Matthew under the arm 85

Woops...typo error - The last posting should have been MUTA 85 not 35... Sorry

Matthew under the arm 35

A young woman came rushing out of her house as I passed through a village. She had anxiety written all over her face. She shouted down the street, three names...her children, of course. Columba had been wanting to walk on his own. He was well behind me. I asked her if she would like some help. Her eyes gave the answer. Together, we went down an alley and onto the main street of the village, next to the market. We could hear children's laughter from a good distance away. Relief! There by the fruit stall was Columba. He was sitting on the ground telling stories and teaching children to tie beautiful knots with ordinary string. The young Mother looked suspiciously at Columba and was about to grab her three little children. Columba noticed. 'Untie this knot', he said to her with that cheeky smile of his. Afraid of seeming hard and foolish, she took the string and tried to untie the knot. She was beaten. 'Allow the knot to relax in the palm of your hand. Look at it and it will tell you how to do it.' She smiled. She too was a child after all. And so is Columba!


Matthew 18:5-10….
Drowned, hands chopped off and eyes torn out. The culture of the Gospels is one of urgency. And so Jesus’ methods are urgent. The image of a child is one of total dependence: a model for relationship to God. So to relate to a child with kindness and sensitivity is to relate to God. The ‘child’ is not just an infant, but anyone who understands what it is to be utterly dependent. Child-like. In our culture, such dependency is regarded as inadequacy. The contrary is, of course, true. To depend utterly on God, whom we do not know, is what faith is.

I would learn simplicity from those who live in dependence on You.

Abandonment or surrender is central. Go through your day’s routine and engagements and ‘hold them up against the light of surrender to God’… At least, you will have surrendered yourself to other people and even machines! As you use the sentence, imagine someone you know who has come close to this abandonment to God. What do you admire about him/her? Do you want to imitate that dynamic? Now take a simple activity for which you are preparing. Spend a few seconds holding it, surrendering it to God. Breathe deeply and gently…. And let it go…. Finish by praying for children you know.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 84

This morning, Columba and I were joined by two students. They were knowledgable and articulate. One knew about the stars and the other knew about trees and wild flowers. Columba remained silent as they waxed eloquent on their new found intellectual agility. He nodded and muttered politely. They both knew that they were with Columba, yet not once did they ask him anything about himself or his thoughts or experience. I whispered to him, 'Such arrogance'. 'No, no', he winked. 'They are trying to find a way of asking me how to live and live well, but don't know how to. To ask me would feel humiliating.' Columba turned to them. 'How do I learn more about these magnificent trees?'......!

Matthew 18:1-4….
All the questions and comments, including the ones that are about information, have their basis in just one question: Do you love me? That’s an embarrassing question except for children and lovers, who don’t really mind revealing their insecurity. Those that do hunger for position are asking that question by other means and they will discover that their question will not be satisfied. The further away we get from the basic question, the more recognition is sought by other less direct and less honest means. A child wants affirmation and realises that he or she is dependent on others for that. The kingdom is where questions are asked freely. David Jenkins described his own spiritual journey as: constantly refining the question...

In the silence and stillness of your heart, come to Me in Freedom and Truth


If I ask you a question, I am saying to you: ‘You have knowledge about something that I do not know’. Blessed is he who knows that he does not know. When you do have the humility to ask, the question you put is not necessarily the actual question that you really want to ask. ‘Do you accept me? Am I OK? Do you love me?’ Now these do reveal insecurity. But these questions are often asked in a manipulative way to get the feedback we want. Alternatively, they can be asked as masked acts of agression. Often in those circumstances, they are not really questions at all, but posturing. That can be a form of abuse. The Kingdom of Heaven is where you can be straight forward and yourself. You can taste that Kingdom in the use of this sentence, following your silence with a few question to Christ. What would they be?

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 83

Late last night, despite the fact that I wasn't hungry (Alright, I was sulking!), Columba came to my bunk and kicked the edge. 'Come get up...lazy thing!' 'Why?' 'Come and listen.' So I grudgingly went down the stairs of the hostel, yawning as I went and 'growling'. All Columba did was laugh. No sympathy for poor me! 'Listen to this man', he urged. There by the fireside was an old man who had managed to walk on the pilgrimage on crutches! Columba looked into the man's eyes and said that he and I would carry him tomorrow. I dragged Columba to one side and, through my teeth, asked him why the man couldn't just wait and rest. After all he had got this far! 'Because', glared Columba, 'He has lived and prayed all his life with Matthew Gospel. I have a great deal to learn from him...and so do you!' I snarled, 'So we are carrying him for your learning, not his needs!' Columba smiled! 'Of course!'



