Many preachers and scholars, C.S. Lewis amongst them, have said, “The Bible is true but not always factual” and it is similar with the tales of the Celtic Saints. Their biographies were written many years after they had died, and were to show a truth rather than to be factual accurate. As I researched St Kentigern, and read about his miracles, and journeys, I asked myself: what does this Saint Kentigern have to teach us today?
He was born in Scotland, was said to have established Glasgow as a religious centre. The four symbols of his main miracles are on the coat of arms for Glasgow; a bird, a tree, a bell and a fish. But when persecution of Christians came to Strathclyde, he move to Wales. Even though Kentigern had been a leader of a religious community, he was content to come under St David’s leadership and learn from him. Whilst in North Wales, he set up a monastery which, according to Jocelyn of Furness, who wrote Kentigern’s biography in about 1185, he did it because he believed the scattered Welsh monks needed a place to gather for education and to support each other. When he went back to Scotland, he left it under the care of Asaph. The monastery and the subsequently town that grew up around the monastery, are called “Llanelwy” in Welsh, meaning church by the river Elwy, but are better known by their English name of St Asaph. It is only the hospice on the edge of the town, opened in 1995, which bears Kentigern’s name. He also established churches through Northern England.
For me, the three key areas that stood out are (1) he was not constrained by nationalistic or ethnic boundaries; (2) he was not afraid to learn from others; and (3) he did not need to be recognised for his achievements.
In the UK, we have just left the EU. Also, as one watches the TV reports on the Covid-19 pandemic, one can see how divided the principalities of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are. In Europe and America, we see issues of politics and immigration dividing countries. And that immigrants are fleeing their countries because of ethnic and political issues. The world appears to be dividing up along stronger and stronger nationalist and ethnic boundaries. This, in turn, leads people to become more and more afraid to learn from people who are not “of their tribe”, which is as true for some Christian denominations as it is for the secular world. At least, following on from the Black Lives Matters protests, more of us are reading books written by people with lives and experiences that are diverse to our own.
The third point I noticed was how St Kentigern did not need recognition for his achievements. I know this is something I struggle with. There are a few people that I have befriended and encouraged, who have gone on to do amazing things and have forgotten that I supported them when they were new to an area or needed a leg up. I have struggled with that but am learning to let it go by asking myself why I need that recognition. Somehow we need to all let go of the need to be recognised. I’m sure we can quote the verses about praise in heaven, etc, but can we live them?
So how do we let go of our ties to our nationalistic, political and ethnic boundaries? How do we make ourselves willing to learn from others who are different to us? And how do we let go of needing to be recognised? I think it is by letting go of fear. From the things I have read about St Kentigern and many of the other Celtic saints, is that they had a holistic faith so did not need to be bounded by identity, being known for their knowledge or their achievements. Kentigern trusted in God, talked and listened to God, and fully accepted that his reward would come in heaven. He had nothing to fear because he knew he was doing what God had called him to. His miracles all show his care for the natural world and for his fellow humans.
To follow Kentigern’s example, we need to let go of our fears of needing others to know what we’ve done and what we know, and be content to learn from whoever God places in our path. We need to do the things God shows us we are to do but then hold them lightly and let go when told. And we need to be content and secure in who we are and our relationship with God.
“The only thing that stands between us and the awesome energy of love [God] is fear. To live without fear, we must stop analysing it, stop agonising over it, stop fighting with it, and let it go.”
-Love is Letting Go Of Fear by Dr. Gerald G. Jampolsky
The story of St Kentigern, as with many of the Celtic saints, shows a life lived without fear and lived out filled the awesome energy of God. This is the lesson this saint can give us today.
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by J. Thomas
Every gift that comes from you is like the grace
from heaven’s door, embracing me and chas-
ing me; my heart delights in you. Restored
is all that once was. Lost I am without
your sweet and lovely face adoring Him.
It is more than I deserve and more than I can take,
yet my heart aches without you, imploring heaven’s gate
to let me hear you breathing, easing all
that can’t be lift. You are the gift, you are
the grace. My one true love whom I adore.
I adore the way you wipe your feet before
we go to bed. You make me laugh
every time you dance and my soul feels
cherished every time you sing. Did you know
every thing you do makes my life feel grand and
worth living? But your heart is grieved and worn
from living. How could I let it happen?
I love you, Jane, and I would die for you,
yet still these pains remain.
I ask for Him to touch your wounded heart.
Your wounded heart with many blows, but still
so patient will you be with me, and hon-
oring the path you chose enduring pain
as illness rose. By step by step we build
again as faith surrounds us both. I see
a heart, a strength that will not fail. I hear
a voice, a hope that will prevail.
