An Advent Devotional for Individuals and Families

What Are We Waiting For?

An Advent Devotional for Individuals and Families

First Week in Advent

What are we waiting for? Advent is a time of anticipation. We are all waiting for something. For children, it is the excitement of gifts and all the “trappings” of the season. For merchants, it is the hope and the worry of a few weeks that can make or break a year. For others, memories of past holiday seasons mixed with “new family traditions” paint Christmas in complex colors. All, however, share a vague (or not so vague) feeling that we should make more of the season than snow globes and Christmas music at the mall in late October. What are we waiting for? This simple advent devotional for individual people or for families seeks to help us answer this question and to focus our hearts and minds on the answer of Christmas which is the birth of Jesus in history and in our heats.

Preparation for a season of Advent devotional practice:
* Prepare your hearts and minds for your devotional by discussing what it is you will be doing during this time. If you have never set aside personal or family devotional time, it can seem an awkward and uncomfortable practice. Talk (or think) in advance about what you will be doing during your devotions and why you will be doing it.
* If you will be practicing this devotion as a family, make sure that every member has a regular part in the service whether lighting the candles, reading the scripture, praying the prayer etc…Talk about what each person’s role will be in advance so that all are comfortable and invested in the service.
*Prepare a personal or family advent wreath with candles. A family chalice will work as well
*Think about the time, and space in which you will have your devotions and keep to them as much as possible. The dinner table in the late afternoon may be a good option but, of course, everyone’s schedule differs.
*Pray that God may be with you or in the midst of your family before each meditation.

What Are We Waiting For?
The Promise of Advent

November 30th, The First Sunday in Advent: We are waiting for Peace
Gather together in your established place and begin with a moment of intentional silence. Light the first candle of your advent wreath or chalice with these words:

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace. Who brings good news of happiness and publishes salvation. Who says to Zion, your God reigns. (Isaiah 52:7)

Think about how you can publish peace during each day of the week to come. How can your feet bring good news? Encourage (or think about) simple and practical responses.

Close with a prayer or intentional silence: A simple prayer: (perhaps memorized and led by younger children)
We gather together in peace. May our feet bring the good news of peace to all people today and everyday. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen


If you can, repeat the Sunday devotional, using the same readings and prayers each day of the week following the Advent Sunday devotion. Daily devotional time will help the practice to become part of the fabric of your lives during this season of Advent.
Prayers, poems, music, and much else can, of course, be added to this basic structure depending on your personal or family interests.

May God bless you and keep you. Amen

Advent Devotional: Waiting for love

December 21st, The fourth Sunday in Advent We are waiting for Love (see all posts, Advent)

Begin with silent meditation

Light the four candles of your Advent Wreath or your chalice with these words: “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” Isaiah 54:10

During the week, think about love that has no end or condition. How is that love demonstrated each day in small ways and large? How is that love related to “peace” and “compassion?”

End with prayer or silent meditation: A Prayer:

We gather together in love. May our feet bring the good news of love to all people today and everyday. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen

the culture of our higher faculties...

I have read a fair number of 19th Century Unitarian Sermons in my time and a recurring theme, I think it safe to say, is the desire to square the Christian revelation with the increasing secularism and perceived rise in "the general activity of the intellect" of the time. 

   This an Advent collect and part one of a sermon from the more conservative end of the "squaring." It is by a Boston Unitarian staple, Ephraim Peabody...

ADVENT. Collect.

Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty, to judge both the living and dead, we may rise to the life immortal. And this we beg in the name of our Mediator; though whom we ascribe unto Thee all honour and glory, now and ever. Amen.

THE NEED OF A DIVINE REVELATION INCREASES WITH THE PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION.

A SERMON FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT.

"But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. Rom. xiii. 14.

In entering upon that period of the year which calls our attention to the advent of Christ and the beneficent influence of his religion in past ages, it becomes us to consider it in its relation to the wants of our own time. The fundamental characteristic of the age, the source of many other characteristics, and fostered by what itself creates, is the immense and general activity of the intellect, and the direction of this activity to secular affairs. By the education of schools and the severer education of practical life, by individual freedom, by the multiplied and multiplying careers open to the enterprising and aspiring, by the poverty which rebels against its restrictions, by the luxury which would make the world tributary to its pleasures, by the prizes held out on every side to the clear mind and the energetic will, the general intellect is stimulated to an activity in secular pursuits such as the world never saw before. One of the results of this intellectual and secular activity is seen in the theory, that, in some inexplicable way, the advance of knowledge supersedes the necessity of revelation; that, in the growing light of civilization, Christianity is less needed, that it is becoming obsolete, that it has been a good religion for rude ages, that it is good now for the ignorant, but that the intelligent and the cultivated may find, in the study of nature and the human heart, what answers their purposes quite as well and is more satisfactory.

