This week’s micro-podcast starts the topic of prayer, and introduces four basic categories: petition, praise, penitence, and prostrate. Each will be covered in more detail in future micro-podcasts, which are 3 min. or less in length.

Thanks for listening!

Link: hermitjrnl micropodcasts on audioBoo

* Merry Christmas * 

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one solitary life

by James Allan Francis

Let us turn now to the story. A child is born in an obscure village. He is brought up in another obscure village. He works in a carpenter shop until he is thirty, and then for three brief years is an itinerant preacher, proclaiming a message and living a life. He never writes a book. He never holds an office. He never raises an army. He never has a family of his own. He never owns a home. He never goes to college. He never travels two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He gathers a little group of friends about him and teaches them his way of life. While still a young man the tide of popular feeling turns against him. The band of followers forsakes him. One denies him; another betrays him. He is turned over to his enemies. He goes through the mockery of a trial; he is nailed on a cross between two thieves, and when dead is laid in a borrowed grave by the kindness of a friend. Those are the facts of his human life. He rises from the dead. Today we look back across nineteen hundred years and ask, What kind of a trail has he left across the centuries? When we try to sum up his influence, all the armies that ever marched, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned are absolutely picayune in their influence on mankind compared with that of this one solitary life. … He has changed the moral climate of the world, and he is changing it now, and will continue to do so until the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. I ask you to pause a moment and think of this thing which Christians believe. We are talking about great adventures. I remind you that there must be a great adventure in faith before there can be a great adventure in action. No man has ever done a great thing until he has first believed a great thing.

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From:
THE REAL JESUS AND OTHER SERMONS by James Allan Francis.
Philadelphia: The Judson Press. © 1926. “Arise, Sir Knight!” p. 123-24.

This quote, or some version similar to it, has been shared many times over the years. This particular version is suppose to be the original. It was apparently presented by Mr. Francis, at the First Baptist Church in Los Angeles, California, to the National Baptist Young Peoples’ Union convention on July 11, 1926. Click here if you would like to learn more behind the quote.
link: http://www.sjvls.org/bens/bf007sl.htm#fn3

“To become like the Angels.”

– Father Lazarus

THE CHRIST OF THE PRIEST IN SOLITUDE

The Christ of our solitude leads us in to the abyss of faith so beautifully lived out in Nazareth.
” Can any good come out of that place? “
Over two thousand years later the same question is placed before us in our hidden places of aloneness.

Nazareth what a place in the eyes of the world.
A place of nothingness.
No importance in they eyes of a passing world.
A small insignificant place full of totally insignificant people.

In the solitude of Nazareth we also are invited to become insignificant.
The Christ of our solitude invites us to become a nobody going nowhere important in the eyes of the world.
We are to be exposed to our false images of both God and ourselves.
In the depths of our poverty we will be liberated from the false desires that we seek to live out placing impossible demands on ourselves and those around us.

In this place of darkness we will no longer be able to measure our progress like we did in the world.
In this abyss of faith words will leave us.
There will simply be the communion of a Priest alone before his God.
A communion sometimes even hidden from the sight of our brothers and sisters.

In this meeting the light of the Holy Spirit invisible to man will guide us and teach us.
In our solitude all the opposites and contradictions in the church and world and ourselves will come and meet together,
By being nobody going nowhere they will sometimes be resolved and sometimes not.
The soul will become more passive as the months pass and simply except such things as Gods will.

The life of Jesus of Nazareth becomes our life.
Sufferings will come to us as they did to Christ.
Those sufferings lived out do not become ones individual sufferings alone.
One bears the sufferings of the broken world so that the liberating power of God may be channelled to the world through
the insignificant solitude hidden from the sight of the world.

The Christ of solitude invites a soul ” Stay here and keep watch with me.”
A watch that will last until the ultimate moment of liberation.
The moment we are called to our eternal room in The Fathers House.
The moment of death; a nobody in the eyes of the world soon to no longer be remembered.

