You Shall Have a Song!

For my reflection today I'm simply going to list things that stand out in my mind as I look back over the service.  These are in no particular order.

• Ben Tompson's negative response to my singing.  ( I think I finally won him over when I got to singing "A, B, C, ...."
• Sybal's wonderful work with our LTC choir.
• The beauty of sign language.
• The joy of seeing so many faces at church that I have not seen in a awhile.
• Holding my 8 week old granddaughter to greet people after the service.
• Marveling over that long list of scriptures I read at the end of the sermon.  (I hope it wasn't too long.)
• Rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep during our Family Prayer Time.
• Watching our beautiful children and listening as they told the story of Jesus' death and resurrection.
• Having all my children and their spouses at home at the same time attending Easter services with us.
• Reflecting on the great work of so many who devoted themselves to making our Easter worship a meaningful time of celebration and thanksgiving.

A Spiritual Food Pyramid

Ever since I was baptized 37 years ago I have been in love with the Bible.  I remember when I was a senior in high school taking one of those tests designed to help you know what to do with your adult life.  The job I ranked highest in was "priest."  I know that happened because several of the questions had to do with the Bible.  On each one I had checked "highly interested" or whatever the highest ranking was.  What else could a person like that become if not a priest?

Since I'm a naturally disciplined person by nature, I loved the challenge of reading through the Bible in a year or studying a subject like prayer through the entire Bible.  I've enjoyed digging deeply into God's word to understand a particular book or topic.  Early on in my Christian walk I learned how to use the Psalms as a prayer book and later developed the practice of praying the prayers of Paul (and others). 

In the past few years I've discovered the ancient practice of Scripture meditation.  I was excited to be able to share this with the congregation both in the Bible class and sermon today.  I loved the exercise we did in class meditating on Psalm 1.  I practiced the exercise at home yesterday and felt an immediate draw to focus on the tree mentioned in the passage.  In class others were drawn to different parts of the Psalm.  One person focused on the word "delight" and another on the word "meditate."  Another said meditating on the Psalm brought to mind a grapevine in his garden that he thought was dead.  However, when cutting off the dead parts he discovered that there was still life in the root.  He made application to his own life and spiritual journey.  How wonderful that the Holy Spirit can speak to each of us in unique ways when we take our time, focus on Scripture, and listen. 

Meditation does not do away with other types of Bible reading or study.  Instead, I believe, it can enhance such work.  We still need to get a grasp on the big picture of the message of God as occurs when we read the Bible systematically.  We still need to know what the individual authors were communicating to their original audiences as can be understood through Bible study.  Grounding such work as Bible reading and Bible study on the proper foundation makes all the difference when it comes to meditation.  No matter how I'm looking at the Bible my ultimate goal is always to cooperate with God's Spirit in the formation of my life into the image of Christ.  When this is our purpose and goal, we can be assured of enjoying rich times of meditation on the unchanging but ever new Word of God.

Don't Forget to Breathe

Of all the great lessons Mr. Miyagi taught Danielson, arguably the most important was, "Don't forget to breathe.  It is very important."  As we learned in our sermon today, prayer is the breath of our spiritual lives.  There are certianly some techniques and exercises that teach us how to experience deeper and richer communion with God through prayer.  But in the end, I still find the best advise to be what I said near the end of the sermon, "Pray as you can, not as you can't."  I don't know who first uttered that simple sentance, but it brings great relief to people like me who contantly wonder what there is about prayer that I have not yet learned to practice.  Do what you can NOW but keep  learning.

Everyone loves a story.  I received a number of comments after the sermon about the stories I read about "Aunt Sally" from Mark Thibodeaux's book, "Armchair Mystic: Easing Into Contemplative Prayer."  For those desiring to go deeper into the final stages of prayer that I talked about this moring, I would consider this book a wonderful first step.  I wrote a brief review a couple of years go that you can find if you click here.  (Scroll down the page to find my review.)

I have heard that the best exercise is the one that you actually do!  The same is true for prayer.  Learning about prayer is wonderful; Praying is more wonderful still!

Finding Your Rhythm

As I reflect on today's sermon I find myself amazed at how simple life should be.  The sun rises and falls every day, the tides roll in and out over and over and over.  Summer follows Spring which comes right after Fall and Winter every year.  Flowers always bloom in spring and trees always lose their leaves in Fall.  We could say it's like clockwork, but in reality, the clock is made possible by the rhythm God has set in the universe. 

If life should be simple, why does it feel so complex?  The short answer would be that sin has entered into God's perfect creation and caused an element of chaos to be present.   This explains why sometimes the rolling waves can become a  highly destructive tsunami!  For many, however, the chaos is not an occasional event but has become a lifestyle.  We choose to live frantic, harried, haggard, crazy lives.  How do does one get off the treadmill? 

I must credit Henry Nouwen for the three point outline I used today to describe how Jesus lived according to God's rhythm.  The concepts of Solitude, Community, and Ministry have helped me a great deal to slow my life down and follow the leading of God's Spirit.  To read Nouwen's insightful article click here.  Life really can be much simpler than many choose to live around us.  Look to Jesus and he will show you the way.