Christian Quotation of the Day: June 2, 2005Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for Him. In Hebrew, “Be
silent in God, and let Him mould thee.” Keep still, and He
will mould thee to the right shape.
... Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Meditation:
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
-- Psalm 37:7 (NIV)
5 comments:
Jay, do you know Dawn Taloyo? She has studied spiritual direction at Fuller and sounds like someone you might enjoy dialoguing with. She is very much a contemplative person. She led Carolyn and me in some prayer sessions over a year ago, emphasizing lectio divina, and stillness. Lent before last she led a "day of silence" spiritual retreat at church, where we meditated on selected psalms.
Being still is hard enough, but what about the "being formed" part? That seems to me to be another difference between pagans and those who are faithful to Christ. Lots of religions teach stillness, but only Christianity demands that we be formed to be like Christ.
Pagans, (who by definition deny the reality of sin), think they can "form" themselves, and so preach a gospel of freedom from being formed by anyone or anything else. Christians, though, realize that sin has "de-formed" us and that only God can re-form us. This began on the cross and continues daily as we take up our crosses and follow Him.
But you and I live in interesting times...as heirs of the Englightenment and in a nation established on the conviction that God is optional. Thus we are surrounded by pagan voices that urge us to accomplish all sorts of physical, emotional and spiritual changes by ourselves. Witness Oprah; E's program all about plastic surgeons and their patients in Beverly Hills; the ads and stories in women's magazines for Botox;Deepak Chopra and all the self-help books that clog the shelves; Nike's "Just do it" and the military's "Army of One" slogans. I could go on...
The point is, deep down we know we aren't right and that need to be changed; but the question is, who will be in charge of the process? Dare I trust God? Stillness is really possible only if we do submit ourselves to His firm but loving hands.
I'm thinking now of Eustace, as he changes from dragon back into boy...and of Augustine's famous line: "Our hearts are restless til they find rest in Thee."
Being formed IS existential! But ethereal?
My gnostic antennae always start twitching when I hear words like "ethereal," "hidden" and "spirituality". Our faith is a down and dirty, earthy thing: blood and baskets, sea salt, wine and dusty sandals. Mysterious, yes. Ethereal? Hmmm.
You certainly are no gnostic, Jay, so obviously I am missing something here. Can you please explain further what you mean by "ethereal?"
Yes, freedom of religion is indeed a two-edged sword! And yes, I agree I don't want the state to tell me what to believe about God.
But the trade-off is that we Christians had better have a clear picture of Who God is and what we are to be in relation to Him, because we sure aren't going to hear anything about Him from our culture.
Frankly, I'd rather have it that way...I think in some ways the more society loses its Christian bearings the easier it will be to evangelize.
Peter Kreeft, in discussing ethics, uses the metaphor of innoculation, and writes, "That is why great sinners who are not inoculated with a little morality, become great saints more often than 'respectable' people do." The Christian inoculation of our deist roots is wearing off. Maybe now people will be better able to hear how radical the call of Christ really is.
rebecca st james has a song wiht the words "be still and know, that you are God" it's very pretty. i always think of the song when i hear the verse. it's neat to be able to realte mny music to bible verses. neato. oop, lunch is over. i want to come back and talk some more, i enjoyed your blog beth! :) bye
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