Psalms, part 2

When you want to ascend too quickly, the psalms will grab you by the heel and pull you back to earth. With the psalms there’s no posturing or pretending before God—no tidy language offered to God, no flowery nonsense. Angry? There are psalms to help you voice your rage. Confused? There are psalms for that too. And there are psalms that’ll give you words when you’re holding a newborn, when your bank account's overdrawn, your lover’s betrayed you, cancer’s trying to kill you, the government’s a mess, or you’re standing in awe before a sunset. The psalms pull all the anatomy of the human soul onto the path toward God—nothing inappropriate, unwelcome, or excluded. They'll penetrate your pretension and puncture your denial; they'll make you more human, and therefore more nearly divine. Pray a psalm a day. If it’s long, pray part of it. And I suggest you chant or sing it. After all, the word, psalm, means “song.” Merely speaking a psalm is inconsistent with its nature—a little like using a spoon as a mirror; sure, you’ll see yourself, but poorly.

There are, of course, techniques for chanting the psalms, and there are many good books to help you. But I urge you to simply try it. Just gently let your voice interpret the words you’re singing—in your own way, a simple, even faltering little tune. Look, you’re not giving a performance; you’re sitting before the One who takes great delight in whatever you offer; and you’re offering these old words just as they instruct you to offer them, as a “new song” rising from your heart (Psalm 96.1).

And as you do, God smiles. Guaranteed.

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Psalms, part 1

In prayer, Christ is leading you up the holy mountain and into an encounter that will lead you speechless (Mark 9.2-8). But you’ll never reach the peaks of prayer without sauntering the well-worn paths through the valleys and along the ridges of the psalms. When you pray the psalms, you’re praying the prayers Jesus prayed. He knew them by heart and carried them with him wherever he went. Praying the psalms involved him in a tradition that was already a thousand years old. When you pray them now, you’re following a path that’s led people up the holy mountain for over three thousand years. Some people look at these old, crusty prayers and think they can bypass them. They want the rarified air, the glorious views, the transforming vision found at the heights of meditation and contemplation. They don’t like paths—they want shortcuts; they don’t want to walk where others have walked before.

In the fourth through sixth century, the deserts of the Middle East were populated by daring and sometimes foolish God-seekers. The Roman Empire was collapsing and many were seeking firm ground to stand on. The deserts became home to some of the wisest, sanest saints alive. But they also held the bleached bones of fools who tried to soar too quickly, pioneering types who thought they didn’t need paths, and figured they could get along without guides. The wise knew better and said so: “If you see a brother trying to climb into heaven,” they taught, “grab him by the heel and pull him back to earth.”

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Way

Along this narrow way Jesus said the gate is wide and the way easy that leads to trouble. Most people take it—some willingly, others because they don’t know there’s an option. But the gate is narrow and the road hard that leads to life, and few find it (Matthew 7.13-14).

You know the way—that you’ve risen today to pray is evidence that you’ve chosen to walk through that narrow gate. It is the gate of faith, the interior path of union with Jesus in the Spirit.

That’s all you are to do: walk through the gate into Christ Jesus. Once inside, Christ will guide you along the path. It’s not up to you to determine the path, the scenery, or the speed you travel. Just walk, blindly trusting Jesus to guide you along the way. This is, after all, a path of darkness not light.

Of course, that will bewilder you. Isn’t Jesus the light? Shouldn’t this be easier than it is? Yes, he is the light, but he’s the light within you, and that light makes everything outside you dark. It’s like you’re carrying a lantern through the woods at night. Beyond the circle of light, all is dark, impenetrable to the eye. So, on this path you are blind to all but the light. What’s worked for you in the past—your senses, your experience, your intelligence—won’t work on this path that carries you into the kingdom within. You have only the light of faith. And you must learn to trust it. That’s why this path is hard. But when you’ve learned to let everything else go to gain a simple heart, a tamed ego, and a serene mind, your travel along this inner way will become nearly effortless. You become a simple, easy-going soul—no longer caring where you’re going, trusting your Guide to lead you around the potholes and ditches, and past the wild beasts. You let your love for Christ carry you blindly, trustingly wherever he leads.

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Communion

Prayer theme: the communion of the Holy Trinity Honestly, the Trinity will baffle you. You won’t ever get your mind around It. This is God we’re talking about, not beer or Tylenol. If we can say what God-as-Trinity is, then what kind of god would we really have? Any god we can describe cannot be the God who is the Source and End of all things—the Alpha and Omega. This isn’t a put down to your intellect. It’s simply recognizing its limitations. Your mind, made by God, can adore the One who made it but can never comprehend the Mystery Itself.

God is One—always, eternally. And God is Three—always, eternally. Three-in-One and One-in-Three—always, eternally. Three Persons, one Substance. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Mother, Wisdom, Sacred Fire.

God exists in community, but a community that gets along. Always, eternally.

There is no warfare between Persons of the Trinity. There is no hierarchy. The Father is not more-God than the Son, the Son doesn’t have a higher pay-grade than the Spirit. Just as the One exists as Many, so the Many exist as One.

Here’s the pay-dirt for you today—

It’s going to look and feel like things are coming apart around you. You’ll see plenty of signs of competition and struggle, anger and violence, chaos and madness. But you’ve joined up with God. You’ve welcomed “the communion of the Holy Trinity,” and this communion is your guarantee that a community can get along. The Trinity is your warrant of hope for the world in the midst of brokenness. The Trinity is the fountain of love in the face of hostility, the source of compassion and justice where there is anger and violence and alienation.

Now, when you pray, you welcome the communion of all things—your family, your friends and workplace included. One day all things, the nations and Earth too, will be as God-as-Trinity is—a glorious harmony, all things getting along with the One, and the One getting along with all things.

Take that to work with you today, or to school, or when you walk the dog . . . and raise a little heaven on earth.

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Guarantee

Prayer theme: The communion of the Holy Trinity You awaken today and all around you are signs of conflict. You read the newspaper, scan the Internet, listen to the news, talk with a family member or co-worker, feel the stress in your shoulders or stomach, and you realize that there’s tension everywhere.

You’re part of a world where everything and everyone is related, but most everything and most everyone have trouble just getting along. God intended harmony, but discord’s the raucous symphony that plays twenty-four hours a day.

This is exactly why you rise and greet the day with prayer to the Holy Trinity.

Pound for pound, there’s more goodness around you than you can imagine. There are more angels with you, more saints for you, more loving companions near you than you can now see. But without the Trinity, the babel of a world gone mad would long ago have drowned out the music of this goodness.

The Trinity is many things, but it’s at least this—it is our guarantee that despite appearances all things hold together. Harmony, not discord is the center of all things. Today, you rise to welcome this truth, gather yourself into this Center, and pray for the faith to dwell there no matter what comes your way.

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