Tag: solitude

In the Place of Life (1 Peter 4:1-6)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit. (New International Version)

I haven’t been a confessing Christian my entire life. And so, I can relate to Peter’s exhortation. I still remember what it feels like to live my life without any thought to God or spiritual matters. I also have many memories of giving my life to Christ and, for years, having people puzzled as to why I didn’t want to join them in activities which would clearly diminish my spirit and suck the soul out of me.

The thing about partying and immorality is that it’s a life filled with constant movement. Slowing down only makes one come face-to-face with what is truly inside the soul. And if someone has an empty vacuous soul, or a damaged spirit, or a broken heart, then attempting to drink or work away the inner pain makes sense when there’s no regard for God. 

The last thing I ever wanted to do was suffer, yet before my own spiritual awakening, it seemed I could never outrun the hurt no matter how hard I tried, even with all the constant locomotion.

But I found in a committed Christianity the slow and quiet place I so desperately needed. I discovered in ancient Christian practices of solitude, silence, and stillness the opportunity of finding my true self.

There are times in our lives when we need to explore the place between our hurting hearts and the hunting for joy. It’s actually a quiet place sandwiched between the ignominy of the cross and the celebration of resurrection. 

Within the geography of the soul, this is something of a lost country for many folks. Some people have never had the thought that such a place even exists. Yet, this is the very place which gives meaning and focus to a disjointed and frenetic lifestyle.

To be even more specific and focused, there cannot be a better life, a new life without a death to the old life and dying to self. There must be suffering before there can be glory.

I’m a heady sort of guy. Most things, for me, have to go through my brain. Although I have come to appreciate and value my heart and my gut, I still find myself sometimes gravitating toward my intellect as the answer for my stress. Yet, there are many times (maybe even most times) when I really need to get out of my head, connect to my gut, and wrap my heart around whatever problem or challenge is before me. 

I have been a devoted follower of Jesus for many decades now. Yet, I still encounter a sizable chunk of Christians who devalue the place between the real suffering on Good Friday, along with the very real death of Holy Saturday. In the tomb, there is no movement. All is silent and still. 

Jesus was in the solitude of a dark tomb. So, there’s no getting around it. If we want a Resurrection Day with all its celebration and glory, then we cannot circumvent the place of darkness and stillness.

To be a Christian means a readiness to follow Jesus and suffer as he did. It involves a willingness to stop our striving, manifested through constant movement, and embrace the disciplines of solitude, silence, and stillness with its contemplation and radical acceptance of what is – and not just what we want something to be. 

This requires the sense enough to pray and please a higher power than fair weather friends. It demands a Christian counter-cultural shift to face the ridicule of friends so that we might take some much-needed time to be with Jesus in his life, ministry, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension.

Put plainly and bluntly: If you and I want to live with Jesus, we must die with Jesus.

I could give you ten steps to having a better life, but this would ultimately mean nothing apart from the willingness to spend some time and sit in the place of suffering and death.

And, ironically, in doing so, we find the life that is truly life, and discover a way of existence which is far greater and better than we could have ever dreamed.

Merciful and almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we submit ourselves to you, knowing that our lives are in the hands of a gracious and sovereign Being who cares deeply for all creation and every creature. May our longings for transcendence result in the deep and good desires of our hearts to be met fully in Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit are one God, now and forever. Amen.

Holy Saturday (Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
    do not let me ever be put to shame;
    in your righteousness deliver me.
Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me.

You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
    for your name’s sake lead me and guide me;
take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
    for you are my refuge….

My times are in your hand;
    deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
    save me in your steadfast love. (New Revised Standard Version)

Holy Saturday is a quiet place sandwiched between the ignominy of the Cross and the celebration of Resurrection – a day of solitude, silence, and stillness. 

This isn’t a particularly popular day. People don’t rave about Holy Saturday. Many Christians haven’t even a thought that this day could have any significance. Yet, this very day has its place in the scheme of the Christian life.

Whenever Christians quickly jump to triumphal language about victory, and speak little-to-nothing about suffering, then we are left with a cheap grace which has been purchased with the counterfeit currency of velocity. 

Today is meant for us to get of our heads and wrap our hearts around the important reality that Jesus Christ was truly and bodily dead in the grave. 

It was real suffering on Good Friday, and it’s a real death on Holy Saturday. There’s no movement. All is silent and still. Jesus is in the solitude of a dark graveyard tomb. 

There’s no getting around this: If we want Resurrection Day with all its celebration and glory, then we cannot circumvent Holy Saturday with its quiet silence and somber sadness. 

Holy Saturday must be observed if we are to experience real and practical freedom from the bondage of shame. And shame is powerful. It keeps a person locked within themselves, alone with their secrets hidden far from others.

