Pastoral Thought--July 30

This week I have spent a lot of time thinking and reading about joy. For joy is an essential emotion in our lives with Christ; it is a gift from God that we live into. But we cannot think about joy, and how to respond to it, or even how to pass it on, without also thinking about how prayer brings joyful ideas, words, and thoughts into our minds. While there are appropriate and necessary times to "bow our heads" in lament, or in times of need to God, I find that most often my prayers, which may begin in a self-centered arena, move into thoughts of joy the longer that I linger in the discipline. The more that I am honest with God, the more I find God revealing places and moments to reflect joyously from my day.  

For example, the guy who tailgated me today as I went to an appointment at my doctor’s office, and how also raised his hands in protest that I was only going 10 miles over the speed limit, no longer is something that I roll my eyes at or become frustrated by. Instead, the longer I spend time in prayer with God, the more I feel differently. I feel joyful that I was able to go to that appointment in a non-rushed mindset or practice. My morning, up to that point, proceeded smoothly—and that brought me joy. This unnamed man may have normally frustrated me on a normal day when I was driving, but today, I felt nothing negative rising up in me as I drove.  

The Way of a Pilgrim is a 19th century Russian work recounting the narrator’s journey as a pilgrim practicing the Jesus Prayer. For those not familiar with this prayer, the Jesus Prayer is a simple prayer that is repeated as often as needed. Tracing its roots back to 5th century Egypt, the Eastern Orthodox Church has adopted this prayer as part of their regular worship and find it helpful it moving their thoughts from places and moments of frustration (something they may define as sinful) into a posture of joy and peace. 

When you pray the Jesus Prayer, you can find a rhythm to your breathing that helps ‘pace’ how the prayer is said. Each clause being an opportunity to breath in and breath out. The text is simple: 

"Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

So in The Way of a Pilgrim, this prayer is the central guiding feature of the book. Along the journey, the narrator encounters individuals who he uses to debate or ask questions about the necessity of praying continually (taken from 1 Thessalonians 5:17). In one of those discourses, we find the Pilgrim being given this response which I think is helpful as we seek to remain joyous in a world filled with moments of frustration and resignation: 

“The soul which is interiorly united with God is full of joy and like a gentle and simple-hearted child does not judge anyone, neither the Greek, the pagan, the Jew, nor the sinner, but looks at everyone without exception with a pure eye, rejoices with the whole world, and desires that all, Greeks, Jews, and pagans, praise God."

I wonder today if God has brought before you the opportunity be joyful? Maybe something has caused frustration or sadness to grow in you? If that is the case, then what would it look like be “interiorly united with God” so that God’s joy can change your life and heart? 

Blessings

Rev. Derek