Matthew under the arm 41

Now I am sure you don't really want to know this. But I am going to tell you anyway. A few days ago, I was about to tell Columba not to be such a bully! In my bunk, I had woken up at 3.00am feeling nauseous. Other unspeakable things were happening as well! At about 6.00am, in comes Columba and says abruptly (or at least, that's how it felt) that it was time to move on. 'No way. I am shivering and empty and I am still feeling sick.' 'So?', was all he replied. For once, I dug in my heels. Well, no. I stayed put in my bunk. 'I'll catch you up', I added self-pityingly. Later that day, I got out of my bunk feeling decidely wobbly. There he was only yards down the road, sitting, head in hands, on a wall. I was about to voice my resentment at the pressure he was putting me under...if you like a mis-use of his authority... yes, bullying. (Well, that's what it felt like.) When I reached him, all he said was, 'I have got the bug too. Youv'e passed it on to me'. Be careful of the authority of the saints, I said to myself. Mmmm. What is authority?

Matthew 10:16-25….
Rejection may ‘go with the territory’ of the Gospel. There seem to be three characteristics of the disciples ‘message’ : authority, simplicity and directness. All of these come from the Spirit of Christ. There is little, if any consideration of self-development or even protection for ourselves. The desire of the disciple is to have Christ at the heart of everything that he or she does and is. No particular slant is put on the Gospel for the furtherance of an institution or personality. In our culture, to follow Christ remains costly.


My Spirit comes to you to deepen your prayer and your life in Christ


Remind yourself of the significance of the word ‘authority’. It is the presence of Christ deep within you. Get in touch with that in your prayer at the start. Then remind yourself of the importance of simplicity in prayer. Ask. What is it you really desire? Ask as often as you want to! Nag God! Then take into your prayer someone or a group of people that you are called to pray for. Do the same…nag! Beg even!Then after you have lived with the sentence in silence and stillness, when you come out of prayer, be direct and look for the presence of Christ around you before you do anything.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 40

This morning, we passed a little church in time to attend Mass. We were rather late, just catching the end of the Gospel. I can't remember what it was. However, earlier Columba and I had looked at this passage from Matthew. The priest at the altar looked rather unshaven and the old ladies in the front pew, spent the rest of the time, when they weren't coughing, whispering. The acoustic amplified the sound. However, we did, after all, receive communion. On the way out of the Church, absolutely noone spoke to us. What a welcome! But Columba held his hands out with his palms facing upwards. 'What are you doing?', I asked, as if he had hurt himself somehow. All he said, as he looked in amazement at his own hands, was: 'The Kingdom of God is near...' He smiled and still with his hands open, added 'The Body of Christ!' I smiled... 'Amen.'


Matthew 10:5-15….
Jesus tells the disciples the heart of His Gospel – ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is near’. The implications of this are that the Christian disciple enters into another's or others' suffering. That entering is Christ entering because the ‘Kingdom being near’ is Christ intimately with the disciple. The life-style of the disciple is simple in order that he or she is constantly available to be of Christ-like service. Only then do the words that disciples use about Jesus have depth, because there is authenticity to them in the way the disciples actually live their lives.

I would know the fulfilment of Your Life through Hope and Service

Christ enters the soul and His culture of service is born there. It is not only healing and service that are important in themselves, but bringing the love of God right into the places of greatest need, including death itself. When preparing to enter prayer, avoid worrying about whether you believe enough, whether you have enough information about prayer and about the Bible etc. What matters is your realisation that you are loved. Then…. You discover the depth of that in how you love in service to others. The first part of the sentence: Christ’s life in you – the second part – your Christ-like service.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under arm 39

[I shall be away until the end of the week and unable to write another posting until Friday]

Yesterday morning, Columba and I were joined by two pilgrims, who really irritated me. They knew this and that. They knew important people here and there. They knew about spirituality and they knew about God. I suddenly blew it! 'Do you know who this is? This is Columba!', I snapped. Obviously that name didn't mean anything to them. Columba simply put his hand up to me as if to stop me. The two carried on, quoting scripture. Never once did they ask a question to discover who we were. When they were unpacking their rucksacks later in the refuge, Columba took me aside. 'Ask them about their fear'. So I did. There was silence. There was anger in their faces, as if they were exposed. 'Don't be afraid, friends', said Columba. 'Facing your fears will bring you stillness and acceptance.' The authority silenced them. This morning they joined us again. For most of the way, they were silent until one of them asked: 'What are your names?'