Matthew 17:24-27….
There is no clear explanation of the story at the end of this passage. We are invited to enter the exchange and see the story as a kind of colouring of it, in all its mythic detail living now in us. There are themes: Insult… Jesus and his disciples being regarded as foreigners, unwanted aliens, perhaps the real disturbing nature of the ones that follow Christ… Sensitivity to the others... the collectors’ jobs being more significant that the new freedom of the disciples …. The legend of a fish is probably an extrapolation from early Christian times when the symbol of the fish for a follower became common currency. Perhaps the fact that it was a whole shekel rather than the demand for a half one, might be another symbol of the extravagant if not rash generosity of Christianity.

In all you responsibilities towards others let My wisdom be within you

Responsibility and freedom are dependent on one another. Let one test the other. A responsibility that is trapping cannot be addressed creatively. Likewise what you may regard as freedom may be at another’s expense. After you have been with the sentence in your prayer, play with the legend about the fish in your imagination. Expand it and make it your own. If you were in a dream about the fish, what would find in its mouth and to whom would you give it? It’s the kind of story Francis of Assisi would have loved and probably did!

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 82

In the middle of a market place, at dusk yesterday, there was Columba telling one of his stories. 10 children had a candle each. They lit the candles and were enjoying the gentle warm light that they gave out. One little boy said to his sister next to him, 'My flame is higher than yours'. She lent across and blew the boy's candle out. He then lent across and blew hers out and the boy's on his other side, so angry was he at being treated like this. Before they knew it, not only was everyone trying to blow everyone else's candle out, but they were throwing them at each, causing screaming from the hot wax landing on skin, except for one little boy. When he had his candle out, he simply looked and remained still. He didn't join in the candle throwing. He stood up, and went to collect 10 new candles and lit them all, a little distance away. He sat and waited...

Matthew 17:22,23….
For Jesus ‘to be given into the power of men’ arises from an attitude of deep self-knowledge and clarity. His attitude of non-resistance is one of clarity and even assertion and not of misplaced meekness. The power of his submission (if that's the appropriate word) is greater than any oppressive power against him. The story of Jesus execution and God’s raising him is about the transfiguration of negative energies by non-resistance and the intention of understanding destructive forces that arise from fear. This dynamic approach through death strained the disciples imagination and understanding....and still does!


I would enter into Your Divine self-awareness and so be an instrument of peace and creativity



The sadness that you may feel when someone you love dies or leaves, highlights the level of your possessiveness or dependence. In the silence, allow your imagination to feel the level of possessiveness or dependence in your relationships. Now, imagine you have this intimate relationship with Christ. Feel him telling you of his coming execution and 'sense' the absence of any suggestion of resistance. Use the sentence to deepen your understanding of the creative place of non-resistance in the practicalities and relationships of your life.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 81

Two days ago, I was having a rest after a difficult stretch of road. It had been pouring with rain for three solid days. The mud and wind seemed to make the walking twice as hard as it probably was in reality. Columba bumped me on my shoulder and ushered me to come and help. We walked into a little house, where an old lady was distraught with anxiety. She had her hands clasped in agonised beseeching. There on a couch was a boy of about 15 or 16, he was pale and thin, eyes staring straight ahead of him. Seemingly, he had been like that for weeks... Terror was in his face. When I looked at Columba's face, it was as if the same terror had overtaken him as well. Columba looked at me and whispered that I must sit on the floor, remain slent and imagine Christ's presence in the room. 'Work hard at your prayer,' he added urgently. 'Prayer? Hard work?' 'Of course...the hardest and most vital work.' We were there for over 24 hours.... no food, no sleep, but working with the terrified boy. This morning, we returned. The boy was sitting, with equally ashen features.... Was this a healing by Columba? 'Maybe. That's not the point,' he replied. 'Integration lies at the root of all wholeness. That's what's Christ's unity within is about.' I am now even more exhausted, even more wondering.


Matthew 17:14-20….
A sufferer from Epilepsy can seem ‘taken over’ by some external entity, not only to the anxious oserver but the sufferer her/himself. In a culture where the God of history drove natural as well as historical events, such distress came from a ‘negative God’, or devil. What is important for us is that the story portrays the complete confidence in Jesus to extract the ‘devil’, because that is the nature of God’s Kingdom, where restoration is free of destructive forces through the activity of love. That total confidence in God is lacking in the disciples. In Mark’s Gospel Jesus claims that the disciples had not prayed or fasted: a suggestion that the spiritual preparation we give to whatever we do is essential in the journey of faith.


