Posts Tagged ‘Prayer’

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Focus on Jesus

November 1, 2010

“My child, do not trust in your present feeling, for it will soon give way to another. As long as you live, you will be subject to changeableness in spite of yourself,” says Thomas a Kempis. Ever wonder why you can go from happy to sad to joyous to envious to angry–sometimes all within an hour or two? Wise people have pointed out to us for millennia that this is the human condition.

Sometimes we think that we are free from constraint to do what we wish, when in fact we are at the mercy of our passion. Benjamin Franklin, one of the American Founders, once said, “If passions are the driver, let reason hold the reins.” That was wise, but  still a little lacking. Sometimes our reason exists to justify the desires of the passions. We know that from buying decisions. Suddenly we desire something–a new car, expensive dress, whatever. The desire was probably driven by advertising or from someone we know who got one. Then our brain begins to start figuring out the rational reasons why that purchase would be good.

Thomas a Kempis concludes the chapter saying, “The eye of your intention, therefore, must be cleansed so that it is single and right. It must be directed toward [Jesus], despite all the objects which may interfere.”

Ponder that. How can you keep your focus on Jesus, and through him, God?

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Find God In Stillness

October 6, 2010

“Can’t you sit still?” “Be quiet.”

Did you grow up listening to that music? Even as adults, we have trouble being still. At those times where we do have an opportunity to sit in a quiet room, our thoughts are racing at hyperspeed. When we think we are praying, we just have words tumble all over themselves.  Even when we are in a “conversation” we spend more time thinking about what we’ll say next than listening to what the other person is saying. Sort of reminds me of the quote I used last night to finish up the Yoga class from George Bernard Shaw. “The problem with communication is the illusion that it really happened.”

I have been asked how I can maintain perspective and balance in a world of people screaming at each other and hating each other. Actually, I can’t maintain perfect balance, but the answer comes from stillness. Living most of my life having periods of silence with God. I listen. I feel His presence.

T.S. Eliot, in his poem “Burnt Norton” in the Four Quartets, says it beautifully,

At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;

Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,

But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,

Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,

Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,

There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.

I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where.

And I cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time.

Seek the still point. That is the best advice I can give. In the stillness of the very early morning, relax, let your mind clear, and empty yourself. Much like you cannot put something in a bowl if it is filled. It must be empty to be used. If your mind and soul are full of much idle conversation, there is no room for God to come in. And it’s all about letting God enter in the stillness to help you gain perspective, balance–and to gain insight into what God wants you to be doing in His name. Find that still point and dance with God.

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Beyond Hate and Anger

September 30, 2010

Underlying so much of the so-called discussion of messages floating around the Internet and reactions to various people and ideas are hate and anger. Now anger probably leads to hate, because it must eventually manifest itself against someone or something. Anger usually springs up from inside yourself. Causes are individual, but certain general causes accumulate from the individual. Often anger comes from internal feelings of lack of self-worth, or feeling threatened by events, or feelings of fear of others who are different from me, or fear of losing my wealth–or not getting the wealth I feel I deserve.

The generation now in its 50s and entering the 60s has been described as the “me generation” since before 1970. And that’s a lot of what I see. Too many people are still striving for everything that they think they are owed, when in fact, they are owed nothing. Too wrapped up in accumulating things and worried simultaneously about losing what they have and not getting as many things as they desire, they lash out at others who threaten their lifestyle–at least as they see it.

I’m back to Thomas a Kempis in The Imitation of Christ, but you could find similar words in most spiritual writers. “A man is raised up from the earth by two wings–simplicity and purity. There must be simplicity in his intention and purity in his desires. Simplicity leads to God, purity embraces and enjoys Him.”

Only by simplifying your life and striving for purity by focusing on God through Jesus can you deal with all the internal turmoil–the conflicts that lead to hate, anger, fear. I counsel that to so many people I meet these days who are so conflicted by striving and worry. Calm down, breathe, seek God, meditate on His Word. In these you can start toward simplicity and the true peace that God offers.

