Peter's Dilemma

Peter's Dilemma

            One morning this past week, the Lord brought to my mind this illustration, and I felt compelled to share it with you as others in the body of Christ.  I had been reading in the Gospels earlier that morning, and the events of Acts Chapter 2 in the Bible came to my mind- the day of Pentecost.  I encourage you to read the chapter for yourself, but for the moment, here’s a brief summary: After the one hundred and twenty believers were filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter addressed the crowd, explaining the phenomenon to the people of Jerusalem, and began preaching to them.  The end of the chapter tells us that about three thousand people were added to the number of believers.

            Now for the illustration.  Let’s take the disciple Peter and place him in today’s twenty-first century.  To start with, let’s have fun and get an image in our mind of what Peter might look like on an everyday occasion if he lived nowadays.  He’d probably be wearing blue jeans, not the modern fashion statement of skinny jeans, I doubt they’d be name-brand Levis, and his pants wouldn’t be riding low like a gangster’s.  He’d probably have a pair of sneakers on, not an expensive brand and probably not brand-new; the white might be a little dirt-stained, and he probably had to replace the shoelaces a few weeks ago, but the shoes still have good wear left in them.  I see him wearing a regular plain-colored t-shirt, and no, not a name-brand either like American Eagle nor an Under Armor shirt that emphasizes his biceps.  Brown hair cut nicely… not shaggy long hair or a Mohawk.  He combs it neatly in the morning, but besides that, he probably doesn’t do much with it.  I can’t picture Peter with gelled spikes in his hair.  Over all, his appearance is well-kept since his body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, but very unassuming so as not to draw notice to himself but to Christ in him.  He’s bold with a passion to reach people with the message of the Gospel, and he’s excited and determined to win the world for Jesus.  He’s on fire for God.

            All right, now that we have our mental image of Peter, let’s watch as he ministers to the crowd outside of a Wal-Mart supercenter in the same flat-out, straight-forward approach that he addresses the crowd in Acts Chapter 2.  Here’s how I imagine it to go:  To start his day, Peter decides to first just stand outside of the grocery store’s automatic doors and minister to the shoppers coming in and out.  His first approach is to simply start stopping people and telling them the Good News and how much Jesus loves them, proclaiming the Gospel.  Nobody really pays him much attention and just walks by, some without even glancing his way.  They think he’s just another one of those typical goody-two-shoes Christians.  Next, he tries passing out Christian tracts.  Whether they listened to him or not, this way he could place something in their hand for them to read later at least, he reasons.  Some people think he’s trying to sell something and hurry by, holding up a hand as a refusal and muttering a “No thank you, I’m not interested.”  Some of them politely accept it with a smile and a nod, but when he turns his back, he sees with his peripheral vision as they toss it into the trashcan before moving on their way.  Others don’t even have the decency to try to throw it away without his notice and toss it into the trash while he stands there watching.  And still some deposit it into a shopping buggy for “someone who needs it more.”

            It’s time to be bolder for his Savior, he decides.  It’s time to get involved in people’s lives and make a difference.  With that new mentality, he approaches a woman who appears to be struggling pushing her shopping cart and managing her wandering young children as they all cross the parking lot.  He courteously offers to help her by pushing the cart, but she hurries away as though she’s scared of him and shoots him an unnecessary glare over her shoulder as she gathers her children closer to her, perhaps suspecting him of being a kidnapper.

            Next he approaches an elderly man who is passing by in his wheelchair.  He asks if he can pray for the man’s healing, knowing with full confidence that the Lord could make the man walk again, but the older man rejects the proposal, insisting that the doctors said he would never walk again in his life.  “These old legs just don’t work anymore, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it,” he insists adamantly.  As the man wheels into the store, a young woman hurries out the automatic doors just when one of the plastic bags she carries breaks, and her grocery items spill onto the sidewalk and begin to roll into the crosswalk of the parking lot.  What better way to demonstrate Christ’s love for this girl than through an act of service and aid, Peter decides as he sees this.  So Peter commences to help the girl just as he would his own sister, only the young lady eagerly begins flirting with him, much to his surprise and utter shock.  He then decides it would be a wise decision to wait until his good friend John and his brother Andrew arrive to join him before he tries ministering to women again.  Rather, he directs his attention to only men for the time being. 

