Weekly Meditations

He has set eternity in the hearts of men and women.  Eccl. 3:11

The idea that both the Sabbath and eternity share something of the same essence is an ancient one in Jewish theology where the Sabbath is welcomed each week as an anticipation of heaven.  As one ancient tradition declares: “The world to come is characterized by the kind of holiness possessed by the Sabbath in this world, and the Sabbath possesses a holiness like that of the world to come.”

The Sabbath reminds us that we belong simultaneously to two worlds—this world and the next.  We are to long for the Sabbath in the same way we long for eternity, which is why Judaism tries to foster the vision of life as a weekly pilgrimage towards the seventh day.  As the Jewish theologian Abraham Heschel states,

All our life should be a pilgrimage to the seventh day.  The thought and appreciation of what this day may bring to us should be ever present in our minds as inspiring our vision of eternity. For the Sabbath is the counterpoint to the active, temporal life.

Rabbi Solomon, in his 11th century commentary on the Talmud, speaks similarly of the relationship between our temporal observance of the Sabbath and our anticipation of its resonance with heaven.  He writes,

Unless one learns how to relish the taste of Sabbath while still in this world, as an initiation in our appreciation of eternal life, one will be unable to anticipate with joy the taste of eternity for the world to come. Sad is the lot of anyone who arrives inexperienced and, when led to heaven, cannot perceive there the familiar beauty of the Sabbath.

As the Sabbath is part of God’s inaugural act of creation, so is it a symbol of the final act of creation.  This is why the writer of the book of Hebrews encourages us, in this life, to make every effort to enter the “Sabbath-rest” that still awaits the people of God (Heb. 4:9-10).

In light of the eternity that it foreshadows, let us cultivate the art of anticipating, each week, the day God has deemed as holy.  Let us creatively prepare ourselves to receive the blessing that God has promised us on our day of rest.  And, above all, let us learn to relish, while still in this world, a growing taste for the God-given delights of the Sabbath.  It will help us appreciate all the more the eternal life we will one day recognize as our final Sabbath-rest.

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”   Mat. 14:28

What a wonderful allegory of the contemplative journey is the story of Jesus walking on the water and calling Peter to come and join him.  It depicts so well the narrative of our maturing prayer life—from self-orientation to a greater unity with Christ.

The familiar story begins with the disciples rowing across a windy lake.  They presume that they are on their own and that Jesus is still on the shore where they last saw Him.  Their hard rowing is producing little fruit as, in the words of Matthew, “they were buffeted by the waves because the wind was against them” (Mat. 14:25).  They suddenly notice a figure in the distance, walking on the water.  They are afraid.  Presuming that it might be Jesus, they are just as happy to stay in the boat.  But not Peter.  This is a new side of Jesus that he hasn’t seen before and, as always, Peter is eager to follow his Lord wherever He is.  He calls out from the boat, “Lord, if this is you, tell me to come to you on the water.”  And, in the midst of the storm, Jesus invites Peter to “Come”—the same word He beckons each of us with.

The journey of contemplative prayer is our response to Jesus’ invitation to come and walk with Him on the waters of faith.  As we pine for nearness with God we too can hear ourselves calling out, “Lord, if this is you, tell me to come to you on the water.”   And as we grow in our attentiveness to Jesus we also hear His response, inviting us to come and join Him where He is (Jn. 17:24).

Peter, in such a faith response, leaves the security of his boat and steps onto the water.  He is now without recourse to the self-support that the boat represented to him.  All his skills as an oarsman are useless to him now as he ventures out to explore the properties of this new relationship to natural life.  Wonder of all, in so doing he finds himself in the same element as His Lord, walking on the same water as Jesus.

Of course, we are well aware of the self-conscious moment that will soon cause Peter to sink.  We can easily relate to this aspect of the story.  We too suffer such lapses in our faith as we keep returning to the “normal” way of viewing ourselves and our lives.  We too can find ourselves sinking in the midst of our prayer as we get caught up in the turmoil of our inner proclivities.  But we too, as Peter did, can ask Jesus to rescue us from whatever distracts us from the assurance of His fellowship. As He did for Peter, Jesus reaches out, grabs our hand and saves us from our limited sense of self.

Perhaps the most telling aspect of this story however is the fact that, rather than continue to teach Peter and the others how to walk on the water, Jesus instead joins the disciples in their boat.  He re-enters their world and, from the perspective of their own lives, He then settles the chaos around them.  Jesus meets us where we are, but brings with Him the gift of peace that comes from where He is.

Peter has returned to his boat.  But we are pretty certain that the boat no longer represents the same necessary security that it did before this episode began.  Peter knows of another recourse that one can have in relationship to water. With God’s help, he knows that we too, with faith, can walk on the same waters that Jesus so easily travels.