Far too often we may try and cope with our shameful words or actions through promising to work harder, pledging to have greater willpower, or complaining that life is unfair. None of this gets to the root of our shame.

Unlike guilt, which our conscience identifies as specific behaviors to repent of, shame is the message of our inner critic who obnoxiously decries that we are somehow flawed, not enough, and inherently lacking intelligence, courage, or volition.

Shame is the insidious mechanism which interprets bad events we experience as the result of our own badness. In other words, we didn’t just do something bad – we ourselves are bad. We reason (wrongly) that if we were good, bad things wouldn’t happen to us.

If that were true, we would need a serious re-interpretation of Jesus, who suffered terribly and was killed. In actuality, he’s lying in a cold grave because of the power of evil in the world, and not because he was personally culpable.

Shame is the vampire who lives in the shadows and feeds on secrets – which is why the posture of shame is to hide our face in our hands. If shame persists, we withdraw from others and experience grinding loneliness. 

Therefore, the path out of shame is to openly name our shame and tell our stories, that is, nailing the stake of vulnerability into the heart of shame, and exposing it to the light, causes it to disintegrate and vaporize.

In contrast to the unhealthy hiding of ourselves within prison walls of shame is seeking refuge and hiding ourselves in God. Even a cursory look at today’s psalm evidences an open and vulnerable person who wants nothing to do with shame. The psalmist unabashedly and without shame is quite forward in presenting his wants to God.

The psalms are meant for repeated use, to be voiced aloud again and again. In doing this simple activity, we shame-proof our lives. God’s face shines upon us and takes away the shadows of shame. It is no coincidence that Jesus forsook the shame of the cross through publicly uttering the words of this psalm: “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)

Unchecked verbal violence will eventually lead to physical violence.

If wordy persecution comes from others, the primary tactic will most likely be shaming the people such persons want to control. Such enemies will frame a justification for violence because the people for whom they are leveling shame are “bad,” even “monsters.” If verbal persecution comes from within, the shame can reach a critical mass of suicidal ideation and perhaps outright attempts at ending one’s life.

We cannot long co-exist with the living death of shame. But the good news is that we don’t have to. Instead, we can live in the strong fortress and the rock of refuge which is God.

The Lord traffics in redeeming mercy and steadfast love, not in the demeaning judgment of shame. We can flee to God and find grace to help us in our time of need. There is no shame in reaching out for help. We all need deliverance from something. It’s a matter of whether we are open to ask for it, or not.

Holy Saturday is here for you to know that Jesus Christ absorbed all of the world’s massive shame, yesterday, on Good Friday. Christ died. And the shame he took on, died with him. It’s no more and will rise no more.

But someone will rise….

Father God, into your hands I commit my spirit – everything I am and all that I hope to be – so that Jesus Christ might be exalted in me through the power of your Holy Spirit. I choose to leave shame where it belongs – nailed to the cross. With your divine enablement, I shall walk in the newness of life through expressing my needs and wants with courage, confidence, and candor. May it be so according to your steadfast love. Amen.

The Shepherds’ Candle of Joy (Luke 2:8-20)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
The Shepherds by Malaysian artist Hanna Varghese (1938-2009)

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (New International Version)

We Are Meant For Joy

The past 10-20 years have seen an explosion of understanding concerning the brain. Even though there is so much we still do not know, what we do know is that our brains cannot survive, let alone thrive, without emotions like joy. The frontal lobe of the brain monitors our emotional state, while the thalamus (the information center that regulates consciousness) helps determine how to express our feelings.

We feel joy in our bodies because of the release of the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin in the brain. Both of these chemicals are associated with happiness (in fact, people with clinical depression often have lower levels of serotonin).

So, simple activities like going for a walk in nature, petting a dog or cat, kissing a loved one, standing and sitting in a worship service, and yes, even forcing yourself to smile, can help those neurotransmitters do their job and raise your mood.

Neurologists and scientists have also discovered that practices of mindfulness, silence, contemplation, and meditation stimulate the brain’s cortex and create a state of happiness, contentment, and joy. And those practices also enable individuals to become more self-aware, more aware of others and what is happening around them, as well as a heightened awareness of unseen realities, like God and angels.

God with Us

The way that God has wired us means that joy does not come from getting all the presents we want for Christmas or having everything go our way. Instead,  joy is the fruit of meaningful movement of the body and relational interactions with God and others. We do not need to look for joy in a store because joy comes being with God, God’s creation, and God’s people.

The good news of a Savior coming to this earth means God is coming to be with us. This is good news of great joy! We are loved because God is good, not because we are good. And because God is good, and we are a mess of humanity, there is joy that the Lord is coming to save us!