The text, taken from the lesson of the day, implies that, in putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, we are laying aside what is low and sensual, and making provision for the higher faculties of our nature. The inference from this is, that in proportion to the culture of our higher faculties will be our need of His religion and the extent of its influence over us.

The precise point, however, which I would urge, is this ;—that the increased intellectual activity of the age, instead of diminishing, increases the need of an authoritative religious revelation, both in regard to the faith and practice of men."

Blessings

Advent Devotional: The Second Week

A family devotional for the Second Week in Advent (for more and for week one, see posts labeled "Advent")

December 7th, The Second Sunday in Advent We are waiting for Hope

Begin with silent meditation

Light the first and second candles or your chalice with these words: “And now, O Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.” Psalm 39:7

During the week to come, look for things, events, and actions that make you hopeful. Don’t overlook the very small words and acts that make up the fabric of our hope.

End with a prayer or silence: A Prayer:

We gather together in hope. May our feet bring the good news of hope to all people today and everyday. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen

Blessings

Waiting for Joy: the Third Week in Advent

(For background and the first two weeks of this devotional for individuals and families, see posts labeled Advent)

December 14th, The Third Sunday in Advent We are waiting for Joy
Begin with silent meditation

Light the first three candles of your Advent wreath or your chalice with these words:
“For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; all the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12)

What are the simple things that give you joy? Again, encourage examples that are simple, not material, and can be shared.

End with a prayer or silence: A prayer:

We gather together in joy. May our feet bring the good news of great joy to all people today and everyday. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen

O come, O come Emmanuel...

It is difficult to believe that the season of Advent is upon us.  This wonderful and sometimes painful time of preparation and anticipation is a powerful opportunity for cultivating a more devotional temper.  Last year I wrote a simple Advent devotional for individuals or families.  It consists of four posts (one for each Sunday in Advent) and can be done each day of the week.  If you do not find it to your liking, I encourage you to find or develop a practice for yourself during this season.

Many blessings

Perfection

It is the First Sunday in Advent and my mind is on...perfection.  Advent is, of course, about waiting and looking forward and upward.  During the weeks of Advent, I have decided to excerpt the twelve sermons that make up William Ellery Channing's "The Perfect Life."  Gathered by William Henry Channing from his uncle's manuscripts, these sermons, in the words of WHC  "are precisely what they claim to be—a Minister's pulpit addresses to his own Congregation. They are neither Lectures for the learned, nor Essays for a literary circle, nor Papers for a critical Journal. Still less do they form a Theological Treatise. But they are Calls to the People to " come up higher." In them great truths are presented in the most popular form, and brought home to the common heart. "Written for delivery, week by week, during the last few years of Channing's life, it was manifestly his purpose to adapt his lessons to the apprehension of his simplest hearers. He would have all to share in the bright prospects, which had shone before him in hours of solitary thought and devout communion. And knowing that he was often charged with yielding to the charms of an ideal exaltation, which secluded him from the work-day world, he wished by cordial hospitality to make the humblest his peers. Thus reverent friendliness pervades the tenor of these appeals. And grave sincerity inspires their style."

The Biblical Epigraphs preceeding the sermons:

As for God, His way is perfect. God is my strength and power : and He maketh my way perfect.—2 Samuel xxii. 31, 33.

Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.—Psalm xxxvii. 37.

I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt Thou come unto me ? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.— Psalm ci. 2.

I have seen an end of all perfection: but Thy commandment is exceeding broad.—Psalm cxix. 96.

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.—Matthew V. 48.

Perfect in one.-—John xvii. 23.

Leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection.—Heb. vi. 1.

This also we wish, even your perfection. Be perfect.—2 Cor. xiii. 9, 11.

May the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory, by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect.— 1 Peter V. 10.


blessings

to prove, and not to destroy, you...

Brother Frothingham's Advent sermon, "Trials No Strange Thing" continued...

