For almost 21 years I served within an institution that rewarded ambition. If you completed the requisite Professional Military Education, and dot all the “i’s” and cross all the “t’s” you will be rewarded for this work by promotion to the next higher rank.
I can tell you that it didn’t always work out that way. At some point in my career, I realized that ambition and promotion were hollow. At some point I realized that there was more to life than self-centered ambition. There was a calling deep within me to let go. To let ego go and to embrace the humble and life changing calling of God.
I am still processing a lot of what happened in my ministry in the military and after I retired. One thing that I can see is the call of God to continue to serve. That will be a central point of concentration in my Doctor of Ministry degree. The degree isn’t about me or about adding some letters after my name. It is about trying to understand and to process my life, my professional experience, and what God is calling me to do with all of it.
As regular readers of my blog know, Thomas Merton has been a significant part of that process. I couldn’t find the source of this quote from Merton but it truly resonates with me and the journey I am on. When ambition ends, happiness begins.
As I consider the ministry God has called me to, I also consider why I continue to serve. It really isn’t about me… it is about following God’s call… it is about something far greater than me. My prayer is that I will remember that and keep the focus on God’s call.
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
Thank you for a day with my sweetheart
Thank you for time to relax and recharge
Thank you for your Spirit’s presence
It has been a good day
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
Today has been a time of reflection and relaxation. The time has been spent at home with my sweetheart. It has also been a time of preparation for tomorrow’s worship. It has also been, for the most part, a time of fasting from the news cycle. So many times I feel myself becoming overwhelmed by all that is going on in the world according to the sensationalist headlines. Sadly there is so much polarization, mistrust, and fear perpetuated by so many.
This picture of the young yearling Elk always makes me smile. It always brings me back to a spirit of gratitude. I found the following quote from Thomas Merton’s book Thoughts in Solitude and it spoke to my heart.
“Every breath we draw is a gift of God’s love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from God. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.”
God’s love and creation bring me back once again into a spirit of gratitude. I am so thankful for these holy reminders.
The journey we are on sometimes is beautiful and picturesque like this trail in Montreat, North Carolina. At other times, the trail can be challenging. The Scripture Readings for The Sixth Sunday after Epiphany are definitely not the pleasant trail in North Carolina. However, even on the rockiest of trails, there is much that we can learn.
As I read Jesus’s words in Matthew 5:21-37 it felt like I had stepped into a warped reality. Plucking out eyes and cutting off hands to “pay for sins” is outlandish to say the least. Then I read the final verse of the passage. Jesus said the following in verse 37–Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.
Obviously Jesus was speaking metaphorically in the examples he was using. He was using extreme examples to make a point. When Jesus said he came to fulfill the law and the prophets, he meant it. He meant it in an extreme way. But the extreme way was not in the way the Pharisees and Scribes thought it would be. It wasn’t in the way they taught it where no common, ordinary person could possibly keep the law. Instead Jesus offered them a new way of keeping the law.
Immediately following these passages, Jesus begins to reveal what he was talking about. If someone strikes you on the left cheek? Offer them your right. If someone sues you and takes your coat, offer them your cloak. If someone forces you to march a mile, walk a second mile. Do not refuse anyone…. and then the kicker, don’t just love your neighbors, love your enemies as well.
The reality was that the people were being called to something greater. Instead of twisting their words and being deceptive, they were to speak plainly. And what language were they to use? The language of Love.
It is the type of love which calls a person to let go of anger, hurt, hatred, and resentment. It is the language which calls us to love and to work together as God’s children. As Paul talked about in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, it doesn’t matter what “brand” you are. Are you a follower of Paul? Great! Are you a follower of Appollos? Super! But that isn’t what defines you. What defines you is that you are a child of God and a follower of Christ.
Far too many have forgotten this today. Yes, I am looking in the mirror as I say this. It’s not about who is in and who is out. It isn’t about what particular “brand” you are. It is about the one we are called to serve. The one who teaches us to lay aside all that divides us from God and from one another.
Instead of judgment (aren’t we all guilty… especially when you look at the extreme examples Jesus shared) why don’t we try on the garments of love, forgiveness, mercy, and grace. This way isn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination. However, it is the way that leads to peace. The peace that only Christ can offer. We are loved by our by the Triune God–Creator, Christ, and Spirit. We are called to live out the law of love.
It isn’t easy as I said. But it is critically necessary if we are to follow Jesus and share the light and love he offers to the world. Will you join me in this challenge as together we seek to follow Jesus?
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been a wonderful day to relax
It has been a time to simply Be Still
It has been a time to snuggle with my sweetheart
For the gift of your peace, Lord
I offer this humble prayer
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
Today is Valentine’s Day. Remember the cards and candy hearts we used to get as children? I remember it well. I also remember the challenge when an awkward kid missed out on so much of the Valentine’s magic. For so many kids it was not the best of times.
As we grow older, we begin to realize that love is so much more than candy hearts and cards. Love is what keeps you going in the midst of the darkness. Love is what lifts you out of despair and into the light. Love redeems… restores… heals… brings hope….
Or as the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:13 — Faith, Hope, and love abide these three; and the greatest of these is love. Two of my spiritual mentors have something to say about love. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said the following in his Nobel Peace prize acceptance speech: I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.
Can you imagine a world where unconditional love will have the final say? Can you imagine a world where these words Thomas Merton shared with Dorothy Day were also the final say? Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.
That is the sort of love I wish we could focus on as a world on Valentine’s Day and every day.
An incredible blog, Jake!
As I was passing through the Atlanta airport last week, a married couple wearing matching surgical masks rushed by me to catch the train to another concourse. It seemed unlikely to me that both of them suffered from a compromised immune system. So I began to wonder if they might be taking precautions against coronavirus…
— Read on jakeowensby.com/2020/02/14/a-love-that-heals/
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been a day of ministry and meetings
It has been a time for reflection and prayer
It has been a time for worship preparation
It has been a time for music and fellowship
It has been a time to Be Still
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
We spent some time tonight with our good friend, Jon Pickett. Jon’s music truly touches Denise and my soul. Tonight he told some stories about his Dad and shared some songs including his song, Refugees which is about the refugee crisis in Africa, Europe, and in our own hemisphere. Jon has a passion for life and for all of God’s children.
He also played a favorite song of mine which the band he is a part of (Chain Station) recorded… Poor Man’s Fight. This song is gutsy and so very real as it calls out the hypocrisy of war.
As regular readers of my blog know, I have spent a lot of time with Thomas Merton and his writings (especially on Peacemaking). Jon talked about division in this country and how much of it is perpetrated by media on all sides. We must focus on the important life and death issues that impact all of God’s children.
In the midst of all this, I can’t help but think that what I write and say must be done for a greater good. In these wilderness times, the voice of peace must be raised up.
Merton wrote to Dorothy Day on August 23, 1961 about this challenge. As for writing: I don’t feel that I can in conscience, at a time like this, go on writing just about things like meditation, thought that has its point. I cannot just bury my head in a lot of rather tiny and secondary monastic studies either. I think I have to face the big issues, the life-and-death issues… (Thomas Merton: A Life in Letters, p. 276)
Whether you are a songwriter like Jon or a pastor like me, the challenge is clear. We must lift up our voices on behalf of the voiceless. Peacemaking and Social Justice are more than a subject for a dissertation or a song. They are the challenge and the hope for our future.
Thank you Jon and Thomas Merton for the reminder… May we lift up our voices and take action for what matters. Peace and Justice for all of God’s children.
