Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Life is full of all kinds of challenges and surprising turns. Who knows how the political unrest in the Middle East may lead to at the end? The spirit of revolution is spreading like wild fire in that general region. Many M workers who have been ministering in that region for a long time, believe this political unrest should bring better future for the grass-root people. The question is how much will it cost for such revolution. Let’s pray for peaceful transition and minimum casualty in that region. Pray also for churches and Christians in those countries that they will not become scapegoats in the conflict…
One of the most positive of the ten commandments stresses the need for a weekly time of reflection. The commandment to keep holy the Sabbath requires that once a week we stop every kind of active endeavor, that we rest and turn to our Creator and to our fellow creatures. We meet together for worship. It makes little difference whether the time of rest is Saturday or the Christian first day of the week; the principle is the same. We need both the activity of worship and the time for preparation, time for a little spiritual housecleaning beyond the daily tidying up and dusting. We need to take out the trash in ourselves and perhaps straighten up the deepest closet or file away some of the things on top of an inner desk.
I find that I need a couple of hours each week for this, to see what I have been doing, how I have been doing, and what I need to be doing. This is a time for centering and getting my perspective back, in which my daily times of quiet are brought together and come to fruition. This time can be used in various ways, perhaps to read more in the Bible, or to take a longer look at either a problem or a project in one’s spiritual life. It may be needed to probe deeper, to get at the roots of things and unravel those too complex for the daily times of quiet. Sometimes these hours are needed just to become really still, to let the rush within one die down. Or again, they can be used to check one’s life and action against the priorities one has set for oneself…When these longer periods of stopping have borne fruit, they carry over into ordinary life. We become aware of this deeper level of reality in the midst of ordinary preoccupations, and strangely it does not make us less efficient, but more so. It is almost as if, even when we sleep, we become conscious of the presence of God touching us.
I have learned to try to check with this deeper insight and when I do, the best intuitions come. They are purely given, striking like an arrow with a message hanging from it that passes before the inner eye. Even in public when I am speaking from a prepared talk. I find that if only I can hang loose, often a new idea inserts itself into my outline and I say something unexpected that gets through to people. This is just a sample of the ways in which one can catch momentary reflections of the spiritual dimension and find oneself looking both horizontally—at the physical world—and vertically at the same time.
The same thing happens when people use the Eastern Orthodox technique that has become so widely known as the “Jesus prayer.” As a person says this brief prayer over and over again—“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”—gradually the entreaty becomes the undercurrent, the very foundation of life and action. Somewhere deep within, a person becomes aware of contact with another reality. The classic story of this devotional practice, the Way of a Pilgrim, describes the growth of this awareness and some of the effects on the world of people and matter. This kind of sustained concentration on another level of reality can go on while one is at work mowing a lawn, or even while adding a column of figures or writing a letter. It is possible to live on two different levels at once, and even to increase one’s efficiency in the outer world at the same time.
Someone has said that the lives of most persons are like jewelry store where some trickster has mixed up the price tags. The diamonds are priced at next to nothing and some worthless baubles at thousands of dollars. Unless we stop business as usual and take stock, we are likely to end up in bankruptcy. So long as the store is crowded with people, there is no chance of taking inventory and putting things to rights. We must close the doors and take the time alone. Then we can check with the stock list, our list of priorities, and give the right value to the right object. If we truly believe that God is a loving Father, there need be no fear He will take away what we need (or think we need). He wants us to find Him so that He can bring us to our deepest and most lasting satisfactions.
Still, life has a way of keeping our priorities or price tags shuffled, and to bring order and harmony into life, to find meaning in it, requires stopping and redeeming time by reflection in quiet and silence. Indeed, we need to quiet before the Lord, collect our many fragmented pieces in life and submit them to Christ. If we are attentive to the Author of Life in meditation, we will discover how He can put all these fragmented pieces of life into a beautiful picture for us. It is energy saving when life is integrative. It is draining when life is compartmentalized into different pieces – we feel like we are being torn apart by different demands in life. Through our quiet time in the Lord, He put us back into one wholesome being again. So again, devotional time is not something you do for God’s favor but for yourselves. You are being built up and healed through your daily devotional time with the Risen Christ or Holy Spirit…Remember. God wants to make you whole again.
Enjoy His love with you in Christ,
Lawrence
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Devotional Reading 220211
Dear brothers and sisters,Good morning. Thanks for some of your prayer, I had a fruitful weekend preaching in Vancouver, Canada. God spoke through me to challenge this historical church (100 years old) in the heart of Vancouver Chinatown. I had the opportunity to minister to the English and Chinese congregations. The Mandarin group was vibrant and active in serving the Lord. Pray that God will continue to revive this congregation for His Kingdom.
Unless one takes the time to turn inward and be silent, meditation and the spiritual quest will not get very far. We seldom find God in a hurry, or in bits and pieces of reflection on a day of busy activity. An efficiently busy life, which keeps us occupied without being harried and keeps our attention entirely on interesting outer things, is probably more potentially destructive of spiritual growth than debauchery or alcohol or hard drugs…On the other hand, a quiet, efficient and busy life spent continuously in good works can shield an individual most effectively from any plunge into the depth where God dwells. Time for silence is a prime requisite for finding that inner depth through meditation.
The reason that most of us fill up our time and stay busy is that we are afraid to be alone. We do not want to deal with everything we find in ourselves. It seems that if we will just keep busy enough, we won’t have to deal with them. But that is an illusion. Fact of the matter is, if we stay busy enough, we do not even notice the mischief our inner demons are doing to others.
People find excellent reasons for turning to these Eastern practices since the Church makes almost no effort to offer instruction about such practices, or even to suggest that finding God is an even more vitally important reason for meditating. Are we afraid to ask this much of people, or has Western religion been so brainwashed by our emphasis on the material world that we really don’t think there is value in taking time to turn inward? Or has Christianity lost its under- standing that spirit can restore both body and mind?