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Rush to Judge Others

September 27, 2010

We live in a time, I don’t know, maybe like other times in human history, where people are so quick to judge others. I know Christians who perfectly know the mind of God and can point out exactly who is going to heaven and who isn’t. Of course, for them, the game played is about heaven. I’ll never forget a Mad Magazine cartoon from when I was a kid that talked about the first preacher who moved to Hartford, Conn. (then the capitol of the insurance industry) and sold “fire insurance.”

The book I’m currently studying is “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas a Kempis. This contemplative from the Middle Ages wrote, “If a man would weigh his own deeds fully and rightly, he would find little cause to pass severe judgment on others.” These certainly reflect the voice of Jesus–speck in someone else’s eye, log in yours; he who is without sin cast the first stone.

If you spent more time in your morning prayers reflecting upon where you fall short and asking God for help, you would approach the day with an entirely different attitude than when you, like the Pharisee, begin the day with the prayer, “Thank you God for making me perfect.” When you look inside yourself and see the sin that lurks in both things you do and things you are capable of, you’ll understand why relationship with God through Jesus is key to salvation–not so much from the future hell but from the hell of today.

Why live bitter, resentful, judgmental? Why not live free to love God and love other humans? Throw off the chains of your limited, fearful view of God and enter into relationship with Him.

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Open Eyes to Dynamics of Life

September 25, 2010

Sorry not to post for a while. I had a thigh muscle pull bad enough to land me for an overnight stay in the hospital followed by a couple of weeks on a narcotic pain killer. While I realize there exists a minor literary tradition of writing on spiritual topics while on drugs, that’s not my style. On top of that, I had a magazine to get out (no rest when you publish monthly), a special project newspaper for a conference coming up next week, and then my long-time boss, mentor and friend passed away last Wednesday. It’s been a month that tries my balance, to say the least.

But a couple of weeks on your back give you time to contemplate. At the same time my wife was reading some of those hate emails that circulate the Internet. Me, I just delete unopened. She? She reads every one, to the bottom, then gets upset. I tell her that a good way to maintain emotional and intellectual balance is to pare out things from your life that unnecessarily cause distress. (There are life events, of course, that confront you that must be met, but that’s another matter.)

Back to my wife’s reading and the subject of my last post–like many people my age, I started meditating in the late 60s. I’ve explored paths, had experiences. I combine practice with reading. The thing that has consistently amazed me during my reading the ancient spiritual masters for 40 years is that they write very little about prayer or meditation techniques. They write about the person. Where do all the passions originate? How do you overcome them? How do you live your life? It’s not a method or a word to memorize. It’s all about how you live, where you focus.

So, I deal with many Christians who have memorized a few verses from the Bible. Some of them, though, when I observe how they live, how they interact with others, what their attitude toward others is, I wonder.

Allow me a metaphor. I am a soccer referee and instructor of referees. I’ve noticed two types of referees. One type is “book smart.” They are dissatisfied with anything less than 95% on any test we give. They know every law or rule and every interpretation–in their head. But, put them on the pitch (field) to actually do refereeing, they fail at any tough contest. Like life, soccer is a dynamic game. It has flows of activity. There are many nuances. Sometimes it’s a matter of perspective or flow of the game that determines what is a foul and what is called. A good referee at this higher level knows the written laws thoroughly. That is only the start. The key to success is to develop a feel for the game, relate to the players, move the game along within the boundaries.

Some Christian traditions have developed a formula: accept Christ + read Bible + attend church religiously = go to heaven. Oh, by the way, judge other people based upon what you’ve read and whether they agree with you. It’s the “know the law” type of religion. Sounds a little like the Pharisees to me.

There is another way, much more ancient than that, which says something like, recognize Jesus, develop a living relationship with God through Jesus, read the Bible to deepen your knowledge and follow the two commandments Jesus gave us–love God, love people. (Love as an action verb, not an emotion.) That’s my tradition. I wish I could do it as well as I can say it.

