Context

There comes a time in the life of a “Christian” when one experiences their first act of pure self-giving. From this moment on, there is no retreat. Aroused by a new kind of love from within, you find yourself anxious to surmount all obstacles to your relationship with God. But still, you tend to get swept back to the people and things whose demands appear more pressing. 

This is when God appears, no longer hidden behinds these pressing matters … but in full light. God speaks so that you can hear. God asks that you receive him and that God be given first place in your life and your activities. 

Many times, when this happens to a committed “Christian” like you, the response is to run away, because it is known that God will ask for your total and unconditional self-giving. Even still, God will pursue you relentlessly (perhaps God is doing that now to you) until God gets the consent from you that will make your own life divine. 

The prayer below is about this “wrestling match” we have with God, and only those who have experienced it or are in it now, can understand the title: “Help Me to Say ‘Yes’.”  But first, some scripture to help put this prayer in deeper context.

Scripture

Luke 1:28-32; 37-38

28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.

37 For no word from God will ever fail. 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Prayer:      

“Help Me to Say ‘Yes’”                                                                                                                                                        by Michael Quoist

I am afraid of saying “Yes,” Lord.                                                                                                                               Where will you take me?                                                                                                                                                         I am afraid of drawing the longer straw,                                                                                                                                      I am afraid of signing my name to an unread agreement,                                                                                                           I am afraid of the “yes” that entails other “yeses.” 

And yet I am not at peace.                                                                                                                                                     You pursue me, Lord, you besiege me.                                                                                                                       I seek out the din for fear of hearing you, but in a moment of silence you slip through.                                   I turn from the road, for I have caught sight of you, but at the end of the path you are there awaiting me. Where shall I hide? I meet you everywhere.                                                                                                                          Is it then impossible to escape you?

But I am afraid to say “Yes,” Lord.                                                                                                                                   I am afraid of putting my hand in yours, for you to hold on to it.                                                                                      I am afraid of meeting your eyes, for you can win me.                                                                                                  I am afraid of your demands, for you are a jealous God.                                                                                                I am hemmed in, yet I hide.                                                                                                                                                      I am captured, yet I struggle, and I fight knowing that I am defeated.                                                                      For you are the stronger, Lord, you own the world and you take it from me.                                                     When I stretch out my hand to catch hold of people and things, they vanish before my eyes.                             It’s no fun, Lord, I can’t keep anything for myself.                                                                                                        The flower I pick fades in my hands.                                                                                                                               My laugh freezes on my lips.                                                                                                                                             The waltz I dance leaves me restless and uneasy.                                                                                                       Everything seems empty,                                                                                                                                         Everything seems hollow,                                                                                                                                                    You have made a desert around me.                                                                                                                                            I am hungry and thirsty,                                                                                                                                                       And the whole world cannot satisfy me.  

And yet, I loved you, Lord; what have I done to you?                                                                                                     I worked for you: I gave myself for you.                                                                                                                     O great and terrible God,                                                                                                                                                    What more do you want?

God replies:                                                                                                                                                                             “I want more for you and for the world.                                                                                                                         Until now, you have planned your actions, but I have no need of them.                                                        You have asked for my approval, you have asked for my support,                                                                                  You have wanted to interest me in your work.                                                                                                                 But, don’t you see … that you were reversing the roles?                                                                                                         I have watched you, I have seen your good will,                                                                                                                And I want more than you, now.                                                                                                                                             You will no longer do your own works, but the will of your Father in heaven.”

“Say ‘yes’ …                                                                                                                                                                                   I need your ‘yes’ as I needed Mary’s ‘yes’ to come to earth.                                                                                            For it is I who must do your work,                                                                                                                                                It is I who must live in your family,                                                                                                                                           It is I who must be in your neighborhood, and not you.                                                                                                     For it is my look that penetrates, and not yours,                                                                                                             My words that carry weight, and not yours.                                                                                                                       My life that transforms, and not yours.                                                                                                                        Give all to me, abandon all to me.                                                                                                                                                      I need your ‘yes’ to be united with you and to come down to earth,                                                                                          I need your ‘yes’ to continue saving the world!”

O Lord, I am afraid of your demands, but who can resist you?                                                                                     That your Kingdom may come and not mine,                                                                                                                  That your will may be done and not mine,                                                                                                                       Help me to say “Yes.”