For a long time the Church was sure of the value of time for meditation. The early Church simply assumed that all Christians would have their daily times of meeting the Risen Lord. When Christians lived with the knowledge that at any moment they might be apprehended and condemned to death for the treasonous art of supporting an illegal religion, they had reason to seek this presence. I doubt if they could have survived the tensions of that world and changed it as thoroughly as they did without the vivid consciousness of God’s presence.
In the Protestant Reformation there was an attempt to provide some sense of responsibility for the average Christian. In some sects there was a measure of success, but when religion for most people was a matter legislated for them, it was hard to persuade many of them to take the religious life seriously. In the end the theologians of most of the major Protestant groups concluded that humankind was caught in a totally physical world, shut off from any experience except the physical one. In the long run most people are more consistent than we generally realize, and Protestants of almost every brand fell in line with the understanding that it is silly to think of stopping to get in touch with another dimension or realm of reality. Thus there is little understanding of the practice of meditation among the standard Protestant groups. I remember how it worried one of my professors in the seminary that some of us were always in chapel before the rest. He considered us a little too intense and thought it might well represent some psychological imbalance. As a result of this attitude more and more Christians have turned to TM or Zen or Hare Krishna.
There is good reason for letting go of enforced routines of prayer and imposed periods of silence in the religious Orders. No one can force another person to take the inner way. Turning inward is a venture that each of us must assent to and pursue on our own, because we desire it. It turns sour if another tries to take me by the hand and pull me along against my will. Unless I ask for these experiences out of my own need or for my own reasons, I can receive little spiritual insight or guidance from them, and I am likely to feel put upon, or even tyrannized in the most devastating way.
I had a lot of quiet time while I was in Vancouver. I chose not to go anywhere but spending time with the Lord at my host home or at the airport. My plane was delayed in San Francisco for 2 hours because of weather problem, and delayed again in Vancouver for another 2 hours because of mechanical problem upon return. It gave me some quantity time to spend with the Lord. I enjoyed the quiet time to draw close to the Lover of my soul, and allowed Him to speak freely to me while I was “wasting” my time at the airport. It was an interesting experience to see people rushing around you but you feel so serene to be with the Lord in prayer and meditation. We need this kind of quiet time to rejuvenate our whole being. It is truly a gift from God that we are created with this ability to interact with God and in touch with the spiritual realm.
Hope you can find time to rest and focus on the Lord in prayer and meditation…
With Love in Him,
Lawrence
Friday, February 18, 2011
Devotional reading 180211
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. The traffic was very heavy because our President was flying out from SF airport. Helicopters were flying over our area for precautions. Road blocks were set up in all the major roads in and out of airport just in case some terrorists may launch any attack against him. The whole city was in high alert even though most of us were not aware of it. Kelsey talked about some precautions that we need to be aware of as we enter into the spiritual realm. Most Christians, especially those who were brought up in the West, were not aware of these potential dangers regarding the spiritual realm. This chapter is something we definitely cannot neglect.
The experiences of the inner world are the prime realities that give us our approach to life. The basis for our widely varying emotions and feelings and values. If we don’t deal with them directly, at the point of entry, these realities can operate autonomously within us. We can become puppets of the inner world, sometimes pulled happily by forces of light (which unfortunately have a way of shifting), or perhaps more often sucked into aggressiveness and destruction…If we are free of such problems, if we are healthy in body, mind and personal relationships, we can probably avoid looking inward, unless we become tormented by the collective ills of society in which we all share. So far, however, I have run into very few people whose lives were going this well at every level. When we really look at our actions and reactions to others we may realize how often they are unconscious and unsatisfactory, and this can be the first step toward an inward venture.
Most of the people I have known needed this relationship with the inner world more than they realized. When their masks were down, it was clear that they did not need judgment. They were already dissatisfied with themselves, already judging themselves too much. I have found in counseling that my task is often to encourage people to be more gentle with themselves. Many of us really need to discover what is good about us and to develop these qualities rather than to concentrate endlessly on all that is wrong. Often people who are the most vocal about their religion are lacking in balance for just this reason. They are practically unconscious of their best qualities, and they try to make religion compensate for what they feel is the muck in themselves.
There always seem to be people who try t to reduce religion simply to the act of turning inward and reveling in what is found there. But this is a very immature idea of religion. Similarly, when meditation is reduced to going inward and luxuriating in either images or simply feelings, it does not touch the real meaning of religion. In genuine religion, looking inward to discover what is there is only the first step. The real task begins as one learns to deal with the images and feelings that arise, and then goes on to relate them to one’s practical outer life at the office, helping or playing with one’s children, or going on a vacation with friends.
Our trouble in dealing with the inner world begins at the point where we see ourselves in the driver’s seat, responsible for our own actions, with no need to go back and discover a step at a time how our rationale is born out of interaction with spiritual realities. It is when men and women begin to feel that they have a rational knowledge of all there is to know about religious ways of dealing with these realities that they go off the deep end, with destructive results. Real maturity starts with realizing that we must go back again and again to the source and keep seeking practical religious wisdom and methods of handling what we find. We all remain beginners at this level.
Playing around with either the spiritual world or the physical one without this guidance makes us vulnerable to all kinds of forces we cannot control. We in the West have learned a great deal about matter and how to release its energy. But we are babes in the woods when it comes to understanding how spiritual forces influence what we do with our science. Eastern peoples, who are basically more introverted, have learned a great deal about accommodating themselves to the spiritual world, but they have not worried much about understanding matter.
What I am suggesting is that—although entering the spiritual realm is dangerous—if the three main conditions for going inward are met, then the perils can be lessened and largely avoided, and one can begin to think about some of the real rewards. These conditions, which we have discussed as making up the climate for meditation, are: (1) to be conscious of personal human need, particularly in starting on this way; (2) to realize that there is a spiritually creative center, a higher, loving will that has already conquered evil; (3) to keep working to form real human relationships. They are all so vitally necessary that without them the process dead-ends or worse. P 70-77
It is true that we seldom take spiritual world seriously. We enjoy hearing ghost story or supernatural phenomenon, but we don’t realize we can be influenced by it even though we don’t enter into the spiritual realm. We assumed there is a chasm that separates the spiritual world from the physical one. But what we don’t know (at least from a Western perspective) is that the physical world in many ways is interconnected with the spiritual or oppressed by the spiritual reality. We don’t admit or face it simply makes the spiritual force become unconscious or hidden. It does not go away or stop making impact in our lives. Our denial only makes things worst.
