At the 2005 John Main lecture series, Richard Rohr borrowed the title of his keynote presentation from the Archimedes quote: "Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth." I am listening to the set of CDs a second time because there are so many different ideas that he shares about ego, power and transformation. One simple truth that I had never really heard concretely before was the fact that Jesus never said, "Worship me." but instead he called out "Follow me!" It's something we've heard over and over, Jesus calling "Follow me!" I know that part, but I guess inadvertently, I transposed our desire to worship him as an implied command. It's the same old snare, failure to truly listen instead of interjecting our own viewpoints.
My prayer for the congregation?
Dear God, We want to be transformed! We want to be used as a lever in your hands to move the earth by standing in the footsteps of Jesus. We must maintain our stamina and practice our apprenticeship if we are to keep pace with The Christ. If we lag behind we may become disoriented and confused. If we try to follow on a whim, we will become breathless and unable to speak the good news. O God, following Jesus is a physical, active, coordinated exercise; we must daily prepare our minds, souls and body to meet the challenge. We do desire to worship out of thanksgiving and adoration, but perhaps we can invoke a walking prayer for those times when the journey is long reaching and the world is to be moved. Let us truly hear the words spoken to us, "Follow me!" Amen
My prayer for the congregation?
Dear God, We want to be transformed! We want to be used as a lever in your hands to move the earth by standing in the footsteps of Jesus. We must maintain our stamina and practice our apprenticeship if we are to keep pace with The Christ. If we lag behind we may become disoriented and confused. If we try to follow on a whim, we will become breathless and unable to speak the good news. O God, following Jesus is a physical, active, coordinated exercise; we must daily prepare our minds, souls and body to meet the challenge. We do desire to worship out of thanksgiving and adoration, but perhaps we can invoke a walking prayer for those times when the journey is long reaching and the world is to be moved. Let us truly hear the words spoken to us, "Follow me!" Amen
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