Spiritual Practices

A prayer for humility

You know my weakness, Lord. Every morning I make a resolution to practice humility and in the evening I recognize that I have committed again many faults of pride. At this I am tempted to become discouraged but I know that discouragement is also pride. Therefore, O my God, I want to base my hope in you alone. Since you can do everything, deign to bring to birth in my soul the virtue I desire. To obtain this grace of your infinite mercy I will very often repeat: “O Jesus, gentle and humble of heart make my heart like yours!” Amen.
St. Therese of Lisieux

Shhhhh. The practice of silence.

The first feast of the preparation for Lent in the Orthodox tradition is centered on a deep desire, even hunger, for God and for His righteousness. The practice I believe presses this out is fasting. This most certainly means in some ways fasting from food – to allow our hunger for physical nourishment train us in our hunger for God. But there are other ways of fasting as well – what John the apostle wrote of countering the “lust of the eyes”.

The second feast centers on the desire or virtue of humility. The story told is one familiar to most of us and that is the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector, found in Luke 18:10-14. This is a desire for “the right order of things”, where we acknowledge our rightful place before God and even before other people. I think that one of the spiritual practices that might help us fulfill this desire is the practice of silence.

This passage from the Old Testament describes the position all of earth takes before the Lord.

But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.
Habakkuk 2:20

And then from Revelation 8:1 – this beautiful picture is painted: “When the Lamb opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about a half an hour”.

Silence – something we rarely experience. I remember one time in high school I went with some friends to the Smoky Mountains. There, for some reason, I found myself alone – and I sat on the hill against a tree and looked out at this incredible beauty – the mist rising, the blue-gray color of distant mountain, the smell of fresh air. It was glorious. Yet even the beauty didn’t keep me from feeling lonely. But I was transformed just a few minutes later. I noticed the silence. Absolutely no noise of human life – no cars, no talking, no trains in the distance. I didn’t even hear the normal sounds of birds, or leaves rustling, or animals scurrying. It was the most quiet I had ever been around. In that stillness I felt great peace – all high school angst at being alone gone.

How many places are left with that kind of quiet – but I feel like if I could keep faith with that silence, I would know my place. I would not strive to be the smartest, the fastest, the most…(anything).

“In reality, true, good silence always belongs to someone who is willing to let others have his place, and especially the Completely-Other, God. In contrast, external noise characterizes the individual who wants to occupy an over-important place, to strut or to show off, or else who wants to fill his interior emptiness, as is the case in many stores and public facilities, and also particularly in the waiting rooms of some dentists, hairdressers…, where they impose incessant background music on you”.
Internet article – unknown.

In the brief time I have committed to this practice – I have been so aware of just how often I seek place, or recognition or superiority. In conversation with someone who is sharing a story, I am already moving ahead looking for my own story that matches theirs. Now friends, I am not at all encouraging self-analysis or what Leanne Payne called the disease of introspection. I want to be aware of how deeply God is calling me to this, and I can only do that as I listen to Him. His voice exhorts, but it exhorts with the utmost love and patience. Silence is such a gift – one that grants us, as well as those around us – peace and stillness. When we are not distracted by our own noise and can really listen to those we are in conversation with, it is transformative.

“The fruit of silence is prayer…Jesus is always waiting for us in silence. In this silence he listens to us and speaks to our souls…And then we will hear his voice…In this silence, we find a new energy and a real unity” (St. Teresa).

Here are some questions that might help direct this practice if you decide that this is something God is calling you to:

Do I spend any time in silence each day?
Do I seek out silence? Or do I fill in any opportunity for quiet time with noise instead?
Do I turn on music in the car when I could drive in silence for a while?
Do I speak when words are unnecessary?
Do I seek that place of deep quiet just sitting in God’s presence?

Perhaps for some of us – silence is not just something we’ve rarely thought about. It can be a trigger for anxiety. It could be that the dread of it is part of our emotional or psychological or even spiritual defenses. So, I ask you to be gentle with yourself, and do what God is calling you to. In any attempt you make to do this, ask Him for His peace and healing word. We are not looking to be heroes in the spiritual arena. Let this be a reminder to you that any practice you are being drawn to should be made out of a sense of what God is calling you to. Remember as well that God is with you, He is in you, and He is forming Christ in you.

Another complementary practice to silence could be finding ways to honor or defer to others, in words or deeds. Especially in our relationship with God, we can find ways to honor Him. We can honor Him as Job did, ²¹ “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” ²²In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong” (Job 1:21-22 ESV).

¹⁴If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ¹⁵ Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. ¹⁶ I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. (2Ch 7:14-16).

