Hallowed be Thy Name

Brother Lawrence, a brother in a Carmelite monastery, authored The Practice of the Presence of God. Lawrence worked in the monastery kitchen where he turned even the peeling of potatoes into an act of worship.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the role God plays in my life. I have always had a difficult time envisioning how every little thing in my life can be for the glory of God. How do I worship Him through cooking and cleaning and studying? I'm still working on this.

At the beautiful Coventry Cathedral, prayer panels detailing a life lived for God are posted around the premises. It is the Lord's Prayer applied to all aspect of life. These panels form a sort of prayer and declaration of the way that I want to live out my life.

Hallowed be Thy Name in SUFFERING

God be in my pain and in my enduring

Hallowed be Thy Name in THE ARTS

God be in my senses and my creating

Hallowed be Thy Name in EDUCATION

God be in my mind and in my growing

Hallowed be Thy Name in COMMERCE

God be at my desk and in my trading

Hallowed be Thy Name in GOVERNMENT

God be in my plans and in my deciding

Hallowed by They Name in THE HOME

God be in my heart and in my loving

Hallowed by Thy Name in RECREATION

God be in my limbs and in my leisure

Hallowed be Thy Name in INDUSTRY

God be in my hands and in my working

Barukh attah, Adonai Elohenu

Blessed are you, Lord our God.

"I am the one," says Messiah, "I am the one who destroyed death and triumphed over the enemy and trod down Hades and bound the strong one and carried off humanity to the heights of heaven."

"Come then, all you families of humanity, and get forgiveness of sins. For I am your forgiveness. I am the pascha of your salvation. I am the lamb slain for you;

"I am your ransom, I am your life, I am your light, I am your salvation, I am your resurrection, I am your king."

The third cup, the Cup of Redemption, is poured with these words at our Passover seder. This cup symbolizes Christ's atoning sacrifice for us, the blood of the Passover lamb. Obviously we celebrate Passover in light of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. These powerful words struck me this time. Christ is the one. He is everything. Through him, and him alone, we live. What an amazing and profound thought! 

Passover began tonight at sundown. My family has helped coordinate a Passover celebration with another family for almost ten years. It was especially meaningful this year because I was able to share it with one of my friends I have met at ACU. She is such a blessing to me and it was wonderful to celebrate with her tonight.

Life Has Meaning Again

That's right. Life once again has meaning, Thursdays have a purpose ... The Office is back on. I was ready for the writer's strike to end as soon as it was announced. Almost five long months of waiting brought me to this day and it was awesome. I spent the day eagerly anticipating the return of this hilarious comedy. Thankfully, I was not disappointed. The Dinner Party made me laugh :D

Of course, several other factors contributed to today's high. I made it through my Major British Writer's test. I met some of the people I'll be living with next semester. Greek class was canceled. I had another wonderful HERO session. I shared communion with my friends.To top it all off I indulged in  a nice little episode of The Office. I suppose my life is pretty good right now.

That's what she said.

Michael Clayton

Once a month, the college ministry at my church has a dinner and a movie night. The movie is always a surprise, and we don't learn what the evening will hold until the play button is pressed. In the past we've watched movies such as Groundhog Day and Whale Rider, both great movies with fantastic messages. Yesterday we watched Michael Clayton. I think the script is well written and the acting very well done (who doesn't love George Clooney? ) It is a tale of truth, a condemnation of dishonesty, and a journey of rediscovery.

However, it is chalk-full of coarse language. I mentioned this to my friend on the way home, but her response was that she felt they did a good job of limiting bad words. Obviously her take on this was completely opposite from mine. The entire reason the movie is rated R is because of "language including some sexual dialogue".

My take on the rating system is different from that of many of my friends. But here's my philosophy. Some group of people has decided that this movie should be restricted for people under the age of 17. Based on worldly morals and values, not from a Christian perspective, they have deemed this movie inappropriate for minors. Shouldn't I as a Christian be even more concerned? And yet, so many people are not. In Colossians Paul instructs Christians to put to death sexual immorality, impurity, lust and greed and to get rid of anger, malice, slander and filthy language. These are the immoral acts that are cited under an "R" movie rating.