– Father Lazarus

“He who gives himself entirely to his fellow-men appears to them useless and selfish; but he who gives himself partially to them is pronounced a benefactor and philanthropist.”

~ Henry David Thoreau / Civil Disobedience

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I find Thoreau offering a keen insight into human nature by these words. He brings out a particular characteristic that is common to most and far too many are blind to, either out of ignorance or possibly self-preservation.

It is a quote that I also find timely for the season — Easter. This weekend is a time where many pause to remember a man who gave of himself entirely. And he too is often viewed as useless, even selfish by some. The man Jesus, who is also the living Christ.

Peace and all good to you this Easter Season,

for He Is Risen!

“BE SILENT BEFORE GOD .”

We by instinct fall silent before the one who is truly beautiful ; good ;
and Who gives us the gift of peace.
Words are a kind of stepping stone that bring us to the thresh hold of Gods silence
We then have to leave our many words behind as we are drawn ever deeper in to this
God who gives meaning and purpose to all things.
He is in all things and all things are in Him except sin.

Any words we offer are simply humble invitations that invite us to an awareness
of something that is far greater than the capacity of the human mind to understand.
Now we can only see and understand God in part.
One day we will come to a place where we will fully see and understand Him .
Then we will be fully happy and at peace in Him forever.

We can never hear silence.
We simply become aware of its echo.
An echo that reflects the beauty and glory of God.
Silence is the mystery of this immense reality that enfolds us .

We are part of this mystery.
We were created that we could come to know and love Him.
To open our hearts to Him we must simply become still and know that He is God.
We must fix our gaze on Him who is far beyond our world.

The secret in the end is to receive all that He gives us without trying to hold on to it .
All that He gives us is His gift of love .
Silence in the end is the monastic message of hope  to this passing world.
It is our lasting act of faith and hope in God .

Silence in the end becomes the fullness of our journey to God in God.
Beyond all our days on earth ;
Beyond sin , suffering and death all will be well.
All is well in our eternity in and with God .

Father Lazarus

There is a basic expectation of Christians, believers, to be loving. Something much more easily said or expected than lived out in truth and practice. For selfish desires or interests often cloud sincere love. Not just in the person who wants to express love in word and deed, but all too often also by the recipient who desires to exploit it.

For the believer who seeks the spiritual maturity where by love, Christ’s Love, is expressed in all that is said and done, it matters not how the recipient of that love responds. What is most difficult for the believer, is to moment by moment live out Christ’s Love without skewing it with their own sin based thoughts and emotions. As I read the following from bridges, I came upon an excellent help. A wonderful reminder to not just be loving, but more importantly to “live in love“:

The keenness and intensity of love brings with it suffering, of course, but joy too, because it is a foretaste of heaven. . . . Even that relationship which is set off from other loves by that slight change in phraseology (instead of “loving,” one is “in love”)—the very change in terminology, denoting a living in love, a dwelling in love at all times, being bathed in love, so that every waking thought, word, deed, and suffering is permeated by that love—yes, that relationship above all should give us not only a taste of the love of God for us but the kind of love we should have for all.

– Dorothy Day
On Pilgrimage

Source: bridges to contemplative living with thomas merton
booklet seven: adjusting you life’s vision
pg. 17

So far, when I feel frustrated or unloving, with the Holy Spirit’s help, I remember that I live, dwell in Love — Christ’s Love. I am immersed in it. I then gain a sense of God’s Love permeating my weak flesh and putting to rest my selfishness, giving clarify Christ-centered life to my desires and actions. Thus allowing me to be truly Loving.

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Love without courage and wisdom is sentimentality, as with the ordinary church member.  Courage without love and wisdom is foolhardiness, as with the ordinary soldier.  Wisdom without love and courage is cowardice, as with the ordinary intellectual.  But the one who has love, courage, and wisdom moves the world.

