In Humility Be Present

In Humility Be Present

a candle lighter’s rule for life

{da Moose’s daily office}:- [based on Celtic Daily Prayer]

Morning:

In Your Name Heavenly Father

In Your Name Lord Jesus Christ

In Your Name Holy Spirit

Knowing what lies ahead, Your new heaven and earth, I press on toward that goal and the mission for which You are restoring me. To share with others Your love, grace and mercy, and impart to them the HOPE I have come to know. May words, and even more so my actions speak of You my Savior and my God. And I know that to do this I must remain humble and submissive.

One thing I have asked of You Lord,

This is what I seek:

That I may dwell in Your House

All the days of my life

To behold your beauty and seek You in Your Creation.

Even my faith is a gift from you God, even that I seek you is by Your Grace.

And my desire is to seek you with all my heart and soul, with all my mind and strength. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, may it be so. May heart be totally and continually inclined toward You all the remaining days of my life. May I have Your eyes to see others and love them unconditionally.

I lift up my eyes to the hills, but where does my help come from? To whom shall we go Lord? You alone have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.

[Readings and meditations from OT, NT & Psalms]

Christ as a light

Illumine and guide me

Christ as a shield

Overshadow me;

Christ under me;

Christ over me;

Christ before me;

Christ behind me;

Christ beside me

On my left and my right.

This day be within and without me,

Lowly and meek, yet all-powerful,

Be in my heart and mouth as I encounter others.

This day be within and without me,

Lowly and meek, yet all-powerful

Christ as a light;

Christ as a shield’

Christ beside

On my left and my right.

“May the Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ go with you,

Wherever He may send you,

May He guide you through the wilderness,

Protect you through the storm,

May He bring you home rejoicing,

At the wonders He has shown you,

May He bring you home rejoicing

Once again into our doors”

In Your Name Heavenly Father

In Your Name Lord Jesus Christ

In Your Name Holy Spirit

I bind unto myself this day and forever Your Holy Trinity.

Amen.

Evening:

In Your Name Heavenly Father

In Your Name Lord Jesus Christ

In Your Name Holy Spirit

My soul waits for the Lord

More than those who watch for the morning

Call: Out of the depths I have cried to You.

Response: O Lord hear my voice.

Call: With my whole heart I want to praise You.

Response: O Lord hear my voice.

Call: If you, Lord, should mark iniquities:

Response: Who could stand? Who could Stand?

I will wait for the Lord

My soul waits

And in His Word

Do I hope

Lord, You have always given

Bread for the coming day;

And though I am poor

Today I believe

Lord, You have always given

Strength for the coming day

And though I am weak,

Today I believe

Lord, You have always given

Peace for the coming day

And though anxious of heart

Today I believe

Lord, You have always kept me

Safe in trials

And now, tried as I am

Today I believe

Lord, You have always marked

The road for the coming;

And though the night is here,

Today I believe

Lord, You have always lightened

This darkness of mine;

And though the night is here,

Today I believe

Lord, You have always spoken

When time was ripe;

And though you be silent now,

Today I believe.

[Readings – psalm, OT, NT and daily readings]

In the shadow of Your wings

I will sing your praises O Lord.

The Lord is my light, my salvation;

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the refuge of my life;

Of whom shall I be afraid?

In the shadow of Your wings

I will sing Your praises O Lord.

One thing I ask of the Lord,

One thing I seek:

To dwell in the Presence of my God,

To gaze on Your holy place.

In the shadow of Your wings

I will sing Your praises O Lord.

I believe I shall see the goodness

Of the Lord in the land of the living.

O wait for the Lord!

Have courage and wait,

Wait for the Lord.

In the shadow of Your wings

I will sing Your praises, O Lord.

See that ye be at peace among yourselves, my children,

And love one another.

Follow the example of good men of old

And God will comfort you and help you,

Both in this world

And in the world which is to come.

In Your Name Heavenly Father

In Your Name Lord Jesus Christ

In Your Name Holy Spirit

Amen.

Compline: (before bed)

Ita (abbess of Killeedy) compline –

The Sacred Three

To save

To shield

To surround

The hearth

The home

This night

And every night.

Search me. O God, and know my heart,

Test me and know my thoughts.

See if there be any wicked way in me

And lead me in the way everlasting.

O Father, O Son, O Holy Spirit,

Forgive me my sins.