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How to handle obnoxious Christians-or anyone

September 10, 2010

Ever notice that sometimes when you’re going in too many directions and barely keeping your nose above the metaphorical water your body, tired of being ignored shouts, “Stop!” ? I’ve pondered my next post on this blog from many angles. In the evening of 8/31 as I prepared for a quick drive up to Cleveland for a meeting. Then from the perspective of laying on my back on the garage floor Wednesday morning 9/1 when the muscles in my left leg told me rather forcefully “you ain’t going nowhere, buddy”. Then I received one of those dreaded calls that one of my friends was about to die from cancer.

Even I could finally stop the frantic space and just rest a little. Even in the early morning pain when the pills haven’t done their job and I can’t sleep. Slow down, breathe deeply, focus — on God.

I’m contemplating attitude. What’s my attitude about life right now? How do I approach small setbacks? Then news started hitting. Pastor of a small church in Florida (I think) decides it’s a great time for a publicity stunt. He’ll burn a pile of books he doesn’t like and generate a lot of attention (I think that idea was tried in the late 30s and early 40s in Europe–didn’t work too well). Well, he got a lot of attention, but problem in a connected world is that one small-time opportunist can create havoc for thousands. He literally could fan the flames of hatred and put the lives of thousands of Americans in danger half-way across the world. Is it time for growing responsibility? Or are we headed toward another era of hatred and warfare such as the Nazis incited?

Problem is, the guy claims to be a Christian (I leave the judging to a higher authority). So how do you deal with an obnoxious Christian? Well, how do you deal with an enemy? With love, right? So…

Jon Swanson is one of the best writers I read on these subjects. Try this on for size.

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Spiritual Fitness and Endurance

August 29, 2010

I have refereed soccer for over 20 years. Along the way, I’ve been privileged to work some pretty high-level games. In order to be successful, I had to continually train my body and my mind. Part of training the body is to have the endurance to still be running at the end of the match along with the players and not be so tired that you begin to make poor decisions (mind).

People ask me about the spiritual life. Is it one burst of enlightenment? Or, is it believing in a set of words? Baptists (among others) emphasize the importance of decision. Some think that once you make the decision for Christ, then you’re pretty much done. Nothing else to do.

The answer to all of that is pretty much “no” or “there’s more.” Paul often uses the metaphor of athletic training when speaking of the spiritual life. Just as it is necessary to train your body and mind to be fit to be a soccer referee, you must train your body and mind to be fit for the spiritual life. How do you train? You train your mind by study–study the Bible; study scholars who study the Bible and help explain terms the original languages and the like; study writings from spiritual masters; and, most of all think abut what you’re reading. You train your body by working to avoid sins of the body–sexual, alcohol abuse, and the like. You also train through the discipline of prayer.

James makes a similar teaching at the beginning of his pastoral letter–you gain endurance by living through trials.

Once you decide for Jesus, the spiritual life begins in earnest. Begin training now.

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Balance Needs Focus

August 13, 2010

Yoga is a discipline of bringing body, mind and spirit together. Psychologists, even those who observed humans 5,000 years ago, know that one sign of illness is when your emotions, mind, body are out of balance and working at cross purposes. One classic Yoga pose that is often the picture used when someone discusses it is called tree pose. This is a balance pose where you stand on one leg, the foot “rooted” to the ground. The other foot is placed on the inner thigh of the “trunk.” The hands are above the head with palms together.

I try to hold this pose for at least 10 breaths. What you discover is that the trick is not balance, per se, but focus. You must clear your mind, focus your eyes on a stable object then concentrate on your breathing.

I’ve been writing a lot about focus lately, because I’ve discovered it is key to a spiritual life. My study of Mark has reached the last 3 chapters where Mark tells the story of Jesus’ last couple of days on earth as a human. I’ve been contrasting Jesus (our model) with Peter (someone with whom we can identify).

Except for the interesting story about his cursing the fig tree, Jesus faced his coming trials and knowledge that his friends would desert him with tremendous focus and balance. His stable object of focus was God. He never wavered from his life with his father. And he kept his balance. Whether being grilled by the ruling council of his religion or by civil authorities with the power to kill him, he was a model of balance. He did not lash out at his accusers–even though the accusations were not true and even contradictory.

