The Bible, the Beads and the Bowl

When Seraphim was in India, he took up the concept of the bowl.  From that experience he learned:

1. Whatever is placed in the bowl is your nourishment for the day
2. Jesus says, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35), hence there is a place for the beggar and his bowl. The beggar gives birth to the giver, the bowl is a story about relationships. 
3. "Ultimately, the bowl teaches us that God is enough.  Unfortunately, most of "religion" is the result of not finding God, not finding God to be enough or not wanting God to be enough."
4. From "The Thousand Day Nazareth" (The St. Simeon Skete's Rule of Life) the following is to be noted:    

The Five Faults of a Bowl: ©1999 NHA 

1. If we don’t listen to the teaching, we are like an overturned bowl, nothing can enter in  (Isa.28:12; Mk 8:18).
2. If we don’t put the teachings into practice, we are like a bowl with a hole in it, everything leaks out (James 1:22; 4:17).
3. If we are double minded, this is similar to using an unclean bowl, corrupting what it holds (James 1:8, Mt. 23:25).
4. If we are full of ourselves, we are like a bowl - "Inn” – where there is no room for Him (Luke 2:7; Rev. 3:20).
5. If we are untrusting then what is placed in our bowl will never be enough (Luke 2:25-32; Mt. 6:33).

We go about receiving what is placed in our day (our bowl), good or bad, this then becomes our offering to God and God’s nourishment to us.

Finally, these words from Seraphim: 

"The Lamb came forward to take the scroll from the right hand of the One sitting on the throne, and when he took it, the four animals prostrated themselves before him and with them the twenty-four elders; each one of them was holding a harp and had a golden bowl full of incense made of the prayers of the saints" (Rev.5:7b -8).  "Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar.  A large quantity of incense was given to him to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that stood in front of the throne; and so from the angel's hand the smoke of the incense went up in the presence of God and with it the prayers of the saints" - (Rev. 8:3,4) 

I've often anointed my prayer beads with sweet smelling oil that my prayers might be pleasant smelling to our Lord God.  These verses touch the hem of this, especially (5:8).  I've kept a begging bowl as a symbol of my life and I can see the bowls that the Elders are holding to be begging bowls, begging for the prayers of the saints and that these prayers are the incense of Heaven.  I visualize the angels with these bowls "running" to the edge of Heaven to wait for our prayers to ascend into their bowls as they then hurry to the altar of God in offering and then back again for more ever saying to us "more prayers, more prayers, more prayers!" 

From an old journal of Seraphim's, he writes: 

Photo taken by Seraphim on the streets of Delhi. 

"Just returned from a long, hot and dusty day on the streets of Old Delhi. Each day I go forth with my prayer rope and a pocket full of rupees for the many beggars with their bowls.  As always, I run out of rupees early and I then have to say 'no'.  Today something happened, I was drawn into the 'no' of the poor that is their life.  But it didn't stop there, that 'no' became mysterious as it became the 'no' of God composed of humankind's refusal to give what He asks.  God asks for Himself in us".  

-Seraphim 

One of the most hopeful verses in the Bible: "Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" - Rev. 3:20

One of the saddest verses in the Bible: "He came unto His own, and his own received him not." - Jn. 1:11

Coffee Spilled...

I recently came across an article of Seraphim's, written many years ago about the time he spent in India.  He was invited to a Christian Ashram in the Himalayas for dialog on the enculturalization of prayer.  

 Written by Fr. Seraphim 

❖Coffee spilled into my lap as I heard, "Oh, I'm sorry, please forgive me."  Grabbing a napkin, I assured the person who had bumped into me that it was okay.  As I refilled my cup, I was reminded of a day on a dusty street in New Delhi, India, and how I learned one of the great spiritual lessons of my life.  

Some years ago, I travelled to the Jeevan Dhara Ashram located in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains.  I went to pray and spend time with the head of the ashram.  My cell looked out on the majestic peaks which were breathtakingly beautiful.  The air was fresh and scented with mountain flowers; it was a truly idyllic setting.  Each morning I would rise at 3 AM to pray the Divine Office, remaining in prayer as the sun ignited the majestic peaks with heavenly golden light. 

Jeevan Dhara Ashram in Himalayas (India)    ©2012 NHA, All Rights Reserved 

Then, with Jesus beads in my hands, I would take a prayer walk which would eventually lead me to the chapel of the Ashram.  My time in the mountain paradise seemed to blend into one continuous, ongoing prayer.  One day I was talking to a pilgrim who had just arrived from Germany.  As we discussed the beauty and calm of the ashram I said "It sure is easy to be holy in a place like this," and he said, "Yeh, it sure is," as we gazed on the valley below. 

Statue of sitting Christ in the Ashram Gardens, India                ©2012 NHA, All Rights Reserved 

A week later I made my way to New Delhi, where I spent my days walking the streets, silently praying the Jesus Prayer.  I was still swimming in the holiness of the ashram when a motorized rickshaw ran up on the walk, heading straight for me! As the driver was bearing down on me I thought, surely he wouldn't hit me on purpose! How wrong I was - I bounced off the front of the rickshaw.  I landed on the ground and yelled, "You idiot!" as he drove off waving his arms and blowing his horn.  Dusting myself off I said, "Oh well, forget it," and walked on, keeping careful eye open for ricks. 

Streets of Delhi, India (1980's)    ©2012 NHA, All Rights Reserved 

Suddenly the noise of the city faded as my thoughts turned inward to the space where God speaks to us beyond words and images.  A week before I had been in a Himalayan bliss, so "close" to God, so spiritual and saying, "It's easy to be holy in a place like this."  Now, the first time I"m with someone since then I get angry and call him an idiot! I suddenly realized it's easy to think you can be holy in a place like an ashram.   The test of holiness, however, is not being in an ashram, on a mountain, or in one's set times of prayer.  The real test is carried out in the marketplace where life bumps us literally and figuratively.  

Looking at this old photo, it proves that there was a time when Seraphim actually was young!  (Tall man, back roll, left)     ©2101 NHA

Back in the present, as I took another sip of coffee, I thought, the reason coffee was spilled on me was not because I was accidentally bumped but because there was coffee in the cup to begin with.  What's inside a person is what comes out when they are bumped.  We are to be filled with Christ so that when we  are bumped, out come forgiveness, understanding, encouragement, compassion, love and whatever the present moment demands. (Col. 1:27). ❖

During this Lenten Season, as we fast, prepare our hearts, deepening our prayer lives, and attempt to take our spiritual disciplines more seriously,  - its easy to think we are holy.  But its what we do when life knocks us around and we get jolted.    

We will get bumped.   What is inside?  What will come out?  anger? revenge? mean-spirited, hurtful words? jealousy?  If that is what is inside you, then that is what will come out.  

However, if forgiveness, love, words that offer redemption, ...if those are the things that are inside you - then that is what will be unleashed on whatever jars us out of our comfort zones.  May this Lenten Season be one in which the overflow within us is emptied of everything that isn't rooted in love.