Holy Father, as we long to express our repentance through humility, may we be quiet, even silent before You. Enlarge our hearts, dear Holy Spirit, that there might be great space there to dwell in the quiet places. Make our silences be a way to deepen humility in us, and may we rightly honor you and others, in the same way Your Son and our Savior Jesus did. Amen.

Lectio Divina – Fasting

³ ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. ⁴ Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. ⁵ Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD? ⁶ “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? ⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? ⁸ Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. ⁹ Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ (Isa 58:3-9 ESV)

This is a very long passage to read devotionally – but it’s worth it if we press into it. I started by asking observation questions of the text – the who, what, when, where… questions. If you make a list of the things the Lord accuses the Israelites of – and then a list of the kind of fast He requires – it starts to flow! Also there is an if…then… aspect of the passage and the result of doing the kind of fast God requires is beautiful! It will be helpful to study it first, then read it slowly with lectio divina in mind.

Step One – Read the passage slowly, attentively. Allow yourself to be taken in by the words – pay attention to any word or phrase that strikes you in the passage. (If you haven’t studied this passage, you may find this first reading will stir observation questions in you – such as who, what when, where, how).

Step Two – Read it again. Meditate and reflect on the passage. What is it in your life that needs to hear that word or phrase? Sit in silence for a time, attending to the thoughts, images and impressions that begin to come to you. Turn that into prayer.

Step Three – What is God saying to you? What do you begin to feel called to?

Step Four – How does God want you to live this passage out? What are you resolved to do?

Lectio Quote – Fasting

In the following quote you could substitute fasting/temperance for the virtues Lewis comments on: chastity and charity. Read it slowly and devotionally. Chew on it, and digest it!

We may, indeed, be sure that perfect chastity—like perfect charity—will not be attained by any merely human efforts. You must ask for God’s help. Even when you have done so, it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help than you need, is being given. Never mind. After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again. For however important chastity (or courage, or truthfulness, or any other virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still. It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God. We learn, on the one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven. The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection.

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Simon and Schuster, Touchstone Edition, 1996), p. 94

rocks, and bread, desires and ways…

In my last post, I wrote of the way the Orthodox Tradition prepares for Lent (which is of course a preparation itself for Easter!) For five Sundays before Lent begins, there is a story from Scripture and a desire or virtue that fills out a full picture of repentance. As I reflected on those desires I wondered if there would be a spiritual practice that might help live out that particular desire. I want to help us follow the path from desired virtue to repentance by engaging in ways that make our Lenten practices “practical” and real. In the past I have found myself making great plans for Lent with all the things I will either abstain from or engage in! And to be honest, I peter out sometime the second or third week. Did you know why January 17^th is a significant date? It is the day that most people give up their New Year’s resolutions and fall back into bad habits.

I might also say that I’m not trying to be comprehensive in my suggestions of practices that might help us on our journey. But hopefully it might spur us on!

I’ve written about this before, but I want to re-emphasize the reason I believe spiritual practice is a better term than disciplines as we seek maturity in Christ. In fact, I would say I prefer the idea of formation in Christ, or maturity instead of becoming Christlike. We don’t start with ways to build bigger muscles of Christlikeness (which can primarily be measured by changed behavior sometimes without a corresponding change in heart). Instead, we start with Paul in Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ, and is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” The language that better fits our becoming in this sense is incarnational reality. We are in Christ, and we engage in spiritual practices in order to be more fully formed in Him. Of course, I understand that those on the spiritual disciplines wagon want the same thing we all do! We want to grow in Christ! So please, disagree with me if that’s your conviction!

Back to desires and repentance! As you read from the post earlier this week the first desire is the longing for God and for His righteousness. The story used here is that of Zacchaeus, which is found in Luke 19: 2-8. Please go there and read it. You might agree that this longing is a hunger than can only be filled as we center ourselves in Christ and let Him fill us. So, the more natural practice for this desire is fasting. And this is where we begin: in the desert with Christ. Satan’s first temptation to Jesus was to tell him he could turn stones into bread. And Jesus says to him:

It is written, man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4

Rocks and bread – how often are we tempted to settle for rocks when the bread of life is there for us? He was given for us that we would no longer hunger or thirst (Joh. 6:35). But I hate to be hungry. I have to say that hunger is my kryptonite.

There is great wisdom from Schmemann here:

“What then is fasting for us Christians? It is our entrance and participation in that experience of Christ Himself by which He liberates us from the total dependence on food, matter, and the world. By no means is our liberation a full one. Living still in the fallen world, in the world of the Old Adam, being part of it, we still depend on food. But just as our death–through which we still must pass–has become by virtue of Christ’s Death a passage into life, the food we eat and the life it sustains can be life in God and for God”
Schmemann on fasting

There are many things to fast from, but I think we would do well to begin with fasting from food, as we are able and led. Schmemann continues: “Ultimately to fast means only one thing: to be hungry–to go to the limit of that human condition which depends entirely on food and being hungry, to discover that this dependency is not the whole truth about man, that hunger itself is first of all a spiritual state and that it is in its last reality hunger for God” (ibid).

