“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” writes Evelyn Underhill, is actually “the culmination of the prayer which was given to the Church of God in the persons of her Apostles; those through whom the sanctification of human history was to be set going, the handful of men to whom we owe our Christian inheritance . . . .are taught to acknowledge their own fragility, their childlike status; their utter dependence on the ceaseless guiding and protecting power of God.”
“It is from our own evil tendencies above all, our inveterate egotism with its million cunning disguises, our pride, greed and anger, our steadily downward drag to self-satisfaction that we need deliverance: for this we can never vanquish in our own strength.
“Do not let us be swamped in the strange tumult and conflict; the evil that results from the clash of wills unharmonized with Thy will. Deliver us by keeping clear that single relation with Thee which is our peace.
“Lead us not into temptation. Temptation is that sphere in which the evil dispositions which are present in the world—its whole trend towards self-satisfaction, self-fulfillment, and away from God--appear in their attractiveness and dominate the situation . . .
“There will be plenty of opportunity for courage, staying power and initiative as well as for humble obedience, for those who follow the guide’s footsteps and are docile to His direction; some narrow ledges and treacherous slopes before we finish. All will be well if we do not yield to the temptation to tackle them alone; but there is every reason to fear the attractive short cut, the opportunity to satisfy our thirst for private spiritual adventure.
“The saints were driven on by rough tracks and awful darkness, in suffering and loneliness, by cloud and storm. They reached the summits; but never in their own strength or by following their own ideas—often indeed by taking what seems to onlookers the most unlikely route, because their feet were set upon a supernatural path which others cannot see.” (Abba, Evelyn Underhill, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, 1982, pages 50 to 56).
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Forgive us our trespasses
“Forgive us our trespasses—our voluntary share in the world’s sinfulness—as we forgive them that trespass against us,” so Evelyn Underhill begins her meditation on the section of the Lord’s prayer that focuses our attention on forgiveness.
“If we cannot live without His life feeding and supporting us, still less can we live without His loving-kindness, tolerating our imperfections, rectifying our errors, forgiving our perpetual shortcomings and excesses, debts and trespasses, and giving us again and again another chance.
“The Christian doctrine of forgiveness is so drastic and so difficult, where there is a real and deep injury to forgive, that only those living in the Spirit, in union with the Cross, can dare to base their claim on it. It means not only asking to be admitted to the Kingdom of Redeeming Love, but also declaring our willingness to behave as citizens of that Kingdom even under the most difficult conditions.
“All this is supernatural, and reminds us again that the Lord’s Prayer is a supernatural prayer: the prayer of the re-born, the realistic Christian who exists to do God’s will. Even so this clause comes a long way down: after the life of worship, the life of consecration, the prayer that the soul may be fed by the hand of God. Only then is it ready for this supreme test; this quiet and genial acceptance of the wounds of life, all the deliberate injury and the casual damage that come from lack of love; this prayer from the Cross. ‘Love your enemies and pray for them that persecute you.’” (Abba, Evelyn Underhill, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, 1982, pages 44 to 50.)
“If we cannot live without His life feeding and supporting us, still less can we live without His loving-kindness, tolerating our imperfections, rectifying our errors, forgiving our perpetual shortcomings and excesses, debts and trespasses, and giving us again and again another chance.
“The Christian doctrine of forgiveness is so drastic and so difficult, where there is a real and deep injury to forgive, that only those living in the Spirit, in union with the Cross, can dare to base their claim on it. It means not only asking to be admitted to the Kingdom of Redeeming Love, but also declaring our willingness to behave as citizens of that Kingdom even under the most difficult conditions.
“All this is supernatural, and reminds us again that the Lord’s Prayer is a supernatural prayer: the prayer of the re-born, the realistic Christian who exists to do God’s will. Even so this clause comes a long way down: after the life of worship, the life of consecration, the prayer that the soul may be fed by the hand of God. Only then is it ready for this supreme test; this quiet and genial acceptance of the wounds of life, all the deliberate injury and the casual damage that come from lack of love; this prayer from the Cross. ‘Love your enemies and pray for them that persecute you.’” (Abba, Evelyn Underhill, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, 1982, pages 44 to 50.)
Monday, January 18, 2010
Give us this day for bread the Word of God
“Give us this day for bread the Word of God from Heaven” says a version of the Lord’s Prayer found in the ancient Irish Gospels,” writes Evelyn Underhill as she concludes her discussion of the request for daily bread in the Lord’s Prayer. Her next paragraph, contains just five sentences. Each one is packed with a depth of insight that will deepen our understanding of the Lord’s Prayer:
“God gives Himself mainly along two channels: through the soul’s daily life and circumstances and through its prayer. In both that soul must always be ready for Him; wide open to receive Him, and willing to accept and absorb without fastidiousness that which is given, however distasteful and unsuitable it may seem. For the Food of Eternal Life is mostly plain bread; and though it has indeed all sweetness and all savour for those who accept it with meekness and love, there is nothing in it to attract a more fanciful religious taste. All life’s vicissitudes, each grief, trial or sacrifice, each painful step in self-knowledge, every opportunity of love or renunciation and every humiliating fall, have their place here.
