A nestled soul

So as I sifted through these thoughts and pondered on the possibility of praying without ceasing, I think I begin to see some light in the process. The three ways of praying with three ways of positioning ourselves in God open a way to a different kind of life. We pray to God, we set our will to God and we give our wishes to God. Now these sound like so many other prayer talks, but the other three ways have a newness to me that is worth exploring.

“Motion towards” – To me this implies the forward motion of our lives in primarily the physical world. This is our getting up and going to work and playing in the park and reading a good book and researching a beloved topic and pursuing the life we are called to live here on this earth. This is a part of praying without ceasing, living out our lives in a continual movement towards God in the life He has laid out before us, not written in stone but a life to be discovered in the simple and the complex aspects of life.

“Accession to” – This is the upward call of Christ to be ever mindful of the spiritual realities that permeate our time here on earth. To be aware of the majesty, the power, the overarching immensity of God, and the multidimensionality of God. This is a mindset, an orientation of our lives that acknowledges our finitude and dependence on a power greater than us. It is a wordless awareness that our lives are not ours, but bought at a great price in love.

“Nearness at” – This phrase made me think that a God that is intimate, near us, is so much more than a distant God of power and might. This aspect of praying without ceasing is the closeness of God through the Holy Spirit, connecting with us at the deepest level of our souls. It is an intersection that words do not easily define. It is the life of God within us, nourishing us, encouraging us, protecting us, holding us, it is those ongoing prayers that have no words yet speak in great volumes through our souls.

So, in my simple love of words, for me, I have found the possibility of praying with out ceasing, setting my life, orientating my mind and nestling my soul in a life devoted to serving the God we name as Lord.

The endless voice from within

“Pray Without Ceasing” I Thessalonians 5:17
This little phrase is key to a life lived in simple communion with God. For most of my Christian experience, I found it an impossible concept to consider a reality to be lived. I saw prayer as an active, usually verbal articulation of concerns, requests, etc. In recent months, I have sought to unpack what these words might mean and if they could be lived out.
I am not a trained theologian but I am passionate about words and the meanings within them, so with a Vines Bible Dictionary and a Strong’s Concordance, I search for indicators as to what these words might mean.
I found the word “pray” in this case to be the word proseuchomal. It means simply “to pray to God.” But upon further looking into the two parts of the word, I found some interesting results:
Pros – Has three ways of being used, “motion towards”, “accession to”, and “nearness at”.
Euchomal – Also has three ways, “to wish”, “to will”, and “to pray”.
The next two words, “without ceasing’ seem to be found in one word, adialeiptos. What is fascinating about this word is that it means, “that which is constantly recurring”. It specifically does not imply something that does not have interruption but rather it is referring to something that is ongoing and implies a regenerative experience.

The cloudy glass

A look into a fogged mirror and you can barely discern yourself, muted colors and indistinct shapes are what look back through the condensation. How dim the future when we envision what is to come. The shapes are hardly recognizable and the colors are difficult to indentify. Sure we set goals, create action steps, analyze time commitments and make our plans in one and five year increments. How about the shape of our hearts, what do we want to believe in, in five years, what will the interior landscape of our souls become. What will our soul gardens look like further on this journey: shade trees grown huge, ponds teeming with life, fruit weighing down branches, ripe for picking. The reflection seen dimly is one looked at on the outside, the inner journey is much clearer and does not require a reflective surface, but rather an unobstructed connection to the core of our being.

Submerged

It is in the darkness that we find our true character. When the light has dimmed, we face ourselves, without the visual clutter of identity trappings we have purchased. The lightless times are gifts for us to reconsider our lives: where we are, where we are going, where we have come from, who we are, who we want to become, what we have been. It is not surprising that Jonah and Jesus spend three days in darkness, one in the belly of a fish, the other in the belly of death. Both get spat back out into life. Jonah is our point up to Jesus, and both are reminders that we all go through submerged times when light has failed and we cry out our anguish and come face to face with our deepest fears. Easter is a yearly reminder of life after the darkened tunnel. Spring glows with new life after the barren winter, green bursts forth from seemingly dead branches, blossoms adorn tree and plant. It is good to be reminded of the growth that comes from our winters, to assure us again that the dark cold always ends and a new season greets us with such potential.

Eve of the Palm

Thunder clouds rolled in and dropped their wet load over the city, just after sunset. An ominous reminder of the beginning of Holy Week. Darkness, cold and suffering are essential elements of life, before hope can be rejoiced in. How often, we dream of the monotony of paradise: blue water, white beaches and palm branches waving in a gentle breeze. Palm branches are meant to be waved this wekend, but not as a sign of the absence of stress but as the triumphal entry into Jerusalem and victory over death. Yes, the beach is an important place for the restoration of our soul, but Jerusalem is where the test of our faith will be played out when the crowd recognizes us as one of his followers. What shall we say? We waved the palm branch wildly in anticipation of sharing in the victory, but the reality of following in his path requires embracing the thunder clouds of life.

A River Within

A river is a beautiful visual picture of life. The rush of the water as it foams around rocks and drops over ledges in torrents of beauty. The motion slows when wider banks give it girth to meander through the lowlands. Traveling at a slower speed that allows for looking up at the overhanging trees and the cloudless sky on a lazy afternoon in mid summer. Ah, this is what the heart needs, a bit of slowing down, a time to look up and find out what color the sky is today, a chance to see what birds are winging through the branches of green-leafed trees, a closing of the eyes to hear the gurgling of the water agasinst the sides of the boat. To see life as upon a river, to see a river flowing within, to connect to life in all its mystery and wonder, that is what today should hold.

A Deep Place of Contentment

What I have discovered is that the stillness is in my soul. It is a deep place of contentment in the path set before me and I walk it with confidence in the direction that has been set. It does not mean I do not stumble and fall, that is the way of life, it is the getting up and continuing that we are measured by. The stillness and knowing operate at a soul level that creates a foundation for the activeness of my life.

The “be-ing” is a way of viewing myself as a part of the new humanity that Christ calls us to live in and as. We are part of the kingdom of God, a group of people that live to see others operate in new found peace and vitality to pursue their dreams. Becoming a human being rather than merely a human doing is essential for our growth and well being. The doing is not the problem in itself but doing without being is empty of life-giving power. George Bernard Shaw gives us a wonderful sense of how to live fully being and fully doing.

"This is the true joy in life, The being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a great one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievance complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."

Shaw gives us the four “beings” of life. These are the four “be’s” of being still and being empowered to fully life out our callings.
1. “Being used for a purpose”-when we are still before God, we are affirmed in our purpose in life. He communes with us to give us strength and direction.
2. “Being used for a great purpose”-seeing ourselves as part of Christ’s new humanity, we are involved in greatness as we follow Him.
3. “Being thoroughly worn out by the end”-we need to run the race with all we have, using the resources that we are given to act upon the call we have received.
4. “Being a force of nature”-the stillness of God is not passive, but powerfully connected to the creative forces that shaped our universe, our world and the transformation of our souls.

So it is with confidence that I share a part of my journey with you, that God will reveal his call upon your life and empower you to walk in the way he has set before you. Be still and know that you are an essential part of the creative work of God on the earth.