By connecting with the loving Heavenly Father through prayer and meditation empowers us to deal with this spiritual reality with ease. We focus not so much on the negative or evil undercurrent that are prevailing around us but on God. The victory of the cross is our shield and our weapon. We rely not so much on our will power to have victory over Satan but by the Cross of Christ. Satan had been defeated by the Cross and we simply proclaim his victory in the spiritual realm. Meditation and prayer are means for us to listen to God and to be molded by Him daily. As we train our souls to be constantly attentive to God, we walk in the light just as He does. The Apostle John said, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Our outward behavior should be an expression or display of our inner reality. Pray that you will spend time to meditate on His word over this long weekend.
With love from Him in the spiritual realm,
Lawrence
Good morning. The traffic was very heavy because our President was flying out from SF airport. Helicopters were flying over our area for precautions. Road blocks were set up in all the major roads in and out of airport just in case some terrorists may launch any attack against him. The whole city was in high alert even though most of us were not aware of it. Kelsey talked about some precautions that we need to be aware of as we enter into the spiritual realm. Most Christians, especially those who were brought up in the West, were not aware of these potential dangers regarding the spiritual realm. This chapter is something we definitely cannot neglect.
The experiences of the inner world are the prime realities that give us our approach to life. The basis for our widely varying emotions and feelings and values. If we don’t deal with them directly, at the point of entry, these realities can operate autonomously within us. We can become puppets of the inner world, sometimes pulled happily by forces of light (which unfortunately have a way of shifting), or perhaps more often sucked into aggressiveness and destruction…If we are free of such problems, if we are healthy in body, mind and personal relationships, we can probably avoid looking inward, unless we become tormented by the collective ills of society in which we all share. So far, however, I have run into very few people whose lives were going this well at every level. When we really look at our actions and reactions to others we may realize how often they are unconscious and unsatisfactory, and this can be the first step toward an inward venture.
Most of the people I have known needed this relationship with the inner world more than they realized. When their masks were down, it was clear that they did not need judgment. They were already dissatisfied with themselves, already judging themselves too much. I have found in counseling that my task is often to encourage people to be more gentle with themselves. Many of us really need to discover what is good about us and to develop these qualities rather than to concentrate endlessly on all that is wrong. Often people who are the most vocal about their religion are lacking in balance for just this reason. They are practically unconscious of their best qualities, and they try to make religion compensate for what they feel is the muck in themselves.
There always seem to be people who try t to reduce religion simply to the act of turning inward and reveling in what is found there. But this is a very immature idea of religion. Similarly, when meditation is reduced to going inward and luxuriating in either images or simply feelings, it does not touch the real meaning of religion. In genuine religion, looking inward to discover what is there is only the first step. The real task begins as one learns to deal with the images and feelings that arise, and then goes on to relate them to one’s practical outer life at the office, helping or playing with one’s children, or going on a vacation with friends.
Our trouble in dealing with the inner world begins at the point where we see ourselves in the driver’s seat, responsible for our own actions, with no need to go back and discover a step at a time how our rationale is born out of interaction with spiritual realities. It is when men and women begin to feel that they have a rational knowledge of all there is to know about religious ways of dealing with these realities that they go off the deep end, with destructive results. Real maturity starts with realizing that we must go back again and again to the source and keep seeking practical religious wisdom and methods of handling what we find. We all remain beginners at this level.
Playing around with either the spiritual world or the physical one without this guidance makes us vulnerable to all kinds of forces we cannot control. We in the West have learned a great deal about matter and how to release its energy. But we are babes in the woods when it comes to understanding how spiritual forces influence what we do with our science. Eastern peoples, who are basically more introverted, have learned a great deal about accommodating themselves to the spiritual world, but they have not worried much about understanding matter.
What I am suggesting is that—although entering the spiritual realm is dangerous—if the three main conditions for going inward are met, then the perils can be lessened and largely avoided, and one can begin to think about some of the real rewards. These conditions, which we have discussed as making up the climate for meditation, are: (1) to be conscious of personal human need, particularly in starting on this way; (2) to realize that there is a spiritually creative center, a higher, loving will that has already conquered evil; (3) to keep working to form real human relationships. They are all so vitally necessary that without them the process dead-ends or worse. P 70-77
It is true that we seldom take spiritual world seriously. We enjoy hearing ghost story or supernatural phenomenon, but we don’t realize we can be influenced by it even though we don’t enter into the spiritual realm. We assumed there is a chasm that separates the spiritual world from the physical one. But what we don’t know (at least from a Western perspective) is that the physical world in many ways is interconnected with the spiritual or oppressed by the spiritual reality. We don’t admit or face it simply makes the spiritual force become unconscious or hidden. It does not go away or stop making impact in our lives. Our denial only makes things worst.
By connecting with the loving Heavenly Father through prayer and meditation empowers us to deal with this spiritual reality with ease. We focus not so much on the negative or evil undercurrent that are prevailing around us but on God. The victory of the cross is our shield and our weapon. We rely not so much on our will power to have victory over Satan but by the Cross of Christ. Satan had been defeated by the Cross and we simply proclaim his victory in the spiritual realm. Meditation and prayer are means for us to listen to God and to be molded by Him daily. As we train our souls to be constantly attentive to God, we walk in the light just as He does. The Apostle John said, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Our outward behavior should be an expression or display of our inner reality. Pray that you will spend time to meditate on His word over this long weekend.
With love from Him in the spiritual realm,
Lawrence
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Devotional reading 170211
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. This is a wet day for nature. Hopefully it is a cleansing day for us from inside out. Nature regenerates itself from season to season. Wet winter is for roots to deepen and absorb as much moisture as possible for budding in spring. Wet weather slows down our activities so that we can spend more time to meditate and deepen our relationship with God. I will run out of my battery if I don’t charge my phone at night. We do not have any significant contribution like love, to offer this world, if we do not have “charging” time in Christ daily.
