Hello friends.
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in dogs.
Welcome to our fifth session in our walk through the letter of 1 John,
As we seek the heart of God through the lens of love.
As always,
I invite you as we begin just to find a comfortable place to be still.
To allow yourself to settle into this moment and just let your breathing become an anchor to you today.
As you breathe in,
Just simply notice the gift that this moment truly is.
And as you breathe out,
Just let go of the need to be or do anything else except to be fully present in this moment together.
Now over the last four days,
John's been leading us ever deeper.
We've discovered that God is the source of all life,
That love is the light by which we see reality,
That love is the sign that we're awakening to God's life.
And yesterday,
We reflected on the truth that everything built upon fear eventually passes away while only love alone remains.
Lines.
And so today we come to one of John's favourite words,
A word that appears again and again throughout his writings,
A small word.
But one of the most important words in the whole Christian life,
I think,
And it's become one of my favourites.
And that word is abide.
And so I invite you to hear this word in its context as we reflect today from 1 John chapter 2,
Verses 24 to 28.
Let's just pause and listen together.
John Wrights.
Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.
If what you heard from the beginning abides in you,
Then you will abide in the Son and in the Father.
And this is what He has promised us.
Eternal life.
I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you.
As for you.
.
.
The anointing that you have received from God abides in you.
And so you don't need anyone to teach you.
But as this anointing teaches you about all things,
And is true and is not a lie.
And just as it has taught you.
Abide.
In God.
And now little children abide in God so that when God is revealed.
We may have confidence and not be put to shame.
Before the one.
Who is at their coming.
Now it's true that when we hear things often,
We tend to stop,
I guess,
Hearing them well.
And it's true of scripture too,
Some things become so familiar to us that we stop hearing them and I think abide.
Maybe one of those words.
And depending on your Bible translation,
It might have also been translated as remain.
Or continue.
Or living and each translation It captures something of that meaning,
But none of them really fully contains it,
As is always with English compared to some other languages.
To abide.
Is to make your home somewhere,
To dwell,
To stay,
To rest and to belong.
And John really could have chosen many other words.
He could have told us to work harder or achieve more or become stronger,
But instead.
.
.
He invites us to abide.
And that tells us something really profound about the nature of God.
God isn't asking us.
To accomplish anything.
God's inviting us into relationship.
Now think about the difference between visiting a house.
And living in it.
When we visit.
We're careful.
We know we're only there temporarily.
We're often a little self-conscious.
We know we're gonna leave soon.
But home is very,
Very different.
At home.
Ah,
We exile.
We relax.
We stop performing and we become ourselves.
And maybe this is what John is inviting us into,
To stop treating God like somewhere we occasionally visit.
Like church on Sunday or prayer before meals or a few quiet moments in the morning.
Rather,
What if love became our home?
What if we learn to live there and from there?
Many of us spend our lives,
I guess you'd call it spiritually commuting.
We kind of visit God from time to time and then we return to everything else that's going on,
The fears,
The distractions,
The self-reliance.
But what John's asking us to consider here is,
What if you never left?
And let's make sure we hear John well here because he's not suggesting that.
.
.
We become aware of God every second of the day.
That's just not realistic.
But what if we never left because we discover that God's presence never ceases,
Even when our awareness does?
And I've got to say,
This is probably one of the greatest discoveries of Christian contemplatives across the centuries.
The goal of prayer isn't about bringing God closer.
God's already here.
The goal of prayer is to become more deeply aware.
Of the one who's already present.
Brother Lawrence,
The humble Carmelite lay brother in the 17th century,
Spoke about practicing the presence of God.
Hear that word,
Practicing.
He discovered that Washing dishes could become as holy as receiving communion when done with a heart attentive.
To God's presence.
And what about the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing who encouraged Christians to rest in a simple,
Loving awareness of God beyond words and concepts?
And many centuries before them.
John had already pointed us in the same direction.
Abide.
Stay.
Remain.
Live.
Here.
There's another beautiful image I think that might help.
The Ocean.
The surface is always changing,
Isn't it?
Waves rise,
Storms come,
Winds shift.
Everything appears unsettled,
But beneath the surface there's remarkable stillness.
The deeper you go,
The quieter it becomes.
And I think many of us.
.
.
Only live on the surface of our lives,
Being tossed about by every piece of news,
Disappointment,
Criticism.
Unexpected change?
John,
However,
Is inviting us below the waves,
To the place where love remains understood.
I notice that abiding won't remove the storms.
It gives us somewhere deeper to live while the storm goes on.
And this is why Jesus could sleep in the boat while the wind raged about them.
His deepest harm.
Wasn't at the surface,
It was with God.
And that harm.
Couldn't be shaken by anything.
Maybe this is what Jesus meant when he said in John's gospel,
Abide in me as I abide in you.
And you'll notice that Jesus doesn't simply command us to abide.
He first tells us that he already abides in us.
Our abiding's always a response.
Awakening to the union that God has already offered.
And this really should change how we think about our spiritual practices.
Silence isn't escaping things,
It's coming home.
Prayer isn't any more about convincing God to listen.
But it's learning to listen to God.
Scripture doesn't become merely information-getting.
It's a doorway into relationship.
Every act of attention becomes an act.
Of abiding.
Every conscious breath becomes a reminder,
I live in love.
And maybe that's why John says,
Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.
What was heard from the beginning?
Well then,
God is life.
God is light.
God is love.
Remain there,
John's saying.
Return there.
Live there.
Again.
And again.
There'll be days when you forget.
Days when the fear and the anxiety seems louder and stronger than the peace,
And when that happens,
Don't be hard on yourself,
Just simply.
.
.
Come home again.
And maybe that's one of the simplest descriptions of the spiritual life,
Coming home.
Again.
And again.
Until eventually,
Home becomes.
Where we naturally live.
So just take a nice deep breath.
In and out.
And just allow the breathing again to anchor you.
And imagine yourself walking towards a warm,
Welcoming home.
The doors already open.
No one's asking you to prove yourself.
No one's asking you to earn your place.
You simply enter.
Just sit quietly in that home.
Noticing the peace,
The warmth and the sense of belonging.
And perhaps you might pray,
Love is my home.
I abide in love.
Love is my home.
I abide in love.
Love ease,
Alhan.
We abide.
In love.
Let us pray.
God of abiding love.
Thank you that your presence isn't something we have to chase,
But the home in which we already live.
When we forget,
Bring us gently back.
When we become distracted,
Call us home.
When fear persuades us that we're alone,
Remind us that your spirit has never left us.
Teach us to abide in the ordinary moments,
In our work,
In our conversations,
In our joys,
Our struggles.
May every breath become a quiet remembrance that we live within your love and that your love lives within us.
And may grace,
Peace and love go with us and be with us always,
Now and forever.
And as you go today,
My friend.
May you know that you can make your home.
Where God has already made theirs.
Until tomorrow.
Bye for now.