After this dismaying incident, two young men, obviously gay and proud of it, pass by toward the store entryway.  Concerned for their eternal futures, Peter takes it upon himself to approach them and confront them with their deeds.  One of the guys begins cussing at him and tells him that it’s none of his business, warning him to stay out of the situation.  Peter continues pleading with them to repent of their sin and to accept forgiveness and salvation in Christ Jesus, reminding them that their actions together are an abomination to the Lord, but the young men refuse to listen and continue on their way.

Several more witnessing attempts follow with a frustrated man showing Peter a gun he carried in his pocket, another offended man threatening to call the police, and another entering into a heated rage and accusing Peter of being a liar and “nothing more than a hypocritical Christian.”  Each failed attempt grieved Peter’s heart to see the condition of the world in which he lived.  Clearly, Peter’s approach to evangelism that he had used in the Bible times Jerusalem was not successful anymore.  Where were the three thousand converts in his modern-day ministry?

In this illustration, Peter has a dilemma, but it isn’t only Peter’s dilemma… it’s our dilemma as the church and body of believers.  Peter had the right heart and the right motive in the example I described for you above, but his ministry efforts weren’t working.  Just take a look around you the next time you’re in the grocery store or the workplace or the school cafeteria, and you’ll realize that our witnessing efforts aren’t working either.  So what’s the problem?  What went wrong?  Why didn’t Peter’s approach from the New Testament work in today’s society?  This illustration may have been a bit humorous, and yes, it was only my opinion of what such an incident might look like, but truthfully, this account probably wasn’t too far off from reality.  Peter in this illustration represents the average man- each of us individuals, and we often find ourselves in Peter’s shoes when we attempt to go into the world and share the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ.  But why?  Why are the results we receive so different from those that Peter witnessed in response to his address to the crowd on the day of Pentecost? 

Well, a problem like this takes evaluation.  Are people’s hearts just more hardened nowadays than they were back then?  Is today’s society just different than the society of Jerusalem in Peter’s time?  Maybe so, and yes, our society probably is different to an extent, but human nature doesn’t change with cultures and eras.  So that can’t be the main problem; I honestly don’t believe that the blame can fall entirely upon society alone. 

Here are a few suggestions I have for an answer:  1. First things first… are Christians today really and truly followers of Jesus Christ?  Do we honestly believe everything we say we do?  Or do we just know the dialogue and rhetoric of religiosity and are adept at playing the part, but are really like “whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean”? (Mt 23:27)  How can we expect others to believe something we ourselves don’t even believe?  2. Have we truly been filled by the Holy Spirit and empowered by Him?  Have we experienced the day of Pentecost in our own lives?  3. We may be devoted followers of Christ and be Holy Spirit-filled Christians, but do we have genuine and unquestioning faith?  The kind of faith that in Matthew 17 Jesus says can move mountains?  If we don’t have that kind of faith, we can’t exactly expect to see miracles of faith occur, can we?  4. Are we devoted followers of Christ or only “sometimes Christians”?  As believers, we are called to stand apart from the world, to be in the world but not of the world.  We are to be the light in the darkness and the salt of the earth (Mt 5:13-16), but if our lives reflect our faith only sometimes and we hypocritically live to fit in with the world at other times, then why should others want to believe in our faith if they don’t see any difference between a life with God and a life without Him?  Don’t be the kind of one-and-off Christian that gives Christianity and Christ a bad name.  And 5. Are we truly ministering from the Lord’s prompting?  Sometimes I wonder if we get so pepped up and excited about going out there into the world and winning all those lost souls for Christ that we move out of our own decisions rather than waiting on the Lord and seeking His will, and therefore, He’s no longer at the center of our mission.  For example, perhaps in haste, we decide the most effective way to reach a family with the Gospel is to show them the love of Christ through meeting a financial need in their lives, but maybe His way was for us to show them the humility and servant’s heart of Jesus by simply offering to run an errand for them on a busy day in their schedule or playing taxi-driver and driving their kids to all their sports practices one day.  Not that there’s anything wrong with having a passion to share the Gospel with others- quite the contrary, in fact- and our ideas for witnessing might be excellent avenues for ministry, but perhaps unless we seek His guidance, the people’s hearts will not be prepared to receive the message we have to bring forth and the light we’re trying to shine into their lives and into their homes.