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by Christine Sine
Today’s post is adapted from one that I have posted several times before. However, as we enter this second year of COVID with fears about the possibilities of more lockdowns and restrictions conflicting with our desire to get rid of masks and start gathering together, I know that many of us are wondering, “Does God Will Healing?” The rising death toll, and the devastation to the lives of so many of our loved ones has left us wondering if God cares.
I believe that God’s ultimate desire is the health and wholeness not just of all persons, but of all creation as well. So, as we begin a new Godspace theme: Time to Heal, I think the place to start is with reminding ourselves of God’s will for healing. And it is not just COVID that makes us struggle with God’s desire for healing – it is the friends we know with cancer, those that struggle with chronic illnesses and those with mental illnesses. Then as we look at the broader world, we realize the need for healing in relationships, in racial injustices, in environmental pollution. So, let us remind ourselves today of God’s will for healing for all of creation.
—————————————————————————————————————————
God Does Care
From the time the children of Israel came out of Egypt, God showed concern for their physical as well as their spiritual well-being. However, God’s prescription for health was always very different from that of the surrounding cultures. During Moses life, the Papyrus Ebers written about 1552 B.C. provided many of the standard treatments for disease. Drugs included “lizards’ blood, swines’ teeth, putrid meat, stinking fat, moisture from pigs ears, goose grease, asses’ hoofs, excreta from animals, including human beings, donkeys, antelopes, dogs, cats and even flies.”
Not quite our idea of good medicine and not God’s either.
However, God’s prescription for good health doesn’t necessarily look like a physician’s prescription either. Pills and surgery are not always at the top of the list. And as with so much of what God does, good health doesn’t usually come with the waving of a magic wand and miraculous healings; it begins with simple preventative measures.
God Believes in Preventative Measures
It was the Levites, the religious leaders of the community, to whom God gave the principles for health and hygiene. They were responsible for both the physical and spiritual health of the community. Physical cleanliness was for the priests a symbol of spiritual cleanliness. One depended on the other and both were performed by those people whose lives were set aside to serve God. God gave them detailed instructions for basic cleanliness and sanitation that, if followed today, would greatly increase the level of hygiene in many a struggling nation. It would be hard for us to imagine our church workers as garbage disposal experts or as sanitation workers, yet for the Levites, this all came under their jurisdiction.
God’s health laws encourage us to think responsibly about what we eat, how we act and how we treat the environment around us. Many of the laws of Leviticus are good preventative health directives that we still use today. These regulations include nutrition, environmental laws and behaviour – the three primary factors that influence the health of any individual or community. Others are guidelines for how the most vulnerable in society are to be cared for. We shouldn’t over eat, abuse our bodies with drugs and alcohol or pollute the environment and blame God for the consequences to our health.
Practice:
Grab one of your masks. Examine the simplicity of it – 3 layers of cloth to protect you and your loved ones from a deadly disease. Put it on. Take some deep breaths in and out though the cloth and thank God for the protection it provides.
Now go and wash your hands with soap and warm water. Wipe down your counters with water and bleach. Thank God for these simple preventative health measures, that slow the spread of COVID and other contagious diseases.
In what ways could you encourage the use of preventative measures in your community to help curtail the spread of COVID?
God Made Us To Be Healthy
Nothing speaks more highly of God’s desire for healing than the incredible systems of protection and repair within our own bodies. The immune system cures most of the illnesses that attack us. Wounds heal, bones knit together and tissue repairs itself in miraculous ways we rarely think about unless something goes wrong. Fascinatingly, this system is enhanced by bacteria in our gut and in our environments. In Let Them Eat Dirt: Saving Your Child From an Oversanitized World, Brett Finlay and Marie-Claire Arrieta, document how microbes improve our health and that of our children. It is fascinating. At best, doctors and nurses assist God’s healing work yet we rarely thank God for the miracle of how we are created.
Practice:
When was the last time you hurt yourself so that you bled from the wound? If it was only a few days ago, the wound might have a scab over it. If it was longer, it might just have left a scar. Examine that healed wound. Run your hand over the scar. Imagine what it would be like if God had not designed our tissues so that they repaired themselves. Thank God for the incredible healing properties of your body.
Consider The Healing Properties of Plants
Unfortunately, these systems don’t always work but God provided other elements to assist the healing process. Most modern medicines originate from medicinal plants and herbs that are a part of God’s wonderful creation.