– Ammon Hennacy
Catholic activist
1893 – 1970

He is the sovereign, omnipotent, omnipresent one.  He and not “I.”  It is silly and shallow minded to think and behave as if I can hide anything from God and that He may have access to me only at my invitation. While I may know all this and believe all this, my flesh still tries and will continue to struggle to be top dog.  I do not like this nature in my flesh, but it remains and only makes me all the more dependent upon Him through His indwelling Holy Spirit.

O Lord, you examine me and know.

You know when I sit down and when I get up;
even from far away you understand my motives.

You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest;
you are aware of everything I do.

Certainly my tongue does not frame a word
without you, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it.

You squeeze me in from behind and in front;
you place your hand on me.

Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension;
it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it.

Where can I go to escape your spirit?
Where can I flee to escape your presence?

If I were to ascend to heaven, you would be there.
If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be.

If I were to fly away on the wings of the dawn,
and settle down on the other side of the sea,

even there your hand would guide me,
your right hand would grab hold of me.

If I were to say, “Certainly the darkness will cover me,
and the light will turn to night all around me,”

even the darkness is not too dark for you to see,
and the night is as bright as day;
darkness and light are the same to you.

Certainly you made my mind and heart;
you wove me together in my mother’s womb.

I will give you thanks because your deeds
are awesome and amazing.
You knew me thoroughly;

my bones were not hidden from you,
when I was made in secret
and sewed together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb.
All the days ordained for me
were recorded in your scroll
before one of them came into existence.

How difficult it is for me to fathom your thoughts about me,
O God!
How vast is their sum total!

If I tried to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
Even if I finished counting them,
I would still have to contend with you.

If only you would kill the wicked, O God!
Get away from me, you violent men!

They rebel against you and act deceitfully;
your enemies lie.

O Lord, do I not hate those who hate you,
and despise those who oppose you?

I absolutely hate them,
they have become my enemies!

Examine me, and probe my thoughts!
Test me, and know my concerns!

See if there is any idolatrous tendency in me,
and lead me in the reliable ancient path!

– Psalm 139
For the music director,
a psalm of David.

source: The Missio Dei Breviary
Week 3: Friday Evening

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Filed under: Journal Tagged: Psalm 139, The Missio Dei Breviary ]]> http://hermitjrnl.wordpress.com/2010/02/21/psalm-139/feed/ 1 jeff. http://hermitjrnl.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/are-you-unfaithful/ http://hermitjrnl.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/are-you-unfaithful/#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:17:14 +0000 jeff. http://hermitjrnl.wordpress.com/?p=2293 ]]>

speed bump

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For all those who enjoy their journal and like to blog too — thought you might enjoy this wee chuckle!

Blessing to all!

Saint Anthony the Great and Paul the Hermit

Today’s edition of Saint of the Day, reminded me that many on this day pause to remember St. Paul the Hermit.  He is often credited as being the first hermit.

Paul is thought to have lived a very simple life, alone, for 80 – 90 years in the desert.  (The length of time varies depending upon the story.)  But I use the word “alone” loosely. For obviously he was ever in the presence of his God, and for most of those many years, he was at least visited daily by a raven or crow that brought his “daily bread.”

Many express a concern over someone living in solitude.  But personally I find an over emphasis on this whole idea of humans being social animals.  It has been my observation that this needed socializing is more out our own selfish desires than for our betterment and the welfare of our fellow human beings.  Each one of us would benefit socially by slowing down and spending more time in solitude.  First getting to really know and accepting our true self, our weaknesses and foibles (and our relationship with our Creator).  Then, looking outside of our self, acknowledging our coexistence in this world and compassionately considering those around us, our neighbors.

Busily exploiting others for our own self-centered gain and grabbing for every little thing to constantly entertain and feed our selfish desires only helps to distract and anesthetize us.  We thus avoid getting to know our self, which keeps us from sincerely (selflessly from the heart) caring for, loving, and helping other people (and all of Creation for that matter).  For I feel that the more selfless and respectful we are of others, the more we truly behave as social beings.  (But these are just my humble thoughts and ramblings.)