With that said, here’s a proposition summed up of the points above where I feel the problem may lie: either we aren’t really Christians, we aren’t empowered by the Holy Spirit, we aren’t believers of genuine faith, we don’t faithfully live out our faith, or we get so caught up in the zealousness of witnessing that we fail to seek the Lord’s guidance and therefore go forth without the preparation and presence of God.  I’m not sure where you find yourself in that list, that’s something only you and God can answer, but I urge you to give it some consideration along with me as we seek together as the body of Christ God’s guidance and direction on how to best share His love and His hope of salvation with the world today.  The world in which we live needs Peters and Pauls to rise up in the homes, the grocery stores, the shops, the restaurants, the banks, the gas stations, the offices, the schools, the governments, the cities, the counties, the states, the nations… the whole earth, wherever the Lord has placed you.  Where you find yourself in this season of your life is not an accident, the people you interact with day-to-day is not coincidence.  The Lord has placed you where you are for a reason, and He’s looking to raise up a radical follower there who will make a stand for Him and the righteous things of God.

“‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Mark 16: 15

~We’ve all heard of the phrase “pulling on her/ his heartstrings,” but heart-chords?  I was struggling to decide what to name my blog.  I wanted it to be a name that was both creative and meaningful.  As I pondered, my gaze fell upon my acoustic guitar where it stands in my bedroom, and the Lord reminded me that our hearts- our lives- are instruments.  They are constantly in song, but what melody our heart plays is each of our own decisions.  They can play a melody for praise or for entertainment.  A musician selects his songs according to his audience.  So do we.  Whether our audience is the world or the Lord, our song will be different.  This blog is designed to first, increase my awareness in finding God and His guidance in my every day and second, to share the music lessons He teaches me in tuning my heart to learn the chords of praise He longs to play on my heart-instrument.  Music is a powerful tool.  Use it for His glory.  “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3

  

Thoroughbred Through and Through

Thoroughbred Through and Through

            On the farm where I ride, there’s a horse named Aussie.  As is typical of most thoroughbreds, Aussie can be pretty high-strung and difficult to manage sometimes, but he’s also one of the smartest horses I’ve ever met.  The things he can do… it’s pretty amazing.  He’s one intelligent horse all right.  And he stands about the typical hands (unit of measuring a horse’s height) for an average thoroughbred.  At one time, he was actually my project horse for riding and training.

Aussie (on the left)

            For those of you that have been reading my blog since its very beginning in April, you’ll remember my current project horse Sterling whom I ride and train during my riding lessons (see Heart-chords post Lesson from Sterling shared in April 2012).  Sterling is also a thoroughbred; however, he is considerably smaller than Aussie.  Before Sterling was purchased from his present owners, he had been ridden hard and worked for complex tasks before his back had developed strong enough to support that extent of strenuousness.  Because of that, Sterling’s growth was stunted, and he will never grow to be as tall as he should’ve been.  A regular Black Beauty story, right?