The most basic premise for giving love is knowing the person one loves. Before there can be any real love, one must find out what the other person is like. One has to become aware, conscious of that person’s true being, in order to love that very person and not some image of one’s own that one projects upon the other. It is altogether too easy to believe that I really love someone when all I am doing is enjoying my own ideal of what I would like that person to be. And probably the surest way of finding out the difference is by listening to the other person, allowing oneself to be open and sensitive to that person s real reactions.
Listening to others is an art that can be learned. Leaning to listen to God helps, but it also works both ways. We listen better to God and the beings of the spiritual world when we allow ourselves to be open to human beings and their deeper reactions. At the depth of every human being is a shy, timid spirit like a beautiful bird. As long as one judges or throws out personal opinions, that depth, that spirit remains hidden and afraid. To discover what it is there, one must learn to be quiet and wait with openness, expecting a response. This is the first step in Christian living with one another. Christian fellowship and community do not begin until we have learned to listen to other people just as they are. Only then can most of us begin to discover this essence of our souls.
Takes real security within oneself to be open to the t totality of another human being. In this listening we give neither approval nor disapproval. We accept the other’s ground of being and the other’s system of values just as they are…Listening with this kind of openness means allowing one’s whole e being to become involved without worrying about whether it is accepted or not. One reason most people are unable to do this is that they are unable to love themselves. In listening to people, one finds that below the surface very few of them can really abide themselves. It is because of this that solitary confinement is so painful; when one is shut off from the outside world, one comes face to face with oneself. Yet how can we pass love on to others, as Jesus asked of us, unless we can accept that love and understanding for ourselves?
If one can realize that there is need for love close at home, growth can begin right there, with the healthiest kind of groundwork to build on. We do not have to worry too much about our own feelings at the time; what matters is doing something that makes the other person feel loved. The test is not just whether we feel loving; it is more whether or not the other person feels loved by us. Christian love is not complete until the other person feels loved through contact with us… Any of us can develop this means of expressing love if we will take the trouble to think about the needs of others and to commune deeply with the source of love. In all kinds of less intimate situations—at work, or at play, and particularly in the classroom—one can bring love to the people one encounters by giving them room or space in which to live and grow. Or at times we may find that love requires us to support another person when events are forcing growth or change on that person. Some individuals need stability in order to grow, and sometimes they simply need the confidence to stay put when change does not mean growth.
There is one difficulty we usually escape when it comes to loving our enemies. Generally we have no trouble noticing either the people who cannot stand us or the unpleasant ones we cannot stand, particularly if we have never tried to forgive them or relate to them. If we avoid those who seem to be enemies, however, and do not try to accept them into our lives, we become stunted both in personal growth and in finding reality in our devotional live. Love implies forgiveness. It is hard for us to realize, but actually the only requirement the loving Father places on us, once we come to know Him in meditation, is that we forgive as we have been forgiven. Our first task is not so much to make contact with these people, but simply to stop our unkind actions toward them. Most often this means simply to stop our chatter about them, laying aside our almost unconscious backbiting reaction to them…Then, when we are making a real effort not to hurt people no matter h much we dislike them, we can begin to pray honestly for them, and we can expect some surprising results, especially in ourselves…By looking for the creative or positive in another person, and seeking other elements in that individual to which I can reach out, new capacities to love and to respond are born in both of us.
The warmth that is provided by our capacity to love is as necessary for the soul’s growth as any other part of the meditational way. It radiates from our efforts to express love to those both at home and farther away…Steadily the warmth that is given by this kind of action draws the soul toward the reality of the loving God. Step by step the soul’s reach grows, so that it becomes easier to find the One who is love through meditation and to carry more of His love out actively to others. P65-69
I appreciate Kelsey’s sharing about this subject of love and meditation. I found it to be true in my own growth. The more we draw close to God the more we develop His love within us. It takes encourage and security to love others, especially your “enemies.” Only when you find the reality of love in God and learn about yourselves in the light of His love, we can reach out to others with love. Love is not an easy action that involves acceptance, forgiveness, sacrificial giving and making other people feel loved (not that you have expressed love). These activities begin from the intimate walk with God through meditation and prayer on a daily basis. We love because He first loves us. People cannot give love if they have never experienced the genuine love from above. It is easy to preach a sermon on love and run some religious activities in the name of the gospel – god’s forgiving love; it is hard to truly love God and others. We are low on this kind of love. We love in expecting to receive something in return. We love in order to make us feel great. There is nothing wrong to love with the above expectation. But love does not remain on that level. We love because when we draw close to the Lover of our soul, we just cannot stop expressing His love to others as our act of worship (Romans 12:1).
With love to you in Christ,
Lawrence
Good morning. This is a wet day for nature. Hopefully it is a cleansing day for us from inside out. Nature regenerates itself from season to season. Wet winter is for roots to deepen and absorb as much moisture as possible for budding in spring. Wet weather slows down our activities so that we can spend more time to meditate and deepen our relationship with God. I will run out of my battery if I don’t charge my phone at night. We do not have any significant contribution like love, to offer this world, if we do not have “charging” time in Christ daily.
The most basic premise for giving love is knowing the person one loves. Before there can be any real love, one must find out what the other person is like. One has to become aware, conscious of that person’s true being, in order to love that very person and not some image of one’s own that one projects upon the other. It is altogether too easy to believe that I really love someone when all I am doing is enjoying my own ideal of what I would like that person to be. And probably the surest way of finding out the difference is by listening to the other person, allowing oneself to be open and sensitive to that person s real reactions.
Listening to others is an art that can be learned. Leaning to listen to God helps, but it also works both ways. We listen better to God and the beings of the spiritual world when we allow ourselves to be open to human beings and their deeper reactions. At the depth of every human being is a shy, timid spirit like a beautiful bird. As long as one judges or throws out personal opinions, that depth, that spirit remains hidden and afraid. To discover what it is there, one must learn to be quiet and wait with openness, expecting a response. This is the first step in Christian living with one another. Christian fellowship and community do not begin until we have learned to listen to other people just as they are. Only then can most of us begin to discover this essence of our souls.
