April 27, 2022 – Words From Merton

Avoid the Noise

“When He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”  Luke 22:39-42

“You will never find interior solitude unless you make some conscious effort to deliver yourself from the desires and the cares and the attachments of an existence in the world. Do everything you can to avoid the noise….”  Thomas Merton (The Pocket Thomas Merton, p. 74-75)

Avoid the Noise

As someone who likes to write, I often find myself battling the noises of life and the noises of living in relationships with my family. These are noises that I will miss one day, but I find myself trying to avoid those noises when it comes time to write my devotions and write my sermons. 

Jesus knew when it was time to withdraw from the people, the ministry, and the disciples in hopes of getting some much needed rest, and much needed escape from the noises of suffering and separation. He was not trying to get away from his friends and colleagues as much as he was trying to find time to listen to His Father. But he had to do what he had to do to make that happen. I have found that time tends to do two things when I find silence in my life.  In some instances, it flies by so fast I don’t know where the time went. At other times it moves so slowly that the silence is deafening and agonizing.  But without silence, our lives become an endless highway of noise and clutter. We must learn to embrace silence when the noise becomes too much – because the noise can become so loud it can lead us astray.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, the world is a noisy world. Between the news cycle, the needs of our family and our own needs, we are bombarded with requests, requirements and, well, noise. Help me to find time today to squelch the noise, and to embrace your presence in silence. Amen.

Pastor Dave

April 26, 2022 – Words From Merton

Discovering an Older Unity

“Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?  Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.” 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

“The deepest level of communication is not communication, but communion. It is wordless. It is beyond words. It is beyond speech, and it is beyond concept. Not that we discover a new unity. We discover an older unity…we are already one. But we imagine that we are not. And what we have to recover is our original unity. What we have to be is what we are.” Thomas Merton (The Pocket Thomas Merton, p. 73)

Discovering an Older Unity

Communion has a couple of meanings including: the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level – and the act of Christian worship where bread and wine are consecrated and shared and, as some believe, that Christ is physically (spiritually) present in that meal.  The Christian action of Communion has been around since Jesus Christ initiated the act – and the spiritual connection of communing with G-d and with our fellow humans in strong and loving relationships has been around since the beginning of time. 

While we enter into Holy Communion each and every Sunday, we also seek communion with G-d. We have seen relationships fail, and we have seen relationships succeed. Adam and Eve failed in maintaining their relationship with G-d. Cain and Abel failed in keeping their relationship with each other, as did Jacob and Esau. And Jesus, well he was always working on bringing people into relationship with himself and with G-d the Father – people like the woman at the well; Mary, Martha and Lazarus; the woman caught in the act of adultery; and his disciples like Peter, Andrew, James and John. 

Forming strong and loving relationships with G-d the creator, Jesus the redeemer, and the Holy Spirit the sanctifier should be the beginning of living in relationship with all of the “others” in our lives. It is a unity, a communion we desperately need in our lives.

Let us pray,

Lord Christ, we hear of your communion with your disciples, your family and even strangers. Help me to find the same communion with you, not only on Sunday, but every day. Amen.

Pastor Dave