" Think it not strange," so run the words of the Apostle, " concerning the fiery trial that is to try you." You there read what is the design in view. It is to prove, and not to destroy, you. The very name expresses the object . Peter was speaking of the fire of persecution. He was warning his converts of the day when that should kindle upon them; banishing them from the comforts of their dwellings, and threatening to surround with literal flames the heads that were to be devoted to martyrdom for the Redeemer's sake. For us the fire is but a figure of speech. That persecution has spent itself long ago. But the figure has still an import, not less real, though not the same that it was ; and the existence of every one, whether he witnesses any good confession or not, is driven and distressed by some of the various ills that are abroad. A man is more likely to suffer for his transgression than for the truth ; but suffer he must . And that for no fault, often. It was assigned to him. And it is best so. At least he can make it to be best. When it burns against him to his greatest earthly loss, and as intensely as he can endure it, he is permitted to believe that it is no breaking out of a violent accident; that it is sent by the same Supreme Power who has set his glory in the heat of the sun, and who will make opposite things praise him equally. He is called upon, also, to assist by the exercises of his own will and heart the intentions of Providence; that its admonitions may not be lost upon him ; that its chastening may not have been inflicted in vain. It is not for him to choose in what manner his trial shall come. If it were, it would hardly be a trial. He would hesitate long, and choose the easiest, consulting his temperament, and making reserves against every thing that he should be most reluctant to undergo. He can only choose in what manner it shall be met ; whether with patience and constancy, or not; whether with the Christian endeavor to derive some moral advantage from it, or else with no care of such a sort; whether with tenderness or obstinacy; whether holding his integrity fast, or letting that go with the wreck of meaner things; whether trustfully, and committing all to the good pleasure of the Lord, or sullenly, and casting all as to the disposal of fate. Your character is to be put to its sharp tests; and how will it abide them ? You are tempted by pleasures and prosperity, to see if you are weak enough to be seduced. You are searched by hurts and deprivations, to see if you are strong enough to endure. That more cheerful experiment may fail, and instead of inspiring thankfulness and exciting to good works and encouraging sound principles, it may give empire to idleness and pride and every sensual passion. And if it does, the failure will be lamentable, though you will still have had your pastime; you can count up the shining bribes that corrupted you; you can show that you had gained something for what you surrendered; that the account was not wholly against you, if wretchedly uneven, of the world's good won and the soul ruined. The darker experiment may fail also ; breaking you down instead of bracing you up; making you but all the worse,— harder where it should have penetrated you, and wilder where it should have brought you under subjection ; and revealing that there is no true force in you. But if it does this, it will not leave you even the poor comfort that was allowed to the other case. There is nothing that you can mention as an offset to the unbalanced misery. You have not even a faded delight to hold up to us, and tell us how fresh it once was with the dews of its youth and the glow of its beauty, making us think that it would be almost worth any thing less than the boundless sacrifice it cost. Here it is all unhappy, both the method and the effect. You suffered in what was sent, and you suffer more in your perversion of it. It was bitter to take, and has only increased your malady."


Blessings

this great cloud of witnesses...

Begun at the beginning of Advent, this series from "The Perfect Life" by William Ellery Channing ends appropriately today with a continuation of his sermon, "The Church Universal."  The Boston Unitarian emphasis on virtue and duty can sometimes seem somewhat solitary and, to some, as somewhat bloodless and cold.  Channing shows it to be just the opposite (it also gives a pretty good reason for remembering our history...) 

"In these views we discover a peculiarity and a supremely honourable one, of the relationship formed by Christianity among its disciples. It is a perpetual and ever-growing relationship. The toils and sufferings for a Nation, which has its date and is hastening to its appointed term ; which is soon to be joined, in its decline and fall, with past and almost forgotten empires,—may fade from the mind of the patriot. Death may break the bond which joined him to it, and put an end not only to his efforts for its welfare, but to his sympathies in its fate. But not so can it be with the Christian. Labourer and sufferer for the Church Universal as he has been on earth, his energies are consecrated to an Immortal Cause; to the interests of a Community which will outlive sun and stars ; and which, being of heavenly origin, tends towards and will be perfected in Heaven. Death cannot take him out of this Church, nor in the least degree loosen his connections with it. On the contrary, he goes to join the triumphant, purified, blessed portion of this Community, among whom his affections for his militant brethren here, instead of being extinguished, will gain new fervour...

