Doubt

 It always bothered me that when John the Baptist was in prison, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He were the Messiah.

Doesn't John know?  Whom did he think he was baptizing?

Then it occurred to me; he had doubts.  John is in prison.  Lots of time to think in prison.  John was all "fire and brimstone."  Wouldn't the Messiah also be full of fire, in order to overthrow the Romans?  But Jesus wasn't like that.  He was gentle and preached love.

Jesus wasn't what John was expecting.  Maybe Jesus was just a prophet, an up-an-coming rabbi, or as they say in today's lingo--a popular influencer.

Jesus isn't those things.  He gave the blind sight, the lame walking ability, lepers were cleansed, the deaf had hearing, and He even raised the dead.  Don't doubt John.

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Conversing

 Remember a few posts ago, my "cloistered brother," Gordon, asked a question that has been on my mind, ever since.  "When you pray, what do you expect to happen?"

Today, I realized that prayer is a conversation between God and myself, which means that I don't expect anything to happen, no more than I would expect something to happen in any conversation.

What a dummy I am!  Most of the time, I'm not asking God for anything.  I am talking (praying) to Him.

Words that Function Performatively

 When a cop says, "You're under arrest."  You are indeed, under arrest.

When the umpire says, "You're out."  There's no use arguing, you're out.

These are indeed examples of words that mean what they say.  There are verbal expressions that definitely mean what they say.

Wouldn't that be even more so when Jesus Christ utters words?  

In Genesis we hear that creation occurred through divine speech, "God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light...God said, 'Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.' And it happened.  

God is not describing, His words are performing.  This is the case with Jesus. "And the Word became flesh and lived among us."  John 1: 14  Think of Jesus' healings.  He speaks and the cure happens.  Again and again, Jesus' words are shown to be efficacious in producing what they pronounce.

The night before He died, Jesus performed His most important words, "Take, eat; this is my body...drink...for this is my blood..." Matt 26: 26-28  Jesus words are producing what they pronounce.

Thoughts While Walking in the Cold

 Twenty degrees below freezing is just a number until you are walking in it.  I should say trudging through it.

My labored breathing roars forth clouds of vapor.  My forehead aches because the wind is meanspirited.  I'd tell the wind to quit, but the teeth in my mouth are so cold they hurt.

My boots stamp out a petulant response.  I clap my mittened hands for winter's performance of brutal strength and also beauty.

Beauty?

Yes, beauty because my eyes aren't frozen shut.  I can see the diamond glitter sparkling on the branches and tips of grass. And the sun flashes sharp stabs of color in shapes through the trees, in the woods.  Rays of light, here and there, are accompanied by sound or I dare to say music, for the grass crunches when I step and the ice in the puddles crash like cymbals, in this winter orchestra of cold.

Not an orchestra, like in symphony hall.  Rather more like a marching band in the parade of winter.  It's showing off all its delights in a performance of twenty degrees below freezing.

The Effects of Prayer

 Thinking of yesterday's blog post regarding expectations when we pray, I read this quote, this morning, by St. Peter of Alcantara.

          In prayer the soul is purified from sin, charity is nurtured,
          faith takes root, hope is strengthened, the spirit gladdened.
          In prayer the soul melts into tenderness, the heart is puri-
          fied, the truth reveals itself, temptation is overcome, sad-
          ness is put to flight.  In prayer, the senses are renewed,
          lukewarmness vanishes, failing virtue it reinvigorated,
          the rust of vices is scoured away; and in the exchange,
          there come forth living sparks, blazing desires of
          heaven, in which the flame of divine love burns.

This satisfies me, but I don't think Gordon will accept this explanation.

Expectations

 The "cloistered brothers" are reading Simone Weil's Waiting for God. A discussion arose on prayer.  Gordon, does believe in God, but not prayer.  He figures that God is all knowing, so He knows what is going to happen, so what's the use of prayer.  He challenged the group with the question, "So what do you expect to happen?"  

This question has been bouncing back and forth, inside my head.  What do I expect to happen when I pray?  Today is two days removed from the question, and I've come to the conclusion that what I expect and what I hope are two different answers.

I hope that God will do what I want.  I expect that I will understand what God is doing.  I expect that my prayer will give me wisdom and understanding and patience to see God's plans.

I also expect that more understanding will come, in time.  I also expect that I will have an answer for Gordon, that will satisfy him.

An Eschatological Reality

 

Lectio:                                  Isaiah 2:1-5

This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz,
saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In days to come,
the mountain of the LORD's house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
"Come, let us climb the LORD's mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths."
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
one nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
O house of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of the Lord!

STUDIUM:

Isaiah wrote this during the Babylonian Exile, 586 BC-539 BC.  Jerusalem was destroyed and Isaiah calling the people back, was confusing.  To what?  Rubble?  But Isaiah was talking about the days to come.  The Lord promised to provide. He always does, even now.  Israel will come to know that Jerusalem will become great, again.  It will be an example to all people to walk in God's promises, until the end of time.

MEDITATIO:

Reading about the devastation of Jerusalem, my mind pictures Gaza and Ukraine--countries that currently have been destroyed. These verses promise restoration.  There's a catch: the people must strive to do God's will.  
       So?  Weren't they doing God's will before the war?  Isaiah's Jerusalem is not today's Israel.  Isaiah is speaking generally, for all time.  Disasters come and go but we must trust in God.

ORATIO:

Lord, I hope in this prophesy.  You turn bad into good.  May these wars and bad things end and good come forth.

CONTEMPLATIO:

The world and its problem will pass.  God is forever.