The truth of the matter is we are filling our minds with junk. I am not a better person for having watched Michael Clayton. In fact, the more R-rated movies I watch, the more convinced I am that there is not really any good reason to watch most of them. I want my entertainment to be wholesome and to lift me up. I am choosing to fill my head with this stuff.

I am bit uncomfortable and fairly frustrated with the idea that my church would show an R-rated movie. I head up to the church building excited to discover a well-made film with good moral content.

Last night, I found the objectionable content to weigh me down more than the message of the film lifted me up. And because of this I was severely disappointed, both in the movie and in the apparent lack of discretion exercised in the choosing of the movie.

HERO

I had my first HERO session of the year today! It was particularly exciting because my client has canceled the past two weeks, so I had not yet met her. This year I am privileged to work with a beautiful two-year old girl who passionately observes the world around her with eyes wide open.

HERO (Hendrick Equine Rehabilitation Operation) is a hippotherapy program working with disabled children through the local hospital. This is my fifth consecutive year to participate, and I absolutely love it.

Every year, I learn something from these wonderful kiddos. Their joy is absolutely beautiful. These children have so many physical problems, yet somehow they are happy. The boy I worked with in HERO last semester laughs all of the time; a contagious laugh that quickly spreads around the arena. And what makes him laugh? Everything. He takes joy in everything, in just being alive. He laughs simply because he is happy, because he is a three-year old boy who is carefree and loves life. He is a small, fragile disabled boy and he doesn't even seem to know it.

The children who participate in HERO are like this. When a child climbs up onto his or her trustworthy horse, all other troubles are gone. For half an hour she can forget that she uses a walker. For thirty minutes, he can pretend his braces are gone and he is running down the basketball court to win the game. What a compelling reminder to live life with the joy of a child.

Today I have been convicted to be content in all circumstances. 

"I can do everything through him who gives me strength." 

This verse is thrown around so frequently as a sort of trump card, almost a promise that we can do whatever we want with Christ's help. But in reality it is much more powerful than that. Paul has learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I find that to be a much more difficult undertaking. I love so many petty things and I seem to always want more that I have. My HERO session today reminded me to be thankful for what I have and to be content, whether in plenty or in want, whether in a wheelchair or on a horse.

Thin Places

"At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of god descending like a dove and alighting on him." Matthew 3:16

There are places where the veil between the spiritual and the physical is exceptionally thin.

"Thin places, the Celts call this space,

Both seen and unseen,

Where the door between the world

And the next is cracked open for a moment

And the light is not all on the other side.

God shaped space. Holy." (Sharlande Sledge)

Influenced by their native spiritual sensibilities, Celtic Christians adopted this term to capture their belief that some places, times, and experiences seem especially holy.

I have always been fascinated by the history and culture of the British Isles, the Celts in particular. Nonsense about Celtic Christian spirituality can be found all over the internet. But medieval Celtic Christians truly did have a special feel for nature, a passion for the one who is Lord over it, and a belief that He meets people in special places. Ever since the idea of thin places was concretized in my mind, I have been captivated by the notion.

Such places abound in scripture - Moses standing on Holy Ground, Jacob's struggle with the Lord, the transfiguration. Sometimes God breaks through our mundane lives and in a mind-blowing moment we find ourselves face-to-face with the Almighty.

While I believe that God is over all and through all and in all, I also believe that there are times and places in which our sensitivity to the presence of God is enhanced. These are Thin Places.

This blog will be the musings of someone searching for Thin Places in everyday life. I will strive to identify those moments when the sacred and the profane meet, those places where the everyday and the holy become tangibly one. However, it will also serve as a confession of those times when the veil seems exceptionally thick and reflections on my ordinary, everday life when it seems to be just that - ordinary.