"Staying Alive to Do Justice" - CROSS-POST from Red Letter Christians

Staying Alive to do Justice

by Tony Campolo Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

In my morning prayers, I say nothing to God and I hear no words from God.  But in these times of “waiting upon the Lord,” my spiritual strength is renewed.I try to start each day by setting aside about twenty minutes for centering prayer.  I empty my mind of the hundred-and-one things that are apt to start spinning in my head the moment I wake up.  Then, focusing on Jesus, I let Him love me.  I wait to feel myself enveloped by His presence.  I silently yield to being saturated by His Spirit.

Secondly, at the end of each day I practice the Ignatian prayer of examen.  Lying in bed I reflect on all the good and God-honoring things that I did during the day, and thank God for allowing me to be an instrument of love and peace.  Following Philippians 4:8, I remember whatever I did that was “true… honorable… just… pure… pleasing…

commendable… any excellence and… anything worthy of praise.”  Only then, after such affirmation, am I then prepared to review the day a second time, recalling everything that I said that was hurtful to others and fell short of God’s will.  In accord with what I read in I John 1:9, I ask not only for God’s forgiveness, but also for God’s cleansing.  I ask Christ to reach out from Calvary, across time and space, and absorb out of me the sin and darkness that accumulated within me during the day.

I believe that because the Holy Spirit is holy, the Holy Spirit is frustrated coming to dwell in dirty temples.  Thus, Christ’s cleansing of my temple at the end of the day is a requisite for receiving the infilling of His Spirit during centering prayer the next morning.  Without His Spirit in me, I lose heart and lack the energy to do justice and evangelism.

From the UCC Network: 02/08/2011 "A Mere Tip of the Hat"

A Mere Tip of the Hat

Excerpt from Matthew 13:31-33

"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."

Reflection by Martin B. Copenhaver

In his memoirs Oscar Wilde recalled the experience of being brought from the prison, where he was held after being declared—in the strange manner of his day — "guilty" of homosexuality. He writes: "When I was brought down from my prison between two policemen, a man I know waited in the long dreary corridor so that, before the whole crowd, whom an action so sweet and simple hushed into silence, he might gravely raise his hat to me as, handcuffed and with bowed head, I passed him by. Men have gone to heaven for smaller things than that."

After Episcopal Archbishop Desmond Tutu won a Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent struggle against apartheid in South Africa, he was asked to recall the formative experiences of his life. He replied, "One incident comes to mind immediately. When I was a young child I saw a man tip his hat to a black woman. Please understand that such a gesture is completely unheard of in my country. The white man was an Episcopal bishop and the black woman was my mother."

These two stories remind me that even a small, fragile gesture can take on grand dimensions when it is offered in love. Our own efforts may be small, but through them the largest of all realities — the love of God — can be communicated. A mere tip of the hat can offer hope and change a life.

Prayer

God, remind me not to neglect the small acts of compassion so that you, in turn, might fill them with your great love.

About the Author Martin B. Copenhaver is Senior Pastor, Wellesley Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Wellesley, Massachusetts. He is the author, with Lillian Daniel, of This Odd and Wondrous Calling: the Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers.

Common Prayer

May the peace of the Lord 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.

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