It was a Thursday a few weeks ago, and I rushed over to attend the weekly Stations of the Cross thinking it was Friday. It wasn't Friday. I don't need to rush time, weeks go by so fast on their own. We celebrate Eucharist on Sunday, wake up on Monday and next thing we know it's Saturday and we are preparing for the Sunday Eucharist again. Where does the time go?
Our days are full here at St. Simeon Skete beginning with vigils at 4:30 AM, followed by Lauds and the daily Eucharist at 7 AM.
The Eleven Prayer Offices hold our day as the day's activities enter into that ongoing prayer.
There is so much going on right now - in Sierra Leone, at the skete and I hear, pray tell, that Christmas is just around the corner, with a brand New Year nipping right at our heels. Christmas is a high holy day for us here at the Skete, of course, yet every day is holy in the Lord. We are constantly reminded that every moment is special because God is in it - as Seraphim says "that's why He is the IAM, not the I WAS or the I WILL BE ... but the now, the present moment and if we try to escape what the moment holds we are escaping God in that moment."
Seraphim just fixed me some afternoon tea... I am sitting at my desk, ready to start back at the administrative work. Seraphim is up in his prayer loft above me, there is a cd playing of Coptic chanting. As I open the spreadsheet on the computer I begin...
As we have been with our families for Thanksgiving, “What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.” ― Mother Teresa
Our days are full here at St. Simeon Skete beginning with vigils at 4:30 AM, followed by Lauds and the daily Eucharist at 7 AM.
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| St. Simeon Skete. Feb. 2015 |
There is so much going on right now - in Sierra Leone, at the skete and I hear, pray tell, that Christmas is just around the corner, with a brand New Year nipping right at our heels. Christmas is a high holy day for us here at the Skete, of course, yet every day is holy in the Lord. We are constantly reminded that every moment is special because God is in it - as Seraphim says "that's why He is the IAM, not the I WAS or the I WILL BE ... but the now, the present moment and if we try to escape what the moment holds we are escaping God in that moment."
Seraphim just fixed me some afternoon tea... I am sitting at my desk, ready to start back at the administrative work. Seraphim is up in his prayer loft above me, there is a cd playing of Coptic chanting. As I open the spreadsheet on the computer I begin...
"Be still and know that I AM God"
"Be still and know that I AM..."
"Be still and know..."
"Be still..."
"Be..."
Psalm 46:10
Psalm 46:10
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| Sunrising in Morning Fog cast over the Knock Shrine |
Its important that we realize that what we do, whatever it is, can be a prayer. Sweeping the floor can be a very holy thing. With Kadijah, in Sierra Leone, every sweep of the broom is a rhythmic moment of prayer, like the fingering of beads, one prayer after the other. When we had a cherry tree, I used to say the the Jesus Prayer with every cherry I pitted. For many of us, our computer keyboard can be a time of prayer if our heart and focus is in it.
The pilots affiliated with the Skete use their time in the air to broadcast prayer as they fly over the cities. Praying the Name, which contains all things and therefore gathering all who are in the cities beneath them into The Name. With James in Sierra Leone, every snap of the camera is a prayer.
People say, "its impossible! you can't 'pray without ceasing', especially not at your work" But it is possible and its not as hard as you may think. Its a matter of discipline and desire. “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” ― Mother Teresa
At the grocery store, when you place your bags of groceries in your car - be sure to put the cart up, don't leave it out in the parking lot. As you place it in the corral pray for the person who will use it next. Likewise, when you arrive and take your grocery cart - pray for the person who had the cart before you. Notice the piece of paper in the parking lot and pick it up - doing little things well for the love of Him - St. Therese. There are so many opportunities to keep the prayer ongoing.
"Nor is it needful that we should have great things to do. . . We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God." -Brother Lawrence
The ISIS and Boko Haram terrorism is horrific -evil personified. It is gutwrenchingly heartbreaking. It revives in my heart the pain and anguish of the people of Sierra Leone, especially the children. Hundreds of children lost their limbs to machete wielding madmen (RUF), their eyes plucked out with knives, many forced to join the rebels were drugged and made to kill themselves. These children survived and are still in the recovery process. Hundreds of others were murdered.
Whenever I talked with these children from the war, they were quick to tell the stories of the war but they didn't focus on the horror instead they spoke of the hero that did this or the heroine the did that. They talked of the doctor that stopped the bleeding or the person who hid them away. They found the good in the midst of turmoil - and they focused on it. And they were able to make life happen, they were able to go on, and they were able to smile (“Peace begins with a smile..” ― Mother Teresa).
Fred Rogers says it best:
"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." To this day, especially in times of "disaster," I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world."
It is important that we do the same. The news media will concentrate on the evil, promote it, and keep it festering. They will highlight the phrases and thoughts that bring rise to heated arguments initiating blame on laws or no laws, security or no security and distract you from the fact that there is evil within the human heart. Look for the helpers, even within the media - in the background - you will see the helpers, the good that still remains. Search it out.
