Pray constantly

The Modern Theologian Collaborations & Contributors, Uncategorized , , , , , ,

Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God

(RSV) 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

I have to admit, this verse always confused and confounded me. Other than priests and monks how could anyone pray constantly? Even the second part seemed strange – give thanks in all circumstances – certainly you couldn’t give thanks if you are struck by a drunk driver, locked away from loved ones because of COVID, or newly destitute because of a job loss or other financial reasons. Paul had to be nuts to write this…or was he?

I’m not going to cover the second part in this post (maybe another time), but praying constantly is not as bizarre a concept as it may sound, and is not as difficult once you understand how it can be done.

In the Eastern Church the monks taught (lessons from Seraphim of Sarov) that by praying a short mantra continuously it would become so ingrained into your psyche that you would find yourself repeating it without even being aware of it. In essence, your soul would begin praying it without any conscious knowledge on your part. The pray they teach is not only brief, but encapsulated the entire teaching of the Church:

Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God,
Be merciful to me,
A sinner.

They taught that you would repeat this, at first, aloud, whenever you were not involved in any work or conversation. Next was to continue repeating it while doing your work. Finally, and the most difficult, was to try repeating it even while conversing. It would be difficult at first, but with time and patience you would find that you could hold an entire conversation while still praying. At this point it would become so ingrained that you would wake up from sleep only to discover that your soul was still praying.

It was a nice concept, and probably doable for the clergy, but hardly practical for the average person. What I have discovered over the years is a different method that can be done by those of us who work in the “real world”.

Have you ever done something that, to your surprise, you succeeded at even though you never thought you would? Did you give thanks to the Lord for helping you through it?

Did you ever have a really good time with friends or colleagues? Something where, afterwards, you were really happy that you participated in? Did you give thanks to the Lord for the opportunity?

After you get home from work, after an especially grueling day or commute, did you give thanks to the Lord for seeing you through it?

Each of these events are times to give the Lord thanks. I’m not talking about getting down on your knees and saying a few Our Father’s. I’m talking about a simple look into the Heavens and just saying “Thanks!”

That is what I started doing a few years ago. After everything I do I just look up and do a quick “Thanks!”. (I will do it after finishing this post, as I did when I was given the idea for the post) I got the idea after noticing how many people would exasperate “Thank god!” after something, without really meaning to give thanks.

I now find myself not just thanking God at the end of a task, but also asking for help before it begins. Asking for help as it proceeds, and thanking when I get past an especially tough part.

I enjoy walking and hiking, and will spend the time just talking to God about what is going on in my life, about the beauty of the trails, admiring the flora and fauna that He created. Then thanking Him for the opportunity to enjoy the wilds, and for the ability to do so.

This is all prayer. Prayer, at its very basics, is just talking to God. It doesn’t have to be anything grandiose. It doesn’t have to occur in a church, temple, or synagogue. God didn’t create any of these buildings, man did. Jesus went out into the wilderness, into gardens, onto mountains to pray, in fact it was Jesus who told us:

The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father…true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

(RSV) John 4:19-24

God is everywhere, in everything; prayer can occur anywhere and at any time. God seeks a personal relationship with us, and that means breaking beyond the repetition of fixed prayers (Lord’s Prayer, etc.) and just learning to talk to God as a friend, companion, confidant. Talk to Him about whatever is on you mind; understand that you can feel free to question Him, to get angry with Him (you can’t have a personal relationship with someone if you can’t be honest about your feelings), to tell Him you are sorry.

So, can we, as Paul states, “Pray constantly”? Yes, if we understand that anytime that we talk with God is prayer. The dictionary defines prayer as:

an address to God in word or thought

Merriam-Webster-Webster

So, what are you waiting for? Start praying to God now, thank Him for finding/reading this post. Thank Him for the day you are having, or complain to Him if things are going wrong. Ask for His help, thank Him for giving it to you, question Him if you don’t like the help you received.