In readiness for the tasks before me, I would ask for stillness and attention to Your Healing Wisdom


Take out your diary or calendar. Let it lie on your lap or on the floor before you. Make it an offering to God. As you look at the detail, having memorised the sentence above, gently repeat it after each item. If there is a particular task about which you are concerned, enter it in your imagination with Christ, using the sentence. Remain there repeating the sentence and being as still as possible. Breathe carefully and hold the diary with your palms open. Pray deeply that you may become more and more available for ‘Kingdom’ restoration work: working for local justice and integrity in whatever way you can, no matter how insignificant.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 80

Columba was holding a mug of some kind in his hands as we were taking a mid-morning break. The early morning climb up the path to the ridge overlooking the next valley was a stiff one indeed! To begin with, I thought he was simply out of breath: his mouth sucking in air from the exercise. As I drew closer, I realised he was moving his lips as if whispering prayers. When I asked him afterwards what he was saying, he replied as if it was obvious, 'Well, I am just reciting the Elijah story in the Book of Kings.' I was staggered. He knew the whole collection of Elijah stories and sayings by heart. 'John the Baptist knew them and lived them,' said Columba rather sharply. 'Knowing scripture by heart means what it says....the Word in the heart...then you become the Word.... Christ in you...yes even you!...The Hope of Glory.' He smiled cheekily and as he stood, slapped me on the back: 'On we go and remember Christ knew scripture by heart. So he was able to use it prayerfully and passionately at the moments of rejection'. Columba continued to whisper! Praying and knowing scripture by heart, eh? Mmmm!



Matthew 7:9-13….
It is important to remember that in ancient times, human personality was not so individualised as it is in our own. No one is entirely sure what are the actual words of Jesus in the Gospels. So, the ‘words of Jesus’ represent his continuing presence in the lives of those who follow him. The Word. Likewise, John the Baptist is the continuance of Elijah’s uncomfortable warning about faithfulness to God rather than the idolatry of human power and acquisitiveness. John ('whose shoes I am unworthy to tie') is the prophetic warning of God. Jesus is the anointed suffering of God. Both pointing to God’s utter emptying of himself out of love.


I would be aware of Your Presence in those who point to Your Love





The central task of spirituality is that you are the Presence of God for the service of others and to draw attention to the causes of suffering among those who are alienated from love and human well-being. Silence, contemplation, reflection on a disciplined basis is the source of these two aspects of spirituality. So before you pray with this passage look at the story of Elijah in 1 Kings and again at the story of John the Baptist in earlier chapters of this Gospel. Take the atmospheres into your use of the sentence.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles

Matthew under the arm 79

[Sorry! I have been away again... I need to learn how to do these blog postings on my little PDA]

About three o'clock, this afternoon - and I will never forget this - Columba and I were meandering along a path that eventually led into some trees. The trees were huge and closely packed together. The result was that the light was dim. Coming towards us was a group of about 6 or 7 people who were walking slowly. In fact, they were exhausted. Among them was a young man in his early thirties, I would guess. He had his head raised high. His arms were around the shoulders of a young couple carrying two tiny babies. Columba asked the young man about the group. He told him that the family had been ejected from their house in a nearby village. he was taking them to find some food and some shelter. I said that the next village was at least 15 miles away. Columba said nothing, but helped the young man to create a shelter with branches. Together, we managed to make a make-shift shelter for the family who were distraught. The young man and Columba began to talk together. I couldn't help noticing that there was a distinct aura around the young man. 'Well,' said Columba a little later,' There always is around someone who acts out of love and compassion. You only have to look and then roll up your sleeves.'





Matthew 17:1-8….
Like all experiences of intimacy, what is actually happening in this passage is beyond analysis. Like all mysteries, all that remains is to delight in it. The prime Hebrew Scriptures characters, Jesus’ dazzling appearance…. All on a high mountain. Peter’s shelters are like the tents in the desert lands that were set up to shelter the sacredness of the God-given Law, the presence of God. It is as if in this one bewildering passage, the whole of the biblical mystery of God’s presence is recollected. The gospels were written in the light of the followers of Christ’s experience of his resurrection. Jesus Christ is the present sacredness of God.

That your whole self may delight in My Presence going before all you are and do



Transfiguration is what you are about. That’s the task…to bring God’s transfiguring hope to places of darkness and despair. To enter into that mystery deep within you, imagine that you have climbed a mountain – one you know, one you imagine. Who is there with you to enjoy this moment: your most intimate friends? Just let your imagination go! ‘See’ Christ in front of you… Even if its ridiculous, what would you like to do…? Nothing much may come to you, if anything. Whether it does or not, use the sentence, simply to be there.

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles