Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

John 5:30
Jesus says, ""I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me."

We spent the day yesterday with Judith Valente of PBS and America Magazine, and thirty or so other spiritual directors.

Judy spoke of a time when God touched her heart, and she slowed down her frantically busy life. Spending a week each month with the sisters in Atchison, Kansas' Mt. St. Scholastica Benedictine monastery, she watched for what she could incorporate into her own busy life. At 6:30 every morning the 145 sisters gathered for prayer, traced the sign of the cross over their lips and together said to God, "Open my lips, and I shall proclaim your praise."

She watched how they bowed to each other before they began their morning prayer. Judy contrasted the respect and quiet acceptance of these bows with "our culture's easy handshake and quick hug to establish instant parity." This bow says, "I see you, I see what is sacred in you. And please, be patient with me in my humanness."

In these ritual moments Judy remembered her humus-ness, her humility before God. She discovered that the very first word of the Rule of St. Benedict is "LISTEN." Listen with the ear of the heart.

Jesus listens with this ear. Jesus bows to us in recognition of our holiness as children of God. Together, we enter the presence of the Father, and the words of Jesus, perhaps spoken for us, are just. We can learn this from Jesus, and from those who have learned it already - to seek the will of God and NOT the will of our own egos.

We spent a couple of hours in solitude and silence, and during the second hour Judy asked us to write a haiku about the day and perhaps a reflection on what we wrote. Here's one of mine:

Bow to your partner,
Do si do. Patience rushes
In, and I can rest.

Lord, our practical side turns poetic when we take a moment to be still and know that you are God. There is no one like you, Lord, just below the shimmering, simmering surface of every day. Our hearts warmed, we bless you and glorify you, and give thanks.

Devotions Archive

Wednesday, March 18, 2015