Lord, teach us to pray”  Luke 11:1

In Luke’s gospel, the Lord responded to the disciples’ request by teaching them what we now call ‘the Lord’s Prayer.’  These words have since become the central utterance of the historical church. We are meant to embody them as the first concerns of our life.  Though a beautiful prayer to recite, it is by living each of these petitions that its power becomes established in our thoughts, attitudes, actions and desires.

I have longed to shape my life according to this prayer.  But whenever I have tried to meditate on these various petitions during a single prayer time I have always found it overwhelming.  Each verse is meditation of its own.  But the Lord’s Prayer can easily be walked through on a weekly basis, focusing on one petition every day.  Over the course of a week, a relationship with the Lord’s Prayer could look like this:

Monday: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name”

-meditate on the universality of God, how the word “our” presumes a relationship with God that we share with everybody
-consider the ideal Father-like qualities by which God cares and nurtures us
-meditate on the fact that, though God is with and within us, He is also above.  He is both immanent and transcendent
-consider how the Lord’s name is hallowed, holy, above all other names
-let these thoughts and many other related ones be the focus of your day

Tuesday: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”

-meditate on the need for change in the world; allow yourself to grieve for the discrepancies between God’s will and that which isn’t
-consider the difference it will make, and desire the day when every person will know the Lord for themselves. (Jer. 31:34)
-rejoice at the hope of everything being as it should; at the unity of agreement between heaven and earth; between all people; between you and God
-let these thoughts and many other related ones be the focus of your day

Wednesday: “Give us this day our daily bread”

-it is half way through the week; pray for the conditions of your home or work place
-meditate on your circumstances, whether in need or in plenty, and consider all to be from God’s hand
-give thanks to God for the needs you have; see yourself among those who are blessed because they hunger.
-let these thoughts and many other related ones be the focus of your day

Thursday: “Forgive us our trespasses…”

-the week now starts to turn towards Sunday when you will again meet the Lord in Holy Communion; it is time to ‘prepare the way of the Lord’
-spend time today taking stock of your life; confess all that you know represents a trespass of God’s loving desire for you in your life
-consider the ways your life has either intentionally or inadvertently worked against God’s purposes in you or in your relationship with others
-ask God to give you insight into your ‘hidden sins’ so that you can receive a deeper awareness of your forgiveness
-be grateful for the confidence you have that, in asking for forgiveness, you are certain to receive it; don’t take for granted the faith God has given you to believe this
-let these thoughts and many other related ones be the focus of your day

Friday: “…as we forgive those who trespass against us”

-Friday, in many Christian traditions, is considered a special day for mercy since it was the day our Lord gave His life for us; as we have received such a great mercy, today we consider all those we still hold accountable to us, and pray for the faith to completely release them
-as we continue to prepare for the Lord’s Day we wish to be free, as well as to free others, of all guilt
-as Christ does for you, present others to yourself as ‘spotless, and without blemish’
-let these thoughts and many other related ones be the focus of your day

Saturday: “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil”

-Saturday, in many Christian traditions, is seen as a day of waiting as it falls between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.
-in the days preceding we have asked for, and have received, God’s forgiveness; Jesus now says to us, ‘go and sin no more;’  today is a day when we strive to ‘remain in His love;’ we are clean because of the word He has spoken to us
-let us not underestimate the help we need in order to continue to walk righteously
-let these thoughts and many other related ones be the focus of your day

Sunday: “For thine is the Kingdom, the glory and the power forever and ever, Amen.”

-the Lord’s Day is a day of victory that affirms God’s rule over sin and death
-we celebrate the cycle of the week as a microcosm of all spiritual history.
-we meditate on eternity and on God’s glory that will, one day, no longer be seen dimly, but fully recognized by all
-today we receive the elements of our salvation—the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, our Saviour
-we meditate on the joy and privilege it is to have been chosen to be grafted into this life-giving Vine; all the glory belongs to Jesus!
-let these thoughts and many other related ones be the focus of your day

If you find this exercise helpful, copy this page and put it on your fridge or calendar. Let each day be shaped by these meditations and you will grow deeper in the reality and experience of the priorities our Lord taught us to adopt.

Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.                                                                                                                                                                                     Phil. 3:20-21

The reign of Christ establishes itself on earth as the Lord conquers each individual heart, gradually bringing into subjection the whole soul to Himself.  It has always been the invitation of the Holy Spirit for each of us to submit more perfectly, out of love, to the immediate will of God.  This is the maturing of spiritual direction which we participate in with Imago Dei as we encourage one another to be more given to Christ.

Madame Guyon, a 17th century spiritual director, served this same objective in the lives of others as she encouraged in them a growing submission to Christ.  Guyon understood her ministry in terms of labouring for the increase of Christ’s reign on earth, beginning in the very hearts of those she counseled.  To one of her directees, for instance, she wrote,

Since Jesus Christ appeared on earth, there is a general belief that the kingdoms of this world will ultimately be subject to His dominion. But we may ask, who hastens His coming, by now yielding up his own heart to His entire control?