“Good night, and may God bless.” – Red Skelton

Easter is irrelevant

The Modern Theologian Uncategorized , , , , , , , ,

That was a piece of a conversation I overheard while in line at a local dollar store. At first I was irritated at the cashier making the comment to a customer, then I heard the rest of his remarks and found myself agreeing with him.

“Easter is irrelevant. No one buys much of anything anymore for Easter, other than candy and plastic eggs. Stores aren’t closed. People go to work just like any other day. More people are eating out than at home, not just at restaurants, but fast food too. Grocery stores are open, WalMart, Home Depot, even Starbucks. It’s just not a real holiday anymore.”

I found myself agreeing with his statement, and there is no one to blame but Christians. From corporate CEO’s and management, to employees themselves, American greed is rampant. Now, I’m not talking the lowly cashier who has no choice in working (work or be fired), but lower level management where work hours and personnel are scheduled.

When I was young (back when Moses was still floating around the Nile) everything closed (Blue Laws). Since the early 1990’s businesses have been chipping away against forced closure on Sunday’s and holidays. Corporate greed wins just about every time, and many of those challenging the closures are “Christians” themselves, who sit nice and comfortably in their homes enjoying the day off while they force their employees to work.

However, corporate American doesn’t share the burden of blame alone, employees share some of that honor as well. Yes, many people need to work every hour possible just to pay for the necessities of living (food, clothing, shelter, transportation), but there are plenty for whom the money is more important than God. They “need” that bigger TV screen, the new car, the latest iPhone, the “right” clothes. And, of course, if you are giving these things to yourself how can you deny little Johnny his ATV, or little Jane that iPhone 13 to keep in touch with her friends when she goes to the 3rd grade next year?

Yes, greed (the 3rd of the 7 Deadly Sins) has replace God in our lives. “Things” are more important than honoring the one who gave up his life for us. But we are still “Good Christians”, just ask anyone.

“But, there’s nothing we can do about it. “They” tell us we have to work!”

If anything COVID has shown us just how wrong that statement is. People have bonded together to demand better pay, better working conditions, some are even pushing for a 4-day work week (Sunday still included) as a way to get more leisure time for some, and to open more jobs up for others (by filling in those other 3-days with new employees). People will come together to fight for what is important – clearly that is not God. Easter is irrelevant.

It is what it is

paulfg Uncategorized , , , , , , ,

“It is what it is.”

Said John as he teased another thread from the mess of threads.

“But it’s not fair!”

Said Bill as he flung the whole mess across the room.

“It is what it is.”

Said John as he quietly collected the bundle and teased another thread from it.

.

“Two more years of THIS”, Jnana’s Red Barn

 

A lovely gentle reflective post which prompted that thought and this post.

Thank you Jnana.

.

.

The Gospels come to mind.   This fella Jesus we love to read about, pore over, study every word, every inflection … This fella we love to teach and preach about …  I wonder if his teachings can be summed as: “It is what it is.”  This fella who needed only three letters … “I Am”.

That’s all.

Right now, there is much wailing and sorrow.  But not from those grieving the death of a loved one – the noise is from those saying we are fed-up, we want to be free, we cannot handle being told to behave like an adult …  Those who still think “me” rather than “we” … And who chant in every possible variant:

“It’s not fair!”

The Gospels come to mind.  This fella Jesus again.  Who plopped into a time and place when “fair” wasn’t part of any common currency.  When might was right and death was cheap.  When “it is what it is” was exactly how things were.   Just the same as today – just the same as always: it is what it is.  And yet he seemed to make the best of it.  He walked in his safe place wherever he walked.  He talked from his safe place with and to everyone.  AND he avoided the obvious dangers of those who wished him harm – he journeyed away from danger in his safe place.

And all the while he lived the life he found – the life of it is what it is.

Right now we can all walk in our own safe place.  A place we can choose to carry with us – to be us – to be at peace with all around.  A place that avoids the obvious dangers not out of fear but out of love for ourselves and others.

A place that is of we rather than me.

