness to your truth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen

Collects for 3rd after Epiphany

From the Book of Common Prayer

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, mercifully
look upon our infirmities, and in all our
dangers and necessities stretch forth thy right
hand to help and defend us; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.

From the Book of Alternative Services

Almighty God,
by grace alone you call us
and accept us in your service.
Strengthen us by your Spirit,
and make us worthy of your call;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen

Struggle of Heart Prayer

I have many wonderful times of very heartfelt prayer, but in honesty my mind is easily distracted. Over the years I have used quite a variety of means for entering into deep prayer. I have fasted, sought silence and solitude, and used devotional tools such as prayer ropes and Icons. But I am flighty and restless. But I refuse to give up. The LORD IS, even if I am a wriggly child in His arms. If this is your sturggle here are a few words from Henri Nouwen's book, The Way of the Heart (Available from Amazon here)

The literal translation of the words "pray always' is "come to rest." The Greek word for rest is Hesychia, and hesychasm is the term which refers to the spirituality of the desert. A hesychast is a man or woman who seeks solitude and silence in the ways of unceasing prayer. The prayer of the hesychasts is a prayer of rest. This rest has very little to do with the absence of conflict or pain. It is a rest in God in the midst of very intense daily struggle. Abba Anthony even says to a fellow monk that it belongs :to the great work of a man...to expect temptations to his last breath." Hesychia, the rest which flows from unceasing prayer, needs to be sought at all costs, even when the flesh is itchy, the world alluring, and the demons noisy. Mother Theodora, one of the Desert Mothers, make this very clear:"...you should realize that as soon as you intend to live in peace, at once evil comes and weighs down your soul through accidie [sense of boredom], faintheartedness, and evil thoughts. It also attacks your body through sickness, debility, weakening of the knees, and all members. It dissipates the strength of the soul and body, so that one believes one is ill and no longer able to pray. But if we are vigilant, all these temptations fall away."

With that thought in hand, I am going to rest in some prayers,

LORD in your mercy, Brian+

The Wonder of God

‘There are many things I simply wonder at, but without fear, such as the beauty of Columns, a fresco, a body in the flower of youth. Again we wonder at the extent and unfathomable depth of the sea, but with fear , when we lean over its depths. It is like this when the prophet leans over the immense and unbound lake of God’s wisdom, and goes dizzy, amazed, he recoils with great fear, and cries out saying, ‘I confess to you that you have amazed me fearfully, your works are marvelous.’ And again, Your knowldge of me has amazed me: it is too strong for me, I cannot attain it’ (Psalm 138:6).
- St. John Chrysostom From The Wisdom of the Greek Fathers compiled by Andrew Louth

C.S. Lewis on Humility

If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed. From Mere Christianity

May God's grace give you the necessary humility. Try not to think - much less, speak - of their sins. One's own are a much more profitable theme! And if on consideration, one can find no faults on one's own side, then cry for mercy: for this must be a most dangerous delusion. From Letters to an American Lady

Do Hermits still exist??

A Wonderful article about a hermit from England.

HERE

Thanks to Rev. Everett Hobbes

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+

Discipleship - Toughen up

I was a bit of a basketball player in my university years. A bench warmer on the junior varsity to tell the truth. I remember that our coach worked us so very hard during the practices. We were in shape, we knew the fundamentals, and we were a team. We could often beat teams that had far more skilled and experienced players simply because we kept those basics. It was hard work, but we did it together.

Discipleship, being a follower of Christ is no different. It requires work, and yes the closer you want to get to the LORD the more you will have to work. Some of the basics of that work are time tested and true - prayer, fasting, and alms-giving. Prayer, both private and public are fundamentals. All disciples of Christ must be people of prayer. Fasting is out of vogue today especially as a corporate discipline, but we can at least learn to fast during certain times of the Church year, from foods and or pass times in order to free our minds and bodies to worship and serve. Fasting also has the benefit of teaching our wills to be able to say 'no' to our desires. Finally alms-giving: practicing giving helps us to be more giving. The more you practice giving the easier giving will become.

So do you want to be a more committed disciple of Christ?? Then toughen up a bit. Start in on those basics, and get some 'exercise' advise from your priest.

As the Scriptures testify -
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 The Holy Bible, New King James Version.)

Making a comment

I know that some of you who are reading this Blog might like to make an occasional comment on something you read.

To make a comment
1) Click on the comment link under the item.
2) Enter your comment
3) Under 'Comment as: SELECT PROFILE" click on Name/URL
4) Enter your name in the box
5) Leave the URL box empty
6) Click on "continue"
7} Click on "Post Comment"

Hope this helps. I'd love to hear from you.

Brian+

Reboot

It can happen easily enough. A few years ago our computer got a virus. How it happened I do not know, suffice to say that we lost partial control of our computer. It could have been far worst. For us, whenever we connected to the internet we were constantly rerouted to a gambling site. As long as we stayed off of the internet we could use the computer, use the wordprocessor, download pictures from the camera, listen to the music, play games, etc. But going on the internet was useless. We tried to remove the virus, but to no avail. In order to get rid of it we would have to reboot the entire computer - essentially we’d have to start with a clean slate, going back to the day the computer arrived at out home. All the files, pictures, emails, everything accumulated since owning the machine, gone!
I set out to back-up all the files I could.

I had never re-booted a computer before and to say the least I was anxious. What if I got it wrong? Would the computer ever work for us again? Would we have to buy a new one altogether? Fortunately I was able to reboot the beast and get on with life again. We lost all of our email addresses and saved messages, but everything else was fine! Whew! In order to prevent a virus takeover from ever happening again we installed an anti-spyware program along with an updated virus checker. No problems since.

The spiritual analogy is obvious. It is all to easy for the viruses of the world (sin) to creep into our hearts and take over. We to need to install a ‘virus check’ and keep it updated. The Lord invites us to accept Him into our hearts, and to walk in His ways. The install program is accepting Christ’s work upon the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. The activation button is the confession of your sins, and an earnest resolve to walk in newness of life. The virus check is the Holy Spirit in our hearts working with our conscience and will. To keep the system in top operating order we need to add knowledge of Scripture, prayerfulness, fellowship with other ‘rebooted’ people (committed Christians), and frequent participation in receiving the mysteries of the Body and Blood of our Lord in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

Have you been rebooted? - Give you life to the Lord Jesus Christ!
Have you had your system updated lately? - Come to worship and fellowship.

YE that do truly and earnestly repent you of
your sins, and are in love and charity with
your neighbours, and intend to lead the new
life, following the commandments of God, and
walking from henceforth in his holy ways: Draw
near with faith, and take this holy Sacrament to
your comfort; and make your humble confession to
Almighty God, meekly kneeling upon your knees.

Brian+