Devotions from Stephen Smith’s book, Soul Custody

Are we doing more but living less?  Making a living but not having a life?  Annie Dillard said, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives”
Everyone who feels more dead than alive, more tired than energized, more burned out than motivated is a soul who needs to be cared for.  We can gain the world but lose our soul.

We need to take custody of our souls and choose to live in life- giving ways.  We need to take responsibility for our souls and hearts for this is our sacred privilege.  As we do this we will begin to see the transformation that our hearts have always longed for.  Simply put, being mindful of our souls requires loving the Lord our God with all our heart and mind.

We have only one soul. This it the only life we will live-so let’s live it well.

Devotions from Brennan Mannings book, The Rabbi’s Heartbeat

The words of Beatrice Beuteau, “God’s love is not conditional. We cannot do anything to deserve God’s love-for which reason it is called grace; and we need not do anything to provoke it. It is already there.  Any love that is going to be salvific must be this type, absolutely unconditional and free.”  Some people never seem to get beneath the surface of their lives and die before they learn to live.  They mistrust God, the world, and even themselves and are unable to make a passionate commitment to anyone or anything.  They miss tasting life deeply. Jesus came to reconcile us to Him.  We can’t receive what He has to offer unless we see our plight and need of Him.  He knows our deepest secrets and we don’t have to grab a cosmetic kit to make ourselves presentable before Him. His message to us is forgiveness, peace, and reconciliation.  If we open the door to Him we will find we are not alone. He is with us and also gives us fellow travelers along the way.  We can accept ourselves as we trust His acceptance of us as we are. He said, “Behold I make all things new.”  Today may we receive the wonder and beauty of ourselves as His child.

Devotions by Brennan Manning’s book, The Rabbi’s Heartbeat

“Keep your own death before your eyes each day”, said Saint Benedict. In our society today there is a refusal to view life in light of eternity. There is a denial of death and a fantasy of invincibility.  Some find it too painful to consider separation from a loved one, and they keep up a frantic pace of life so there is no time to think seriously. To keep our own death before our eyes takes faith and fortitude. When we are most conscious of our belovedness and are alert to the risenness of Jesus, we can face death courageously. Because He lives, we will live. ( John 14:19)  The denial of death is not a healthy option for a Christian. Christ within us is our hope of glory. He is our life, the most real fact about us. He is the power and wisdom of God dwelling within us. Let us keep the thought of death in our consciousness as a reminder of the seriousness and joy of life. Our hope is in the invincible power and might of the risen Christ who overpowered death that we might truly live.

Devotions from Brennan Manning’s book The Rabbi’s Heartbeat

The author said, “Genuine faith leads to knowing the love of God, to confessing Jesus as Lord, and to being transformed by what we know.” If we want to know what a person really believes, we don’t just listen to what he says, we watch what he does.  Jesus reinforced his words with deeds. On the eve of His death, he took off His outer garment, tied a towel around His waist, poured water into a basin,  and washed His disciple’s feet. He took the role of a servant and asks us to embrace that lifestyle too. As we do this we bear the stamp of authentic followers of Him.  In our world of upward mobility, to prefer to be the servant rather than the Lord of the household is the path of downward mobility. Servanthood is not an emotion or mood or feeling: it is a decision to live as Jesus lived.  Let us ask Him for a servant’s heart and show us how to serve this day.

Devotions based on Brennan Manning’s book, The Rabbi’s Heaertbeat

The author said when we lack a lively awareness of our core identity as His child, it is easy to become enslaved to the approval and disapproval of others.  Much of our day can be spent placating and pleasing people, and their opinions can hold a control over us.  There is much good that is left undone because of our fear of the opinion of others. We too often think of what others will say rather than doing what is best, although often unpopular.  As we accept more of our core identity as His child, we slowly gain autonomy from controlling relationships.  We become inner-directed rather than out-determined.  We may have moments of pleasure or pain caused by the affirmation or deprivation of others as that never entirely disappears.  Sometimes we have to stand alone when the only alternative is to cut a deal at the price of our integrity.  It is lonely but is courageous to make unpopular decisions that are expressive of the truth of who we are-not of who we think we should be or someone else wants us to be.  But let us follow our conscience and stand for the truth even when others may disapprove. When we stand up and claim responsibility for our unique self, we are growing in freedom from the bondage of human approval.  His approval is all that matters!