Matthew 10:1-4….
Three processes are experienced in the first verse of this passage. First, Jesus calls his disciples to him....We are taken right into Christ, so that we intimately know him and live his life. Second, he gives us authority....This is not power for itself. It comes directly from the fact that we live Christ’s life. Third, this authority brings an acute sense of awareness. We can discern where the destructive ‘spirit’ is and because we are living in Christ we bring love directly....as simple as that! How do we live the Christ-like life? Know Christ deeply in the Gospel by praying Christ.


Live the Christ-like life and so bring My Clarity and My Love to that which is destructive


There is a demand on you to know the Gospel intimately and well. In so doing you will learn about Christ. To know Christ, you are called to match his living by the way you live. This demands the gift of Faith from God. That comes through two practices – a life of praying with the Gospel so that Christ enters you deeply – then practicing that Christ-like life in the smallest detail of your life. Failure or success have no significance in this. The Christ-like life is simply being who you truly are. A good spiritual guide is essential to help you.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

We are having some days 'off' walking. To be honest, Columba and I have been sleeping and resting. Columba's snoring is seismic! Thank God I am partially deaf in my left ear. Nevertheless, I took to throwing one of my boots at him. It made no difference. This morning two pilgrims came into our bunk room, while we were having some breakfast. 'There's a group of us outside, who are making pilgrimage. We've heard that you are a teacher of Christ. Would you teach us?' 'On one condition,' said Columba, 'that once I have taught you, you get on with your pilgrimage.' So Columba went out and saw about twenty pilgrims gauping at him. 'What do you want to know?' 'How to follow Christ!'. 'No problem,' said Columba, 'Would you carry our rucksacks to the next village?' So they carried them. When we got their they asked when Columba was going to give them some teaching. 'I already have', said Columba. 'Think, and remember... what you have just done. Then I will teach you some more.' But they turned and went into the village for something to eat....muttering.



Matthew 9:35-37….
Crowds can be dangerous. This one is lost. The temptation is to have a leader who will dominate and unify people into action. Too often that action in history has been to fulfil the ego of the leader. Christ does not produce dominant leaders but labourers, working among the people – with them – not over them. The Church was not born not with a hierarchy but with the attitude of service. Christ is the servanthood of God. Authority in the disciples is Christ’s authority of service.


Dwell in My Truth and be My Wisdom and Compassion among others



In the West we are used to admiring ‘strong leaders’. It’s not that leadership isn’t important, but the question must be: is it Christ-like? All who follow Christ are called to exercise some form of leadership through service. But the dominating image must be dropped. So in your time of prayer, is there someone you know directly or in history who has exercised Christ-like leadership? Imagine that person asking you to be the same…. Use the sentence to ‘ease’ your way into the call of service.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 37

Now, I ask you... ! There I was in the early morning, looking forward to the walk over a pass and the great views from the top. Columba and I had said to the Office (Morning Prayer.... which he still insists in calling Matins and Lauds...I'll explain sometime, if anyone's interested!) Ten past eight, I think it was and there was Columba staring at something on the side of the path. I went over to look, thinking it might be a wounded bird. (He's good with wounded birds!) No. It was a broken bottle...a green wine bottle...empty, of course. The early morning sun made it glisten to the point of being uncomfortable to look at. 'Why are you staring at the broken bottle?' All he said was, 'The brokenness and the emptiness of Christ'. 'But broken glass can be dangerous...' I said limply. 'So is Christ.' 'Dangerous?', I asked, slightly offended. 'We are summoned to find Christ in danger, as well as in suffering or delight'. Columba lifted the bottle and carefully broke it into smaller pieces of glass with a little rock. Gingerly, he placed the pieces in a little bag. 'Christ broken up even more...and with a stone!' I added. Columba just nodded.



Matthew 9:27-34….
There is a well known catch-phrase which comes to us from St Igatius of Loyola: 'Finding God in all things.' But, I for one gulp when I am asked: 'Do you Martin, really believe that?' Well..... Mmmmmm... Yyyyyes...! I have a kind of 'dumbness' that lacks the ability to articulate, understand and describe even to myself what I experience of God. Oh for the wit and wisdom of William Blake: 'To see the world in a grain of sand'. 'The Lust of the goat is the Bounty of God'. Wonderful stuff! So is God absent for me? The concentrated inner cry for ‘mercy’ may open a door of perception. And the friend who understands me in my dumbness may open my understanding to a dawn of Christ present in my 'finding'.


