Pray without ceasing

Like most mornings, today is beginning with quiet time and coffee on the deck. It really is such a peaceful and serene way to begin the day. This day differs from most in that my mom is also having her quiet time and coffee on our deck.
While I am blogging, she is deep in her daily practice of prayer. Her prayer time is very intentional and purpose driven. Most people would consider it to be quite lengthy, as well. She says, "God gives me 24 hours each day; surely I can give him one!"

Admittedly, my purposeful, intentional prayer time has become nearly non-existent over the past few years. And yet I have become closer to God and more aware of the presence of God in me and around me than ever before in my life. I think this is the feeling Paul was experiencing when he wrote in 1 Thessalonians 15, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, ..."

In my awareness and communion with God, I don't begin and end with the Catholic salutation, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Most of the time I don't even directly address God. It's more like just being in the presence of God; each of us aware of the presence of the other, each sensing the thoughts of the other. I do petition God for the health and well being of others, but it isn't the same as the shopping list approach that I once had.
That's not meant as a criticism of anyone else's approach to prayer; it's just a recognition of how automatic and insensitive my own prayers had become. It's like the adult version of me seeing the kid version on Santa's lap. While the kid version was sincerely expressing his desires, the adult version sees it as cute, but pretty futile.

But enough about me!
How do you acknowledge or communicate with God, the Christ, the Universe, the Tao, whatever you call the greater power of the universe?
Do you have a prayer time or prayer place?
Do you use daily or a regular practice of meditation?
Do you connect through a physical practice like yoga or running?
I know some use a walking meditation or labyrinth to ground their spirit.

If you don't have a regular practice to connect to God or ground yourself to the world around you, i would strongly encourage you to find a way to do that. You can begin by simply sitting still and focusing on your breath as you slowly breath in and out. Be purposeful about each breath -- slowly and deeply in, slowly and peacefully out. Feel your feet connecting to the ground or the floor. Recognize the spirit within you. Breathe.
Seriously, a few minutes of simple breathing can slow the heart, quiet the mind, reduce stress, and bring peace to your soul.

If you are on Facebook and want to begin a simple practice of meditation, try The Mediocre Buddhist.
You can participate in morning meditations MWF at 7 central time, or watch at your convenience anytime.
I really believe that before you can find God in the Universe, you need to find God in yourself. The Bible says that we are created in the image and likeness of God. When you look in the mirror, look for God. Look into your eyes, look into your soul. Find God in you. You are connected to all things through The Christ that lives in you!
That is the Good News!

John

Wednesday Wisdom

 

Back Home

Oh my! It was a good few days on the road, but it is always good to be back home -- even if only for a few days.

I was only a couple hundred miles into my trip (550 miles on the first day) before experiencing a flat tire. I had left home an hour earlier than planned so that I could take my time and have a little more leisurely drive. As it was, the early departure merely allowed me to have time to repair the tire and then arrive in Chicago a little bit later than planned.

No worries -- a couple of beers at The Haymarket and my favorite sandwich (The Riot) before seeing a White Sox winner with the kids and all was well in the world once again.

Friday was a short drive (not even 150 miles) to Mom's place in Metamora.
Friday night I spent a few hours catching up with a couple of old friends. I really haven't kept in touch with many of my high school classmates and have rarely spent any time with them when I've been home for quick visits with the folks.
I had such a good time meeting with these two old friends! 

We talked, laughed, and drank to old friends and old memories until well past 3AM.
Growing up in a small town with these guys and others like them was quite an experience. They reminded me of things I had forgotten, but were still buried in the far recesses of my ancient memories. It is a wonder that we survived to adulthood.
Damn, we did some stupid stuff!

Saturday we met with some more old friends. It was more subdued (and sober) than Friday night's activities, but every bit as good of an experience. 
Sunday was a laid back, chill sort of day. We didn't get to visit with some of the relatives we were hoping to see, but it was a good day with Mom. We went to Mass at The Community of St. John, visited Dad's grave, and had a good lunch at Mom and Dad's Sunday after Mass lunch place.
Before hitting the road on Monday, we had lunch with cousins that I haven't seen in ages.

While the weekend was full and just personal visits with old friends and family, it also served as a reminder of the value of past relationships and the importance of keeping and nurturing those relationships. Perhaps it was a year+ of pandemic restrictions that makes reuniting with and hugging old friends seem more important. Or maybe there is a greater awareness of my mortality as we remembered friends and family that are no longer living and able to be a part of our reunions.

Sometimes I look at Facebook and think, "Dang, my friends are all so old!" 
I image my friends look at me and think that they have an old friend!
The reality is that we are all getting older. Many of us have lost parents and we have all lost friends and classmates. Life is uncertain and fleeting.