“All give, in their various ways and disguises, the heavenly Food. A sturdy realism is the mark of this divine self-imparting, and the enabling grace of those who receive” (Abba by Evelyn Underhill, in Treasures from the Spiritual Classics, 1982, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, third printing , 1996, pages 41-43; a compilation of extracts from Abba, 1940, Longmans Green & Co Ltd).
What type of heavenly bread have you enjoyed today? Did you pray for any type of bread today? When you pray, are you "wide open to receive Him, and willing to accept and absorb" without complaint what He supplies?
“God gives Himself mainly along two channels: through the soul’s daily life and circumstances and through its prayer. In both that soul must always be ready for Him; wide open to receive Him, and willing to accept and absorb without fastidiousness that which is given, however distasteful and unsuitable it may seem. For the Food of Eternal Life is mostly plain bread; and though it has indeed all sweetness and all savour for those who accept it with meekness and love, there is nothing in it to attract a more fanciful religious taste. All life’s vicissitudes, each grief, trial or sacrifice, each painful step in self-knowledge, every opportunity of love or renunciation and every humiliating fall, have their place here.
“All give, in their various ways and disguises, the heavenly Food. A sturdy realism is the mark of this divine self-imparting, and the enabling grace of those who receive” (Abba by Evelyn Underhill, in Treasures from the Spiritual Classics, 1982, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, third printing , 1996, pages 41-43; a compilation of extracts from Abba, 1940, Longmans Green & Co Ltd).
What type of heavenly bread have you enjoyed today? Did you pray for any type of bread today? When you pray, are you "wide open to receive Him, and willing to accept and absorb" without complaint what He supplies?
A New Year’s Reading Resolution
In J.B. Phillips version of 1Timothy 4:13, the apostle Paul urges Timothy to “Concentrate until my arrival on your reading and on your preaching and teaching.” This verse was one of many in Paul’s letters to Timothy that caught my attention last week while preparing to teach a Saturday morning men’s Bible study.
In 2010 I want to pay attention to my reading because I find that careful reading and study lay a solid foundation for any teaching opportunity or assignment like the one I just had.
The Amplified Bible expands on the verse so it reads “Till I come, devote yourself to [public and private] reading; to exhortation [preaching and teaching and personal appeals] and to teaching and instilling doctrine.”
The New International Version underlines the public aspect of Paul’s challenge: “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.” While The Message summarizes: “Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving counsel, teaching.”
In all the versions there is a strong link between reading and both preaching and teaching. For Christian communicators who want their message to be as effective as Paul’s letters to Timothy in motivating and challenging others to grow in faith—the year’s reading plan can be based on a plan to read through the whole Bible.
I personally like using the One Year Bible (Tyndale House, Wheaton 1986)which calendars daily readings that combine Old and New Testament readings with Psalms and Proverbs. This year I’m adding the One Year Chronological Bible (Tyndale House, Carol Stream, Illinois, 1995)to my daily Bible reading plan to get a better grasp of when key events occurred in relation to one another. I’m also resolving to more closely relate my general reading to specific teaching topics or assignments.
How about you: “What’s in your reading plan for 2010?” I’m interested in hearing about your reading resolutions, plans, or other comments about reading in the year ahead.
In 2010 I want to pay attention to my reading because I find that careful reading and study lay a solid foundation for any teaching opportunity or assignment like the one I just had.
The Amplified Bible expands on the verse so it reads “Till I come, devote yourself to [public and private] reading; to exhortation [preaching and teaching and personal appeals] and to teaching and instilling doctrine.”
The New International Version underlines the public aspect of Paul’s challenge: “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.” While The Message summarizes: “Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving counsel, teaching.”
In all the versions there is a strong link between reading and both preaching and teaching. For Christian communicators who want their message to be as effective as Paul’s letters to Timothy in motivating and challenging others to grow in faith—the year’s reading plan can be based on a plan to read through the whole Bible.
I personally like using the One Year Bible (Tyndale House, Wheaton 1986)which calendars daily readings that combine Old and New Testament readings with Psalms and Proverbs. This year I’m adding the One Year Chronological Bible (Tyndale House, Carol Stream, Illinois, 1995)to my daily Bible reading plan to get a better grasp of when key events occurred in relation to one another. I’m also resolving to more closely relate my general reading to specific teaching topics or assignments.
