Lent, Week 6, From The Upper Room Center
This newsletter comes to you from The Upper Room Center for Christian Spiritual Formation, an evolving offering of Upper Room resources, past and present.
Diversity and the Peace of Christ by John S. Mogabgab
Practicing the art of peace [is] essential to the meaning of the church.Concern for peace lies at the very heart of biblical tradition. Peace is the great promise and hope of the Hebrew scriptures. The New Testament offers a number of images which express the fulfillment of this promise and hope in Jesus Christ: to be born again from above through the Spirit (John 3), to live according to the Spirit instead of according to the flesh (Rom. 7), to move from slavery to freedom (Gal. 5), from hostility to reconciliation (Rom. 5), from darkness to light (1 Pet. 2), from death to life (Rom. 6).
The theme of peace, therefore, points to the center of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which Paul expressed with typical directness: “He is the peace between us” (Eph. 2:14, JB). Paul perceived that Christ’s death on the cross had inaugurated the reign of God’s peace for which Israel had waited so long. The spell of religious and political antagonism that divided the world between Jews and Gentiles had been broken. In its place, embodied in Jesus Christ and visible in those who gathered in his name, was a new humanity united in community and reconciled with God. For this reason, Paul was convinced that practicing the art of peace was essential to the meaning of the church: “May the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body” (Col. 3:15, JB).
When strangers greet one another in the name of Jesus, when enemies embrace because of Jesus, when congregations seek truth in remembrance of Jesus, then the peace of Christ is reigning in human hearts. Diversity then ceases to divide and instead begins to enrich a deeper unity in Jesus Christ. So fundamental and comprehensive is this unity that Paul could say: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ” (Gal. 3:28, RSV). (From "Editor's Introduction" by John S. Mogabgab inWeavings: A Journal of the Christian Spiritual Life, March/April 1988. Copyright © 1988 by The Upper Room. Used by permission.)
Practice: Blessing
Blessing is the art of being spiritually present to others in prayer. It is asking for God to surround a particular person or situation with love, healing, and peace.Begin by finding a comfortable and quiet place to pray the blessing prayer. Take several slow, deep breaths while letting go any tension in your neck and shoulders. Imagine that you are held in God’s gentle, loving hands. Let yourself rest there and savor the quiet.
Pray for yourself. Focus on the light and warmth of God’s love as it surrounds you. Rest in that light and warmth.
Bless me, God, with your love.
Bless me with your healing.
Bless me with your peace.
(Take a moment for several slow, deep breaths.)
Pray for a good friend. Bring them to mind as vividly as you are able. In this image, hold them in your heart and extend love and grace to them. Now imagine them in God’s gentle, loving hands. Allow them to rest there in God’s hands for a moment.
Bless them, God, with your love.
Bless them with your healing.
Bless them with your peace.
Pray for someone for whom you do not have strong feelings. This may be an acquaintance you cross paths with on occasion but don’t know well.
Bless them, God, with your love.
Bless them with your healing.
Bless them with your peace.
Pray for someone you dislike—an enemy. Imagine them in God’s loving hands, and try to hold them gently in your heart. Release to God any anger or tension that may arise in you. Let these feelings go by setting them free to God’s care.
Bless them, God, with your love.
Bless them with your healing.
Bless them with your peace.
Finally, pray for all four people together—yourself, a friend, an acquaintance, and an enemy. Extend God’s blessing further—to everyone around you, to everyone in your neighborhood, to those in your town, and eventually to all people, everywhere. Imagine that we all are held in God’s hands, and are sustained by God’s love.
Bless all people, everywhere, with your love.
Bless all people with your healing.
Bless all people with your peace.
(Take several deep breaths as you close your time of prayer.) (From A Blessing Exercise by Upper Room staff. Find this spiritual practice and others to strengthen your spiritual journey in The Upper Room's Resources.)
Faithfulness by Elizabeth J. Canham
When we begin to live a spirituality of simplicity, our primary concern ceases to be success and becomes faithfulness. We are called to live with integrity, to express the truth as we perceive it, and to trust in God's ability to use what we offer. (From Heart Whispers: Benedictine Wisdom for Today by Elizabeth J. Canham. Copyright © 1999 by the author. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission of Upper Room Books.)
Prayer by Rueben Job
Ever-loving God, who having loved us loves us still,Help us to hear again your word, "By this shall they know you are my disciples: That you love one another."
Turn our hostility into hospitality and our callousness into care.
Through Christ, we pray. Amen. (From A Guide to Prayer for All God’s People by Rueben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck. Copyright © 1990 by The Upper Room. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.)
Weavings Reprint
How Do We Pray When We Are Divided?, a reprint of an article by Stephen V. Doughty from The WeavingsJournal. Available in The Upper Room Bookstore.
Join the Journey
Join us in an upcoming Two-Year Academy for Spiritual Formation. California - beginning in July. Alabama - beginning in August. the gospel lessons for each Sunday of Lent.
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Audio Lectio is a guided meditation using each week's gospel reading from the lectionary.
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Blessings to you during this Lenten season.
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Blessings to you during this Lenten season.
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