"Being Present in the Divine Presence"
Friday of the Third Week of Lent – March 13, 2015
BROTHER JOHN KLIMAKOS said, “Stillness in the soul is continual worship of God, being present in the divine presence. If an awareness of the name of Jesus comes with every breath, you will discover the importance of being still.”
[Bernard Bangley, By Way of the Desert, p. 381]
Many of us associate good worship or authentic worship with fervor and emotion. It stirs the spirit and enlarges the heart. It moves a person to loud praise or to an ecstatic response to God. Depending on the person, it may include traditional hymns or contemporary praise songs. Who among us doesn’t want to feel a sense of stirring and release? It feels good.
The Desert Christians, though, would have us know that such worship doesn’t last. The music ends. The sermon is over. Someone says a Benediction to conclude the hour of formal worship. We return to the parking lot, find our cars (donkeys or camels in the case of the Desert Fathers and Mothers??), and go about the rest of life. We hope that the stirring lingers, but often by the time we get to the freeway, we’re caught up in other concerns.
Continual worship, for the Desert Christians, was a matter of stillness of soul. It consisted of being aware of God’s presence always and everywhere – not merely during the ecstatic praise chorus or the lofty, Charles Wesley hymn. John Klimakos described it as “being present in the divine presence.”
The Desert Fathers and Mothers developed a prayer pattern from this stillness of soul that continues today within the Orthodox Christian tradition. It is known as The Jesus Prayer. This way of prayer consists in the simple repetition of the phrase: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me” (from Lk. 18:38).
Orthodox Christians believe this is the basic method of prayer, something like Prayer 101. You repeat this prayer over and over again until you don’t have to think about the words any more. The prayer begins to pray itself within you, even as you breathe, even when you are unaware that you are praying it.
After you’ve prayed this sentence for awhile, then pray it for others: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on ______.”
Perhaps over time, some of the words drop out. You may find yourself simply whispering, “Jesus . . . Jesus . . . Jesus.” Or, you might simply take up the word, “mercy . . . mercy . . . mercy.”
As John Klimakos said, “If an awareness of the name of Jesus comes with every breath, you will discover the importance of being still.”
BROTHER JOHN KLIMAKOS said, “Stillness in the soul is continual worship of God, being present in the divine presence. If an awareness of the name of Jesus comes with every breath, you will discover the importance of being still.”
[Bernard Bangley, By Way of the Desert, p. 381]
Many of us associate good worship or authentic worship with fervor and emotion. It stirs the spirit and enlarges the heart. It moves a person to loud praise or to an ecstatic response to God. Depending on the person, it may include traditional hymns or contemporary praise songs. Who among us doesn’t want to feel a sense of stirring and release? It feels good.
The Desert Christians, though, would have us know that such worship doesn’t last. The music ends. The sermon is over. Someone says a Benediction to conclude the hour of formal worship. We return to the parking lot, find our cars (donkeys or camels in the case of the Desert Fathers and Mothers??), and go about the rest of life. We hope that the stirring lingers, but often by the time we get to the freeway, we’re caught up in other concerns.
Continual worship, for the Desert Christians, was a matter of stillness of soul. It consisted of being aware of God’s presence always and everywhere – not merely during the ecstatic praise chorus or the lofty, Charles Wesley hymn. John Klimakos described it as “being present in the divine presence.”
The Desert Fathers and Mothers developed a prayer pattern from this stillness of soul that continues today within the Orthodox Christian tradition. It is known as The Jesus Prayer. This way of prayer consists in the simple repetition of the phrase: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me” (from Lk. 18:38).
Orthodox Christians believe this is the basic method of prayer, something like Prayer 101. You repeat this prayer over and over again until you don’t have to think about the words any more. The prayer begins to pray itself within you, even as you breathe, even when you are unaware that you are praying it.
After you’ve prayed this sentence for awhile, then pray it for others: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on ______.”
Perhaps over time, some of the words drop out. You may find yourself simply whispering, “Jesus . . . Jesus . . . Jesus.” Or, you might simply take up the word, “mercy . . . mercy . . . mercy.”
As John Klimakos said, “If an awareness of the name of Jesus comes with every breath, you will discover the importance of being still.”
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