It is critical to understand that fasting or any other practice of abstaining we commit to is not a physical challenge alone. It must have its roots in a spiritual commitment – a commitment to surrender to God the things we most desperately hold on to.

In our times, there are many things to fast from, and probably many of us have already committed to reducing time on social media, gaming, screen time. The apostle John had no idea what we struggle with in our modern world. But in writing to churches dealing with heresy (the main heresy being the denial of the Incarnation of Christ), John writes this:

For everything in the world- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – comes not from the Father but from the world.
1 John 2:16

The Latin concept/word for lust here is concupiscence, which refers to an ardent powerful longing that is usually sensual in nature. John in this verse is warning the church of this concupiscence of the flesh but also the concupiscence of the eyes. When Gnosticism, which essentially is a denial of the body’s goodness, infects a people it usually results in all manner of sensual excess and transgression. We can quickly see the danger of this in the use of pornography but in this day, in our culture there is much that the eye is drawn to which falls in this category. Josef Pieper refers to this as visual noise. What the eyes are drawn to when given over to virtue and godly desire is the good and the beautiful. Gaze for a moment on the beauty in a child’s face, or the glory seen in a flower or mountain, and you see an eternal reality. But visual noise is an endless search for entertainment and utter meaninglessness. So much is out there that draws our attention away from the truth that there is barely any place to simply rest our eyes. I am so guilty of the mindless scrolling through Instagram or other social media. I am particularly fond of the “dear Abby” advice columns (did I just admit to that?!). Visual noise distracts, dulls, and kills the capacity for restraint and temperance.

Fasting has the power to restrain our fleshly urges. The picture for me here is how Josef Pieper describes temperance: “[it is] …the shore, the banks, from whose solidarity the stream receives the gift of straight unhindered course, of force, descent, and velocity” (The Four Cardinal Virtues).

Temperance is the shore, the banks, from whose solidarity the stream receives the gift of straight unhindered course, of force, descent and velocity.

“The Four Cardinal Virtues”

Temperance is the way to keep our hungers, our desires within the right boundaries! Fasting, whether food or other things, is one way of pressing into this beautiful virtue of temperance.

There is so much more I could say about fasting, but I’ll leave it here, and simply encourage you to read the great teachers out there who write about it from personal experiences.

To return to our desire – our hunger for God and His righteousness, fasting is a good spiritual practice to help us not only lean into that desire or that virtue but to be further trained in repentance.

The next post will cover the other desires and spiritual practices.

A word here though on fasting; as a practice we are probably going to struggle with this one in ways that differ from other practices. We need to prepare for failure. I have to end this post with this incredible wisdom from Schmemann –

…After all this said, one must still remember that however limited our fasting, if it is true fasting, it will lead to temptation, weakness, doubt and irritation. In other terms, it will be a real fight, and probably we shall fail many times. But the very discovery of Christian life as fight, and effort is the essential aspect of fasting. A faith which has not overcome doubts and temptation is seldom a real faith. No progress in Christian life is possible, alas, without the bitter experience of failures
Great Lent: 103-104

We must also remember that our only hope in overcoming our failures or challenges is in remembering who we are. We are in Christ! ONLY through His life in us can we hope to mature, to be formed in Him, to be made whole.

Friends, we need companions on the way – on this beautiful journey toward Easter. Let’s walk alongside each other as we press into repentance and spiritual practices. Ask a friend, share your decisions about the practices you choose. Commit to praying for another person, and when you fall off the path, be resolute and quick to return to the journey!

The Lord’s Prayer in Lent: Spiritual Practices

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come; thy will be done.
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread,
And forgive us our sins,
As we forgive those who have sinned against us.
And lead us not into temptation.
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
And the glory, forever. Amen.

Dear Father, we acknowledge that You live in a high and holy place. We bless the holiness of Your name. In this season of Lent we ask that Your kingdom would come here on earth as it is in the heavens – Your dwelling place. May Your good and perfect will be done. We ask Lord, that You would give us all that we need to set apart this journey toward Easter. Teach us the rhythm of confession and forgive us for all our sins and give us grace to forgive others. Give us boldness to confess any unholy posture toward those who have sinned against us. Lead us not into temptation by giving us grace and the understanding of its power. Deliver us from evil – for with You only goodness, and glory, and power and grace belong to you. Only You. Amen.

