Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

Still small silence

Thursday, March 28, 2019

From Jeremiah 7
Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper. But ...

The last thing Jeremiah wants to do is listen to God's voice. He's just a young guy who would like to fit in, but God won't let him. God haunts his days and nights. He dreams God. Everywhere he goes he sees God. His family thinks he's crazy, and it won't be long before almost everybody else does too.

Jeremiah accuses the Lord. "You seduced me! And I was seduced" (Jer 20:7). That at least sounds exciting. But the Hebrew word also means deceived, misled, tricked. "I have become a laughing-stock, Lord. Everyone mocks me."

This is nothing new to the prophets of God. God told Ezekiel to eat dung, eat a scroll, lie on one side and then the other for 430 days. Isaiah was instructed to walk naked and barefoot for three years among his people. God insisted that Hosea marry a prostitute and then, after she left him, buy her out of slavery.

Of course, God always has a point to make. He chooses the prophets as his spokesmen because they don't say no. Most of us take a step back, but they stand firm.

Like Jeremiah, I mostly want to get along with everybody. I see two sides of almost everything. And I have a long-standing interest in enjoying the world God made. Within a very short time, I will find the silver lining of any suffering.

But unlike Jeremiah, I can turn my listening on and off. In fact, when I "try" to listen to God, my mind rages and runs away. I say, "Yes, Lord," but inside I rebel. I fall headlong into imaginings that can go forever.

But I am slowly learning something. The way of centering prayer is to avoid pursuing those thoughts but even more importantly, refuse to do them mental violence. As I practice this prayer, this sitting still, God gets through to me. "I am in ALL things, David. Listen. I am here, even in your untamed thoughts."

Jesus says, "Do not worry about tomorrow." Buddhism insists that I live my life without attachment. In his Spiritual Exercises,St. Ignatius agrees and calls it "spiritual indifference:"

Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul ...
We must make ourselves indifferent to all created things ... as far as we are concerned, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short life. The same holds for all other things. Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created.

Jeremiah's message is just the same. Look at God instead of what I have or what is happening to me, and thank him, thank him, thank him. Then I can stop putting myself first and start noticing the needs of others.

Jesus reminds me: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind. And love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the Law and all the Prophets" (Matt 22:39-40).

Can I quiet my desires? There is so much noise in them. But when I look toward God, I see that God is still. Elijah heard nothing until he fell silent and, I think, neither do I (1 Kings 19:11-13).

Father, you long to give me the strength to live this way. Every prayer starts and ends with thanks. You provide me plenty of grace for me to always share with others, and never for a moment feel deprived. Let me accept your gifts and never long for more.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, born 1491, "First Principle and Foundation" from his Spiritual Exercises, translated by Louis J. Puhl, SJ, 1951

Devotions Archive

Still small silence

Thursday, March 28, 2019