What salves or drinks or medicines do you have around the house that you know are made from plants? I think of aspirin which comes from the willow bark and of digoxin, still a major heart medication which comes from foxgloves or aloe which helps to sooth our hands when we use lots of hand sanitizer and our lips when they get dry. If you are a keen gardener like I am, the names of plants in your garden that assist healing might come to mind. Or, you might enjoy a cup of herbal tea for its relaxing and healing properties. Here, too, we can thank God for the wonders of healing in our world.
Practice:
Look in your medicine cabinet. Pull out the medications and ointments that you know are made from plants. Walk around your house and garden. What can you identify that has healing properties derived from plants? Now, if you can, make yourself a cup of herbal tea, sit down and hold it closely in your hands. Thank God for the healing properties of plants.
Physical and Spiritual Healing Linked
Interestingly, the Greek word most commonly translated save in the New Testament SOZO can also be translated heal. It means to heal, preserve, save, make whole. Central to God’s model of health and wholeness is reconciliation to God. Healing depended not only on the taking of medicine but primarily on obedience to God’s word and commandments. Healing from a Christian perspective is the process of moving towards wholeness in body, soul and spirit not just as individuals, but as a worldwide community. The purpose of medicine is to support and encourage human wholeness in every respect but it should be used in conjunction with other health measures.
For early followers of Christ, spiritual and physical health were linked as one ministry too. In the early Judeo-Christian church, healing was considered part of the religious function of the community. Monetary compensation was forbidden. In contrast, the Graeco-Roman tradition professionalized medicine and saw it as a vocation to be monetarily compensated – the model that we now embrace.
The rapid growth of the early church was probably a result of its power to heal, to cast out demons and to create communities of mutual care. Interestingly, this was closely linked to an acceptance of suffering as an identification with the sufferings of Christ and an understanding of physical illness as part of a larger paradigm in which God’s grace works through human weakness. Throughout most of Christian history, the church provided centers for healing and cared for the sick and the suffering. In the Middle Ages, the monasteries were centers of healing. They were often famous for their herb gardens which provided a broad range of medicinal substances that were produced for use within the monastic community as well as in the outside secular community.
In this framework, the medical attendant was seen as a servant to the poor and the sick, someone who came to relieve their pain, to heal their hurts and to comfort their concerns. Spiritual and physical health and healing walked hand in hand, separate parts of a whole person.
Practice:
Read through this wonderful quote from Ecclesiasticus, one of the books in the Appocrypha; those books between the Old and New Testament that are considered by some to be a part of the Biblical text. Read through the verses slowly. What stands out for you? Think of doctors and nurses who have treated you, your loved ones and all who are ill or who have calmed your anxieties during this stressful season. Offer a prayer of gratitude for their dedication and expertise.
New Testament Symbols of Healing
The Cross is probably the most powerful symbol of, and power for, healing in the world. Its redeeming and transforming power brings healing to body soul and spirit – and beyond that, it brings healing to communities, and eventually will bring healing to our entire broken world.
The taking of communion is another powerful symbol of healing. In many churches, healing services are Eucharistic, deliberately linking our need for healing to confession, repentance and forgiveness (1 Cor 11:27-34). Baptism, too, because it infuses a person with new life, the life of Christ, and can drive out before it all the powers of sickness and death (Rom 6: 1-14).
James 5:13-16 lists other important symbols of healing we need to pay attention to. Praying for the sick, often associated with laying on of hands, anointing with oil, singing psalms and hymns, confession and forgiveness are all practices that can encourage the healing process.
Observing the liturgical calendar is another way that God’s people can find God’s healing. “By connecting to the seasons of the church year, we enter into a rhythm that focuses every day and every season very intentionally on the One who gives all of life meaning and purpose.” (Godspace:Time for Peace in the Rhythms of Life,159). “By celebrating through the structures of the Church we actually are given the forms we need to become whole and we are given the formulas to make whole every human experience.” (Gertrud Mueller Nelson from To Dance with God: Family Ritual and Community Celebration).
hand cross
Practice:
Do you have a small cross that you could hold in your hand this week as a reminder of God’s redemptive power and its ability to bring healing to body, soul and spirit? Or is there another item that brings you awareness of God’s healing power that you could keep close to you this week.
God wills healing and has written the power of healing and wholeness into our bodies, our spirits and our world. Thank God for the wholeness that will one day come to the entire creation.
I love this contemplative service for the first Sunday of Epiphany from St Andrews Episcopal Church in Seattle. I hope you will take the time to enjoy the rich and nourishing music and contemplative pauses.