Confessional Prayer – Spiritual Practices

Confession of sin is a powerful Lenten practice as we learn to turn back from the far country of our failings, and excesses. It is also a good way to practice dying, a dying that puts us in mind of our baptisms. “To practice death is to practice freedom. A man who has learned how to die has unlearned how to be a slave.” Montaigne

Begin by centering your heart in God’s presence… Give thanks to Him that you do not need to hide anything from him. Affirm that He is faithful and good, and his mercy and grace are “new every morning.” The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness” (Lam. 3:22-23).

Now let him begin the process of searching your heart. Are there ways you have not honored Christ this week? Where were your thoughts and desires not centered in Him? Have you failed in keeping the promises and practices He has called you to in this season?

Then, simply confess in as specific a way you can the sins that trouble you. Don’t rush through this process. Simply rest in God’s presence as He does this.

Now choose to let this go and receive Christ’s forgiveness for you. Remember – “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)

Receive His assurance of pardon – ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸ which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹ making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ . (Eph 1:7-9 ESV)

And finally commit this confession to the Lord. As you rest in his forgiveness ask him how to walk this out. Ask for the supernatural power of His Spirit to give you what you need to move forward. Thank him that you “have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer [you] who live, but Christ lives in [you]” (Gal. 2:20).

Who is like a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression For the remnant of his inheritance He does not retain his anger forever, Because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers From the days of old. Micah 7:18-20

Lectio Divina – Spiritual Practices In Lent

¹⁸ “Is not the LORD your God with you? And has he not given you peace on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the LORD and his people.¹⁹ Now set your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the LORD God, so that the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built for the name of the LORD.” (1 Chronicles 22:18-19 (ESV))

Step Three – What is God saying to you? What do you begin to feel called to?

Step Four – How does God want you to live this passage out? What are you resolved to do?

The Lord’s Prayer – Preparing for Lent

Dear Holy Father, we pray that our hearts would be fully ready to walk this path from the desert to the Resurrection. Our one desire Lord is that your kingdom would come in full, that we would take our place there as we reclaim our baptisms. Your kingdom and Your will are our heart’s desire. Father, as we remember the waters of our baptisms, would You give us Your bread, Your life, Your Resurrection power that is the only true sustenance we need. Teach us Lord, how to ask and how to receive Your forgiveness and to freely forgive those who have hurt or wounded or betrayed us. Test us not, O Lord, but deliver us from evil. To You alone, Father, Son and Spirit is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Living Out Our Baptisms – Confessional Prayer

[C.S.] Lewis stressed the act of confession and the reception of pardon as a most important and objective act, and was on his guard against those “states of feeling” that would make of this most important act a merely subjective thing. It seemed to him that a “programme of permanent emotions,” about ourselves could turn even the act of our confession into a mere state of “feeling” about ourselves.
Leanne Payne, “Real Presence”

Start by centering your heart in God’s presence… Give thanks to Him that He through His baptism began the process of fully identifying with us so that He could offer his life for ours. Affirm that He is faithful and good, and his mercy and grace are “new every morning.” The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness” (Lam. 3:22-23).

Now let Him begin the process of searching your heart. Are there ways you have not honored Christ this week? Are there ways you have failed to live out your baptism? Where were your thoughts and desires not centered in Him? How have you failed in obedience to Christ?

Then, simply confess specifically what the Holy Spirit is showing you. Don’t rush through this process. Simply rest in God’s presence as He does this.

Now choose to let this go and receive the truth of this passage: “I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste. Let him lead me to the banquet hall and let his banner over me be love”. If you have confessed a stronghold of fear or complacency receive Christ’s forgiveness for you. Remember – “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

And finally commit this confession to the Lord. As you rest in his grace and mercy ask Him how to walk this out. Ask for the supernatural power of His Spirit to give you what you need to move forward. Thank Him that you “have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer [you] who live, but Christ lives in [you]” (Gal. 2:20).

Lectio Divina – Living Out Our Baptisms

A reminder about prayer and the Word of God: “All of a sudden we just know: prayer is a conversation in which God’s Word has the initiative and we, for the moment, can be nothing more than listeners. The essential thing is for us to hear God’s Word and discover how to respond to Him.” Hans von Balthasar

Romans 6:3-8 (ESV) ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. ⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For one who has died has been set free from sin. ⁸ Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

Step Three – What is God saying to you? What do you begin to feel called to?

Step Four – How does God want you to live this passage out? What are you resolved to do?

Lectio Quote

When we begin to understand that baptism does something to us now, and that that something is nothing short of incorporation into the divine life of God, then we can begin to experience the Trinity, not as some kind of mathematical puzzle – or a scientific experiment using water, ice, and steam showing that each of them is the same chemical but simply in a different form. Rather, we will know the doctrine of the Trinity as a lived reality. By our baptism we are invited not merely to understand, but to experience the Trinity. Brother James Koester