Takes real security within oneself to be open to the t totality of another human being. In this listening we give neither approval nor disapproval. We accept the other’s ground of being and the other’s system of values just as they are…Listening with this kind of openness means allowing one’s whole e being to become involved without worrying about whether it is accepted or not. One reason most people are unable to do this is that they are unable to love themselves. In listening to people, one finds that below the surface very few of them can really abide themselves. It is because of this that solitary confinement is so painful; when one is shut off from the outside world, one comes face to face with oneself. Yet how can we pass love on to others, as Jesus asked of us, unless we can accept that love and understanding for ourselves?
If one can realize that there is need for love close at home, growth can begin right there, with the healthiest kind of groundwork to build on. We do not have to worry too much about our own feelings at the time; what matters is doing something that makes the other person feel loved. The test is not just whether we feel loving; it is more whether or not the other person feels loved by us. Christian love is not complete until the other person feels loved through contact with us… Any of us can develop this means of expressing love if we will take the trouble to think about the needs of others and to commune deeply with the source of love. In all kinds of less intimate situations—at work, or at play, and particularly in the classroom—one can bring love to the people one encounters by giving them room or space in which to live and grow. Or at times we may find that love requires us to support another person when events are forcing growth or change on that person. Some individuals need stability in order to grow, and sometimes they simply need the confidence to stay put when change does not mean growth.
There is one difficulty we usually escape when it comes to loving our enemies. Generally we have no trouble noticing either the people who cannot stand us or the unpleasant ones we cannot stand, particularly if we have never tried to forgive them or relate to them. If we avoid those who seem to be enemies, however, and do not try to accept them into our lives, we become stunted both in personal growth and in finding reality in our devotional live. Love implies forgiveness. It is hard for us to realize, but actually the only requirement the loving Father places on us, once we come to know Him in meditation, is that we forgive as we have been forgiven. Our first task is not so much to make contact with these people, but simply to stop our unkind actions toward them. Most often this means simply to stop our chatter about them, laying aside our almost unconscious backbiting reaction to them…Then, when we are making a real effort not to hurt people no matter h much we dislike them, we can begin to pray honestly for them, and we can expect some surprising results, especially in ourselves…By looking for the creative or positive in another person, and seeking other elements in that individual to which I can reach out, new capacities to love and to respond are born in both of us.
The warmth that is provided by our capacity to love is as necessary for the soul’s growth as any other part of the meditational way. It radiates from our efforts to express love to those both at home and farther away…Steadily the warmth that is given by this kind of action draws the soul toward the reality of the loving God. Step by step the soul’s reach grows, so that it becomes easier to find the One who is love through meditation and to carry more of His love out actively to others. P65-69
I appreciate Kelsey’s sharing about this subject of love and meditation. I found it to be true in my own growth. The more we draw close to God the more we develop His love within us. It takes encourage and security to love others, especially your “enemies.” Only when you find the reality of love in God and learn about yourselves in the light of His love, we can reach out to others with love. Love is not an easy action that involves acceptance, forgiveness, sacrificial giving and making other people feel loved (not that you have expressed love). These activities begin from the intimate walk with God through meditation and prayer on a daily basis. We love because He first loves us. People cannot give love if they have never experienced the genuine love from above. It is easy to preach a sermon on love and run some religious activities in the name of the gospel – god’s forgiving love; it is hard to truly love God and others. We are low on this kind of love. We love in expecting to receive something in return. We love in order to make us feel great. There is nothing wrong to love with the above expectation. But love does not remain on that level. We love because when we draw close to the Lover of our soul, we just cannot stop expressing His love to others as our act of worship (Romans 12:1).
With love to you in Christ,
Lawrence
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Devotional reading 160211
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. I hope you are safe and sound after the storm. Thank God for providing us shelter in a stormy weather. It is something we should not take for granted. It is out of God’s mercy and grace that we are in His loving embrace. Let’s see how this creative power of life will transform our being and actions in daily encountering with our world.
Often the elements we have been discussing are all present, and find no life, no vitality in meditation simply because we separate it from morality We see no connection between our prayer life and our actions. The two, however, cannot be separated for they are of the same fabric. What we do with our lives outwardly, how well we care for others, is as much a part of meditation as what we do in the quietness and turning inward. In fact, Christian meditation that does not make a difference in the quality of one’s outer life is short-circuited. It may flare for a while, but unless it results in finding richer and more loving relationships with other human beings or in changing conditions in the world that cause human suffering, the chances are that an individual’s prayer activity will fizzle out.
Loving actions provide yet another condition that is needed for die soul to develop through meaningful meditation. They provide the necessary warmth that the sprout of new life can break through the surface and continue to grow. One of the great contributions of the Hebrew prophets was their understanding of direct interplay between people’s everyday living and their approach to God through ritual and prayer. They believed that the only sure basis for relationship to the just God was to show justice in one’s own actions.
Meditation and the inner way are like a spiral staircase. The first steps bring us to a realization of the nature of the God to whom we are opening ourselves. Then if we are serious about going on and not just pretending or hypo- critical, this realization requires putting what we have learned into action, coming to a new level of caring for others or of action in the world. Once we are trying to act upon the meaning we have found, we are ready again for a new level of meditation; and again with new insights into the reality of the Risen Christ, we are given new understanding of what our actions ought to be and a new basis for directing them. At one level we may become open t to the joy of many different relationships, or at another to the sorrow and suffering that make for sympathy with untold numbers of people and their condition in life. As each again and again new levels of community with God. This seems to be an unlimited process. In this way real social action grows from an experience of God.
How does one go about shaping one’s life so that it will manifest this love, giving of oneself even when one’s own needs cry out to be met? First of all, such love is not created by one’s own effort. It happens when a person allows the love discovered inwardly, through meditation and ritual, to pour out through life in action. Since this is not our first and foremost human reaction, it does take effort to cooperate with this creative reality when one finds it. Allowing love to work through us takes some doing, but it is far more certain than relying on our own efforts. Unless we first find the reality of the Other who gives love, our attempts to imitate it are often self-seeking, shallow and egocentric.