O only begotten Son of the Heavenly Father,

Forgive.

O God who is One,

O God who is true,

O God who is first,

O God who is one substance,

O God only all might,

In three persons, truly merciful,

Forgive.

O God of life, this night

O darken not to me Thy light.

O God of life, this night

Close not Thy gladness to my sight.

Keep Your people, Lord,

In the arms of Your embrace.

Shelter them under Your wings.

Be their light in darkness,

Be their hope in distress,

Be their calm in anxiety.

Be strength in their weakness.

Be their comfort in pain.

Be their song in the night.

In peace will I lie down, for it is You, O Lord,

You alone who makes me to rest secure.

Be it on Your own beloved arm,

O God of Grace, that I in peace shall awake.

Be the peace of the Spirit mine this night.

Be the peace of the Son mine this night.

Be the peace of the Father mine this night.

The peace of all peace be mine this night.

In Your Name Heavenly Father

In Your Name Lord Jesus Christ

In Your Name Holy Spirit

Amen.

Patrick (Apostle to Eire) compline –

In the Name of the King of life;

In the Name of the Christ of love;

In the Name of the Holy Spirit;

The Triune of my strength.

I love you, O Lord my strength.

The Lord is my rock,

My fortress and my deliverer.

My God is my rock

In Whom I take refuge.

I will praise the Lord who counsels me;

Even at night my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me,

Because He is at my right hand,

I shall not be shaken.

I am placing my soul and my body

Under They guarding this night, O Christ

May Thy cross this night be shielding me.

Into Your hands, I commit my spirit;

Redeem me, O Lord, the God of Truth.

The God of life with guarding hold you;

The loving Christ with guarding fold you;

The Holy Spirit, guarding, mould you;

Each night of lie to aid, enfold you;

Each day and night of life uphold you.

May God shield me;

May God fill me;

May God keep me;

May God watch me;

May God bring me this night

To the nearness of His love.

The peace of the Father of joy,

The peace of the Christ of hope,

The peace of the Spirit of Grace,

The peace of all peace

Be mine this night.

In Your Name Heavenly Father

In Your Name Lord Jesus Christ

In Your Name Holy Spirit Amen.

A holy triad of prose based on the rule; In Humility Be Present:

The House by the Side of the Road

There are hermit souls that live withdrawn

In the place of their self-content;

There are souls like stars, that dwell apart,

In a fellowless firmament;

There are pioneer souls that blaze the paths

Where highways never ran-

But let me live by the side of the road

And be a friend to man.

Let me live in a house by the side of the road

Where the race of men go by-

The men who are good and the men who are bad,

As good and as bad as I.

I would not sit in the scorner's seat

Nor hurl the cynic's ban-

Let me live in a house by the side of the road

And be a friend to man.

I see from my house by the side of the road

By the side of the highway of life,

The men who press with the ardor of hope,

The men who are faint with the strife,

But I turn not away from their smiles and tears,

Both parts of an infinite plan-

Let me live in a house by the side of the road

And be a friend to man.

I know there are brook-gladdened meadows ahead,

And mountains of wearisome height;

That the road passes on through the long afternoon

And stretches away to the night.

And still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice

And weep with the strangers that moan,

Nor live in my house by the side of the road

Like a man who dwells alone.

Let me live in my house by the side of the road,

Where the race of men go by-

They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong,

Wise, foolish - so am I.

Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat,

Or hurl the cynic's ban?

Let me live in my house by the side of the road

And be a friend to man.

Sam Walter Foss, librarian and poet

I Stand by the Door

I stand by the door.
I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out,
The door is the most important door in the world-
It is the door through which people walk when they find God.
There's no use my going way inside, and staying there,
When so many are still outside and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where a door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind people,
With outstretched, groping hands.
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it ...
So I stand by the door.

The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for people to find that door--the door to God.
The most important thing any person can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands,
And put it on the latch--the latch that only clicks
And opens to the person's own touch.
People die outside that door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter—
Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live, on the other side of it--live because they have not found it.
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him ...
So I stand by the door.

Go in, great saints, go all the way in--
Go way down into the cavernous cellars,
And way up into the spacious attics--
It is a vast roomy house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest of hidden casements,
Of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood.
Some must inhabit those inner rooms.
And know the depths and heights of God,
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a deeper look in,
Sometimes venture in a little farther;
But my place seems closer to the opening ...
So I stand by the door.