Seeing Shepherds by American painter Daniel Bonnell

The Shepherds

The reason Christ’s birth was good news of great joy to the shepherds is that they were shepherds.  Shepherds in the ancient world were generally looked on with contempt. In fact, the ancient Egyptians refused to eat with Jews because they were mostly shepherds (Genesis 46:31-34). 

  • Shepherds spent most of their time living with their sheep outdoors, to protect the flock. 
  • Shepherds were not dressed well, not culturally refined, and smelled like sheep poop. 
  • Shepherds also had the notoriety of being drinkers. Because they slept with the sheep, many shepherds would pass the time and deal with the chilly air by taking a nip of alcohol. We do not really know whether most shepherds were drunkards, or not; but we do know they had a bad reputation.

So, becoming a shepherd was not a profession any young person aspired to. Nobody took out a student loan to major in shepherding at the University of Jerusalem. King David started out as a shepherd. He was the runt in his family and got stuck with the job nobody else wanted. Out of all the persons and people-groups the heavenly angels could have come to announce the birth of Christ, it was shepherds.

Grace

The good news of great joy for all the people is truly a gospel of grace. The announcement to a bunch of stinky shepherds is profoundly significant and cannot be overstated. It is important because grace is being shown to the lowliest of society. A lowly Savior, born to a lowly family, and placed in a lowly feeding trough, came to reach the lowly, common, ordinary person.

To have this kind of attention from the sovereign almighty God is like the owner of a dog coming home at the end of the day. We, as the common, ordinary mutts of society, are beside ourselves with joy, feeling privileged to be in the same room as Jesus.

It is only the lowly and humble in heart who will see God and enjoy the Lord’s presence. That is because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. It is why the angels came to the shepherds and not the religious leaders. It is good news of great joy for all the people. The gospel is not limited to those who are the most educated, the wealthiest, or from the most prominent of families – it is for everyone.

Worry and Anxiety

Yet, many people still live their lives primarily in fear, worry, and anxiety, instead of joy, not getting the message of joy firmly pressed into their minds and hearts. Even though a Savior is born, we still experience the harshness of a world under the dominion of darkness.  We worry about constant disease, financial difficulties, and the daily stresses of life.  We fret about dealing with ornery people, hard circumstances, family members who go astray, and the little plastic things on our shoelaces coming off leaving the shoestrings frayed! 

Sometimes, we strain to see much joy. Jesus is the son of David, born in the town of David – both were anointed as kings but had to go through a lot of hardship before realizing their kingships. We live in the time between the two advents of Christ in which the kingdom is already here but not yet here. It is a time characterized by a weird mix of sinners and saints, despair and joy, adversity, and comfort.

Joy is not found in having every circumstance go our way and having everyone like us all the time. Joy comes from the gospel of grace, from God coming down and being with us.  Being in the presence of the Master makes all the difference. If joy comes from being with God in Christ, then cultivating and practicing the presence of Jesus in our daily lives is important.

Solitude and Silence

Another reason the angels came to the shepherds is that the shepherds were away from the growing crowd that was swelling in Bethlehem due to the Roman census. The shepherds were out in the sticks, by themselves, experiencing a silent night. And so, they were able to hear the message of God when it came.

Noise comes in various forms, both around us and within us. Sometimes we even create noise on the outside so that the noisy racing thoughts on the inside will get drowned. To be quiet is to be able to listen. To listen is to receive another’s voice. And receiving the voice of the angels, their message, and their praise to God, is the pathway to joy and the way out of unhappy inner noise.

Freedom

We need deliverance primarily from ourselves, from our own brokenness, and from unhealthy ways of coping with hard circumstances. There is far too much unhappiness in this world. For example:

  • One in every two-hundred teenage American girls cut themselves on a regular basis.
  • More than half of people in the United States with serious depression do not receive or will not get adequate help. 
  • Anxiety disorders affect nearly sixty million adults in the United States. 

The coming of Jesus into this world makes a difference. Christ’s incarnation means that God has come to meet the deepest needs of our lives. Our deliverance is realized by eagerly anticipating the Lord, spending time with him, and allowing his loving presence and compassionate voice to transform our hearts, changing us from the inside-out. 

Christianity is not a magic happy pill to swallow; it is a relationship with God that is to be cultivated and which grows over time.

Joy is relational. No amount of positive thinking, buying new stuff, or good situations will create it or sustain it. Christianity offers joy in Jesus – not a cheap sentimental happiness of having every prayer answered or each situation go our way – but the settled joy of God with us.

Neither worry nor fret. Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. In the town of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. 

What can I give him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb. If I were a wise man, I would give him frankincense or gold.

Yet, what can I give him? I can give him my heart.

