Gwatkin: a definitive entry

Saturday, May 7, 2011
Meditation:
    You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
    —Galatians 3:26-27 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Christian life properly began with Baptism, for Baptism was the convert’s confession before men, the soldier’s oath (sacramentum) which enlisted him in the service of Christ. Till that decisive step was taken, he could not be more than a friendly heathen.
    ... Henry M. Gwatkin (1844-1916), Early Church History to A.D. 312, v. I, London: Macmillan, 1909, p. 247 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your baptized servants stand ready. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Murray: praying without ceasing

Friday, May 6, 2011
Meditation:
    Pray without ceasing.
    —1 Thessalonians 5:17 (AV)
Quotation:
    If the spiritual life be healthy, under the full power of the Holy Spirit, praying without ceasing will be natural.
    ... Andrew Murray (1828-1917), The Ministry of Intercession: a plea for more prayer, New York: Revell, 1898, p. 192 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may my life be one of continual prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Smith: for the Scriptures to speak

Thursday, May 5, 2011
    400th anniversary of the Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible
Meditation:
    And [Jesus] said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
    Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures...
    —Luke 24:44-45 (AV)
Quotation:
    We desire that the Scripture may speake like it selfe, as in the language of Canaan, that it may bee understood even of the very vulgar.
    Many other things we might give thee warning of (gentle Reader) if we had not exceeded the measure of a Preface alreadie. It remaineth, that we commend thee to God, and to the Spirit of his grace, which is able to build further then we can aske or thinke. He removeth the scales from our eyes, the vaile from our hearts, opening our wits that we may understand his word, enlarging our hearts, yea correcting our affections, that we may love it above gold and silver, yea that we may love it to the end.
    ... Miles Smith (1554-1624), in the preface to The Authorised Version of the English Bible [1611], Cambridge: The University Press, 1909, p. 29 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we praise You for the gift of Your word in our language. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Palau: disillusioned?

Wednesday, May 4, 2011
    Feast of English Saints & Martyrs of the Reformation
Meditation:
    This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
    —1 John 3:19-20 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God is not disillusioned with us. He never had any illusions to begin with.
    ... Luis Palau (b. 1934), in a private communication from the Luis Palau Association
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, teach my heart that You cannot be deceived. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Cloud of Unknowing: longing love

Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
    —Matthew 5:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    He may well be loved, but not thought. By love may He be gotten and held; but by thought never. And therefore, though it be good sometimes to think of the kindness and the worthiness of God especially, and although it be a light and a part of contemplation: nevertheless yet in this work it shall be cast down and covered with a cloud of forgetting. And thou shalt step above it stalwartly, but deftly, with a devout and a pleasing stirring of love, and try to pierce that darkness above thee. And smite upon that thick cloud of unknowing with a sharp dart of longing love; and do not give up, whatever befalleth.
    ... The Cloud of Unknowing 14th century, ed. Evelyn Underhill, ch. 6 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I reach out for You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Athanasius: the portrait of God

Monday, May 2, 2011
    Feast of St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, Teacher, 373
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
    —Luke 19:10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    You know what happens when a portrait that has been painted on a panel becomes obliterated through external stains. The artist does not throw away the panel, but the subject of the portrait has to come and sit for it again, and then the likeness is re-drawn on the same material. Even so was it with the All-holy son of God. He, the Image of the Father, came and dwelt in our midst, in order that he might renew mankind made after Himself, and seek out His lost sheep, even as He says in the Gospel: “I came to seek and to save that which was lost.” This also explains His saying to the Jews: “Except a man be born anew...” He was not referring to a man’s natural birth from his mother, as they thought, but to the re-birth and re-creation of the soul in the Image of God.
    ... St. Athanasius (293?-373), The Incarnation of the Word of God [4th century], St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1996, XIV, p. 41-42 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, through You I have been remade. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Allshorn: holiness as a by-product

Sunday, May 1, 2011
    Feast of Philip & James, Apostles
Meditation:
    Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
    I answered, “Sir, you know.”
    And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
    —Revelation 7:13-14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Our calling is not primarily to be holy women, but to work for God and for others with Him. Our holiness is an effect, not a cause; so long as our eyes are on our own personal whiteness as an end in itself, the thing breaks down. God can do nothing while my interest is in my own personal character—He will take care of this if I obey His call. In learning to love God and people as He commanded us to do, obviously your sanctification cannot but come, but not as an end in itself.
    ... Florence Allshorn (1887-1950), The Notebooks of Florence Allshorn, London: SCM Press, 1957, p. 27-28 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, all holiness is of You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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