A contemplative service with music in the style-of-Taize for the Baptism of the Lord (Epiphany 1). Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756 with additional notes below.
“La Ténèbre (Our Darkness),” “Atme in Uns,” and “Što Oko Ne Vidje (What No Eye has Seen)” are songs from the Taize Community. Copyright and all rights reserved by GIA/Les Presses de Taizé.
“O Star” is an original song written by Kester Limner, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY).
“Kyrie for July 5, 2020” – music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers, text by Kester Limner, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY).
Thank you for praying with us! www.saintandrewsseattle.org
by Christine Sine
We have now moved into the Epiphany season which prompted me to write the prayer above and post it on Facebook a couple of days ago. It has been so popular that I thought I would post it here too.
The Epiphany season is of variable length. It is usually regarded as extending from the Feast of the Epiphany (Jan. 6) through the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. It does not just celebrate the coming of the Magi. We also celebrate various events that manifest the divinity of Jesus. Jesus’ baptism is observed on the Sunday after Epiphany. The gospels for the other Sundays of the Epiphany season describe the wedding at Cana, the calling of the disciples, and various miracles and teachings of Jesus. The Last Sunday after the Epiphany is always devoted to the Transfiguration. Jesus’ identity as the Son of God is dramatically revealed in the Transfiguration gospel, as well as the gospel of the baptism of Christ. We are called to respond to Christ in faith through the showings of his divinity recorded in the gospels of the Epiphany season. (adapted from Episcopal Church website)
Worldly thinking has us resenting the fact and nature of a breakdown, but this is where faith in Jesus is the answer to that conundrum. As Christ was resurrected, so may our hopes be resurrected through the power of God’s Spirit through faith. And this is not just lip service.
If there’s a time when life runs awfully — and there are times when it has and does! — there’s also a time (coming) when life’s path is level; clearer, simpler, easier. Never immediately, but always inevitable.
If we’re impacted by despair, hope is not too far away.
If there’s a time to breakdown, there’s also a time to heal.
And if there’s time for conflict and division, there’s a time for peace and unity.
If there are times when we lack motivation — and there certainly have been and are! — there are also opportunities ahead to reclaim our purpose; to have it not only revived and rekindled, but reformed and renewed.
There have been times when we’ve been separated by loss or conflict or situations beyond our control. There are seasons, also, for new and burgeoning relationships and opportunities, when love is replenished and the loneliness in our hearts finds a deeper resolve. Never to reject those feelings that are awkward and awful; these give context to feelings of abundance and meaning.
There is something incredibly redemptive in the hope reclaimed by faith, that, from the other side, we see looking back with introspection.
Having recovered, we see not only that we did it, and how we did it; faith gives us eyes for how we’ve also been enriched for the experience. Recovery is the truth of redemption in a living soul and blessed are those who experience this grace.
We’re never glad to have been there in the thick of the fog, but we’re always glad to see (again) with fresh vision. Having been in the thick of the fog, we see just how dark life can get; which educates us and expands the borders of our perspective, deepens our capacity for empathy, and widens our ability and willingness to offer care.
What is required to heal? How do we bring that time forward, if we can?
By remembering. Through words in Scripture. Through revelation. Through friends and mentors and loved ones. Through an image. Through the path of one thing to another, as we’re led by God’s Spirit.
Whenever we’ve been on the sad or mad end of things for long enough, there’s just a moment forward of that location where something new comes in.
The topography of one soul’s experience is like this: deserts give way to oases.
If there’s a time to heal, there’s a time for perspective, especially as we return to the truth that we best accept this life and its foibles the best we can. There’s an instant and sustainable portion of peace in that. As we remain there, in the locale of soul stillness.
And from peace, from rest, from the glory of a reset perspective, we have the wherewithal to advocate and do more of God’s good work… with hope and joy abounding, the work ahead is easier and even more doable.
I’m always encouraged by the words of the apostle Paul from 2 Corinthians 12:10, “When I am weak, then I am strong.”
Paul reminds us in Philippians 1:30 that he himself was often imperilled. Even as he ministered to the churches in their weakness, he led them with integrity in his own weakness. He wasn’t afraid to be vulnerable. He didn’t see it as a disqualifier for ministry, and indeed, Paul shows us, as Jesus also did, it’s a prerequisite.
Paul shows us the way to redeem our breakdowns.
When we’re vulnerable, we follow the way of Jesus.
Henri Nouwen (1932 – 1996) reminded me recently that ‘vulnera’ (Latin) means ‘wound’. It takes courage to live wounded. It’s only as we live wounded that we bear the power to heal.