There is really no way that we can help other people become open to relationship with their fellow humans and with God except through an expression of love. Otherwise they remain fortresses that may be conquered and brought to subjection, but not to open relationship. What we have to learn, to begin with, is how to open the first gate so that the reality of love can work in us and then flow toward others. As this love reaches another individual, then that individual is opened to the loving Father who waits patiently at the doorway of every soul. Indeed, where there is genuine love for another person, it is as if God communes with God through two human beings.
One of the main purposes of meditation is to expose us to the reality of the Father in such a way that we can become the kind of people who are able to love. His life radiating through us cleanses, heals and transforms us. Then we can truly love in the way that Jesus asked of us. He did not tell us that we are His followers when we are great at meditating and religious activities, but only when we love one another as He loved us. This is the ultimate criterion of our lives, which can be fully realized only as we turn inward and open ourselves to God.
Yes, our intimate encounter with God should transform our attitude and relationship with people. The purpose of drawing close to God through meditation and prayer is to realize our loving relationship with Abba Father. Our Father wants to convey His message to us that we are His very beloved. We don’t need to do anything to earn His love. His love is available to us just as a baby does not need to do anything to earn his or her mother’s love. The bonding between us and God pre-exists before we are even born. Paul said, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will” (Eph 1:4-5). In other words, we are the targets of His love from day one. He created us to enjoy this love from above. We miss the best gift in the world if we become too busy to enjoy His love through meditation and prayer in our daily life. Remember. You are His beloved children no matter what the world may say or what others may think. And He wants His love to flow through you in order to open other people to realize this love of God which is also available for them.
Enjoy this creative power of love with you,
Lawrence
Good morning. I hope you are safe and sound after the storm. Thank God for providing us shelter in a stormy weather. It is something we should not take for granted. It is out of God’s mercy and grace that we are in His loving embrace. Let’s see how this creative power of life will transform our being and actions in daily encountering with our world.
Often the elements we have been discussing are all present, and find no life, no vitality in meditation simply because we separate it from morality We see no connection between our prayer life and our actions. The two, however, cannot be separated for they are of the same fabric. What we do with our lives outwardly, how well we care for others, is as much a part of meditation as what we do in the quietness and turning inward. In fact, Christian meditation that does not make a difference in the quality of one’s outer life is short-circuited. It may flare for a while, but unless it results in finding richer and more loving relationships with other human beings or in changing conditions in the world that cause human suffering, the chances are that an individual’s prayer activity will fizzle out.
Loving actions provide yet another condition that is needed for die soul to develop through meaningful meditation. They provide the necessary warmth that the sprout of new life can break through the surface and continue to grow. One of the great contributions of the Hebrew prophets was their understanding of direct interplay between people’s everyday living and their approach to God through ritual and prayer. They believed that the only sure basis for relationship to the just God was to show justice in one’s own actions.
Meditation and the inner way are like a spiral staircase. The first steps bring us to a realization of the nature of the God to whom we are opening ourselves. Then if we are serious about going on and not just pretending or hypo- critical, this realization requires putting what we have learned into action, coming to a new level of caring for others or of action in the world. Once we are trying to act upon the meaning we have found, we are ready again for a new level of meditation; and again with new insights into the reality of the Risen Christ, we are given new understanding of what our actions ought to be and a new basis for directing them. At one level we may become open t to the joy of many different relationships, or at another to the sorrow and suffering that make for sympathy with untold numbers of people and their condition in life. As each again and again new levels of community with God. This seems to be an unlimited process. In this way real social action grows from an experience of God.
How does one go about shaping one’s life so that it will manifest this love, giving of oneself even when one’s own needs cry out to be met? First of all, such love is not created by one’s own effort. It happens when a person allows the love discovered inwardly, through meditation and ritual, to pour out through life in action. Since this is not our first and foremost human reaction, it does take effort to cooperate with this creative reality when one finds it. Allowing love to work through us takes some doing, but it is far more certain than relying on our own efforts. Unless we first find the reality of the Other who gives love, our attempts to imitate it are often self-seeking, shallow and egocentric.
There is really no way that we can help other people become open to relationship with their fellow humans and with God except through an expression of love. Otherwise they remain fortresses that may be conquered and brought to subjection, but not to open relationship. What we have to learn, to begin with, is how to open the first gate so that the reality of love can work in us and then flow toward others. As this love reaches another individual, then that individual is opened to the loving Father who waits patiently at the doorway of every soul. Indeed, where there is genuine love for another person, it is as if God communes with God through two human beings.
One of the main purposes of meditation is to expose us to the reality of the Father in such a way that we can become the kind of people who are able to love. His life radiating through us cleanses, heals and transforms us. Then we can truly love in the way that Jesus asked of us. He did not tell us that we are His followers when we are great at meditating and religious activities, but only when we love one another as He loved us. This is the ultimate criterion of our lives, which can be fully realized only as we turn inward and open ourselves to God.
Yes, our intimate encounter with God should transform our attitude and relationship with people. The purpose of drawing close to God through meditation and prayer is to realize our loving relationship with Abba Father. Our Father wants to convey His message to us that we are His very beloved. We don’t need to do anything to earn His love. His love is available to us just as a baby does not need to do anything to earn his or her mother’s love. The bonding between us and God pre-exists before we are even born. Paul said, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will” (Eph 1:4-5). In other words, we are the targets of His love from day one. He created us to enjoy this love from above. We miss the best gift in the world if we become too busy to enjoy His love through meditation and prayer in our daily life. Remember. You are His beloved children no matter what the world may say or what others may think. And He wants His love to flow through you in order to open other people to realize this love of God which is also available for them.
Enjoy this creative power of love with you,
Lawrence
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Devotional reading 150211
Dear brothers and sisters,Good morning. Praise God for a refreshing nature after the rain. Green leaves and grasses are budding everywhere outside my office window. This is a new day to celebrate the goodness and faithfulness of God. His unconditional love displays on earth as it is in heaven. Praise His Holy Name. Amen.