And should that last another two years then it will still be what it is.  And we can still choose to live in our safe place – or we can choose to call out how unfair this all is …  How we should be free but are not – how we should be able to but are prevented from – how the government or the state should or shouldn’t – how we need a haircut – a restaurant dinner – our gym to keep fit – a coffee shop for our poison addiction – a club in which to dance …

All that “stuff” we can’t live without.

The Gospels come to mind.  That fella Jesus.  He had nothing.  Yet WE make him the perfect role model.  The one who died for OUR sins.  The one who is grace FREELY given.  The one who meets US where WE are.  The one who set US free for all eternity.  The one without whom WE are all screwed (for all eternity).

Yet this fella Jesus had none of this “stuff” we shout about – he shunned all the “stuff” we cannot live without … All the “stuff” we want back – all the “stuff” we cry has been taken from us … All this noise about how it’s all so unfair!

.

.

Doesn’t that strike anyone else as odd?

.

 

The definition of Love Without Condition

paulfg paulfg , , ,

.

.

For years I have been labelled (and self-labelled) an extrovert.  It makes conversations over what we normally do (or don’t) far easier.  When an introvert wants to stay put and I – an extrovert –  doesn’t, then it’s not the introvert’s fault or mine that we disagree.  It just “is”.

Like “sin”.

But having now “shielded” for three weeks (and with another nine to go), I wonder if these two labels are as simple as we have always thought.

I am finding life not that different “to before” … yet Mrs Paul, the introvert, needs to get out whilst I, the extrovert, having worked from home for a number of years (and still am) don’t.  And in all the years of working from home no one told me that I needed MS Teams, Zoom, WhatsApp (and all the other video-call paraphernalia) to keep in touch.  I was told to turn up at the office once-a-week.  Which involved an unwelcome weekly commute to the office AND being told frequently to “stop singing” as I was irritating everyone (an unconscious habit I have picked-up working alone).

So the new “need” for all this video-calling and hi-tech “team huddles” (I now have no choice in “attending”) is an  imposition.  Like the universal and biblically-correct-teaching of sin and me …

That I sin – that I must sin – that I will always sin – that I am sinner and must be saved for my sin to be forgiven – and that if not I will be separated from God for all eternity.  And all because I am sinner either saved or not.

Hello Easter!

.

.

Where is free-will in any of that – where is “love without condition” in any of that – where is this “God” we must worship in any of that?

We love the simplistic.  The yes or no.  The either/or.  The black and white.  The labels that make it easy for us to be who we are not by choice – but because “that’s who we are”.

On the one hand we claim free-will as our right – and on the other reject free-will because “that’s who we are”.

.

.

Like “sin”.

Like needing new “drive thru confessionals” … like needing new choreographed live-streamed services … like the (eternal) new need for the faithful to be together more than to be with the very God the faithful need to worship and confess to (in order to be forgiven for another week).

.

.

There is much I have questioned over the years.

Yet this Easter, unlike other Easters, I find myself wondering whether anyone else notices (or wants to notice) the many unasked but obvious questions.  Like this unhealthy level of “need” across the global/local church we teach is of God.

A God the church teaches is a God of love without condition but which the church never manages to make a reality because “only God can love like that” – so the “no choice conditional love” is the church (not) taught “reality” most Christians then live.

I think I might have spotted the reason “why” this Easter.

The definition of “Love Without Condition” requires that “love” is without need and/or transaction (which is biblically correct).

Yet the reality across the global and local church this Easter is of massive “need” – a need to keep doing what “we” have always done with this transaction we call sin.

Anyone else find that a little odd?

.

.

Sweating drops of blood

paulfg paulfg , , , , ,

.

.

I freaked out the other night.  Didn’t dare go to sleep.  Too scared to go to sleep.  Yet sometime in the early hours I must have dropped-off.

I have seen a few blogs leading up to this-almost-Easter remark how the bible tells us that Jesus sweated drops of blood.  I have no idea how you sweat drops of blood.  Never have and hope I never will.  Never wanted to emulate that element of God Soft Hands Jesus .