How about you: “What’s in your reading plan for 2010?” I’m interested in hearing about your reading resolutions, plans, or other comments about reading in the year ahead.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Give us this day our daily bread
As I was preparing this entry on the Lord’s Prayer, I mistakenly thought I would be wrapping up with at most one or two brief entries. Instead, after reading Evelyn Underhill’s explanation of the concluding sections of the prayer, I find that there is much more to consider and practice. So instead of one or two brief entries, there will be several more. Here is the next in the series of reflections on the Lord's Prayer, focusing on the daily request for our “Daily Bread.”
”In the first part of the Lord’s Prayer, we are wholly concerned with God’s glory . . . In the second part, we turn from the Eternal Splendour to our earthly limitations, and bring before God our burden, neediness, and sinfulness of our state. Give us this day our daily bread.
“With this proclamation of our utter dependence, the presentation before God of the simplest and most fundamental of our needs, we pass from adoration to petition, and enter into the full paradox of Christian prayer: the unspeakable majesty and abiding perfection of the Infinite, and because of that majesty and that perfection, the importance of the claim of the fugitive, the imperfect, the finite.
‘The Heavens declare the Glory of God
Lord, I call upon thee, haste thee unto me!’
“There is a natural tendency in man to reverse this order of approach; to come before God in a spirit of heaviness, greatly concerned with his own imperfections, needs and desires—‘my soul and its shortcomings,’ ‘the world and its wants’—and defer the putting on of the garment of praise; that wedding garment which introduces us into the company of the sons (and daughters) of God and is the only possible beginning of real prayer.
“Here, Christ’s teaching and practice are decisive. First, the heavenly, then the earthly. First ascend in heart and mind to the Eternal, adore the Father, seek the Kingdom, accept the Will; and all the rest shall be added unto you. Again and again the New Testament insists on that. The contrast of the two worlds is absolute; but their interpenetration is complete. No human need, however homely, is negligible; none lies outside the glow of God”
(Abba by Evelyn Underhill, in Treasures from the Spiritual Classics, 1982, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, third printing , 1996, pages 37-39; a compilation of extracts from Abba, 1940, Longmans Green & Co Ltd).
”In the first part of the Lord’s Prayer, we are wholly concerned with God’s glory . . . In the second part, we turn from the Eternal Splendour to our earthly limitations, and bring before God our burden, neediness, and sinfulness of our state. Give us this day our daily bread.
“With this proclamation of our utter dependence, the presentation before God of the simplest and most fundamental of our needs, we pass from adoration to petition, and enter into the full paradox of Christian prayer: the unspeakable majesty and abiding perfection of the Infinite, and because of that majesty and that perfection, the importance of the claim of the fugitive, the imperfect, the finite.
‘The Heavens declare the Glory of God
Lord, I call upon thee, haste thee unto me!’
“There is a natural tendency in man to reverse this order of approach; to come before God in a spirit of heaviness, greatly concerned with his own imperfections, needs and desires—‘my soul and its shortcomings,’ ‘the world and its wants’—and defer the putting on of the garment of praise; that wedding garment which introduces us into the company of the sons (and daughters) of God and is the only possible beginning of real prayer.
“Here, Christ’s teaching and practice are decisive. First, the heavenly, then the earthly. First ascend in heart and mind to the Eternal, adore the Father, seek the Kingdom, accept the Will; and all the rest shall be added unto you. Again and again the New Testament insists on that. The contrast of the two worlds is absolute; but their interpenetration is complete. No human need, however homely, is negligible; none lies outside the glow of God”
(Abba by Evelyn Underhill, in Treasures from the Spiritual Classics, 1982, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, third printing , 1996, pages 37-39; a compilation of extracts from Abba, 1940, Longmans Green & Co Ltd).
Sunday, November 29, 2009
An Athlete Prays . . . Lord, hear our prayer!
I recently saw photos of two football teams gathered in prayer. The photos appeared in the media during the same week for vastly different reasons.
One team came together to pray because one of their star players was knocked unconscious and had to be stretchered from the field. The other team had gathered to pray following a victory on the field.
Two teams, both praying—but experiencing vastly different emotions. I found myself wondering who led prayers for the injured ballplayer? Did a team captain call the team together, or was it another player? How do you pray when a teammate is badly injured in the midst of a game? And what motivates a team to pray after an important win? Does the team also pray after losing? Do the same players lead the prayers on each occasion? Or do the coaches initiate prayer times on the field?
If you’re an athlete, do you pray when you step onto the field, or ready yourself for the start of a race? Are you known as one who prays as well as being known as a competitive athlete? Do you pray for your opponents as well as for your own team? Do your teammates know they can ask you for prayer when they are struggling on or off the field? Is your life different because you pray daily?
