Augustine: the autonomy of fate

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Meditation:
    The earth is the LORD'S, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.
    —Psalm 24:1 (NIV)

Quotation:
    If by fate anyone means the will or power of God, let him keep his meaning but mend his language: for fate commonly means a necessary process which will have its way apart from the will of God and of men.
    ... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), The City of God, v. I [426], Marcus Dods, ed., as vol. 1 of The Works of Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Edinbugh: T & T Clark, 1871, V.i, p.178 (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my future rests with You alone.

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Singh: bearing the cross

Friday, June 19, 2009
    Commemoration of Sundar Singh of India, Sadhu, Evangelist, Teacher, 1929

Meditation:
    Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
    —Matthew 16:24 (NIV)

Quotation:
    From my ten years’ experience I can unhesitatingly say that the Cross bears those who bear the Cross
    ... Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929), quoted in Sádhu Sundar Singh, Called of God, Rebecca Jane Parker, New York: Fleming H. Revell Co. 1920, p. 86 (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me Your strength to bear my cross.

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Phillips: light enough for walking

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Meditation:
    Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
    —Psalm 119:105 (KJV)

Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    But even the Christian, for all this satisfying and hopeful conviction, does not know the meaning of the mystery of life, and if he is wise he does not pretend to. He has enough light to light him on his way, but there are a great many gaps in his knowledge. When he says, “one day we shall understand”, he is by no means always uttering a pious platitude. Quite frequently he is voicing a solid conviction, a genuine facet of hope. At present his vision is severely limited, and that is probably just as well if his sanity is to be preserved. But when he is free from the limitations of temporal life, he has every hope of being able to know as surely as he is at present known.
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), New Testament Christianity, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1956, ch. 5 (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your promises guide my steps.

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Phillips: the passing world

Wednesday, June 17, 2009
    Commemoration of Samuel & Henrietta Barnett, Social Reformers, 1913 & 1936

Meditation:
    Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.
    —1 Timothy 6:17 (KJV)

Quotation:
    [The Christian] refuses to give his heart to, or be taken in by, the values and pleasures of this passing world. He does not hesitate to use all that is good and beautiful and true, partly because he knows that his God gives him “richly all things to enjoy,” and partly because he knows that in all life’s impermanent beauties and pleasures, there is the promise of the real and permanent which he is thoroughly convinced will exceed his wildest expectations. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), New Testament Christianity, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1956, ch. 5 (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your reality fulfils Your word.

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Wright: the purpose of the covenant

Tuesday, June 16, 2009
    Feast of Richard of Chichester, Bishop, 1253
    Commemoration of Joseph Butler, Bishop of Durham, Moral Philosopher, 1752

Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”
    —Matthew 5:17,18 (NIV)

Quotation:
    The purpose of the covenant, in the Hebrew Bible and some subsequent writings, was never simply that the creator wanted to have Israel as a special people, irrespective of the fate of the rest of the world. The purpose of the covenant was that, through this means, the creator would address and save his entire world. The call of Abraham was designed to undo the sin of Adam.
    ... N. T. Wright (b. 1948), What Saint Paul Really Said, Grand Rapids Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997, p. 33 (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    Through Your grace, I have been admitted into Your covenant.

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Underhill: the use of formal prayer

Monday, June 15, 2009
    Feast of Evelyn Underhill, Mystical Writer, 1941

Meditation:
    Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.
    —Ps. 119:108 (KJV)

Quotation:
    Formal prayer is a practical device, not a spiritual necessity. It makes direct suggestions to our souls: it reminds us of realities which we always tend to forget.
    ... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), Concerning the Inner Life, London: Methuen, 1927 (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You alone fill the liturgy with meaning.

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Baxter on sects

Sunday, June 14, 2009
    Commemoration of Richard Baxter, Priest, Hymnographer, Teacher, 1691

Meditation:
    All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.
    —Acts 4:32 (NIV)

Quotation:
    I apprehend it is a matter of great necessity to imprint true catholicism on the minds of Christians, it being a most lamentable thing to observe how few Christians in the world there be, that fall not into one sect or other... And if they can but get to be of a sect which they think the holiest (as the Anabaptists and the Separatists), or which is the largest (as the Greeks and the Romans), they think then that they are sufficiently warranted to deny others to be God’s Church, or at least to deny them Christian love and communion.
    ... Richard Baxter (1615-1691), The Practical Works of Richard Baxter, v. I, ed. William Orme, London: J. Duncan, 1830, p. 595-596 (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, heal our divisions.

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