Wednesday 31 October 2012

We Need One Another 2 Do What God Wants


WE NEED ONE ANOTHER TO DO WHAT GOD WANTS US TO DO
 

In our stressful world today, there is a growing need for genuine friends who will respect our individuality and spiritual beliefs without trying to convert us to their ways. Those who are spiritually inclined who have already begun their search for personal intimacy with their God/Dess, appreciate the importance of engaging with those of like mind.
Only God and Lord Kutumi knows the full spiritual impact of the message that they gave to the therapists of the Sean Bradley Academy back in July 2006. From that seedbed of receiving a simple message to establish the Tau Interfaith Community of St. Francis to the present day, none anticipated where it would lead except to say that they attribute the effectiveness of their combined efforts to the importance of remaining faithful to God and to the vision they received in 2006. Their friendship and commitment to encourage one another against all the odds is what made the difference in their lives. Because of human nature, the students, all but two, have drifted away from holding the vision because if their human expectations that God would deliver there and then!
All of the work within the Tau Community of St. Francis is accomplished through people who are honest with one another, committed to serve one another, and willing to receive wise council from one another. When we build trust, we will work together smoothly and see God at work in and through us. Yes, to be men and women of integrity and productive members within the Tau Community of Interfaith Franciscans, we need one another.
We share a common bond of love

That comes from God our Father,

And we’re dependent on the strength

We draw from one another. Sper. 

Human nature is a wonderful window on man’s true need for God. Why? I sense it is because we get so carried away with enthusiasm with our pet projects that when we encounter delays or frustrations, we soon throw the towel in by surrendering to defeat! Brother Rob says that when I am busy around the monastery, I remind him of an ‘express train.’ How awful for those who get in his way for fear of running them down. A gentle reminder not to get caught up in a flurry of high activity and remember the need to slow down but not give up! In the Gospels, we are reminded by Jesus of an incident when he called to visit three of His nearest and dearest where he knew He would get rest from His labours. On His arrival there was poor Martha busy like Brother Sean trying to do too much too soon and getting all fractious and bad tempered whilst Mary sat at the Lord’s feet pondering on His words. I dare say that Martha’s looks were enough to set the forest ablaze with the fires of discontent within her heart.  

THE WORLD CROWNS QUICK SUCCESS; GOD CROWNS LONG-TERM FAITHFULNESS

In the Bible, the life of faith is often described as a walk (Gen. 17:1.). for most of us, our spiritual pilgrimage involves plodding, a pace that sometimes feels unspiritual and unproductive. My dictionary defines plodding as “making one’s way slowly and perseveringly.”  

Two of God’s earliest plodders, Abraham and Sarah, trusted God’s promises even though they had to wait many years for those promises to be fulfilled (Heb. 11: 8-12). Another example of productive plodding is Tau Interfaith Community of St. Francis. We wait patiently upon God to deliver the small holding where we can unite as members of the monastic community and start work in earnest. 

There is another wonderful example of a God’s plodder is William Carey. A shoemaker by trade, Carey became a scholar, linguist, and a father of modern missions. He lived by this motto:

Expect  great things from God; attempt great things for God.” In old age, he made one thing clear, however: “If, after my removal, anyone should think it worth his while to write my life, I will give you a criterion by which you may judge of its correctness. If he gives me credit for being a plodder, he will describe me justly. Anything beyond this will be too much.” Then he added, “I can plod....To this I owe everything.” Are you fulfilling your God given responsibilities patiently by faith, or do you feel like giving up? God want you to be a purposeful plodder.

Day by day perform your mission

With Christ’s help keep at your tasks;

Be encouraged by His presence-

Faithfulness is all He asks. Boschi.    

FAITH IS THE ABILITY TO SEE GOD IN THE DARK

When I was a young inexperienced nursing monk, I disliked the story of Abraham going to Mount Moriah to sacrifice his son Isaac. Why would God tell Abraham to do such a thing? My Novice Master assured me that God was testing Abraham’s faith. And he past that test. Even with the knife in his hand, Abraham believed God (Gen. 22: 8-10). He had learned that the Lord could be trusted. 

It is easy to make a profession of faith. But the real test comes when God asks us to lay our dearest treasures on the line. As with Abraham, the issue becomes one of obedience. A business woman lost a high-paying job because she wouldn’t compromise her standards. And a pastor was driven from his church when he obeyed God’s Word and spoke out about racism in his congregation. 

Shouldn’t these people have been rewarded when they did the right thing? Faith meets its toughest test when we feel the Lord has not rewarded our faithfulness. 

You may be faced with giving back to God something you feel He has given you. Learn to see this test as an opportunity to demonstrate your faith in the One who always keeps His promises – even when you don’t understand. 

Be still, my soul – the Lord is on your side!

Be patiently the cross of grief or pain;

Leave to thy God to order and provide –

In every change He faithful will remain. von Schlegal. 

The above illustration may came as a bolt of lightning for anyone who is trying to discern a way forward regarding God’s plans for their lives. So many of us get stuck in our own issues! In reality, we find it difficult coping with simplicity and when we follow the advice of St. Francis to close down our lips and ears in meditation, then we are able to connect with our hearts. If we persist in always having the ‘last word,’ then we will not hear God’s Spirit speak to our hearts in silent prayer. So many today, cannot see or even hear the voice God because they are frenetically busy and hence to the old saying, ‘they cannot see wood for the trees.’

Forty years of trying to do things my way, finally caught up with me, when in May 2008, I was left with a temporary paralysis in my lower spine that stopped me in my tracks! There was nowhere to run away too from God. He had me where He wanted me to face my irrational fears about monastic life. I have always known in my heart that despite not feeling a sense of belonging in this life, I knew that life without God as a monastic was intolerable and lonely. I recall being told by one of my spiritual directors back in 1990 that the idea of my returning to a conventional Catholic Monastery was out of the question. I asked the question why that was and reminded that the ‘Catholic Church wasn’t ready for me yet.’ So, I plodded along merrily avoiding making any form of commitment to God. By avoiding Him, I sensed that He would forget about me! Not so! December 8th, Feast of the Immaculate Conception, forty years forward from making my First vows to God as a monastic nursing monk, came proof that if we are willing to trust God, then He will show us a way, where there seems to be no way. 

The battle that many of us experience in our faith journey should not be seen as a punishment from God. If our stubbornness of heart persists and we continue to ‘go it alone,’ then we should not be too surprised when Spirit leads us to events that offer us a way out clause. Usually when this happens, we are truly on our knees in despair pleading with our ego to take a one way flight to wherever. The ‘Hound of Heaven’ never abandons His children because they were formed out of love. Surrendering one’s heart to God usually is as a direct result where our ego has been ‘publicly humiliated.’ This is the only way forward for many whose ego continually dictates how they should live their life. There can be no place for ego in God’s ministering unto others as it derails God’s Spirit from empowering others to claim their abundance.  

The soul that prefer the egoic self to ‘walking humbly with their God,’ do so at their own peril as lying in the wings is the dreaded ‘dark night if the soul’ experience that leaves one bereft of God’s inner peace. And all we have to do is say, God, you know that I am a stubborn soul, so why bother with my insults and dramas? The response is always the same regardless who we are or, and regardless of what depths we may have fallen into. What’s so amazing is that God really does love us with a selfless, unconditional love that cannot be bought- a love that is unlike any other love known to us.

 
Why not come and join me on Livestream where we embrace the healing energies of the Risen Cosmic Christ and Magdalene to reactivate the soul’s DNA to self heal.
 
Led by Brother Sean from 12 midnight (GMT); 07.00pm (EST) 4 personal and global Peace and Insterspiritual Unity.

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