But I get the imagery.  That he was freaked out.  Scared.  Terrified beyond scared.

In these times where death stalks silently … without regard for power or privilege – irrelevant to age or health – with and without apparent logic … I get the reality of facing death.  A painful death.  A death where saving my life might be judged less than saving another.  A death where I will be alone of family and friends.  Will be buried without fanfare or closure.  May even become a statistic.  Probably a painful blot more than “normal” on the lives of those I love.

.

.

This Easter we each face death no matter how complacent of our own immortality.  A death unlike the story books.  No concerned family around the bed.  No quiet conversations of comfort.  No tender looks and gentle touch.  No dignity.  Nothing of how we imagine our final breath and words to be.  If you have read the accounts of death by Covid19 they are not a death I would wish on anyone.

.

.

The cross I was taught was fact.

Now I care not whether fact or fiction – real or imagery.  This Easter I begin to understand a little better.  Better than from the comfort of a polished pew in a heated sanctuary surrounded by like-minded (and healthy) congregants.  Each of us with a shiny silver nail as a prompt to enter the rose-tinted sentiment-imagination of death by cross.  A death that was also a “respiratory illness”.  Of lungs that collapsed as breathing became something he used to do.

We are well into the annual debt-fest of Easter.

But this Easter I feel no noble sacrifice.  I sense no honour or dignity.  I have no gratitude or debt.  This Easter I look up and see me and see you.  All of us caught up in something we wish we were not.  All part of a journey beyond our control.  This Easter I see a man not God.  This Easter I see friend not distant deity.

This Easter I care not if it’s a master-plan of foretold prophecy … no interest in debate of a PLAN A or PLAN B … no annual pining to feel even a little of what “our Lord” suffered “for me”.  This year I wonder whether any of that really matters – whether so much of this “rose-tinted and sentimental” bible teaching really matters.  This Easter I crave not the immortality of eternity in some imagined “heaven”.  I pray not for the “second-coming” to save me from all of this.   Right now I see no “sin-filled world” wallowing in its own depravity – about to get the come-uppance “they” deserve (and which I as a good Christian will escape).

This Easter I pray for one more day – lots of “one more” days – right here with those I love in this world that is precious and resilient – a world so beautiful and forgiving of our thoughtlessness.  Right now I want to be with those I love rather than in separate homes.  I want to hug the lady I love rather than have to keep half a house distant.  I pine for the touch of skin on mine: a handshake – a hug – a cuddle – a rough-house … For the breath of a grandchild on my face – even the snot of a toddler to wipe clean – and oddly a nappy to change – I imagine not really caring if that mug of tea was mine or yours.

Sweating drops of blood.

Mine?  Freaking out and not daring to go to sleep for a few hours.  And yet …

Perhaps this Easter my connection is closer than ever.  Perhaps this Easter I need no shiny nail – no like-minded congregants to surround me.  Perhaps this Easter I “get” a little better what the bible invites me to get.

.

.

This world is beautiful.  This world is home.  This world is precious.  This world has everything I desire. 

This world is a world I wouldn’t choose to exit.  This world – and this virus – cares not what I believe nor which religion I claim nor the future I teach nor those I label as good or bad.

This virus is teaching me – maybe all of us – just how much we are ALL connected whether we choose to or not.  How we are ALL the same no matter how much we protest we are not.  How Love really IS the greatest of these – and just how living in the moment of a touch or a breath or a glance CAN BE the eternity of “heaven” I never usually notice.  This Easter I feel closer to my immediate AND global family than ever.

And isn’t THAT the real message of Easter?

.

I got saved and then found I wasn’t

paulfg paulfg , , , , ,

,

Terry Waite, 1,763 days as a hostage in appalling conditions just told us all to stop complaining: “Change your mindset”, he said, “you’re not STUCK at home, you’re SAFE at home”  #TerryWaite  His advice? *Keep your own dignity – get out of your PJs!  Form a structure for the day.  Be grateful for what you have – shelter, home, possessions.  Read and be creative.”
(facebook and – I guess – twitter)

.