According to Jesus of Nazareth, God is a prodigal, spendthrift love. He spelled it out in His great story of the father and son, which should probably be called the parable of the prodigal father. Not only does the father receive his son back without a word of criticism—knowing that the son is judging himself too much already—but he brings out the best that he has. Instead of ordinary clothes he brings the best robes, instead of a meager meal they kill the fatted calf. And instead of recrimination he places rings on his fingers. Even toward the self- righteous elder brother, he is open and caring. Instead of chiding him for being interested only in justice, the father practices reconciliation and begs him to come to the party and join in their rejoicing. This, as Jesus Himself revealed, is the kind of God men find when they turn to Him for relationship, for a re-connection to the life that they need.
Although in rare instances we do dream of such a world and such relationships, usually we are afraid to believe that either we or God could be this way. We do not dare to reach out toward God courageously, risking the hope that He may be like that. Until we are willing to take that risk and venture on this path, we actually limit the fullness of relationship that God wishes to give. It is difficult for a human father to relate with affection and warmth when he is mistrusted, rejected or held at arm’s length. He cannot give all he longs to give. It is no different with the heavenly Father who is far more sensitive to our actual inner response to Him. If one sees God as a vicious tyrant or Oriental potentate one robs Him of the opportunity to give us love…. Few of us are able to contemplate acting in this way until another person has demonstrated such action toward us and reassures us that it is safe. Even then it takes a lot of meditating before one can break out of the human pattern of revenge and anger, retribution and destructiveness, and consider taking this risk oneself.
The main point of the doctrine of the Trinity is simply that God is essentially the same as Jesus of Nazareth. They are not only alike but the same in being. How many battles the theologians had on this issue. It is an important one…And if w really believe in the Trinity, we will let it show in our lives. This does not depend upon our ability to explain the intricacies of this mystery or how well we know the history of its being understood. Real belief in the Trinity is determined by how we act toward God, how we meditate, how we pray, and especially how we treat our fellow human beings. As I have said before, and probably will say again, our actions tell more about what we really believe than all our intellectual formulations of doctrine.
If one turns to God then, with some expectation of finding the reality expressed by the Trinity, what will one look for God to be like? Certainly if God does unite the qualities of Jesus of Nazareth and the prodigal father, He is better than any human father. First of all, He understands the human plight, the tensions and agonies of human life and how prone we are to being swept away either by selfishness or by evil. He knew what it was like to be a human being in Jesus of Nazareth, and He cares about us no matter what we have been or done…He also gives us freedom. There is nothing that can really prevent us from turning away from Him or mocking Him. He has confidence that in the end nothing else but relationship with Him will satisfy us, and so He waits. He knows that only love given in freedom and only relationships founded on freedom are real. His desire for us is not to pin us down but to see us grow and develop just as far as our potential and our opportunities will permit. In order to help us achieve our greatest potential, He offers us healing and transformation…Through meditation we can locate this precious vein buried deep within us and begin to open passageways of belief in this kind of God and the experiences He makes possible. Meditation is one way that brings us to this power and helps us stay open to it so that we can become what we are capable of being. Finding this kind of God enables us to grow into what we were meant to be. It is a wild gamble to look for a God like this, but what do we have to lose?
Meditate and prayer are concrete actions that we can do to wait upon the Lord or receive the actions of God. In other words, any spiritual exercises are our reaction toward the loving initiation of God to mankind. We don’t know how it works. We may think it is our initiation or decision to pray and meditate about God. But in reality, our human efforts are inadequate to reach a God bigger than our human imagination can handle. The more we trust our “approaches” the more we put God into our little boxes of theology or spiritual disciplines. Yes, it is because of God’s grace that our prayers are answered or heard. It is because of His love that He reveals to us through our meditation. But it is not our prayer and meditation that enable us to find God. Other religions put their faith in the “religious rituals and practices” to empower them in not only reaching God but manipulating Him to do what they want Him to do. Prayer and meditation are hard works because they are beyond our natural ability to handle. They are difficult work because they require us to rest, to yield and to submit to the work of the Holy Spirit from within. Thus God reminded the psalmist in Psalm 46:10: “Be still (rest) and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” God will be exalted in the earth when His people yield to Him in prayer and meditation daily…Would you?
With heart of thanksgiving in His love,
Lawrence
Monday, February 14, 2011
Devotional Reading 140211
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Thank God for the blessings of rain and moistures. We may complain about the inconvenience. But without the seasonal rain we suffer a lot of consequences. Sometimes life is full of this kind of experiences. We complain about some “bad or inconvenient” encounters like rain on Valentine Day that seems to ruin the festivity. But rain is properly the loving gift that God has given to us who need it for our survival. “We need it but we don’t like it” is a common kind of contradiction in life that we learn to deal with from time to time. It also causes us to meditate on the kind of God we deal with not only just temporarily but eternally.
Christian meditation is based on a view of the world that finds each individual important, both in the material realm and in the nonmaterial or spiritual realm. In this practice of meditation one expects to meet someone, and the encounter is usually experienced as a relationship with a person. Even to talk about it one must generally resort to images. Sometimes the encounter itself is experienced in vivid inner images. Christian meditation is not a way of escaping from one’s condition. Rather it is something we undertake in order to bring the totality of our being into relationship with a person, an Other to whom we can relate. Before anything else this means stepping out in trust, experimenting to see if one does find such a reality of the loving Father or the Risen Christ.
Through meditating we explore in order to know more and more of God. But before He is discovered, a person only believes; through experiencing a relationship one comes to know. Believing is a stage on the way to knowing. Consequently one of the main conditions for effective meditation is to gain some idea of the reality we are seeking. This is found in the Christian story. It is the Good News of Christianity; it asserts that God is like Jesus, that at the heart and core of reality is the same loving, forgiving concern expressed in the life and teachings of Jesus and in His story of the prodigal…The reality of love revealed by Jesus demands real relationship and, as I have tried to suggest, this is difficult for us. Most of us are quite willing to be cared for, to be coddled and protected, but it takes great courage for men and women to relate, even to each other. Real relationship is not often found among human beings.
Whenever real love and relationship develop between human beings, they face the demanding task of coming to terms with the less pleasant elements of themselves. God offers us a far more accepting love than any human relationship, and we actually shy away from it because of the deepening honesty and growth it requires, both of which involve shedding one’s skin time after time. This is difficult and demanding.
