Prayer: St. Francis - Who are you?
Who are you, Lord God, and who am I? ~ St. Francis of Assisi
Those who would save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. ~ Matthew 16:25
So once again, for the last time or the first, we face that face. ~ Frederick Buechner
The more we let God take us over, the more ourselves we become. ~ CS Lewis.
We had a discussion recently in Bible Study about how important it was to first figure out who we are - to know ourselves and see ourselves as having value - before we can then reach out to see who others are and to love and serve them.
We have to know we are a child of God before we can fully see that the other is also a child of God.
We have to love ourselves (because God loves us) before we can truly love our neighbor.
This is not an ego driven exercise. This is about seeing ourselves with the eyes of God: to see ourselves as God sees us.
For St. Francis of Assisi the first step was to ask who God is. We all have our own notions of the Divine. We are like the blind men and the elephant, grasping parts of the animal - trunk, tail, ear - and getting only a small fraction of the whole.
So for St. Francis the first part of prayer was to acknowledge God's "otherness." To ask God to share a part of the Divine mystery so that we can then begin to understand ourselves a little bit better.
And then, once we can begin see and acknowledge our true natures - who we truly are - the next step is to begin living into that.
We are not the faces we show the world - the successful salesperson, the best athlete, the knowledgable professor, the talented actor - instead we are beings created in love and to love.
For Jesus, giving up this mask we show the world was the losing of life. It is losing the life in which we believe we are in control. It is then we can find the self God created us to be and to begin living that life in generosity, love, and gratitude.
It is a lifetime journey, and so even St. Francis would begin his day every day with the simple words: who are you, Lord, and who am I? Asking each day for God to reveal just a little more to us so we can live fully and deeply in our lives.
Prayer: Spend a few minutes reciting the mantra, Who are you, Lord, and Who am I? You can do this in silence our out loud.
Those who would save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. ~ Matthew 16:25
So once again, for the last time or the first, we face that face. ~ Frederick Buechner
The more we let God take us over, the more ourselves we become. ~ CS Lewis.
We had a discussion recently in Bible Study about how important it was to first figure out who we are - to know ourselves and see ourselves as having value - before we can then reach out to see who others are and to love and serve them.
We have to know we are a child of God before we can fully see that the other is also a child of God.
We have to love ourselves (because God loves us) before we can truly love our neighbor.
This is not an ego driven exercise. This is about seeing ourselves with the eyes of God: to see ourselves as God sees us.
For St. Francis of Assisi the first step was to ask who God is. We all have our own notions of the Divine. We are like the blind men and the elephant, grasping parts of the animal - trunk, tail, ear - and getting only a small fraction of the whole.
So for St. Francis the first part of prayer was to acknowledge God's "otherness." To ask God to share a part of the Divine mystery so that we can then begin to understand ourselves a little bit better.
And then, once we can begin see and acknowledge our true natures - who we truly are - the next step is to begin living into that.
We are not the faces we show the world - the successful salesperson, the best athlete, the knowledgable professor, the talented actor - instead we are beings created in love and to love.
For Jesus, giving up this mask we show the world was the losing of life. It is losing the life in which we believe we are in control. It is then we can find the self God created us to be and to begin living that life in generosity, love, and gratitude.
It is a lifetime journey, and so even St. Francis would begin his day every day with the simple words: who are you, Lord, and who am I? Asking each day for God to reveal just a little more to us so we can live fully and deeply in our lives.
Prayer: Spend a few minutes reciting the mantra, Who are you, Lord, and Who am I? You can do this in silence our out loud.