Last night reminded me what normal is right now.

8.00pm ... I was hanging out of an upstairs window joining in the applause for all our carers.  Listening as many in our street were on their doorsteps doing the same.  Those in surrounding streets doing the same – the “sound” of respect, affection and gratitude rippling everywhere.
8.10pm … as I walked our dog, I crossed the road – streets silent again – because I could hear young children ahead playing near the pavement.  I have no wish to come close to anyone who might (unknowingly) infect me with this globally-connecting virus.
8.40pm … reading on facebook of our niece 300 miles away is posting pictures of their newborn – a new life born unknowingly into all this topsy-turviness.
And now continuing my “shielding” and living a life with Mrs Paul six feet apart and in different rooms.
Typing these words is normal in a time that is anything but normal.

You’re not STUCK at home, you’re SAFE at home.

I don’t know about you, but I find kindness is thriving right now.   And yes – I see the headline stories about the “me me me” peeps – the “fuck you” peeps – the peeps “taking” entitlement – bullies then as now.

But kindness …

I am allowed to be kind.  I am allowed to be gentle.  I am allowed to be the better me so much more than before … I am seen when I acknowledge another, when we move apart, when I thank another for moving apart … When I wait a few seconds when – before – we would both have squeezed-by without waiting at all … When I speak gently with a harassed call-centre peep after two hours in the phone-queue … When another asks if we need anything left at the door … When Mrs Paul asks if there anything she can get when she is out at the (two hour queue to get into every) shop(s).

Little things.  Small kindnesses.

I am allowed to be kind right now unlike “normal living” when these small kindnesses go unnoticed (and undone) as we hurry hither and thither.

Be grateful for what you have.

I have no optimistic outlook that says when all this returns to “normal” we will want to carry this kindness forwards.  I have a view that says we will each count up how much kindness we have “given” and instinctively calculate that we “deserve” a withdrawal of “books-balancing self-centredness”.   That we will again live transactionally (which is what we call normal living) …

The church will again expect Sunday attendance and tithing.  Work will expect more from each employee in return for being “looked after” right now.  Banks will impose severe credit checks after current government “guidance” to be more financially forgiving.  Mortgage lenders will recoup the losses of all the “holidays” us lenders are being given.  The government will begin to balance the books with more (decades?) of austerity (again).

Change your mindset.

Isn’t that what “being saved” really is?

Less about being rewarded for sacrificing “so much” – more about how I live right now?  Isn’t that the reality we never teach?  That the bible is not about the future – but about right now this second.  About “changing you mindset” right now and in every moment of living.

And isn’t that a universal across national-boundaries-and-social-rules – across cultural-divides-and-language-confusion – across financial-worth-and-“stuff”-wealth?   Isn’t that where kindness lives and love thrives?  In a mindset NOT of transaction – but a mindset of this moment.  A mindset we are seeing more and more of right now.  Of courage in kindness and strength in gentleness.

Be grateful for what you have.

The more I live the less complicated life becomes.  The simpler the bible becomes.  The less rigid and institutional “love” becomes.  This moment is a gentle place, a kind place, a loving place.  Where time and stuff is of no consequence  (nor religion nor being right).

I got saved and then found I wasn’t.

Not until I changed my mindset.  And that’s why I no longer call myself a Christian.  I don’t think the bible teaches us to be good “Christians”.  I think the bible invites us to change our mindset.  It is what we are seeing everywhere right now.  Living in the moment.

I call that Love without Condition.

.

.

Love is allowed … wow!

paulfg paulfg, Uncategorized ,

.

.

This weekend will be the first weekend of enforced (or voluntary) isolation.  For many still working (remotely, on-site, or any other way) these two days are when we “do stuff”.   Stuff usually outside the home – stuff together – the stuff of getting-together and being together.

Usually.