3. In the next place, how does the Christian on Earth contribute his part to this union ? I answer, by recollection, and by hope; by looking back to the lives and characters of departed Saints while they were inhabitants of this world; and by anticipating joyfully their society in the world to come. The Christian, imbued with the spirit of his religion, maintains communion by grateful remembrance with those who have gone before...He does not regard his Religion merely as a blessing of the present moment, but studies with profoundest interest its past history. He remembers that it has come down to him through a long procession of ages, and that it has been transmitted through the professions, sufferings, prayers, and virtues of millions, who have lived and died for it before his birth. He delights to think of his Religion under the similitude which Jesus gave, of a seed sown upon earth centuries ago, and to trace its growth— nourished as it has been with tears and sweat, the blood and anxious care, of the holiest persons in the records of the past. To the true Christian no history is so affecting as that of the Church Universal. His soul unites with the pure and pious, who have clung to it in danger; who have fought beneath the banner of the Cross with spiritual weapons; who have conquered the powers of evil by self sacrifice, suffering, and death.... He feels his personal debt to the faith and loyalty of these tried followers of Christ, and blesses them for those labours of which he daily reaps the fruits. Thus, by memory, we have connexion as truly with the Saints risen in glory, as we have with those yet dwelling here. Though dead, they still speak to us. And happy is it for us when we open our minds to the influences of the departed, and form intimacies with the great and good who have preceded us into the world of peace!"

III.—My friends, I should not have insisted so long upon this Communion between Christians in Heaven and Christians on Earth, did I not think this truth an eminently practical one..." Compassed about by this great cloud of Witnesses," let us with firm and cheerful trust endure all trials, discharge all duties, accept all sacrifices, fulfil the law of universal and impartial love, and adopt as our own that cause of truth, righteousness, humanity, liberty and holiness,— which, being the cause of the All-Good, cannot but triumph over all powers of evil. Let us rise into blest assurance that everywhere and for ever we are enfolded, penetrated, guarded, guided, kept by the power of the Father and Friend, who can never forsake us ; and that all Spirits who have begun to seek, know, love, and serve the All-Perfect ' One on earth, shall be re-united in a Celestial Home, and be welcomed together into the Freedom of the Universe, and the Perpetual Light of His Presence."

Blessings

the main thing...

It is the First Sunday in Advent-a time of anticipation and waiting and the first Sunday of the liturgical year.  For me it is an occasion to determine to live more fully in the Church Year.  "The Internet Monk" summed up the virtues of such a life:

"1. It enables us to live in God’s story.
2. It keeps the main thing the main thing.
3. It recognizes that one’s calendar forms one’s life.
4. It links personal spirituality with worship, family, and community.
5. It provides a basis of unity and common experience for Christians everywhere."

Or, as Stanley Kunitz wrote in one of my favorite poems, "Live in the layers, not on the litter"

Blessings to all

any sorrow like mine?

The next few days will feature an Advent sermon by Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham (who has often been excerpted in these pages)

"TRIALS NO STRANGE THING."

"BELOVED, THINK IT NOT STRANGE CONCERNING THE FIERY TRIAL WHICH IS TO TRY YOU, AS THOUGH SOME STRANGE THING HAPPENED UNTO YOU. — 1 Peter iv. 12"

The Apostle, in this passage, seeks to reconcile the minds of his fellow-disciples to the troubles that were impending over them, by the thought that troubles are the common lot of man. He would thus, not only prepare them for calamity, but help them to bear it patiently when it came. By resisting the idea that any thing " strange" was befalling them, or about to befall,—any thing that singled them out for a peculiar hardship, — any thing out of the course of nature, or beyond precedent and reasonable expectation, — any thing inconsistent with the least claims they could seem to have upon life or the Lord of life, — he hoped to subdue their spirits to the appointments of God. Men are apt to fancy, in their misfortune or their distress, that it exceeds the usual measure, or comes in an extraordinary shape. They aggravate their suffering by surprise and disappointment. They make exaggerated estimates of it by self-tormenting reflections. It is too bitter to drink. It is too heavy to bear. We would endure any thing rather, we could submit to any thing better, than this. We did not look for it, or there is nothing else like it. So they are apt to complain. " Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?" cries the lamenting prophet; " behold, and see if there be any sorrow like mine." And the same lament is taken up by those who have very little of that prophet's excuse. Some persons feel as if there was almost an injustice done them, whenever they are put to loss and pain, or called upon for services that they resist paying. They look at those who are at ease, while they cannot rest; at those who are in good health, while they must lead an invalid life; at those who have enough and to spare, while they are reduced and straitened ; at those who seem full of pleasures, while they are full of cares; and wonder that it should be ordained so; — instead of considering the respects in which they too are exempted from evils to which all are exposed. They compare the present dark day with its happier predecessors, or with the sanguine hopes that they had indulged in; instead of taking into view the blessings that yet surround them. It is " strange," that the " fiery trial" should scorch just in this or that place, or should consume what they were specially anxious to preserve safe. It is " strange," that I should be prevented, deprived, disabled; that I should be oppressed on this side and forsaken on that; that I should suffer wrong when I have done none, and be treated with harshness or indignity, when I might have looked for an opposite award; that I should be thwarted in my plans, spoiled of my property, separated from my friends; that, when every thing seems to be prospering to my heart's wish, some trouble should arise to overcloud it all while it lasts, or some sudden desolation to sweep it all away."