And before we go bashing one over another about fault, blame and evil itself, we must first look within our own hearts. "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye". Matthew 7:5 KJV (Cambridge)
“Instead of hating the people you think are war-makers, hate the appetites and disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed - but hate these things in yourself, not in another.” ― Thomas Merton
and
“Merely to resist evil with evil by hating those who hate us and seeking to destroy them, is actually no resistance at all. It is active and purposeful collaboration in evil that brings the Christian into direct and intimate contact with the same source of evil and hatred which inspires the acts of his enemy. It leads in practice to a denial of Christ and to the service of hatred rather than love.”
― Thomas Merton, Passion for Peace; Reflections on War and Nonviolence
In all things, first we must love:
People say, "its impossible! you can't 'pray without ceasing', especially not at your work" But it is possible and its not as hard as you may think. Its a matter of discipline and desire. “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” ― Mother Teresa
At the grocery store, when you place your bags of groceries in your car - be sure to put the cart up, don't leave it out in the parking lot. As you place it in the corral pray for the person who will use it next. Likewise, when you arrive and take your grocery cart - pray for the person who had the cart before you. Notice the piece of paper in the parking lot and pick it up - doing little things well for the love of Him - St. Therese. There are so many opportunities to keep the prayer ongoing.
"Nor is it needful that we should have great things to do. . . We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God." -Brother Lawrence
The ISIS and Boko Haram terrorism is horrific -evil personified. It is gutwrenchingly heartbreaking. It revives in my heart the pain and anguish of the people of Sierra Leone, especially the children. Hundreds of children lost their limbs to machete wielding madmen (RUF), their eyes plucked out with knives, many forced to join the rebels were drugged and made to kill themselves. These children survived and are still in the recovery process. Hundreds of others were murdered.
Whenever I talked with these children from the war, they were quick to tell the stories of the war but they didn't focus on the horror instead they spoke of the hero that did this or the heroine the did that. They talked of the doctor that stopped the bleeding or the person who hid them away. They found the good in the midst of turmoil - and they focused on it. And they were able to make life happen, they were able to go on, and they were able to smile (“Peace begins with a smile..” ― Mother Teresa).
Fred Rogers says it best:
"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." To this day, especially in times of "disaster," I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world."
It is important that we do the same. The news media will concentrate on the evil, promote it, and keep it festering. They will highlight the phrases and thoughts that bring rise to heated arguments initiating blame on laws or no laws, security or no security and distract you from the fact that there is evil within the human heart. Look for the helpers, even within the media - in the background - you will see the helpers, the good that still remains. Search it out.
And before we go bashing one over another about fault, blame and evil itself, we must first look within our own hearts. "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye". Matthew 7:5 KJV (Cambridge)
“Instead of hating the people you think are war-makers, hate the appetites and disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed - but hate these things in yourself, not in another.” ― Thomas Merton
and
“Merely to resist evil with evil by hating those who hate us and seeking to destroy them, is actually no resistance at all. It is active and purposeful collaboration in evil that brings the Christian into direct and intimate contact with the same source of evil and hatred which inspires the acts of his enemy. It leads in practice to a denial of Christ and to the service of hatred rather than love.”
― Thomas Merton, Passion for Peace; Reflections on War and Nonviolence
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| Seraphim on Retreat in Thomas Merton's Hermitage, Jan. 2001 |
In all things, first we must love:
“Without love, deeds, even the most brilliant, count as nothing.”
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As we have been with our families for Thanksgiving, “What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.” ― Mother Teresa
Litany of Non-Violence
God, aware of my own brokenness,
I ask the gift of courage to identify how and where I am
in need of conversion in order to live
in solidarity with all people.
Deliver me from the violence of superiority and disdain.
Grant me the desire, and the humility,
to listen with special care to those whose experiences
and attitudes are different from my own.
Deliver me from the violence of greed and privilege.
Grant me the desire, and the will, to live simply
so others may have their just share of Earth’s resources.
Deliver me from the silence that gives
consent to abuse, war and evil.
Grant me the desire, and the courage, to risk
speaking and acting for the common good.
Deliver me from the violence of irreverence,
exploitation and control.
Grant me the desire, and the strength, to act
responsibly within the cycle of creation.
God of love, mercy and justice,
acknowledging my complicity in those attitudes,
action and words which perpetuate violence,
I beg the grace of a non-violent heart. Amen.
I ask the gift of courage to identify how and where I am
in need of conversion in order to live
in solidarity with all people.
Deliver me from the violence of superiority and disdain.
Grant me the desire, and the humility,
to listen with special care to those whose experiences
and attitudes are different from my own.
Deliver me from the violence of greed and privilege.
Grant me the desire, and the will, to live simply
so others may have their just share of Earth’s resources.
Deliver me from the silence that gives
consent to abuse, war and evil.
Grant me the desire, and the courage, to risk
speaking and acting for the common good.
Deliver me from the violence of irreverence,
exploitation and control.
Grant me the desire, and the strength, to act
responsibly within the cycle of creation.
God of love, mercy and justice,
acknowledging my complicity in those attitudes,
action and words which perpetuate violence,
I beg the grace of a non-violent heart. Amen.
