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Thought for the Day Thoughts, reflections and prayers that speak to the heart. The CHASTE collect for NOT FOR SALE SUNDAY Beloved God Amen © CHASTE 2006
Imagine The flame passes from candle to candle. Remember then, Remember too, those few — Look kindly. Lord. on the heart which loves you. Jesus said. 'I came to bring fire on earth’ Luke 12 v.49. Words by Edwina Sherrington Picture by L Womack
SilenceThis is one way to know God. ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ ‘God is in his holy temple; ]et all the earth keep silence before him.’ A score of years ago a friend placed in my hand a little book which became one of the turning points in my life. It was called True Peace. * It was a medieval message and it had but one thought, and it was this — that God was waiting in the depths of my being to talk to me if only I would get still enough to hear his voice. I thought this would be a very easy matter, and so I began to get still. But I had no sooner commenced than a perfect pandemonium of voices reached my ears, a thousand clamouring notes from without and within, until I could hear nothing but their noise and din. Some of them were my own voice, some of them were my prayers. Others were suggestions of the tempter, and the voices of the world’s turmoil. Never before did there seem so many things to be done, to be said, to be thought: and in every direction I was pushed and pulled, and greeted with noisy acclamations of unspeakable unrest. It seemed necessary for me to listen to some of them, but God said, ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’ Then came the conflicts of thoughts for the morrow, and its duties and cares; but God said, ‘Be still’, and as I listened, and slowly learned to obey, and shut my ears to every sound, I found, after a while, that when the other voices ceased, or I ceased to hear them, there was a still, small voice in the depths of my being that began to speak with an inexpressible tenderness, power and comfort. As I listened, it became to me the voice of prayer, and the voice of wisdom, and the voice of duty, and I did not need to think so hard, or pray so hard, or trust so hard, but that ‘still, small voice’ of the Holy Spirit in my heart was God’s prayer in my secret soul, was God’s answer to all my questions, was God’s life and strength for soul and body, and became the substance of all knowledge, and all prayer, and all blessing: for it was the living God himself as my life and my all. This is our spirit’s deepest need. It is thus that we learn to know God: it is thus that we receive spiritual refreshment and nutriment. It is thus that we receive the Living Bread; it is thus that our very bodies are healed, and our spirit drinks in the life of our risen Lord, and we go forth to life’s conflicts and duties like the flower that has drunk in, through the shades of night, the cool and crystal drops of dew, But, as the dew never falls on a stormy night, so the dew of his grace never comes to the restless soul. We cannot go through life strong and fresh on constant express trains; but we must have quiet hours, secret places of the Most High, times of waiting upon the lord when we renew our strength, and learn to mount up on wings as eagles, and then come back to run and not be weary, and to talk and not faint. *By John Edward Southall, (1855-1928), a lifelong and strongly convinced Quaker. This brief extract was from his publication The Power of Stillness now out of print.See the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) My Child… You may not know me, but I know everything about you …Psalm 139:1 Love, Your Dad. Almighty God "Used by permission Father Heart Communications Copyright 1999 Word of Life June 2006 “Live by the Spirit... But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law” (Gal 5: 16,18). “For you were called to freedom.”’ This is the message that Paul of Tarsus proclaimed to Christians in the various communities of Galatia. This message is an echo of Jesus’ words when he told them he would make them “free indeed.” 2 Free from what? The Christians in Galatia had been set free from the legal precepts of the Mosaic law, a freedom extended to all Christians. But more than that we have been set free from sin and its consequences: our fears, the frenzied pursuit of our own interests, cultural conditioning, social conventions.... For this reason we are free when we follow Christian standards in social and religious conduct, because we do not feel them as obligations imposed on us from the outside. For us there is a new law, the “law of Christ,” 3 as Paul calls it. This law is written on our hearts, blossoming within us, and in every person made new by the love of Christ. It is a “law of liberty.”” It is a law that itself gives the strength needed to live it out. We are free because we are guided by the Spirit of Jesus who lives in us. Hence the invitation: “Live by the Spirit... But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law” At this time of Pentecost, let us relive the descent of the Holy Spirit on Mary and the disciples gathered in the Upper Room. With tongues of fire, he poured the love of God into their hearts. 5 This is the “new law”: it is love. The Holy Spirit is the Love of God that comes into us and transforms our hearts. He puts his own love in us and teaches us to act in love and for love. Love guides our actions and suggests how to respond to situations and to the choices we are asked to make. Love teaches us how to distinguish and say: this is a good thing, I will do it, or this is a bad thing, I will not do it. And love urges us to seek what is best for others. “Live by the Spirit... But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law” “If you are led....” There is always the danger that something may prevent the Spirit from taking full possession of our minds and hearts. We can resist his voice and his guidance to the point of grieving 6 him, even “quenching” his presence in us] Many times we prefer to follow our own desires rather than his, our own will rather than his. So how can we let ourselves be guided by that voice which speaks within? Where is it leading us? Paul himself tells us a few verses before the text of this Word of Life. All the new law of freedom is summed up in one precept, love for our neighbour. In practice what Paul says is that to be free means to be slaves of others, to be at the service of one another. 8 That voice within, the voice of love, urges us to be aware of the person next to us, to listen, to give. It may seem strange but in the end every Word of Life leads us to love. This is not contrived, it is simply the logic of the Gospel. We are genuine Christians only if we love. “Live by the Spirit... But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law” Let us leave the Spirit free to lead us on the way of love. You are light, joy, beauty. You attract souls, you set hearts ablaze and give rise to deep and decisive thoughts of holiness so that people make unexpected commitments. Chiara Lubich From Word of Life, 50 Dafforne Rd London SWJ 7 8717 or 30 Langside Drive, Glasgow G43 2QQ.
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