Sterling

          

         I wonder how often we’re just like Sterling though.  How often we allow pressures of the world to weigh down upon us and hinder us from fulfilling the full potential that the Lord desires for us to attain.  Peer pressure, the sense of needing to measure up to the standards the world holds for us, the desire to impress, fear of other’s opinions and ridicule… and no, peer pressure does not only exist in the schools; it’s a very real and powerful force in the workplace as well.  There are so many avenues in our lives where unhealthy pressures can seep into our thoughts, perspectives, and even our self-esteem.  These negative influences of weight are not from the Lord and only tie us down, stunt our growth in God and the things of God, and prevent us from fulfilling the plans and potential the Lord has for each of us.

            Because of his past, Sterling will never grow to reach the height of an average thoroughbred, and he will never stand as tall as Aussie does, but that does not restrict his capabilities.  He can run just as fast as any horse, he can learn to jump and spin on his back hoofs, he can weave through cones and maneuver through a barrel pattern, and he can stop just as fast as you can ask him to.  And like Sterling, our past decisions do not limit how we can be used by God for His glory and His kingdom.  Every decision that we make has its consequences of course, and just as Sterling’s past affected him permanently, sometimes the consequences of our choices will affect the rest of our lives and might be something we have to live with indefinitely, but even those consequences do not place restrictions on how the Lord can use us.  Consider Paul formerly Saul who persecuted the Christians, Matthew the tax collector who later became one of the twelve first disciples of Christ, or Rahab the prostitute who harbored Joshua’s spies in Jericho.  Not exactly examples of your ideal “Jesus instruments,” right?  Our pasts and failures do not restrict us from following Jesus Christ, and they do not place barriers and limitations on our service to the Lord and what He wants to do in us and through us.

            Don’t buy into the lie that your past makes you inferior in any way to other believers and disqualifies you from being used by God.  And don’t allow the pressure of the world to bear its weight down upon you and hinder you from becoming all that the Lord wants you to become in Him.  You are uniquely created and are loved unconditionally and have a divine purpose and calling for your life.  God has had a special plan in mind just for you since the day you were conceived and He began forming you perfectly in His image.  It is not His will for you to be fettered by the pressures and cares of this world, and He wants to deliver you from that burden.  Just let Him.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1

*This morning in church, a member of our church congregation had returned for a visit after being away.  This was the first time I had seen Jonathan since he had left after enlisting in the United States Army, and seeing him in his military camos really struck me so hard that I honestly wanted to cry but just couldn’t.  We see men and women in uniforms sometimes in the shops around town and almost always at the airport, but to see in person someone I know in a military uniform… I admit I was shaken although I didn’t show it.  Maybe even more so because Jonathan isn’t much older than myself.  Please continue to pray for our troops, fellow Americans… even though it’s easy to forget sometimes in our day-to-day lives that soldiers even exist.

Photo courtesy of horse racing: www.123rf.com

~We’ve all heard of the phrase “pulling on her/ his heartstrings,” but heart-chords?  I was struggling to decide what to name my blog.  I wanted it to be a name that was both creative and meaningful.  As I pondered, my gaze fell upon my acoustic guitar where it stands in my bedroom, and the Lord reminded me that our hearts- our lives- are instruments.  They are constantly in song, but what melody our heart plays is each of our own decisions.  They can play a melody for praise or for entertainment.  A musician selects his songs according to his audience.  So do we.  Whether our audience is the world or the Lord, our song will be different.  This blog is designed to first, increase my awareness in finding God and His guidance in my every day and second, to share the music lessons He teaches me in tuning my heart to learn the chords of praise He longs to play on my heart-instrument.  Music is a powerful tool.  Use it for His glory.  “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3

 

The Price is Freedom

The Price is Freedom

Good evening, everyone!  I just wanted to share with you this striking quote that I read this morning by Soviet premier Nikita S. Khrushchev (For those of you living in a Communist or socialist country, it is not my intention for this to be interpreted as being offensive):

            “We cannot expect Americans to jump from capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans doses of socialism until they suddenly awake to find out they have Communism.” – Nikita S. Khrushchev

In light of that ideology, consider this quote from US President Theodore Roosevelt:

            “Americanism (American patriotism) means the virtues of courage, honor, justice, truth, sincerity, and hardihood- the virtues that made America.  The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love-of-soft-living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.” – Theodore Roosevelt

And here’s the question I asked myself:  “Do I see myself in any of those five points?”