I think I'm going to be more aware of the simple presence of people -- the preciousness of our existence. I'm going to try to make people feel good about themselves and good about the relationship I have with them. I know that is going to take some work and some reparation on my part. Please be patient with me. It is a work in progress.

John

Reading

Yesterday turned out to be a pretty long day, and it was the first day in about two months that I didn't do any reading!
I recently finished Richard Rohr's The Universal Christ. It is a very thought provoking book and if you are open to having what you believe challenged, it is a worthwhile read. If you are pretty steeped and fixed in your orthodoxy or fundamental Christian beliefs, you're probably just wasting your time and would only get angry at his suggestions about the greatness and grace-ness of God.

I'm about 40% through a book on the ancient Chinese teaching and philosophy of Tai Chi Chuan (it's nearly 1000 pages long). It's been a few weeks since I've been in this book and really need to get back to it.
And I'm about 1/3 of the way through an easy read fiction work called This Life or the Next.
Plus I'm still slowly working my way through the gospels. 
I always have my Kindle app on my phone, so I'm never really without anything to read. I did bring my Bible and pencil so that I can continue the old school way as I read the gospels.

I'm looking for another religion/philosophy book to add to the daily read. I'm thinking maybe something by Thomas Merton. I've got a few Rohr books on my list, as well as stuff by Thich Nhat Hanh. I'd be open to a woman author along those lines if anyone has a favorite author or book they'd like to recommend.

What are you reading?

John

Wednesday Wisdom

 Hmmm...

John

On the Road Again

June is here and will be a month of many road miles. I'll be back in Chicago on Thursday (about 550 miles), then on to Metamora (130 miles) on Friday. There will be some local miles as I take my mom to a few places and visit a few people. We'll be coming back to the Ozarks on Monday (400+ miles). Towards the end of next week, I'll be meeting my sister and transferring our mom to her place for a short visit there (about a 400 mile round trip for my part). Then I'll do that again to pick her up (400) and then the 800+ miles to bring her back to Metamora and return home to Highlandville.
All of that will be followed by an 800 mile drive (probably the moving truck) to Colorado Springs as I help Hannah and Daniel with their move. That's a lot of driving!

Chris will meet us in Colorado Springs and we'll spend a week there. We'll help the kids get settled and check out a few of the sights before flying home at the end of the month.

I don't mind the time on the road. Most of it will be solo; some of it will be with my mom in the vehicle.
Solo drive time is cool. Sometimes I listen to music. Sometimes I don't. I'll listen to a baseball game if the Cardinals are on, or maybe play a TED talk or two. I'm also very comfortable driving without the added input of the radio or internet. The voices in my head are generally good company.

I'm wondering what other people do to occupy their time when on long, solo drives. 
What do you do? Call someone on the phone? Listen to music or podcasts (something I haven't really done much)? Contemplate life's great mysteries and your place in the world? Listen to audio books?
What do you do?

John

My Favorite Bible Story

Well, ...one of my favorites.
It's the one I think of whenever someone asks the question, "What's your favorite Bible story?"
The first time that happened to me was at an evangelism conference in Southeast Missouri. I was the new guy on the circuit and I was at breakfast with two of the oldest and most experienced of the group. One of then asked, "Hey guys, what's your favorite story from the Bible?"

I jumped on it! I said, "I've got this. At the end of The Sermon on the Mount, chapter 8 begins with the story of a leper that encounters Jesus. He says, 'Lord, if you will it, you can make me clean.' Then the Bible says that Jesus reached out and touched him and said, 'I will it. Be clean,' and immediately he was healed." 

Okay, it isn't that spectacular of a story when you consider all of the other miracles that are laced throughout the gospels. Big deal, right? Jesus heals a leper. So what?
What strikes me about this story is that the Bible says that Jesus touched him and then he healed him.
Jesus touched him while he was still unclean!
I wonder how long it had been since he had been touched by another human being? From the moment he had been diagnosed with a disease determined to be leprosy, he was unclean and shunned by everyone. People wouldn't even sit where he had been sitting until that place had been cleansed.

Look, I know that preachers fit the lessons they want to teach into the stories of the Bible all of the time. Maybe that's what I'm doing here, but I don't think so. I often try to read the Bible like I'm reading it for the first time; like I don't know what's coming. I had read and heard this story so many times before, and then one day--it hit me! Jesus touched him before he healed him! Why would he do that, and is it important? Or was this just the way Matthew wrote the story and it all happened in the same moment?

