Matthew under the arm 11
Oh dear! For a few miles along the way with Columba I have been asking myself: Do I really want to carry on this pilgrimage? When I'm feeling low and, frankly, fed up, I just want to turn off the path... Columba walks behind me at that point, not to poke me in the back; not to tell me what I ought or ought not to feel let alone do. He says the simplest of things: I am with you and feel what you feel because Christ walks with us. Stop, Martin, get your thermos out again, open your Bible... Try the meditation and have a little nap! Then remember why you are on this pilgrimage....
Matthew 4.23-25
Being brought to Jesus.... Desperate people have the attention on them in these verses. However, it is easy to miss those that brought the sick to Jesus. 'Being brought' carries on the process begun in John the Baptist. He points away from himself to Christ. The people who bring the sick to Christ point away from themselves. They know to whom they are 'pointing'. This is the summons of the Gospel – to know Christ so that I can point to Him. In Christ, there is health amidst poverty and disease and there is hope among the hopeless. Where Christ is, God is.
Through the Spirit within me, let me bring others to Your Hope and Your Health
When someone brings you to a place or to meet someone, you are dependent. There is a relaxation in conscious dependence. St Teresa of Avila was in internal turmoil for years and she allowed herself to be 'carried' by others. They prayed not only for her but instead of her. So in your meditation let this question drop down deep into your memory: Who has brought you to places where you can relax and feel free? Maybe it is someone who has brought you healing, forgiveness or well-being that comes from being loved. See this person and ‘feel’ that person bringing you to Christ. They have not got in the way. Who have you brought, carried to a place of peace and health? Is there someone you can bring now in your imagination? Do not get in the way you are perhaps involved in the act of love – the Love of God.
+Martin
Argyll and The Isles
Matthew 4.23-25
Being brought to Jesus.... Desperate people have the attention on them in these verses. However, it is easy to miss those that brought the sick to Jesus. 'Being brought' carries on the process begun in John the Baptist. He points away from himself to Christ. The people who bring the sick to Christ point away from themselves. They know to whom they are 'pointing'. This is the summons of the Gospel – to know Christ so that I can point to Him. In Christ, there is health amidst poverty and disease and there is hope among the hopeless. Where Christ is, God is.
Through the Spirit within me, let me bring others to Your Hope and Your Health
When someone brings you to a place or to meet someone, you are dependent. There is a relaxation in conscious dependence. St Teresa of Avila was in internal turmoil for years and she allowed herself to be 'carried' by others. They prayed not only for her but instead of her. So in your meditation let this question drop down deep into your memory: Who has brought you to places where you can relax and feel free? Maybe it is someone who has brought you healing, forgiveness or well-being that comes from being loved. See this person and ‘feel’ that person bringing you to Christ. They have not got in the way. Who have you brought, carried to a place of peace and health? Is there someone you can bring now in your imagination? Do not get in the way you are perhaps involved in the act of love – the Love of God.
+Martin
Argyll and The Isles
posted by Martin at 8:41 am
4 Comments:
I have a picture of six other people on this journey with you - the six who subscribe to this blog and therefore feel committed to the path. And then there will be the others who join one day and not the other - and then come back to catch up. It's a good thought.
Only six of us? but the co-op has run out of cocoa and hot chocolate!
To know we are not alone is encouraging but to know God is with us is the best.To minister to the sick in spirit is indeed a privaledge; thank you Lord Jesus for not leaving me on the shelf but for the ministry you have given me.
#I think of them as forming a net, each person a knot in the net, arms extended and hands grasping another..consciously or unconsciously, fishers of men.#
I can assure you there are many more than six people who are part of this net...'spiderwebs of intricate relationships seeking form' (Calvino)
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