(Our Father,)
When familiar surroundings fade, strengthen my wings of faith.
Help me to accept the need to grow and mature.
( – Amen)
“In the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me.” (Psalm 27:5)
Keep the faith!
(Dear Lord,)
My path may be strange; it may be dark.
Help me not to fear since you light the way.
I can safely follow you.
- Amen
“I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight.”
- Isaiah 45:2
Often the smallest and most direct prayers are the most difficult to say. And to put into practice.
Sometimes we need to center our efforts on making a decision… on sticking to it and convincing others… on following through.
What we are truly asking for in those times is
Guidance
Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings
with your most gracious favor,
and
further us with your continual help;
that in all our works begun,
continued,
and ended in you,
we may glorify your holy Name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Amen.
Keep the faith!
Rumi (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī) was a 13th Century Persian poet, jurist and ascetic. His words are widely read in the United States and his writings while more lyrical are very similar in mood to Solomon’s songs in the Hebrew Bible. (No hate mail from theologians, please: that part is pure opinion from the perspective of the writer/reader) He was an Islamic Sufi, poet, and dervish, so he spent quite a bit of his time traveling with the divine by way of poetry and dance. If you ever come across a “collected writings of Rumi” in a book store, he’s certainly worth giving a look-see, particularly on the days when focus isn’t there, and thought and spirituality need to be honed down to the finely chiseled words of the poet. No sermons to be found there except for the ones that draw out in the vast spaces between single words.
Herewith from his writings (taken in paraphrase) are ten ideas on life that we hear from his writing. Maybe we can touch on the dancing of the dervish in a future meditation:
Challenge fear
Run from what’s comfortable. forget Safety. Live where you fear to live. Be notorious.
Be bold
Do not be satisfied with the stories that come before you. Unfold your own myth.
Have gratitude
Wear gratitude like a cloak and it will feed your life.
Take action
Why should I stay at the bottom of the well, when a strong rope is in my hand?
Have faith
As you start to walk out on the way, the way will appear.
Embrace setbacks
If you are irritated by every rub, how will you become polished?
Look inside
Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.
Learn from suffering
The wound is the place where the light enters you.
Don’t be concerned about what others think of you
I want to sing like the birds sing, not worry about who hears or what they think.
Do what you love
Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of that which you love.
The sermons are there in the vast spaces between the words. Let those who have ears, hear, and let those who have eyes, see.
Keep the faith!
Christ Jesus:
Eternal word of the Father -
You made yourself very small
so as to be close to us.
From then on -
our weakness
no longer separates us from God.
It becomes a door
through which God enters into our life,
so we can say to you:
Come, LORD Jesus.
- Amen