Do you?

I believe that these five points Roosevelt lists as destructive to America does not pertain only to America but to every country and nation in the world.  However, as Americans, are we unknowingly embracing subtle doses of socialism by adopting these five destructive behavioral and thought patterns until we will awake one day to find that we’ve spiraled downward into a vacuum of socialist ideology?  Are we unconsciously exchanging our freedoms for eventual Communism?

            As Charles B. Shuman put it, “The appeal of socialism is to human weakness- the desire to avoid responsibility and the craving for material gain.  It offers security as a substitute for opportunity, and the price is freedom.”

Something worth spending some time thinking about.

On a lighter note, the scene from my book Outlaw that I described in my post Falling into the Rain is now written and available for reading on The Avid Author (www.theavidauthor.blogspot.com).

Photo courtesy: www.123rf.com

 ~We’ve all heard of the phrase “pulling on her/ his heartstrings,” but heart-chords?  I was struggling to decide what to name my blog.  I wanted it to be a name that was both creative and meaningful.  As I pondered, my gaze fell upon my acoustic guitar where it stands in my bedroom, and the Lord reminded me that our hearts- our lives- are instruments.  They are constantly in song, but what melody our heart plays is each of our own decisions.  They can play a melody for praise or for entertainment.  A musician selects his songs according to his audience.  So do we.  Whether our audience is the world or the Lord, our song will be different.  This blog is designed to first, increase my awareness in finding God and His guidance in my every day and second, to share the music lessons He teaches me in tuning my heart to learn the chords of praise He longs to play on my heart-instrument.  Music is a powerful tool.  Use it for His glory.  “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit

             A canopy overhead of oak tree branches, a shaded park bench by a reflective lake, absolute stillness, serenity, and peacefulness…  Sounds ideal, doesn’t it?  That’s where I spent my afternoon yesterday- at a nearby monastery.

           

            If you’re anything like I was, when you think of monks, you think of strange religious recluses dressed in white and black, praying, meditating, and reading the Bible all day long.  That’s what I thought… until I visited the Monastery of the Holy Spirit.

            It’s true that the monks at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit do dress in white and black and do pray, meditate, and read the Bible throughout the day, but they aren’t at all like the stereotype people have come to associate with monks.  They aren’t strange at all and there’s nothing secretive about their way of life.  Contrary to what some may think, they aren’t prisoners to the vows that they’ve made; they chose that way of life and stay monks because they want to, not because anyone is forcing them to. 

            I hold a great deal of respect and admiration for the Trappist monks at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, and in fact, I’m always telling my parents that if I was a man and if I was Catholic, I would join them in their monastic life even.  But I’ve learned that you don’t actually have to be a monk to have the heart of a monk, which is something I’m still striving to acquire fully.

            After visiting the monastery for the first time, I wrote a report that evening about my experience.  Below is that report, and I hope that you’ll take the time to read it and that your opinion about the monks will be influenced by it, if even in the least.

            If you live near to Conyers, Georgia, or ever find yourself near the city, I encourage you to take the time to visit the monastery.  It’s worth the trip.  A few tips of advice to enhance your experience:  You may want to pack a lunch to enjoy by the property’s wooded picnic area; the lake is especially beautiful and so peaceful.  Be sure to watch the video in the Monastic Heritage Center and to walk through the museum in the barn- it really deepens your appreciation for the architecture of the chapel immensely.  I highly advise you to stay for a service in order to get the full experience of the monastery and understand best what the monks’ heart truly is all about-seeking the Lord and His presence (I personally always attend the 5:20 p.m. liturgy).  Keep your eyes open for the cats that live near the retreat house; they’re so adorable!  And if you visit in the summer, be sure to wear something cool.  The bonsai store and the church do not have air condition and can get very warm even with the fans, especially if you prefer to sit in the balcony of the church like I do.  I consider the view from the balcony to be well worth tolerating the heat though; rarely does anyone else sit up there, so if you’re seeking some quiet alone time with God, the balcony is desirable.

