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"And how surpassingly great is His power for us who believe, measured by His tremendously mighty power when He raised Christ from the dead..."
*Ephesians 1.19-20 (William's)
Wisdom Story
In a seminary missions class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push. After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years.
Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, "Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable." He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson's astonishment, the engine roared to life. For two years needless trouble had become routine. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work.
When we make firm our connection with God, his life and power flow through us.
Wisdom Quote
[Jesus'] departure does not signify the departure of God from the world but the release of God into the world. This release is the power of the Spirit who infiltrates our lives in the name of Christ and reconstitutes the Body of Christ in a new way, the way of unifying love amidst the delightful diversity of God's creation.
*Ila Delio. Clare of Assisi.
Today's Scripture ~ John 5.1-9 (CEV)
1 Later Jesus went to Jerusalem for a special feast. 2 In Jerusalem there is a pool with five covered porches, which is called Bethesda[a] in the Hebrew language.[b] This pool is near the Sheep Gate. 3 Many sick people were lying on the porches beside the pool. Some were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed [, and they waited for the water to move. 4 Sometimes an angel of the Lord came down to the pool and stirred up the water. After the angel did this, the first person to go into the pool was healed from any sickness he had].[c] 5 A man was lying there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw the man and knew that he had been sick for such a long time, Jesus asked him, "Do you want to be well?"
7 The sick man answered, "Sir, there is no one to help me get into the pool when the water starts moving. While I am coming to the water, someone else always gets in before me."
8 Then Jesus said, "Stand up. Pick up your mat and walk." 9 And immediately the man was well; he picked up his mat and began to walk.
Comments
Here is the great theme of co-operation with God, a co-operating from which comes manifestation of desire and co-ordination of the human soul with Infinite Potentiality. The intent of the lame man, which is inner prayer, joins with the Potentiality of Jesus; therefore, the man walks. This joining of the energy of desire and desire ~ the man desires to walk and Jesus desires to heal ~ manifests at a level of Reality we call matter. The healing, however, arises from the level of Pure Spirit. This is the law of divine manifestation, and this is the universal principle contained in our calling to be persons of habitual prayer.
Jesus shows us God as Infinite Organizing Power. Christ is that Infinite Organizing Power. The Christ is the Intelligent Power operative within the elements of Nature to bring together diverse energies to manifest a single effect.
Prayer is our plunging into this ceaseless action of God. We join as prayer expresses our intent aligned with the operations of Christ in Creation and each of us.
Deepak Chopra, in The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, likens this co-operative action to a symphony. He wries: "Nature is a symphony. And that symphony is being silently orchestrated at the ultimate ground of creation." God is the Infinite Fecund Ground. God is the Immovable moving within and among all aspects of Nature, bringing together all the differing instruments into a single Harmony.
This is why we are to pray in the name of Christ and that only the Will of God be done. We are part of the Symphony arising from the Ground and orchestrated for the blessing of the whole. We, with All, are part of the infinite and gracious movings of the Holy Spirit to bring a contribution from each instrument to the convergence with the giving of each and all other instruments.
When we willingly position ourselves in this de-centering of the self, we are positioned to co-operate for the manifestation of the manifestation of God. Our prayer, then, is our joining with God, and our desire meets the desire of the Divine Mind to form answers to prayer at the level of matter, as well as at all levels of Reality.
Ironically, we, through resignation, are more powerful beings, for we have joined with the orchestration of God. We find our ultimate desire fulfilled in Christ, for we surrender our self-oriented desires to what the Christ Presence is willing for everyone.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a sign of this manifestation in the Gospel: such is why the birth of the Word into time-space we call the Incarnation, or Enfleshment. At the Annunciation Mary spoke to Gabriel, the angel who told her that she would birth the long-awaited Christ. Gabriel had given Mary comforting affirmation, saying, "Greetings, you blessed one. The Lord is with you" (Luke 1.28, Beck's). After the angel spoke of the messiahship of the child, Mary replied: "I am the Lord's slave. May what you say take place with me" (v. 38, William's). Later, the Scripture reads, "And while they were there [in Bethlehem], the time came for her to have her child. She had her first Son ... (2.6-7, Beck's)". Here, then, is the power of co-ordination between the human and God.
The moment I truly resign myself to the Higher Power, something wonderful happens. While my outer life might appear unchanged to those about me and a quite ordinary life, a major transformation has begun behind the scenes, so to speak. An inner-seismic shift has happened. I have joined my limited intent with the action of God. My life will, henceforth, be framed within the new context; there I will find meaning and fulfillment. I have been, then, co-ordinated with God. I am always, even when asleep, in a creative convergence with God. I am blessed with a synergism of provident Grace, a merging of my consciousness with the Mind of Christ.
This is the release of God into the world, spoken of by Delio, and which is the continuing work of the Holy Spirit evidenced at Pentecost (Acts 2). You and I do become that point of release by a simple self-resignation of will to the Will of God. We do not try to make our will the Will of God; we simply speak a surrender, and, consequently God takes that sincere and heart-felt desire and works it out in us and our lives through grace and little by little. Yes, Grace initiates manifestation from before we will to the completion of all God works through us for blessing.
Reflection
Explain your agreement or not with the following statement: Prayer is cooperation with God.
How does contemplative prayer fit in with co-operating with God in manifestation?
What does it mean for you to be a point of release of God?
How do you see God working through your life to bless others?
In what other ways than traditional religion might we speak of this all-powerful, all-wise One we call God?
Spiritual Exercises
1. Enter Silent Prayer. In prayerful Openness, with intent of self-resignation that only the will of God be done in and through you, present your intent for your desire for God to work for you, in you, and through you. In the offering, or presentation, or offering of intent, envision an image of the fulfillment of the prayer. This is your choice to coordinate your finite will with the all-potential of God. Do not exert your will; simply offer the intent and visualize fulfillment as expression of your agreeing with the desire of God. After each presentation, rest; then, move to the next offering.
2. At the start of each day, pray a short prayer of self-resignation. Express faith that whatever you need that day will be given to you.
Brian will respond to requests pertaining to seeking a Spiritual Mentor. He offers retreats, workshops, and classes in such subjects as Contemplative Prayer (he trains in Visualized Praying, Centering Prayer, Christian Meditation, The Jesus Prayer, ...), Contemplative Living, A Spiritual Understanding of the Lord's Prayer, and Spiritual Use of the Scripture. See any major on-line bookseller for his book An Ache for Union.
*The Wisdom Story is by Ernest B. Beevers. See www.sermonillustrations.com .
For bibliographical data, submission of replies, and biographical information, see next page:
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