Christ’s kingdom is established in the hearts of those who are disposed to give the Lord free reign in their lives.  They bow to their King, prepared to do or to become whatever best serves their Master.  Madam Guyon likens this quality of self-offering to the fluidity of water when she writes,

When the soul is perfectly yielding, it loses all its own consistency in order to take, any moment, the shape that God gives it, as water takes all the form of the vases in which it is put.  Suppleness of soul, therefore, is of vital importance to its progress. It is the work of God to effect this.

God desires that His will be reflected in us, and the Holy Spirit invites and enables us to grow in the disposition of submissive trust that this requires. The increasing reign of Christ in our lives is simply an answer to the second petition of the Lord’s prayer, as applied to ourselves—“thy will be done in me as it is in heaven.”  As Madame Guyon tells her directee, “When the divine Word operates in the soul, without any obstruction, the soul becomes what this Word wills it should become.”

The loyal subjects of a King are those who place their lives most completely at the disposal of His good will.  Choosing to remain submissive, they offer themselves in preparation and anticipation of their Lord’s promptings.  To those who long for the reign of Christ to be established in their lives Madame Guyon offers this counsel:

Your only preparation is abandonment to God, and remaining quiet in his hands.  Possess your soul in peace as much as possible; not by effort, but by ceasing from effort; by letting go everything that troubles you. Be quiet, so that your heart may be settled.  As we leave water to settle when agitated so will you have clarity according to the peace of God that is established in your soul.

Christ’s reign, characterized by the tranquility, gentleness and strength of our Lord’s own virtue, will reveal itself mostly in our countenance. As His sovereignty increases within us, there will be that much more evidence of the effects of His Peace on earth.

Jesus, may all that is You flow into me

May Your body and blood be my food and drink

May Your passion and death be my strength and life.

from St. Ignatius’ “Soul of Christ’ prayer

Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God freed you from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.   Deut. 5:15

The Swiss theologian Karl Barth once wrote that a person is free only when they can determine and limit their activity.  Barbara Brown Taylor, in her book, An Altar in the World, calls this the “practice of saying no.”  God calls it Sabbath.

For observant Jews, a proper Sabbath service begins on Friday evening the moment three stars can be counted in the darkening sky.  It then calls for the lighting of two candles—one for each of the Sabbath commandments in which God’s people are called to be more like God.  They represent a candle of rest and a candle of freedom.

The first Sabbath candle reminds us that, since we are made in God’s image, we too are called to rest as God does, and that we are to consider this form of rest as something holy.  As Moses commanded the Israelites,

Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.   (Deut. 5:12-14)

For six days we are commanded to work, but on the seventh day we are called to return to who we are, independent of our work.  The Sabbath is a day that calls us not to do more, but to be more.  As Brown Taylor puts it, “No longer do we tear the world apart to make our fire.  On this day heat and warmth and light must come from within ourselves.”   Speaking of her own Sabbath experience she writes,

I have made a practice of saying no for one whole day a week: no to work, to commerce, to the Internet, to the car, to the voice in my head that is forever whispering “More.” One day each week, more God is the only thing on my list.

Of course everything around us, as well as much within us, resists, to our own detriment, the wisdom of this command, which brings us to the second Sabbath candle.  This candle is lit to remind us that we are no longer slaves to the systems of life.  The second candle stands for the second formulation of the Sabbath commandment in Deuteronomy 5.  There the context of the commandment shifts from the creation of the world to the exodus from Egypt.

Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God freed you from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

We, as well, can often feel like slaves of an unrelenting system which recognizes us only in terms of our productivity.  We too risk buying into this identity as we lose sight of who we are apart from the work we do.  And we too sense our spirits often groaning to God for deliverance from the false masters, many of our own making, that enslave our lives.   Brown Taylor writes of this cry of the soul in describing the plight of the Israelite slaves, and of their emancipation by God.

God’s people cried out to God and God heard them, sending Moses to free them from bondage in a land that was not home. Resting every seventh day, God’s people remember their divine liberation. That is what the second Sabbath candle announces: that, made in God’s image, you too are made to be free from the excessive demands of this world.

The second candle represents the liberty that Karl Barth envisioned—of the freedom to determine and limit our activities.  Slaves are those who have lost such freedom in their lives.  Speaking of the long-term fruit of establishing limits to our activity, Brown Taylor adds,

Practicing it over and over again they become accomplished at saying no, which is how they gradually become able to resist the culture’s killing rhythms of drivenness and depletion, compulsion and collapse. Worshiping a different kind of God, they are shaped in that God’s image, stopping every seven days to celebrate their divine creation and liberation.

As Jesus taught us, we cannot serve two masters.  Sabbath-keeping is what helps us choose, in the long term, which master we will serve and therefore which identity we will claim for ourselves.  One way or another, our image will reflect the character of the master we choose.