            For more information about the monastery, check out their website at www.trappist.net.

 Reflections upon a Visit to the Monastery

 Off of Brown's Mill Road deep in Conyers, Georgia, stands the Monastery of the Holy Spirit.  A small grouping of only a handful of buildings, yet it is a community of its own.  A community of the brotherhood of Roman Catholic monks.

Contrary to what I had expected, I found the monks to be open, amiable, and welcoming, eager to share the peace and contentment they have found with their guests.  It was not at all like the reclusive group of monastic hermits I had quite made them out to be in my imagination.  Despite the sacrifices of many modern-day luxuries, their countenances do not bear the agony of one in miserable want and yearning for the things of the world as one would imagine and would see upon the face of most ordinary men, but instead there is a reflection of peace, of insuppressible joy and contentment in the life of simplicity and solitude they have chosen to live.  One might ask how this could be so, and the answer would be quite simply replied.  It is only by their absolute devotion and dedication to God and their faith that they can enjoy such rich contentment without the luxury and entertainment of the things the world has to offer, for only in total surrender to God does a man ever find any true contentment at all.  These men are satisfied with what they have; the only thing I observed that they seemed to desire beyond what they have already obtained is more of God and His holiness and presence.  They have a never-satiated desire, thirst, for the things of God.  They strive to love that which He loves and to hate that which He hates.  They have dedicated their whole life to serving the Lord and furthering His kingdom, which is more than can be said about many men about us, but then, they are not ordinary men.  There is a distinct characteristic in them that is not easily found in most men today.  They seem gentle, but not effeminate.  They speak softly and have a great deal of patience, but their manhood is not diminished in the least.  They are a creative, engineering group that believes in the value and rewards of physical labor, and among them, there is a sense of unity and brotherhood as though the whole assembly at the monastery has formed a strange sort of family living in perfect harmony with one another where neither background nor race nor prior religion matters.  They have vowed to live a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience to authority.

            Man's inclination is to give all for gain and to gain all he can get.  This is true for the monks as well, but not in the regard that most seek their gain to be.  For the monks, they give all- their lifestyle, their wealth and material luxuries, sometimes even their families- for the cause of gaining an opportunity to simplify their lives and remove themselves from the temptations and pressures of the world that so easily entangle and snag.  To distance themselves from all that may hinder them in their walk with God.  In the same manner, they strive to gain as much intimacy with God as a man can acquire.  To walk as closely to Him as possible and to seek His face in every aspect of their day.  This is not to say that they are different from other men in the passions they feel and the emotions they must contend with.  They are every bit as human as any one of us and therefore deal with the same temptations and emotions as we must, but by separating themselves from the things of the world, they strive to remove that which potentially could become a hindrance and stumbling block to their resistance to such temptations.  They have disciplined the desires of their flesh and exercise sobriety and self-control in all things, daily striving to overcome in extinguishing man's sinful nature's thirst and passions.  They have sacrificed all that the world deems normal to follow a journey that the Lord has called them to.

            In contrast to the world around us, the community of the monastery is a haven of perfect peace rather than the chaos and violence we find daily in our society.  It is a place of silence and solitude, of pensive inner meditation, of finding enjoyment in the creation of the nature about them.  They are a distinct people set apart, but though it feels as if it's another world, the doors to their serenity are open to all who desire to enter... whether for a few hours, a few days, a few years, or a lifetime.  They are satisfied and their every essential need is met as they find true happiness and fulfillment in living in the presence of the Almighty God.  Their attire frequently consists of a white tunic, black hooded garb (scapular), and a leather belt (their whole attire is called a habit I now know), the unpretentiousness of their attire testifying to the simplicity they desire in their lifestyle.