Getting back to Paul. As you look at the icon above, you will find that it graphically includes many of the key characters and descriptions mentioned in the stories about St. Paul the Hermit. I’ve included links at the end of the post to some of these stories.

For the benefit of those who are short on time and would like to know a little more about St. Paul the Hermit, here is an excerpt from Saint of the Day:

St. Paul the Hermit
(c. 233-345)

It is unclear what we really know of Paul’s life, how much is fable, how much fact.

Paul was reportedly born in Egypt, where he was orphaned by age 15. He was also a learned and devout young man. During the persecution of Decius in Egypt in the year 250, Paul was forced to hide in the home of a friend. Fearing a brother-in-law would betray him, he fled in a cave in the desert. His plan was to return once the persecution ended, but the sweetness of solitude and heavenly contemplation convinced him to stay.

He went on to live in that cave for the next 90 years. A nearby spring gave him drink, a palm tree furnished him clothing and nourishment. After 21 years of solitude a bird began bringing him half of a loaf of bread each day. Without knowing what was happening in the world, Paul prayed that the world would become a better place.

St. Anthony attests to his holy life and death. Tempted by the thought that no one had served God in the wilderness longer than he, Anthony was led by God to find Paul and acknowledge him as a man more perfect than himself. The raven that day brought a whole loaf of bread instead of the usual half. As Paul predicted, Anthony would return to bury his new friend.

Source: Saint of the Day, American Catholic.org

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Here are a few of the longer articles (stories) about St. Paul the Hermit, available on the internet.  The longest, more detailed story is the last one.

St. Paul the Hermit — from St. Abanoub Coptic Orthodox Church

Paul the Hermit — from the The Episcopal Church of St. Paul in the Desert

The Life of Paulus, by St. Jerome — from the Coptic Orthodox Church Network

Enjoy!

After posting the abbreviated version, Carl Matson, kindly provided a copy of the complete quote.  I felt that the additional items were significant, so thought it best to updated this post to include the complete quote.

I hope you find these humble words as much of an encouragement to you as they are to me.

[UPDATED]

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People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

~ Mother Teresa

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blessings today and for all of this new year,

jeff.

THE VOICE OF GOD

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Can you hear God speaking?
Just listen to the silences within and around you .
Can you not hear His voice ?
He speaks a message of peace to every heart that longs for Him.

Can you hear God speaking ?
Or are you too busy talking to listen ?
Are you in to much of a rush to enter the place of stillness ?
Do you want all the answers to your questions now ?

God does not work on a twenty four hour time scale .
We want everything completed now .
God is never in such a hurry .
He has Eternity to complete His plans for us and in us .

Do you look at your brother and sister and question what they are doing ?
They also have their own path to God to walk .
It is no better than your path but the one marked out for them long before they were born .
Do not forget in the Fathers House there are many rooms .

Do you judge your brother or sister ?
You have not carried the silence of their sufferings .
You have not carried the burden of their cross .
Every man and woman has a cross to carry .

Are you troubled by a question or something you have done ?
Do you feel God is asking you to do something ?
For all the noise you can create His invitation will always slip through in the silences .
It is better to hear God inviting you and respond in this life .

Do you think you are unlovable ?
In the silences allow Him to love you..
In our weakness there is the tenderness of Gods touch .
In our poverty there is the gentleness of Gods embrace .

Are you afraid of dying ?
We always journey with knowledge of the dying that is to come .
If you find the way to love God so much you give Him everything in this life you have nothing to fear .
In the evening of your life as you enter in to the great silence you will only be examined and judged in love .

One day a pilgrim asked a Hermit why she could not hear God voice ?
He put his finger to his lips and replied “silence .”
The woman asked why the Hermit would not answer her ?
He replied ,”Perhaps you have become to noisy and use to many words to hear God answering in the silence.”

.

Father Lazarus

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For me, Charles Schultz is (OK, was) a master of simple wisdom and insight. Sure do miss his continued work of light-hearted humor.

click here to go to Peanuts on Comics.com