“Lord, teach us to pray!” was the request made by some of Jesus’ first disciples. Like them we can let out an urgent cry when an injury brings down a teammate: “Lord, have mercy!” “Lord, help!” “Be with the trainers and doctors who are treating my injured friend!” “Lord, help our teammate regain full health and strength!”
In celebrating a victory, we can express our gratitude: “Thanks, Lord, for the joys of winning!” “Thanks, Lord, for coaches who’ve helped us train and prepare!” “Thanks, Lord, for the referees who enforce the rules of our game.”
While processing a tough loss, we can pray for God’s wisdom: “Lord, help us learn from this loss!” “Help us accept this setback without unfairly blaming our teammates.” “Bring us together as a team, Lord. Help us make adjustments and prepare well for our next game.”
"Lord, help us to pray! Lord, teach me to pray!"
One team came together to pray because one of their star players was knocked unconscious and had to be stretchered from the field. The other team had gathered to pray following a victory on the field.
Two teams, both praying—but experiencing vastly different emotions. I found myself wondering who led prayers for the injured ballplayer? Did a team captain call the team together, or was it another player? How do you pray when a teammate is badly injured in the midst of a game? And what motivates a team to pray after an important win? Does the team also pray after losing? Do the same players lead the prayers on each occasion? Or do the coaches initiate prayer times on the field?
If you’re an athlete, do you pray when you step onto the field, or ready yourself for the start of a race? Are you known as one who prays as well as being known as a competitive athlete? Do you pray for your opponents as well as for your own team? Do your teammates know they can ask you for prayer when they are struggling on or off the field? Is your life different because you pray daily?
“Lord, teach us to pray!” was the request made by some of Jesus’ first disciples. Like them we can let out an urgent cry when an injury brings down a teammate: “Lord, have mercy!” “Lord, help!” “Be with the trainers and doctors who are treating my injured friend!” “Lord, help our teammate regain full health and strength!”
In celebrating a victory, we can express our gratitude: “Thanks, Lord, for the joys of winning!” “Thanks, Lord, for coaches who’ve helped us train and prepare!” “Thanks, Lord, for the referees who enforce the rules of our game.”
While processing a tough loss, we can pray for God’s wisdom: “Lord, help us learn from this loss!” “Help us accept this setback without unfairly blaming our teammates.” “Bring us together as a team, Lord. Help us make adjustments and prepare well for our next game.”
"Lord, help us to pray! Lord, teach me to pray!"
Thy Will Be Done . . . Praying the Lord’s Prayer
Evelyn Underhill helps us practice the next movement in the Lord’s Prayer with these words:
“‘Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.’ We do not know what possibilities, what mysteries, may still be hidden in the unexpressed design. Yet because each step of this descending prayer is a movement of faith, obedience, and love, we bring the Infinite with us as did Christ Himself when He came down from His nights of communion on the mountain to His redemptive work among men. Here, again, the life or prayer follows the path of the Incarnation.
“The Wisdom that came forth from the Mouth of the Most High entered deeply into the common life, and there accomplished His transforming and redeeming work. We too are not to experience eternity and take up our obligations in respect of it in some exalted, other-worldly region; but here and now, right down in that common life which is also dear to God, finding in our homely experience the raw material of sacrifice, turning its humble duties and relationships into prayer.
“Be it unto me according to thy Word—here, where I am. Not my will but Thine be done. This is the act of obligation which puts life without condition at God’s disposal; and so transforms and sacramentalizes our experience, and brings the Kingdom in.”
(Abba by Evelyn Underhill, in Treasures from the Spiritual Classics, 1982, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, third printing , 1996, pages 31-32; a compilation of extracts from Abba, 1940, Longmans Green & Co Ltd).
“‘Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.’ We do not know what possibilities, what mysteries, may still be hidden in the unexpressed design. Yet because each step of this descending prayer is a movement of faith, obedience, and love, we bring the Infinite with us as did Christ Himself when He came down from His nights of communion on the mountain to His redemptive work among men. Here, again, the life or prayer follows the path of the Incarnation.
“The Wisdom that came forth from the Mouth of the Most High entered deeply into the common life, and there accomplished His transforming and redeeming work. We too are not to experience eternity and take up our obligations in respect of it in some exalted, other-worldly region; but here and now, right down in that common life which is also dear to God, finding in our homely experience the raw material of sacrifice, turning its humble duties and relationships into prayer.
“Be it unto me according to thy Word—here, where I am. Not my will but Thine be done. This is the act of obligation which puts life without condition at God’s disposal; and so transforms and sacramentalizes our experience, and brings the Kingdom in.”
(Abba by Evelyn Underhill, in Treasures from the Spiritual Classics, 1982, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, third printing , 1996, pages 31-32; a compilation of extracts from Abba, 1940, Longmans Green & Co Ltd).
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