Peter, on the other hand, lost it. His emotions swung from blustery “I’ll never desert you” to “I never knew that man.” He lost his focus out of fear. But do not condemn him. Can you say that you have Jesus’ perfect courage? Look inside yourself. What would you have really done in his place? Stand up in the face of the crowd and be killed, too?

Then Peter came to self-realization. He saw into his own mind, body and spirit. He wept. This was a moment of realization. You cannot truly live with God until you realize deeply that you don’t have that focus on God. We also know the rest of the story. Jesus said he would go ahead of them to Galilee after he was raised from the dead. He did. And he met Peter. And he blessed Peter three times to counter the three denials. And Peter realized his focus, his strength, and his balance. And he became a great leader.

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Wakeful or sleepy prayer

August 12, 2010

You have a friend facing a great trial. Life or death hangs in the balance. She’ll know shortly. She asks her friends to pray for/with her. But the threat doesn’t seem real to you. Somehow you just cannot work up the same level of concern as she. While she is sweating in anguish over what might happen to her in the next hours and days, you close your eyes to pray and … fall asleep. She wakes you. You try again. And again…you fall asleep. Some friend!

Jesus brought his three closest friends to a hillside garden across the valley from Jerusalem to pray with him. He knew that the events were building and that his final confrontation with the religious leaders was coming soon. He knew it wasn’t a game he was playing. It was for “keeps.” It was life or death. He had the dread we all face when we are about to undergo a trial and can’t really picture the outcome. We don’t know how bad the experience will be. He wanted support. He got…nothing. They went to sleep on him. They just didn’t feel that same sense of urgency that the one about to undergo the trial felt.

In the discipline of meditation, there is a state called “restful awareness.” You are resting, focusing your mind on God, yet you are aware of things around you. You hear sounds, feel presences. Your focus remains on God. In some traditions, masters watch their students. They may ring a gong. Some will be startled. They are the ones who are dozing instead of praying. It’s a lesson.

Prayer is a discipline. It requires training and practice. Earlier, the disciples asked Jesus how to pray. They noticed that he went often to a quiet place to pray. They wanted to emulate him. But in the hour of need, they went to sleep.

What about you? Can you sit in silent prayer, alone with God, for minutes, hours, without sleeping? Try it. Paul used the words of athletics when discussing spiritual training. Think in terms of the hours of practice that a star athlete puts in so that he can perform well on game day. Emulate that. Start practicing and training so that when your friend needs your support, you are a champion supporter.

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Praying with a closed fist

July 18, 2010

I’ve been looking at the story in Mark where Jesus cursed the fig tree then turned questions about it into teaching on prayer. As so often happens, when you think of something, things come into your life around that topic. Further, I choose what goes into my mind as much as possible. So, I never watch TV news, for instance. When I work out I listen to talks either about God (sermons from John Ortberg and Bill Hybels) or technology.

This week John Ortberg was speaking on prayer. He said, “It doesn’t work to come to God and have a closed fist.” Henri Nouwen wrote a wonder little book on prayer, “With Open Hands.” Same idea. You cannot be open to God if you are still grasping something–hiding something from God. Jesus said in this story that one thing that you could be grasping is hatred or anger toward another person. He said that before you can pray, you must give forgiveness to others.

I continue to observe religious people (who think they are spiritual, but that’s a different thing) build fences around themselves in order to separate the good from the bad. I was just thinking about the progression–in the 50s and 60s, the phrase was “I have a black friend;” then in the 70s, “I know a woman who is a good leader; now in the ‘oughts,’ “I know a homosexual person.” I have read the theology derived to say that in each case these people were less than human. So I wonder, what is my clenched fist? What is yours? Where do I find justifications for my attitudes? What is there within me that still builds a barrier between me and others? Jesus took it to that level–the level of your relationship to God and your relationship to other people. That’s all that matters.

Today, black people are mostly accepted into society despite some lingering racism. Women are now pastors and leaders despite some lingering sexism and weird interpretations of Paul’s writings. Homosexuals–well, the jury is still out.

But as for you, what are you holding tight to that interferes with an honest, open relationship with God?

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