I would have the insight to find You and the freedom to serve You.


Look over the past 24 hours and try and remember the sights you have seen and the sounds you heard, no matter how ordinary or disturbing. As always with prayer, do not analyse these experiences – just notice. Strange though it may seem, don’t ask yourself where God might have been in these. Clarity will come in its own time. Just notice and be aware – that’s spiritual enough for most people! Use the sentence and allow the experiences to deepen.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 36

Unfortunately, we had to do a lot of road walking recently. At a cross roads, we studied the map as we were uncertain where to find the exit from the road onto the pilgrims' route. On the other side of the road was a woman sitting on a stone, with her head in her hands. She was exhausted. My guess is that she was about 50 or so. She had been trying to hitch a lift for over five hours and so had given up. When she lifted her head, her face marked with tears and lined with exhaustion. She didn't speak any English. Perhaps she was a Romany. Did it matter? Anyway, she was from nowhere near here. I whispered to Columba that there was little we could do. His eyes flared at me. So he sat beside her, gave her milk and some bread from his rucksack. Nothing was said. Columba closed his eyes.... After half an hour, he gave her a piece of paper with an address on it, some soap and a clean towel... oh...and some money. I understood at last.

Matthew 9:18-26….
The woman is bleeding, poor and with the social taboo that surround women like flies, and to a certain extent still does. But this woman is desperate! Christ is the servant of the desperate. Those around Jesus in this story are either irritated or embarrassed. But who cares about all that when desperate? Political, religious or any other kind of rectitude matter little when one side of your stomach is touching the other. And for that matter, does your belief or lack of it matter if you're desperate? This is a passage that is full of ‘gut’. The truth is revealed: ‘Her cover is blown’. What is our haemorrhage: anxiety, unresolved guilt, anger, exhaustion? What matters to us so much that humiliation would be a secondary issue – if not entirely irrelevent? Delight in the healing that comes from truth…


Be still and I will reveal My Truth and My Life within you


One of the joys of meditation is that it doesn’t really matter what you feel like. Your cover is blown when you pray! Nobody is watching or listening. Imagine you are standing before a mirror with nothing on and imagine that you are with someone important. What do you say and do? If that doesn’t make you laugh…..! Laughter in prayer is so releasing. You have nothing on before God anyway! Now place before God the truth of who you really are. Tell God precisely what your ‘bleeding’ is… Or put your ‘child’ – desperate – before God. Then using the sentence – relax and let God work on you. The desperate also know how to laugh.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 35

He couldn't resist it. Columba saw a couple at a table outside the pub, tucking into a baguette and gulping at a lager. They had been walking for some time just in front of us. Fellow pilgrims? Columba just had to find out. So, yes, we bought baguettes and lagers and sat down beside the couple. They didn't speak English, nor for that matter, the Gaelic. Anyway, we smiled a lot and laughed a lot but conversed incomprehensibly! Before long, three others came to join us, who recognised the language and could speak English. The noise levels were now getting too much for the ladies on the neighbouring table. 'Pilgrims!', muttered the lady with the yorkshire terrier under the table. Although, I have to tell you, the word 'Pilgrim' had an expletive in front of it. 'Loud-mouthed.......', she hissed. Overhearing this, Columba whispered to our table: 'Let's drink to that!'


Matthew 9:9-17….
A combination of rugid truth and a delight in freedom brings about a realisation of the presence of God in Christ. Now, Matthew is called to follow. He’s no spiritual initiate. He’s an untouchable because of what he does - he is feared and reviled. Then the Pharisees, with that pervasive disease of religious perfectionism, sneer at the people Jesus eats with. Here again – the truth – Christ knows he is eating with the despised and they know he is as well. He is one of them! Freedom.That’s where healing begins. And the enjoyment of eating together – Truth, freedom, delight – there is Christ.


My Truth within you sets you free to love and serve


Eating together can create delight, humour, compassion, learning and relaxation. Go back to a time when you had a meal you enjoyed with a group of people and relive the experience. As Jacob said after his dream, maybe you will say: ‘Behold God was in this place and I knew it not.’ Eating with someone is putting yourself alongside that person and in a way being fed by them. So in your imagination, who do you know who is poor for whatever reason? Imagine you are cooking for them and eating them and use the sentence as you imagine. In its own small way, this is intercession. Who knows what you might do next!

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles