Rising from the ashes
So far, Lent looks more than what I’ve just described above. Ministry, for my community, has become tiring and draining… so many are complaining about being “dry” in their spiritual lives. So many are dragging their feet and faces in the dreary daily mud and muck of our lives that we lose sight of the resurrection that is to come. So many are become whiners who continue to declare their tiredness, even though they aren't really doing that much in ministry.
But have recently re-discovered the message of Isaiah 40:31 through Brenton Brown’s song “Everlasting God”, it has been a whiff of fresh air. Not only have I often quoted the first line of his song in almost EVERY email I’ve sent out (“Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord”), I’ve been playing the song on guitar, blasting it at full volume when I’m driving in the car and humming it to myself even while receiving the Eucharist. And you know why? Cos it’s the absolute truth that no one can ever ever deny:
They will soar as with eagles’ wings;
They will run and not grow weary,
Walk and not grow faint”
Which reminds me... sounds like the myth of the phoenix... it has to die and turn into ash before being reborn from the ash. So likewise, we'll have to be crucified and die with Christ, before we can rise again together with Him to new life. A sacreligious comparison, you may say. But regardless... i'm gonna rise like the phoenix, on eagles' wings. So who's with me?
Rising again from ashes...
like the phoenix...
By Brenton Brown
Verse:
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
Pre-Chorus:
Our God, You reign forever
Our God, our strong Deliverer
Chorus:
You are the Everlasting God
The Everlasting God
You do not faint
You won’t grow weary
You’re the Defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles
posted by Rhino for God! at 2:09 PM
2 Comments:
i still haven't got over "my roasary each dayyyyyyy..."
we keep soldiering on. take heart, No.5, Easter's coming! I know it's hard on you.
lemming.
ps. Just to add to your post, Lent's not a time of purification for nothing. there's a mystical aspect to it bestowed by God whereupon those who truly want to live aright with Him are scrubbed clean. and oh boy, it hurts!
pps. for those whiners and moaners and slackers. i find them supremely annoying. especially those within our young community -for having glimpsed a bit of God, they can falsely imagine that they are going through immense spiritual trials. (Caveat: this excludes those who have damaging situations beyond their control and which are unjustly foisted upon them due to irresponsible people -we must support them)
i am sorry to burst any bubble but there is a HUGE difference between taking up our cross to follow Him, feeling like a "worm and not man"; and the "dryness" borne of sheer laziness and distaste for God and godly things.
I am not mincing my words here because there are far too many out there who have grandiose visions of their own holiness and "trials".
When one is really being beaten down by one's frailties, tempted by the devil and being tested by God, one is so completely exhausted
that it is IMPOSSIBLE to ponce around saying that it has a supernatural causation.
There is good truth to repentance --if one is really sorry, one MAKES amends. not just faff about it, whinging how hard it is. of course it's hard, don't be silly (and lazy).
there's this admonition of St Paul who exhorts all those who are doing good to continue to do good, and leave those slackers and people who disrupt the spiritual and physical lives of others aside.
Our God is a God of action. Even in His silence and passivity, He is active.
I am unapologetic for being so straight off the cuff. Christian life is hard and bears no room for self-visioneering and pride. The saints said it even harder. Just read Ss. Paul, Teresa, Therese, Ignatius of Loyola, Francis de Sales, Alphonsus de Liguori, et al.
A saint is not made by moaning. He prays constantly and pours himself out in service to others. He doesn't sit in a corner navel-gazing and pitying himself. There is of course legitimate outpouring of sorrows to friends, but he does not hold them hostage to his woes, rehashing them ad nauseum.
Jesus was the most "poor thing" on earth -by dint of His status of Son of God and Man. He had every reason for self-pity and running away from His Father cos His lot was so tough. But if Jesus really faffed about, we could all forget about our salvation.
lemming.
sorry, another thing to add re No.7's question whether after the 40 days we go back to status quo.
in my experience, nope. we don't go back to starting point unless we want to. the spiritual life is not a game of "snakes and ladders" where we are only tripped up by the "serpents". we can't blame others, temptations, et al for our own self-will. Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent... nobody took responsibility.
the whole meaning of lent is to be purified, be strengthened and learn how to fob off our constant
"thorns in the side" and overcome our weaknesses with grace. when the 40 days are over, we are stretched, bigger and stronger -and if the same difficult situation arises, we know we can overcome it. but by then we're already moving on to bigger obstacles and crosses. that's just how life works.
it'd be a pity if we tried so hard for 40days then not be moulded more into His image and likeness. it is hard to be changed, to be converted. but we must try, and in time, we find that the beauty that wasn't there before is welling up within us.
lent is a time where we consciously
prepare for Easter, in line with the Church's calendar. however, our faults, failings and temptations will continue into Easter, throughout our lifetimes even. and we still continue to try our best not to lapse but soldier on.
i remember the 1st real lent i had having just suffered a tremendous heartbreak. and i was so happy when Easter came. but a few days into Easter, i got angry with God. why on earth was i still suffering so badly? wasn't it Easter? where was the hope and joy? i was tired of my months of extreme pain already.
a string of happy Easters fraught with great difficulty and depression followed after, and through the years i have realised with patience that Easter is not a miracle that waives human suffering. it only nourishes and strengthens in us the resolve to soldier on, to have hope in our own Resurrection. Easter is not a time in which all the world's heartbreaks and agonies are magically restored to equilibrium. in the natural course of things, healing takes time. and a lot of it.
i can testify to this. it took me several years to be fully healed, and thereafter years for fuller vision of truth. as a consequence, Easter became more and more joyful, and it took on Christ's meaning, and not my own imagining.
we are meant to be images of God, so try not to revert back to our former selves before those 40 days. and lent is not the only period of conversion. everyday we are trying hard not to fall. God doesn't fault us if we do, we just have to pick ourselves up and go on.
it gets frustrating, tiring, depressing. and the journey can only get harder. but there will always be respite. love is an act of will. when all else fails and we are disappointed, do we still stand for God?
that, really, may be a true test of our love -to hand upon the cross and die to self.
lemming.
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