When we’re vulnerable, we practice wounded healing.
Paul shows us how to live the vulnerability of Jesus — who came into this world and died vulnerable and was very often vulnerable before the religious elite. To follow Jesus is to follow his way of vulnerable living. It ought to be no surprise, then, when God heals us and others because of our and their weakness.
Photo by Amelie & Niklas Ohlrogge on Unsplash
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I am exhausted…
I think so many of us are.
We don’t even realize how tired we are from all the stress of this past year.
And then the events of yesterday happened at the capital in DC!
Exhausted….
We so want to turn the calendar page and have all things be made new!
Yet there is this knowing that it isn’t true.
Yes, there is hope!
Yes, there is a vaccine on the way.
Yes, we get a new president for my birthday on the 20th.
But we truly are exhausted.
Our bodies know it, even if our minds still cannot comprehend it.
Our souls know it, too.
Our hearts are crying out for time to just be still.
To stop.
To breathe.
But it’s the New Year and life is beginning again post-holiday breaks.
Today, as I prayed while I made my coffee,
I prayed for all my friends who are parents who are starting a new semester with their kids…
Many online AGAIN.
Many still all together day after day.
And I prayed for all my friends who are teachers…
Some back in the classroom in the midst of the pandemic concerned for their health.
And others teaching on the screen which is totally NOT why they got into education.
Exhausted.
They want to be with the students face to face, not struggling to get them to actually turn on their cameras!
I’m praying for healthcare workers of all sorts! The exhaustion they feel, the frustration they know, the suffering they see everyday, while people “out there’ are still denying reality and still arguing over masks.
GIFT of REST
It’s time to open another gift.
It’s Epiphany so gifts can continue in honor of the Magi.
I want us all to take a breath.
To pause.
To breathe.
To pause long enough to see the reality of our fatigue.
To realize that each of us are so much more than what we accomplish each day.
We are truly valuable even if we never produce or do anything.
We are that treasure that God looks for in that field.
Open the gift
I’d like us all to actually OPEN the gift of REST.
Not just look at the pretty packaging and the wouldn’t it be nice ribbon around it. But turn off the phone, and put down the remote and OPEN UP REST!
It’s been a very long year.
Our bodies, minds and souls need the space and time to heal.
What would it look like for you to actually open the gift of REST in 2021?
Even if you just took the lid off in January, what would that be like?
Could you give yourself permission to go to bed early?
Could you allow yourself a nap? Or a long bath?
Could you plan an afternoon away from the tv and the computer and even the phone?
Could REST become the spiritual practice you are looking for to help connect you back to Jesus this year?
Take a look at the package, the box the gift of rest is in.
Notice there is a card on top.
Stop.
Don’t put the card aside for later and just rip open the package.
Open the card.
READ IT… Wow, there is a gift card just for you!
You (your name) are given PERMISSION to REST in 2021!
No pressure.
No performance.
No shame.
No way to do this wrong.
It’s a PERMISSION SLIP to allow you to REST and to practice REST in 2021!
you have permission to REST!
REST also needs a place on your calendar.
For me, I’m re-uping my sabbath practice of turning off social media from Friday night to Sunday morning… we have church community gathering on Sunday night so I need to communicate. But I need the mental break from the news, comments, and competition I often feel online.
Create a time… start with 15 minutes… you can do ANY THING for 15 minutes. What would 15 minutes of real rest look like? Feel like?
Create Time to Rest
Create a place… do you need a new pillow, a fluffy throw blanket, a new mug and some good tea to help you rest?
Or would new pens, markers and a blank book help you rest?
Or a hammock if you can be outside where you live?
Just like every spiritual practice… REST takes practice…
Create your practice.
I didn’t grow up with REST as a practice.
I grew up with a dad who came home from his job and worked more on the farm.
He got up on Saturday with a list a mile long for us to help work on…
Rest wasn’t a practice or a value, it was all about performance. So I’ve had to unlearn performance and really practice RESTING… Stopping… Receiving the gift of Sabbath and REST!
Help your kids learn to rest. They can learn that it’s gift from God for them to open too!
Jesus never burned out! He did get tired and when he saw his disciples were tired from ministry, he got them away from the crowds and got them to seek rest!
(Often this rest got interrupted, and yours might too, but do not give up!) #restisHOLY
And you may think you haven’t accomplished enough to rest, you may say, but “I’ve still got piles everywhere and decorations to put away and laundry to do”… put those thoughts away… remember Jesus’s invitation to experience the unforced rhythms of grace….
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30
You still can open the Gift of REST!
It’s still for you from Jesus …
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