(Credit & Inspiration to Michael Quoist, from his book “Prayers”) 

Just for today, I am saying “Yes!” What about you?                                                                                                                                 Pastor Bob <><

“We were borne before the wind

Also younger than the sun

Ere the bonnie boat was won

As we sailed into the mystic”

(Van Morrison)

Genesis 1 tells us how God created a world that was in perfect harmony. The story of creation is set in a 7-day time span over which God creates everything we have in the world today. God starts with light, and then adds all the features of nature – from the waters to the animals – and then God called it all “good.” When God says something is good, that means it is in perfect harmony with God’s will. 

When the 6th day came in God’s creation story, God created humans in the image of God – male and female God created them. (Gen. 1:27) God blessed the humans (Gen. 1:28), and then looked over all that God had created and saw that it was “excellent in every way.” (Gen. 1: 31) When God thinks something is “excellent in every way” that means it is in perfect harmony with God’s will. Even us!

Chapter 2 of Genesis takes God’s story of perfect harmony into the “Garden of Eden” where man and woman live together with all the other things of creation in a place where nothing is not in harmony with God. All things of existence have found their true nature and they live it out every day; from the clouds and the rain to the trees and the plants to the caterpillars and bullfrogs to the man and the woman. Nothing is dominated by their self-will. Everything is in perfect harmony with God. 

That’s the world that Van Morrison sings about in his song, “Into the Mystic.” (lyrics above) You see, before we got here, we were there … in the “Garden” that God had created. God gave man and woman one final gift that no other part of creation was given – self-will. God knew that without self-will, humans could not be the creatures that God created them to be. God wanted humans to love God by their own choice, because that’s the only way love actually means love. But that self-will also gave us the freedom to do our own thing and to make our own choices. 

Which brings us to today. Here we are, still seeking that perfect harmony with God that is right in front of us. The past few days, my son Jackson and I have been holed up in a cabin in the middle of the Shawnee Forest in southern Illinois seeking that perfect harmony of God in the realm of nature living on its own terms. Being deep in the woods of a national forest is about as close as we can get to that prefect harmony of the Garden of Eden in today’s society. 

For some it is found on a boat in the middle of the sea, and for others it is found climbing mountains that stretch to the sky. And, of course, there’s the beach. My wife, Amy, finds her solace and peace sitting on the beach facing the never ending span of the ocean which extends to the horizon, and beyond. All of these are good places to get close to that original harmony of the Garden. You probably have your own places that bring you closer to God’s presence. The trick, of course, is to bring this sense of original perfection back to our “real” lives. 

It’s wonderful to spend a few days in the woods, free to be yourself and free to be in nature as God created it to be. But the question for us is: How do we experience the mystic of God’s harmony in our everyday lives? The answer to that question brings us back to self-will. God has blessed us with a choice to make each and every day; should it be my will or yours, God? 

Only when we are willing to surrender our own will for God’s will, do we move our souls closer to the harmony of the Garden of Eden. It’s true! Eden is right in front of us. Just ask God. God created all this as a way to bring us closer to God … not farther away. 

The material realities of our lives are but distractions from the mystical reality of God’s presence that surrounds us … and calls to us. It’s as if God can give us new sight – a new way of seeing – so that we may, if we choose, look around us and see that Garden that we came from … that perfect harmony that God instilled in the world at the beginning. 

This week I was reminded of all that harmony and perfection that still remains in the world today. I found myself immersed in nature that was as close to pristine and perfect as God created it. The deep  woods can be stunning in its simplicity – each creature and each plant and each tree co-existing with each other just as God intended – all of them living and growing perfectly according to God’s will. 

And then humans come along. And, as it is every day of our lives, we have a choice to make. Do I co-exist with this patch of the Kingdom by surrendering my will and following God’s will to the best of my ability – or do I come to exert my will on this piece of perfect creation, marred only by the reckless decisions of other humans who cannot resist acting out of self-will. 

The truth of God’s creation is that we have that choice every single day of our lives — whether we are in the woods, on the sea, up on the mountaintop or at the beach. But we also have that same choice when we get back home. God created us to bring harmony with God’s way and God’s will to the place we are each and every day. Those other places we go are just reminders of what we can help God create right at home.

In the end, it’s not about where we are, but who we are. It’s about the choice we make every day. It’s about my will or God’s will. It’s about harmony with perfection that already exists or exerting my power over harmony and creating disharmony in my life and in the world. It’s about good enough for me or the best of what’s possible for all.

As for me, I choose to bring my will before God, and ask that it be molded into whatever God may desire. In that sense, I prefer to “sail into the mystic” with my sights set on Eden and my heart following Jesus. And though I often fall short of perfection, I know that God loves my desire to please God alone and God will always love me, just as I am, imperfections and all! 

Peace and harmony to all,