Devotions based on Brennan Manning’s book, The Rabbi’s Heartbeat

It is one thing to discover a treasure but another to claim it as our own through determination and effort.  So often in our lives get so fascinated with the trophies of this world that is passing away…pursuit of money, pleasure, power etc.  Whatever it is, it dims and numbs our capacity to be affected by Him.   What a difference there is between knowing about God and knowing Him!  John refers to himself as the one who Jesus loved.  He experienced that love and leaned against His heart to hear His heartbeat.  John did not believe that Jesus was the most important thing; he believed that He was the only thing.  “What establishes preeminence in the Christian  community  is not office, title, or territory; not the charismatic gifts of tongues, healing , or inspired preaching, but only our response to Jesus’ question, “Do you love Me?”

Devotions from Brennan Manning’s book, The Rabbi’s Heartbeat

How often do we shut the Lord out of our lives?  Maybe we enjoy some things alone to exclude Him or to hug certain experiences and relationships to ourselves.  It may not consist of the denial of a personal God, but rather we grow inattentive to His sacred presence. Just the way we spend our time and money and the way we interact with others testifies to the degree that we are aware of Him.  It is much like a human relationship. When we are inattentive  it undermines love, confidence, and communion with others. So it is with God.  When we are inattentive to our true self hidden with Christ in God we become unaware of His divine presence.  We need to weigh and measure the things we allow in our lives and keep only those that have eternal value.

“May all your expectations be frustrated, may all your plans be thwarted, may all your desires be withered into nothingness, that you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child and sing and dance in the love of God who is Father , Son and  Spirit.” Larry Hein.

Devotions based on Brennan Manning’s book, The Rabbi’s Heartbeat

As Christians we have the resurrection power at work in us. This power enables us to accept pain and to discover that we are not alone. It helps us to stand fast in our present circumstances and grow as a result.   Even when tragedy alters our direction in life, we can experience His resurrection power. Every day we are being reshaped into His image. Everything that happens to us is designed to this end and nothing exists beyond the pale of His presence.  Nothing is irrelevant to it and nothing is without significance to it. Through union with Him nothing is wasted. Everything great and small, important and unimportant, distant and near has meaning and value.  “There is never a moment that does not carry eternal significance-no action that is sterile, no love that lacks fruition, and no prayer that is unheard.”   Let us walk in this freedom and power.

Yesterday I went for a walk to the Point for a time of reflectionby the Lake.  On the way home I noticed a road sign that showed the winding road and curves ahead. I thought how great it would be if our journey was like that and we could know what is ahead. But of course we don’t and would that be good?  Would we then be quiet and listen to Him in trust? So often we go to the Lord telling Him we need this or that, or even just tell Him we are His child. But He already knows that and knows our heart and intention far better than we do. How much better it would be to sit in quietness with Him and remember that He prays within us. Sometimes I wonder if the Lord doesn’t want to just hush us up so He can communicate to us in our inmost being.  As I read today from Michael Molinos, “The transformation of your soul consists not in speaking to God nor in thinking on God, but in loving Him greatly.”  He goes on to say this is acquired by silence of our words, silence of our desires and silence of our thoughts.  Today in our women’s class the leader had us close our eyes and listen to the Word she read, followed by sharing what spoke to us.  I think I received more today than many other studies that were so full of information. The Lord wants to guide us to the place where He alone communicates Himself to us. It is in that place that I believe He transforms our soul!