Hello friends.
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in dogs.
Welcome to our next session in our series as we consider abiding through Paul's letter to the Colossians.
Yesterday we began by noticing what's already growing.
We began with gratitude,
With recognition that life,
Faith and love often quietly take root beneath the surface of our awareness.
And starting with gratitude matters because it shifts the way we approach growth.
We start to see that it's not something we force into existence,
But something we learn to recognise and participate in.
So today as we continue into the next part of Paul's letter,
We're going to move from gratitude into prayer.
And so I invite you just to settle yourself,
Still yourself,
Breathe deeply in and out.
Feel your whole being becoming centred as we open our ears to the voice of the Spirit as we hear Colossians chapter 1 verses 9 to 14.
For this reason,
Since the day we heard it,
We've not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
So that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord,
Fully pleasing to him as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.
May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from God's glorious power and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience while joyfully giving thanks to God who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
God has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son,
In whom we have redemption,
The forgiveness of sins.
And so as we move with Paul from gratitude into prayer,
What's really interesting as you heard that prayer is possibly what Paul did not ask for in that prayer.
He doesn't ask that the community at Colossae will become more successful,
Or that their circumstances will become easier.
He doesn't even ask for influence or achievement or protection from hardship for them or for himself.
Instead,
He prays something way deeper.
He prays that they may be filled with wisdom,
With understanding,
With endurance,
And with patience.
So not power in the sense that we usually imagine it,
But strength of a very different kind I'm sure you'd agree.
And this is important because many of us have learned to associate strength with pressure.
We think that when we have strength that we get it so we can push harder or hold tighter or force outcomes in some way.
We imagine that if we can just put enough effort,
Enough determination,
Enough willpower behind something,
Then everything's going to fall into place.
But this part of Paul's letter suggests a very different vision of strength.
It's more gentle.
It's quiet.
It's steady.
It's strength rooted in alignment with God.
And Paul prays that they might be filled with wisdom and understanding,
Not so they can dominate,
But so they can live in harmony with that wisdom and understanding,
So they can recognize what's true and respond with clarity rather than reaction.
And then he names endurance and patience.
And these two words,
If you've read a fair bit of the biblical text and in particular the Gospels and the New Testament,
These two words sit right at the heart of prayer and right in the ability to remain steady over time.
And patience is that ability to remain open without rushing to resolution.
Now,
These aren't glamorous qualities in any way,
Shape or form.
They don't usually attract attention.
You're not going to find a lot of flashy sermons preached about them.
They really feel impressive even in the moment.
But they're marks of a life that's grounded.
A life that's rooted in God.
A life of abiding.
Because real strength isn't loud or forceful or dramatic.
It's stable.
It's strength that is steady.
Think of the way a deeply rooted tree stands through the changing seasons.
It doesn't resist the wind because it's aggressive.
And it doesn't fight the storm by thrashing around with its branches.
It remains.
It sinks down deep roots.
And then interestingly,
It bends when it needs to.
And it holds when it needs to.
It's not strong because it's rigid.
By all means,
If it were rigid,
It would break and fall over.
But it's strong because it's grounded.
And that's the kind of strength this prayer points us towards.
Stability,
Endurance and alignment.
And this should resonate deeply with what we might call a spirituality of non-force.
Now,
This doesn't mean that we're passive or disengaged.
It means that we're deeply attentive.
It's a way of living that trusts that life doesn't always respond to pressure,
But often responds to presence and steadiness and patience and clarity.
So when Paul speaks here of endurance and patience,
He's not speaking about just tolerating a difficult time.
He's describing a way of living that remains connected to what's true,
Even when things feel uncertain.
And that kind of steadiness can't come from effort,
But it comes from abiding.
Because when we remain connected to presence,
When we allow ourselves to stay rooted in what's deeper than the circumstances around us,
Something begins to change within us and endurance begins to grow.
And this isn't about being stubborn,
But it's about being trustful and peaceful.
And it doesn't mean that difficulty won't ever rear its ugly head at us,
But it's a confidence that we don't need to force life into submission and dominate it.
And it's a peace that comes from clarity.
We begin to see more clearly,
And we respond more wisely,
And we begin to move through life with less urgency and more attentiveness.
And that movement from abiding to endurance and from endurance to peace and from peace to clarity is one of the beautiful patterns of spiritual formation.
And it's transformative.
And maybe that's what makes this passage so important for us today,
Because many of us are tired,
Not just physically,
But inwardly.
We're tired of striving and holding everything together and feeling as though life depends entirely on our efforts.
And this prayer offers us another possibility.
It's a way of living that doesn't depend on pressure,
But simply asks us to be in alignment with wisdom,
With understanding,
And with what's deeper than our immediate reactions tend to be.
And then towards the end of the passage,
Paul spoke of being strengthened,
But not so he can achieve or the church can achieve something,
But to endure.
Strengthened to live with patience,
Strengthened to remain steady,
Even when the circumstances shift and change.
And that kind of strength sustains life over time.
It's a strength of consistency,
Of rootedness,
Of abiding.
So today,
Once again,
We're not going to add something new to your life,
But I'm going to invite you into a very simple posture,
A way of paying attention,
A way of noticing how steadfastness forms within us.
So throughout the day,
You might return gently to your breath.
And again,
This is not a technique to try and master,
But it's a reminder of endurance.
Because our breath arrives without us forcing it to,
And it leaves without us straining it out.
It's a beautiful rhythm that continues whether you notice it or not.
And as you notice your breath,
You might ask yourself,
Where in my life am I being invited to remain steady rather than force another outcome?
Not to give up,
Not to withdraw,
But to remain.
To trust that growth often happens through patience and endurance and alignment.
Because strength,
In the deepest sense,
Is stability.
A life that remains grounded and open and that continues even when the path is uncertain,
Simply abiding in God.
And so today,
May you simply abide,
Breathe,
Endure,
And trust that peace grows in the soil of patience and that clarity follows in its time.
And may grace,
Peace,
And love go with you and remain with you today and always.
Amen.
Until tomorrow when we continue our journey in Colossians,
Peace be with you.