Listen to the Prophets (Jeremiah 25:1-14)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
St. Nicholas Church fresco of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel by Leopold Bruckner, Prešov, Slovakia

This is the Message given to Jeremiah for all the people of Judah. It came in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah. It was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

Jeremiah the prophet delivered the Message to all the people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem:

From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah right up to the present day—twenty-three years it’s been!—God’s Word has come to me, and from early each morning to late every night I’ve passed it on to you. And you haven’t listened to a word of it!

Not only that but God also sent a steady stream of prophets to you who were just as persistent as me, and you never listened. They told you, “Turn back—right now, each one of you!—from your evil way of life and bad behavior and live in the land God gave you and your ancestors, the land he intended to give you forever. Don’t follow the god-fads of the day, taking up and worshiping these no-gods. Don’t make me angry with your god-businesses, making and selling gods—a dangerous business!

“You refused to listen to any of this, and now I am really angry. These god-making businesses of yours are your doom.”

The verdict of God-of-the-Angel-Armies on all this: “Because you have refused to listen to what I’ve said, I’m stepping in. I’m sending for the armies out of the north headed by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant in this, and I’m setting them on this land and people and even the surrounding countries. I’m devoting the whole works to total destruction—a horror to top all the horrors in history. And I’ll banish every sound of joy—singing, laughter, marriage festivities, genial workmen, candlelit suppers. The whole landscape will be one vast wasteland. These countries will be in subjection to the king of Babylon for seventy years.

“Once the seventy years is up, I’ll punish the king of Babylon and the whole nation of Babylon for their sin. Then they’ll be the wasteland. Everything that I said I’d do to that country, I’ll do—everything that’s written in this book, everything Jeremiah preached against all the godless nations. Many nations and great kings will make slaves of the Babylonians, paying them back for everything they’ve done to others. They won’t get by with anything.” God’s Decree. (The Message)

An ancient rabbi once said that we have two ears and one mouth so that we will listen twice as much as we talk. 

Listening with curious and focused attention is a forgotten skill and a lost art in Western society. 

Slick marketing, political punditry, and over-the-top speech all scream into the culture because there is such a dearth of listening. It seems many people are more concerned to make their opinions known than do any kind of deep listening to another.

No one seems to want to put in the work of discovering another’s true thoughts, feelings, and needs. Instead, we’d rather rant, play armchair quarterback, and make uninformed comments on things we don’t understand.

It’s really downright sad and tragic that we fail to listen to each other. And it is especially terrible when we do not listen to God. 

The Old Testament prophets exist because of a failure to listen. At the time of Jeremiah, not only did the people not hear; they refused to listen. They put their fingers in their ears and babbled “la-la-la-la-la.” So, it was only fitting that the Lord sent the people to Babylon.

This was not merely the inability to listen because they were overworked, too tired, or “hangry.” The problem was much deeper than that. For years, God kept up a steady stream of words, telling the people exactly what was expected. But they didn’t listen, on purpose. Like a parent speaking to an angsty teenager, it all went in one ear and out the other with nothing getting done.

God passionately desired the people to amend their evil ways. But they didn’t want to hear it. 

So, after years, even centuries of unfaithfulness, unrighteousness, and injustice, God’s patience came to its limit. Tragedy happened. The Babylonian Exile became a terrible and harsh reality.

If there is no deep listening to God and God’s Word to us, there will be deep repercussions. 

Listen, my friends: None of us can do the will of God if we don’t know what God wants. It takes listening. And listening takes focused attention. And focused attention requires a posture of humility. And humility requires being emptied of all pride and hubris. 

Apart from genuine listening with the intent to understand and alter actions accordingly, there will be no peace, no love, no grace. The space of inattention quickly fills with lazy ears, emotional heaviness, spiritual sickness, xenophobic suspicion, anxious fear, dark thoughts, angry rants, and a retreat into selfish caring for oneself. 

The beginning of wisdom and human flourishing starts with listening well. Paying attention through deep listening brings humility of heart, purification of pride, and love of God and neighbor.

Truly hearing the words of God leads to self-awareness, cries for God’s mercy, a knowledge of humanity, the study of Holy Scripture, and a familiarity with the Church’s long tradition of sound teaching.

Therefore, silence is vital for everyone. Prayer needs to be more about sitting still in solitude and silence in order to listen and much less about talking at God.

But if we insist on making more noise than a couple of skeletons dancing on a tin roof, we will eventually be those skeletons – without any substance and only good for the grave.

So, read the prophets. Listen to them. Pay attention to their message. And heed their warnings and exhortations. Your ears will be glad you did.

Holy Father and God of all, your speech goes out into all the earth. Your Word is there for us to hear if we will only but listen. 

Lord Jesus, let your words and your teachings penetrate so deeply into my soul that your loving ways come out of me in all I say and do.

Blessed Holy Spirit, help me to so listen to your inner voice that encouragement and forgiveness pours forth from the wellspring of a heart which is baptized in God’s Word. Amen.