Blessings

vehement passions...

Ephraim Peabody has made frequent appearances in these pages.  This the first part of an Advent sermon:

"DIFFERENT WAYS OF FOLLOWING CHRIST.

"The theory of virtue which seems to belong to our northern climate, is, that there is but one kind, that of struggle, conflict and conquest of sin through force of will. On the contrary, the forms of virtue, and the methods of reaching a Christian character, are as various as are the trees of the forest, or the features of men. One has vehement passions, an energetic nature, born for struggle, and miserable if it hath not difficulties to overcome. This man stands front to front with a temptation, and resists and conquers it as a foe. He rules his appetites and passions. He says, thus and so God requires, and I will do it. He will be just, he will be true, he will not yield to the temptations that beset him. Life is a conflict, and with a resolute will, as in a battle, he takes his stand on the Lord's side. The virtues which this man attains are the virtues of the will, and they are admirable. But, after all, they constitute only one style of virtue, and it is the style which belongs to such a constituted character. Let no one fancy that it is the only kind. "

Blessings
(illustration a caricature of Billy Sunday preaching)

sojourners...

I wrote last Sunday of my desire to live more fully in the church year (which, of course, began on the First Sunday in Advent.)  Part of that effort is to once again dig into the Church Fathers (I have resolved-and failed-to do this before.)  This morning it was "The Epistle to Diogenetus" and this stirring description of these people called Christians... 

"For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers... They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers...
To sum up all in one word--what the soul is in the body, that are Christians in the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, yet is not of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, yet are not of the world. The invisible soul is guarded by the visible body, and Christians are known indeed to be in the world, but their godliness remains invisible. The flesh hates the soul, and wars against it, though itself suffering no injury, because it is prevented from enjoying pleasures; the world also hates the Christians, though in nowise injured, because they abjure pleasures. The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and [loves also] the members; Christians likewise love those that hate them. The soul is imprisoned in the body, yet preserves that very body; and Christians are confined in the world as in a prison, and yet they are the preservers of the world. The immortal soul dwells in a mortal tabernacle; and Christians dwell as sojourners in corruptible [bodies], looking for an incorruptible dwelling in the heavens. The soul, when but ill-provided with food and drink, becomes better; in like manner, the Christians, though subjected day by day to punishment, increase the more in number. God has assigned them this illustrious position, which it were unlawful for them to forsake. "

Blessings

the most dependent creature on earth...

Ephraim Peabody tells us that the more "advanced" a civilization becomes, the more dependent we humans become. Yesterday's Advent Sermon continued...

"1. I call attention to the general fact that every increase of faculty, though it increases power, involves also an increase of needs. The stone in the quarry has no needs whatsoever. The air folds it round about, the rains fall on it, the sunbeams glow and flame on its surface, but the rock remains impassive, needing none of them. The tree adds to dead matter the element of organizing life, and air, rain and sunshine are essential to its existence. With the added faculties of animal life come added and corresponding needs. In man there is a sudden and vast enlargement of faculty, but with it an equal multiplication of the points of dependence on what is external to himself. Man, the most powerful, is also the most dependent creature on earth. The general law follows him into the spiritual life. The brute has neither hope nor fear for the morrow; but man is tortured by remorseful memories, is racked by anxieties, is at the mercy of hope and fear, lives a needy mendicant on human affections, his soul is awed by conscious relations with God, he recoils from the mysteries of the grave, and treads with trembling the borders of the eternal world. He is in the midst of the vast agencies of Nature and of God, and by the very intelligence which raises him above the animal, is made conscious of his weakness and dependence. And now, going one step farther, I add, that the higher the culture, the greater the needs... One might almost describe civilization as a condition of multiplied needs—physically, mentally, morally, a condition of multiplied needs. It is no accident, but the merciful law of God, that the same civilization which develops individual power shall create the restraints of dependence and the humanizing influences of mutual needs. Thus culture invariably increases need. It awakens the sensibilities, it gives them a keener edge, it multiplies their demands, it carries a man out of himself, and connects his wellbeing with a constantly enlarging circle of influences external to himself—making him at the same time more self-subsistent and more dependent."

