St. Patrick's Prayer

"I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,

Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,

God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a mulitude.

Christ shield me today
Against wounding
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through the mighty strength
Of the Lord of creation."

-St. Patrick

You ARE the Salt

"You are the salt" not "You should be the salt"! The disciples are given no choice whether they want to be salt or not. No appeal is made to them to become the salt of the earth. Rather they just are salt whether they want to be or not, by the power of the call which has reached them. "You are the salt" not "you have the salt." It would diminish the meaning to equate the disciples' message with salt, as the reformers did. What is meant is their whole existence, to the extent that it is newly grounded in Christ's call to discipleship, that existence of which the Beatitudes speak. All those who follow Jesus' call to discipleship are made by that call to be the salt of the earth in their whole existence.  - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

Matthew 5: 13

What a restful, sabbatical thought Bonhoeffer's is.   I do not have to strive and strain to become salt.  I do not have to work and plot to throw the salt around the world.  I am simply called to BE what Grace has made me to BE.  Salt.  I can lose my saltiness.   Where does that saltiness come from?   It comes from Him, the Great I Am.   Saltiness comes from being with the Great Being.   

My anxious heart still wants to come up with its own salt-making strategies: ten steps to making salt or my five-year plan to becoming more salty.  Jesus says, "Come."    Joining an institution, becoming a spiritual person of note or learning a new skill for ministry is the way to be salty.  Jesus says, "My burden is light."  What should I be doing Lord?   Nothing I do matters.  Jesus says, "And I will give you rest."

Does my heart yearn for significance or for Him?  I am already salt.  I have been given saltiness.   I am already potent.  When I've lost direction, when I am lost, when I am sad, when I feel small, I have not lost a mission or a purpose. Instead,  I have lost my saltiness, my Savior and my Lover.  The only task then is to do what Jesus did to go away to a lonely place and pray.  Meditate on His words to me like "salt". My joy and my saltiness made new.   He promises to make my journey potent with the Kingdom.  

Letting Go of the Collar

But that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.'  So his fellow servant fell down and and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.'  He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.

Matthew 19:28-30, New English Standard Version

Whenever I read these verses from the story of "The Unforgiving Servant,"   I see in my mind's eye, my imagination, a man holding another man by the collar.  As the one in need of forgiveness falls, the unforgiving one holds him by the collar.  The one needing forgiveness is relaxed, broken, on-his-knees; the unforgiving is bent over him threatening, angry, muscles full of strain and tension.  Contrition and confession is a relaxed posture, a posture of one held.   Anger and unforgiveness is a tense and taxing posture.

Struggling with angry memories of past hurts and thoughtless words, I became aware of this image.  I was still bent over these people my spiritual muscles taught and tired. The Holy Spirit urged, "Let go."   Realizing in that moment how much work, how heavy a yoke that spiritual posture was, I let go.   In that moment, the Holy Spirit allowed me to imagine all those debtors of mine falling away and into His arms.   As the tension and strain of holding on to those people released, I felt light and joyful.

You cannot live the Sabbatical Life, the life of rest, if you hold on to collars.   The burden of unforgiveness is like trying to hold the weight of another human being for days, weeks, years or decades.   Unforgiveness requires a life of tension and strain; confession and forgiveness relaxed, broken, on-your-knees and in-His-arms.  Practicing a life of  confession and forgiveness is the easy yoke Jesus calls us to bear.  It is the relaxed work of the Kingdom.   Let go of collars; enter into the Sabbatical Life.

Come To Me

Matthew 11: 28-30  ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I begin reading today in my Bible Gateway reading plan.   Wow.  These verses are waiting for me in the very first set of texts. The Father is so present in my life.   "Come to me" is the great work of the Kingdom.  I read in some of my old journals today, and I was tempted to be discouraged at how for so long God has been calling, beckoning, and ordering me to "come".   Instead I have been afraid the coming wouldn't be enough effort to secure the goodies of the Kingdom, the character I desired.  In my truly honest moments, I have to admit I wanted the character of the Kingdom to attain the love and approval I longed for in those around me.   Was it always about loving the Father?  No.  I succumbed to the lure of religion, the yeast of the Pharisee.

The Old Testament portion today was the story of Joseph's time in Potiphar's house and subsequent imprisonment.   Joseph did everything right.  He was loyal to his master refusing repeatedly to sleep with his master's wife.  In the end, his loyalty went unrecognized by an angry master who threw him in prison.  In prison, he interprets the dream of a cup bearer who forgets him for years.  I would think Joseph would be very tempted to give up on "doing the right thing."    Who cares?  No one cares.

 Unless...unless it wasn't doing the right thing; it was being the right thing.  Perhaps the pain of the rejection he'd experienced from his own family led him into the lap of the Father.  He says, " ...How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9)   His motivation is relational.   Though the Lord did give him favor in Potiphar's house and prison, his good deeds had no immediate pay off.   The favor seems to be a gift.  He immediately gives God the "credit" for interpreting dreams.   The fact that the cup bearer and baker come to him suggest he's known in the prison for this sort of activity.  I'm sure his ability to interpret dreams comes out of a lifestyle of listening.   Joseph's life suggests a presence with the Father and a confidence that transcends his circumstances.  I find myself taking a closer look at Joseph's remarkable life, a life of achievement without striving and plotting.  His life comes out of his "chosen-ness" and out of presence with God.

Jesus is teaching about the Kingdom of God and about those who are missing the Kingdom.   They are unimpressed by the tremendous grace of the miracles Jesus is performing.  Religious leaders are offended that the kingdom comes for the undeserving, the very worst sinners of society.   Our striving, our excellence, and our character don't carry much weight here.  Instead Jesus uses words such as rest, easy, light, gentle and humble.  What if coming to him is all I need to do?   What if listening to his voice is all I need to hear?  What if this life I'm living right now with no titles, no agenda is enough?   What if it's about pursuing life with Him instead of achievements for Him?  What will happen if I just live in his presence?  I can't wait to find out.