Yet Jesus of Nazareth tells us to approach God by addressing Hin “Abba.” This is one of His unique contributions to religious thought and I practice. Christians are told to turn to the very force that moves the sun and other stars and speak like small children who need their father and call out “Daddy!” knowing that they will be answered. In other religions, and even among many “Christians,” there is a very different idea of God.
Most of the world pictures the ruler of the universe like an Oriental potentate who must be approached almost crawling on one’s belly. His justice is not questioned. He is feared, because He is infinitely distant, infinitely just, and He administers the justice with a heavy hand. Often He appears very much like an almighty steamroller whose majestic will and wrath and judgment must be accepted with resignation, without hope. There are even people to whom God appears to be an unreasonable tyrant who strikes out angrily one moment and comforts and heals the next. No wonder people have little desire to relate to such a God and prefer to leave prayer to the professionals. Those who hold such ideas of God deep within themselves cannot help but pray very differently from Christians who find the love of a father for a child at the heart of their most central experiences.
This is indeed our privilege to be introduced to God as our Abba Father by our Lord Jesus. We don’t need to worry about how the owner of this universe may punish us because of our sins. Yes, we deserve the ultimate punishment of eternal death, yet God accepts and forgives us just like the father of the prodigal son. The prodigal son rebelled against his father. He wasted all his gifts (money, time and talents) which were meant for him to invest in life for his selfish desires. Nevertheless, as he returned to his father with a repentant heart he was embraced with loving forgiveness. We questioned this kind of love and condemned it as “spoiling” and “unfair” just as the elder son in the story protested. This kind of unconditional love is truly beyond human being can comprehend. However, this is the kind of love that God wants us to learn from Him and apply to one another. Only God can provide love of this kind for building real relationship.
With full conviction or faith in such a loving God, we are taught to pray to Him…Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom comes. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us of our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil…We believe He receives our prayer and our whole being wholeheartedly and lovingly. Praise the Lord!!!
With love from our Father,
Lawrence
Good morning. Thank God for the blessings of rain and moistures. We may complain about the inconvenience. But without the seasonal rain we suffer a lot of consequences. Sometimes life is full of this kind of experiences. We complain about some “bad or inconvenient” encounters like rain on Valentine Day that seems to ruin the festivity. But rain is properly the loving gift that God has given to us who need it for our survival. “We need it but we don’t like it” is a common kind of contradiction in life that we learn to deal with from time to time. It also causes us to meditate on the kind of God we deal with not only just temporarily but eternally.
Christian meditation is based on a view of the world that finds each individual important, both in the material realm and in the nonmaterial or spiritual realm. In this practice of meditation one expects to meet someone, and the encounter is usually experienced as a relationship with a person. Even to talk about it one must generally resort to images. Sometimes the encounter itself is experienced in vivid inner images. Christian meditation is not a way of escaping from one’s condition. Rather it is something we undertake in order to bring the totality of our being into relationship with a person, an Other to whom we can relate. Before anything else this means stepping out in trust, experimenting to see if one does find such a reality of the loving Father or the Risen Christ.
Through meditating we explore in order to know more and more of God. But before He is discovered, a person only believes; through experiencing a relationship one comes to know. Believing is a stage on the way to knowing. Consequently one of the main conditions for effective meditation is to gain some idea of the reality we are seeking. This is found in the Christian story. It is the Good News of Christianity; it asserts that God is like Jesus, that at the heart and core of reality is the same loving, forgiving concern expressed in the life and teachings of Jesus and in His story of the prodigal…The reality of love revealed by Jesus demands real relationship and, as I have tried to suggest, this is difficult for us. Most of us are quite willing to be cared for, to be coddled and protected, but it takes great courage for men and women to relate, even to each other. Real relationship is not often found among human beings.
Whenever real love and relationship develop between human beings, they face the demanding task of coming to terms with the less pleasant elements of themselves. God offers us a far more accepting love than any human relationship, and we actually shy away from it because of the deepening honesty and growth it requires, both of which involve shedding one’s skin time after time. This is difficult and demanding.
Yet Jesus of Nazareth tells us to approach God by addressing Hin “Abba.” This is one of His unique contributions to religious thought and I practice. Christians are told to turn to the very force that moves the sun and other stars and speak like small children who need their father and call out “Daddy!” knowing that they will be answered. In other religions, and even among many “Christians,” there is a very different idea of God.
Most of the world pictures the ruler of the universe like an Oriental potentate who must be approached almost crawling on one’s belly. His justice is not questioned. He is feared, because He is infinitely distant, infinitely just, and He administers the justice with a heavy hand. Often He appears very much like an almighty steamroller whose majestic will and wrath and judgment must be accepted with resignation, without hope. There are even people to whom God appears to be an unreasonable tyrant who strikes out angrily one moment and comforts and heals the next. No wonder people have little desire to relate to such a God and prefer to leave prayer to the professionals. Those who hold such ideas of God deep within themselves cannot help but pray very differently from Christians who find the love of a father for a child at the heart of their most central experiences.
This is indeed our privilege to be introduced to God as our Abba Father by our Lord Jesus. We don’t need to worry about how the owner of this universe may punish us because of our sins. Yes, we deserve the ultimate punishment of eternal death, yet God accepts and forgives us just like the father of the prodigal son. The prodigal son rebelled against his father. He wasted all his gifts (money, time and talents) which were meant for him to invest in life for his selfish desires. Nevertheless, as he returned to his father with a repentant heart he was embraced with loving forgiveness. We questioned this kind of love and condemned it as “spoiling” and “unfair” just as the elder son in the story protested. This kind of unconditional love is truly beyond human being can comprehend. However, this is the kind of love that God wants us to learn from Him and apply to one another. Only God can provide love of this kind for building real relationship.
With full conviction or faith in such a loving God, we are taught to pray to Him…Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom comes. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us of our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil…We believe He receives our prayer and our whole being wholeheartedly and lovingly. Praise the Lord!!!
With love from our Father,
Lawrence
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