More tomorrow...

Blessings

a brighter perception...

If, as William Ellery Channing would have us believe, we are all known by God and are parts of his great unity, why do we often feel so disconnected?  How can we feel that intimate connection?  This is WEC's subject in the second part of his sermon, "The Father's Love for Persons..."  (note: if you are just checking in with this blog, this post is part of an Advent series all of which can be seen by clicking on the label The Perfect Life)

"II.—Thus having seen how consistent is the doctrine of God's care for the whole with the doctrine that He watches minutely over every Individual, let me now ask you to look at this doctrine more closely, in its practical applications. Consider what affecting ideas it involves! According to this truth, we are, each one of us, present to the mind of God. We are penetrated, each one of us, instant by instant, by His all-seeing eye; we are known, every single person of us, more interiorly by Him, than we are known to ourselves...

My hearers, I have thus turned your attention to this sublimely affecting subject of our vital connexion with God, not for the purpose of wakening temporary fervour, but that we may feel the urgent duty of cherishing these convictions. If this truth becomes a reality to us, we shall be conscious of having received a New Principle Of Life...

III.—How then can we attain to an abiding consciousness of living relationship with the Living God ? How can we reach the constant feeling that He is always with us, offering every aid consistent with our freedom, guiding us on to heavenly happiness, welcoming us into the immediate knowledge of His perfection, into a loving fellowship with Himself? Some one may say : "I am conscious of having thus far lived very much as if there were no God. My mind is dull, my heart is cold. How shall I awake to perceive, to feel, to love, to serve, to enjoy this Living God of whom you speak ? " There is time for but a brief reply; and I shall confine myself to what seems to be essential, as the first step, in this approach to true Communion with the Father of Spirits...

My belief is, that one chief means of acquiring a vivid sense of God's Presence is to resist, instantly and resolutely, whatever we feel to be evil in our hearts and lives, and at once to begin in earnest to obey the Divine Will as it speaks in conscience. You say that you desire a new and nearer knowledge of your Creator. Let this thirst for a higher consciousness of the Infinite Being lead you to oppose whatever you feel to be at war with God's Purity, God's Truth, and God's Righteousness. Just in proportion as you gain a victory over the evil of which you have become aware in yourself, will your spiritual eye be purged for a brighter perception of the Holy One...

For God, as the All-Good, can be known only through our own growing goodness. No man living in deliberate violation of his duty, in wilful disobedience to God's commands as taught by conscience, can possibly make progress in acquaintance with the Supreme Being. Vain are all acts of worship in church or in secret, vain are religious reading and conversation, without this instant fidelity. Unless you are willing to withstand the desire which the inward monitor, enlightened as it always is by this Divine Spirit, condemns, you must, you will, remain a stranger to your Heavenly Father. Evil passions and sensual impulses darken the intellect and sear the heart. Especially important is it—indispensable indeed—that self-indulgence and self-will shall be determinedly withstood. While these enthrall us, never can we comprehend the true glory of God. For His glory is Perfect Love. If we would have our souls become the temples of the Supreme Being, filled with His light and joy and peace, we must utterly cast out the foul spirits which are at enmity with the Divine purity and disinterestedness...


Would you really know your Creator, would you become truly penetrated with the consciousness of His Presence, would you become indeed alive to His Goodness, then show your sincerity by beginning at once an unflagging warfare with that habit, that passion, that affection, be it what it may, which conscience this moment assures you is hostile to God's Will. You need not go far to learn how you may gain more vivid views of God. The sin that now rises to memory as your bosom sin, let this first of all be withstood and mastered....

My friends, in this discourse I have spoken to you of the great Truth, that the Infinite God is for ever around and within each one of you; that our Heavenly Father is interested personally in each one of you; that the Author of the Universe is as near to you as your very life; that the Giver of all good is incessantly doing you good. By comprehending this Truth you can gain the means of a happiness, such as the whole world cannot give, and which no change in existence can take away : incorporate it with character. Let it call forth your love and trust in their intensest energy. And you will have found a resource, refuge, treasure, a fount of strength, courage, hope, and joy truly inexhaustible...Let the Living God be supreme in your thoughts and hearts, as He is supreme in the universe. Consecrate to Him unreservedly the Spirits which He called into being, that He might make them perfectly one with Himself."
 
Blessings