            Their day is not all prayer and quiet meditation, however.  Like any man, they too have a desire and a calling to work.  To work with their hands and their backs as men were created to.  They find their occupations in manning the visitor's center, in designing and creating stained glass, tailorship, growing and manicuring bonsai trees, and many other professions that are rather similar in many ways to those available to us outside their community.  In their greenhouse near the visitor's center, many of their bonsai trees are also available for sale.  Many of the monks work in the monastery's bakery or in the vegetable garden, which they sell the yields of their labor from both.  In everything that is encompassed in their day, however, they strive to maintain an attitude of prayer and meditation, keeping God in His sacred place at the foremost of their thoughts.

            Their services and church are graciously opened as well to the public.  However, silence is requested and flash photography is asked to be refrained.  The beautiful pink and blue stained glass windows shaped in various fragments of glass cast a serene hue of quiet meditation and reverence across the sacred place of worship, inviting study and reflection upon the Scriptures at any time of the day.  As the appointed time of meeting draws near, the monks individually begin to appear, silent in contemplation and reverence as they enter, bow before the altar, and resume to their designated seats.  The church bells ring loud and clear, as musical as the chimes that pronounce the beginning of the Sabbath morning service across the countryside from the steeple of any church.  At this, the last few monks make their way into the church and to their seating.  When the voices of the men rise in unison to sing it is as though they sing not with the voice of many, but with the tongue of one.  When they pray, they speak not as many men, but as one soul with one desire.  The sound of the pipe organ rings as though it is a sound coming forth straight from heaven itself, being played by the very praises the angels offer to the Lord.  Throughout the assemblage, there is a spirit of reverence that is not easily found elsewhere.  A reverence and honor to the greatness and glory of the majestic King that has become demeaned in the relaxation of our casual culture.  When all fades and the arches of that great cathedral fall silent yet again, one is left in awe as one might describe a being that has been entranced by a magical spell, and there is such a sweet serenity in that place, that one wishes he must never leave.

            After a mere three hours, you have felt as though you would be content to live your whole life there as well.  You respect and admire the men there that have sacrificed so much for such dedication to the Lord and their faith.  You have experienced the joy of simplicity and serenity and have meditated in the same places they too reflect.  After attending one of their services, you have touched God's presence with them and therefore have shared the same desire that drives them to live the secluded life set apart that they have chosen, a life of absolute devotion.  It is a life we too are called to, not only the monks.  It is a life of absolute dedication and separation, of devotion and meditation of the Word and things of God, of service to others and showing the grace and love of God to those around us.  It is this kind of life that God has called each of us to live, no matter whether we live in the world although not of it, or whether we have chosen to seek God's face in a community of our own instead as the monks have.  Though dissimilar in many regards, the monks are truly not as different as one may think.  Touch the heart of God through absolute surrender in your life and find His fingerprints in every encounter of your day, and you have found the secret to the monks' contentment.  Once you find it, like them, you will never want to leave.  The monks walk their spiritual journey in their haven, but wherever you walk beside the Lord, you have found yours as well, and it truly feels like home.

*To watch a slideshow tour of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit and to read a short story set at the monastery, visit my writing blog at www.theavidauthor.blogspot.com and check out the post titled The Pain of Pruning. 

~We’ve all heard of the phrase “pulling on her/ his heartstrings,” but heart-chords?  I was struggling to decide what to name my blog.  I wanted it to be a name that was both creative and meaningful.  As I pondered, my gaze fell upon my acoustic guitar where it stands in my bedroom, and the Lord reminded me that our hearts- our lives- are instruments.  They are constantly in song, but what melody our heart plays is each of our own decisions.  They can play a melody for praise or for entertainment.  A musician selects his songs according to his audience.  So do we.  Whether our audience is the world or the Lord, our song will be different.  This blog is designed to first, increase my awareness in finding God and His guidance in my every day and second, to share the music lessons He teaches me in tuning my heart to learn the chords of praise He longs to play on my heart-instrument.  Music is a powerful tool.  Use it for His glory.  “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3