There is another reason why I stand there.
Some people get part way in and become afraid
Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them
For God is so very great, and asks all of us.
And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia,
And want to get out. "Let me out!" they cry,
And the people way inside only terrify, them more.
Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled
For the old life, they have seen too much:
Once taste God, and nothing but God will do any more.
Somebody must be watching for the frightened
Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,
To tell them how much better it is inside.
The people too far in do not see how near these are
To leaving--preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door,
But would like to run away. So for them, too,
I stand by the door.

I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not, yet even found the door,
Or the people who want to run away again from God,
You can go in too deeply, and stay in too long,
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there,
But not so far from people as not to hear them,
And remember they are there, too.
Where? Outside the door--
Thousands of them, millions of them.
But--more important for me--
One of them, two of them, ten of them,
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.
So I shall stand by the door and wait
For those who seek it.
"I had rather be a door-keeper ..."
So I stand by the door.

Sam Shoemaker, founder of Faith At Work at Calvary Episcopal Church in New York City in 1926, was also one of the spiritual leaders who helped draft the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Others May But You Cannot -

If God has called you to be really like Christ in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility and put on you such demands of obedience, that He will not allow you to follow other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

Others can brag on themselves, and their work, on their success, on their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

The Lord will let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hid away in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice fragrant fruit for His glory, which can be produced only in the shade.

Others will be allowed to succeed in making money, but it is likely God will keep you poor because he wants you to have something far better than gold and that is a helpless dependence on Him; that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day - out of an unseen treasury.

God will let others be great, but He will keep you small. He will let others do a great work for Him and get credit for it, but He will make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work you have done, and this will make your reward ten times greater when He comes.

The Holy Spirit will put strict watch over you, with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.

So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has a right to do what He pleases with His own, and He will not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealing with you. He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and let other people say and do many things that you cannot do or say.

Settle it forever, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that others are not dealt with.

Now, when you are so possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this particular personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven. [sweet surrender]

--G. D. Watson, missionary

Six Streams of Faith, One Great River: (from Foster’s Living Streams)

Contemplative – life of prayer (solitude, silence, meditation, etc.)

Holiness – virtuous life, “holy habits” which flow out of a contemplative or prayer-filled life

Charismatic – attentive to the Holy Spirit and His work in and through us

Social Justice – the compassionate life that imitates Christ

Evangelical – proclaiming the Good News in word and deed, imparting HOPE

Incarnational – a sacramental life that manifests God in our daily lives

(We need to be living in all these streams, but of course we may be immersed more in one than others at different times and seasons in our lives.)

Sacred Pathways to the Streams: (from Gary Thomas’s book)

Naturalist – the Celtic tradition and “book of nature”, seeking and finding God in His natural creation

Sensate – experiencing God through the physical senses; hearing, vision, etc.

Traditionalist – discipline, liturgy, structure . . . within established churches

Ascetic – solitude, silence, practicing the classical disciplines

Activist – front lines, confrontational . . . often the “famous” ones . . . or infamous?

Caregiver – Nouwen’s “wounded healer”, the compassionate ones

Enthusiast – risk takers, “jet fuel drinkers” as Mindy Caliguire might refer to them, Activists fit that too.

Contemplative – much like the ascetic, but adding more intentional personal participation

Intellectual – “input” hungry, loves to read and study, the holy librarian in both secular and sacred.

[Add to all this those other tools most have heard of; Myers-Briggs Index, Strengthfinders, and Life Keys, and you can find “who” you are in Christ, and hopefully better discern the Spirit’s leading? Eventually, we will find “life verses” that we adopt as our own, those passages of Scripture that seem to speak directly to our hearts and souls.]

In this season of my own life (60’s and a grandpa), I have discovered that I’ve settled into the role of “candle lighter”; cherishing one-on-one discipleship and soul care, and surrendering the notion of a “ministry” of some kind that I plan and drive. I love all the streams, but find that I’m not at all drawn to the Traditionalist, Activist or Enthusiast pathways in living in those streams. Otherwise, I sense a blend of the other six pathways. I also see where my INTJ profile fits well with those pathways above. That said, I do acknowledge the need for all the “parts of the Body” working in unison as Christ builds His Church and the Father ushers in all things new under heaven and in earth. Candle lighters need the jet fuel drinkers and they need the candle lighters too. }:-)