It think Jesus did it on purpose and even though the moment may have been lost to the disciples, the leper knew. He had been stripped of his value, his humanity. He had been condemned to live out his life alone or with other outcasts. He was nothing -- until that moment. While he was still unclean, Jesus touched him. I imagine that touch conveyed so much love. Jesus, looking into his eyes and saying, "I feel you, man. Be clean."
Actually, until he completed the rites of purification and presented the required offering he was still technically unclean, so I guess Jesus was, too(?). I don't know how that part works, probably some divine exemption or something.
Anyway, I think the dude got way more than he asked for, way more than he was expecting.

And so did we.
Maybe we can takeaway a lesson that even when the rest of the world thinks that you are unworthy of love; even when your own people, your own family, your own church have cast you aside, Jesus is there to tell you that you are worthy of love, that you are valuable--just as you are!

One of those two men at breakfast that day has been blessed with the most incredible memory and has memorized the entire New Testament of the Bible. He said, "I know you know this already, John, but I'm going to give it to you anyway," and he reached into his memory and recited the story verbatim from the Bible.

John

The Bible Says It. I Believe It. That Settles It.

Yeah, okay.
If you have been reading Out of My Hat for very long or if you know me even casually, you've probably already tossed the BS flag on me.

I mentioned that I'm reading through the gospels old school, and the Bible I'm using is one of those red letter editions where the words attributed to Jesus are set apart by being printed in red. Today I am wondering (not for the first time) about The Sermon on the Mount -- chapters 5, 6, and 7 in Matthew's gospel.

Is this how it really happened?
Jesus sits on a mountain side. His followers gather. He speaks the words recorded (30 years later) in the Bible.
Or does it even matter?

I suppose it mattes to those that want to stand on the inerrancy of the Bible, but what about those of us that really focus more on what the Bible teaches than on how the lessons are presented?

Here are some of the weird thoughts that run through my head:

   * It takes fewer than 15 minutes to read The Sermon on the Mount. I know preachers (and you probably do, too) that can't preach on "the poor in spirit" in less than an hour! Did people gather out on a mountain side for a 15 min TED talk by Jesus?

    * Jesus must not have had any seminary classes on preaching, because he goes from one thing to another, hasn't developed a six week sermon series, doesn't have an altar call with every head bowed and every eye closed, and never passes an offering plate!

   * How did Matthew remember all of this -- THIRTY YEARS LATER?

So are chapters 5, 6, and 7 of Mathew's gospel an accurate representation of what really took place that day? And does it really matter?
My answers are "sort of" and "not really."

For about twenty years I served as an itinerant evangelist, going to different churches and often preaching the same messages. I'm pretty certain that Jesus taught the same lessons everywhere he went and the Apostles (like Matthew) that heard them over and over again, learned them very well.

We know from other accounts of Jesus's teaching that he sometimes taught for long periods of time that resulted in the large crowds being hungry and in need of eating something.

I would say that Matthew's account of The Sermon on the Mount is a kind of a Reader's Digest version that covers the lessons that Jesus regularly taught, and a setting that was common for teaching large crowds. Regardless of the actual setting or the order of what he taught, the values and truths of the lessons are still valid. I know that I'll read similar stories and variations on the teachings as I make my way through the gospels. These are not necessarily inaccuracies or contradictions; just a different persons perspective or remembrance of something that took place a few decades ago.

It's a weird little post -- I know, but just what I felt like sharing today. As I continue through the Bible, I'll circle back the the teachings of The Sermon on the Mount and continue to share my strange insights and questions about what I'm reading.

John

I've Repented (about Repenting)

In Matthew's Gospel, John the Baptist is preaching the message -- Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! (3:2)
This is the same message that Jesus uses to begin his preaching/teaching ministry. (4:17)

I'm wondering about this translation and how I've been taught to understand it. 
The Greek word metanoeo is translated here as repent, but it means to think differently or to reconsider how you think. It means to change your way of thinking.

What if John and then Jesus are teaching that the Jews of the day (and possibly us today) have the wrong idea of where (and what) heaven is? The Greek word ouranos -- the abode of God, is the word translated as heaven.

What if the real message for us is -- You've got it wrong. You need to change your way of thinking. Heaven isn't where you go when you die. Heaven is here! This is where God lives! God is with you and you are in God's presence right now!
If we believe that the Universal Christ--the very essence and Spirit of God, lives within us, then heaven is here. Is it possible that the spiritual realm of heaven and the physical place on earth overlap but we have forgotten how to see with our spirit? 

I have repented about repenting.
I have changed how I think and am reconsidering what I've been taught.
I am re-examining life through the eyes of the Spirit in me rather than how I perceive things through this physical being.

Something to think about...

John

Wednesday Wisdom

 

John