This week has been frantic!  A week of work trying to find assistance for the temp-team we pay week after week after week.  Who were told there is no more work as London offices shut their doors (literally).  A bunch of wonderful (and skilled) human beings whose contracts are for “services provided” rather than for “employment”.  And so are left without any financial aid.

As they have watched those who ARE employed OR self-employed being helped.

These are real people we “employ” in all but contract.  Whose tax we sort out, whose sickness we sort out, whose work problems we sort out, whose names we know, and whose lives we are part of.  People who look to us to “fix this” for them as we fix things every week.  People we know as colleagues, friends, and superstars.  People we have seen grow in their “temp career”.  And yet all we could do was work feverishly behind the scenes trying to bring their plight to the notice of those who can offer aid.

We were not alone in that.

Temp workers (with contracts “for services provided”) number many thousands.  Yet “our temps” are not numbers.  Every “temp” is a person who knows us as we know them.  What a privilege that is!  What a compliment to be more than a source of income.  What an honour to be part of their lives in a personal relationship.  And – in times like this – what a responsibility to provide more than “our doors are now closed”.

>>> On Thursday we called every client to find out how they were coping.  I came away humbled.

Every organisation has done we have done: dispersed its staff to their own homes with the equipment and connectivity to carry-on.  Almost every organisation is “business as usual” – just without any confidence things will stay this way.  Expecting and receiving the trust that – even though now “out of sight” – each person continues to bring the same commitment – that people were expected to do the right thing and are.

None of that has made the news.  Just as no organisation has bitched at the cost of money, time and energy to make THIS happen.   And THAT is unprecedented – that is GOOD NEWS – that should be recognised because that is ALSO each of us helping each other.

These five days have seemed a month.  But yesterday we were told our temps would be supported the same as the employed and self-employed.  So the next five will be as frantic making that happen for these real people.

THIS is not about making a profit (although it soon will be).  This is about helping each other survive and perhaps even thrive (in “non-balance-sheet” ways).

This week I have walked our dog to the applause of strangers on their doorsteps acknowledging the human beings of our National Health Service.  I have witnessed queues an hour-long of “socially distanced” human beings waiting patiently for their turn (and beginning to find shops fully stocked again).  I have seen billions (of every currency) committed to supporting almost every sector of society.  I have walked under skies free of the usual vapour trails down streets quietened of their usual traffic through parks where we each say hello (as we keep our distance).

And I read of death coming ever closer to our front door.
.

.

I wonder if this is a time for faith rather than a time for love. 

Because I see love in every sector of society … “#clapforcarers” spread from Europe just as this pandemic spreads … recognition that THIS is about all of us is spreading FASTER than any pandemic … Love is being displayed in so many ways!  So if I have faith and you different or none …

Does THAT really matter? 

.

.

I look out and see so much kindness being ALLOWED!   

By street and community … by country and continent … by this culture and that …

Kindness is being allowed … LOVE is being allowed!  

And, whilst I have nothing against “faith” (and live-streamed services and fellowship), isn’t THIS bigger than THAT?  Isn’t THIS when “the greatest of these” CAN be unleashed AS the greatest of these (just without the usual small-print)?

Some see the end-times.  Some see gathering in church to be immune.  Some believe immunity because of faith.

I see Love.

I see Jesus seeing Love as I see Love everywhere right now.  I see the bible as inviting each of us to pick up Love in preference for our comfort-blanket of faith.  I see this not as the end-times but as a time where Love is Allowed.

Death will always be us.  And I am taking all the precautions I can to be of Life.

Life that sees video calls allowing a new silence.  Where filling the silence is irrelevant.  Where hide-and-seek with a wee one can be played by pointing the lens at a wall before “suddenly” appearing with a “BOOH!”   Where “being” is becoming fashionable again.  Where “virtual-being” is becoming the same as “face-to-face being” … gentle and unhurried.

I am learning how to be the me I want to be even in these new and changing times.

And that is a precious gift!

.

.

paulfg