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making tapes together, discs together,
sweating for applause
they read basically to and for
each other,
they can’t find a New York publisher
or one
within miles,
but they read on and on
in the poetry holes of America,
never daunted,
never considering the possibility that
their talent might be
thin, almost invisible,
they read on and on
before their mothers, their sisters, their husbands,
their wives, their friends, the other poets
and the handful of idiots who have wandered
in
from nowhere.
I am ashamed for them,
I am ashamed that they have to bolster each other,
I am ashamed for their lisping egos,
their lack of guts.
if these are our creators,
please, please give me something else:
a drunken plumber at a bowling alley,
a prelim boy in a four rounder,
a jock guiding his horse through along the
rail,
a bartender on last call,
a waitress pouring me a coffee,
a drunk sleeping in a deserted doorway,
a dog munching a dry bone,
an elephant’s fart in a circus tent,
a 6 p.m. freeway crush,
the mailman telling a dirty joke
anything
anything
but
these.

Bone Palace Ballet © Black Sparrow Press

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Mark’s gospel begins with two mystical experiences. The first occurs during the baptism of Jesus. “As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.” (1:10) The Gospel mentions that Jesus saw the Spirit, but gives no implication that anyone else saw the Spirit descend; it seems this moment was for Jesus alone. Then a voice from heaven, presumable God, declares, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”(1:11) If it is possible for Jesus to have a sudden glimpse of the reality of God this would be that moment. It is interesting that immediately after this moment Jesus is sent by the Spirit out into the desert to be tempted (1:12-13).

Shortly thereafter Jesus begins his ministry. After calling his first disciples and performing a few miracles Jesus goes to a solitary place to pray (1:35). This is the first of three times that Mark specifically notes that Jesus goes off by himself to pray. These incidents are equally spaced throughout the gospel. The second instance Jesus goes up into a mountain (6:46) and the third time is in the Garden of Gethsemane. It could be argued that prayer is always a mystical experience.

Prayer is a time of seeking out the will of God; regardless of the result, earnest prayer brings the person praying into the presence of God. Worthy of note is that Jesus allowed three disciples to come close to where he was praying at the garden of Gethsemane; however, he still prayed in solitude.

The first half of Mark’s gospel presents three more instances of mysticism. Each of these moments occurs around the performance of a miracle by Jesus. The first of these moments occurs after Jesus heals a paralyzed man who had been lowered through the roof of a house by his four friends (2:1-12). The people “were all amazed and were glorifying God”. This is an instance when the healing act of Jesus forced those witnessing the act to recognize God at work around them.

The second and third instances are moments when demons proclaim Jesus to be God. In 3:11 the author writes, “Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, ‘You are the Son of God!’” and in 5:7 a demon possessed man says, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God, do not torment me!” In each of these cases those witnessing the events would have the opportunity to have a glimpse of the reality of God.

However, it could not be argued that just because the opportunity for mysticism presented itself, those witnessing the moment were necessarily able to experience the moment. Twice in chapter 8 the disciples have the opportunity to gain a new insight into the reality of God, but they fail. In 8:14-21 Jesus warns the disciples about the “yeast of the Pharisees” but the disciples mistakenly think that Jesus is talking about bread. Then in verses 31-33 Jesus begins to teach the disciples that the Son of Man must be killed and rise again. However, rather than gaining insight, Peter begins to rebuke Jesus. Both of these examples are times when a mystical experience could have occurred but did not. It is interesting that sandwiched between these two passages is Peter’s confession of faith (8:27-30). Jesus asks Peter “who do you say I am?” and Peter answers, “You are the Christ.” It seems to be doubtful that Peter had a true grasp on what this proclamation would mean.

The ultimate mystical even in Mark occurs at the half way point of the gospel; this event is the Transfiguration (9:2-13). Just after Peter rebuked Jesus for saying that the Son of man must die, Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a high mountain. On the mountaintop Peter, James, and John see Jesus, Moses and Elijah talking with one another; and Jesus transfigured into dazzling white clothing. It seems that Peter, James, and John did not understand what was going on at the time, but this would surely be an event they would look back on as witnessing the glory of God.

Two mystical events surround the crucifixion of Jesus in Mark’s gospel. The first is the realization by Peter that he has indeed denied Jesus just as Jesus predicted he would (14:72). The text says that Peter began to weep when he realized what he had done. In this moment Peter fully saw the truth of what Jesus had said. The second mystical occurrence comes upon the death of Jesus (15:39). The centurion overseeing the execution says, “truly this man was the Son of God!” In this moment the centurion fully saw the truth of what Jesus had been.

Finally, in Mark 16:5-8 there is an unidentified young man dressed in white who delivers the news to Mary, Mary and Salome that Jesus is not dead, rather he is risen. In this moment these three women experienced a new reality of who God was. It is this new reality that the author of Mark tells his readers he is trying to share in 1:1; “the Gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

Throughout the gospel of Mark the author is painting pictures of moments when Jesus is revealed as the son of God. In these moments the original witnesses were given a glimpse of the reality of God. It is not insignificant that the first person the author presents as having glimpsed God is Jesus himself. It would seem that the revelation to Jesus that he was God’s son was necessary before Jesus could serve as the Son of God to the world.

Revelation of who God is seems to prepare people for future events. The baptism prepares Jesus for his temptation in the desert. Peter was prepared for the transfiguration by his pronouncement that Jesus is the Christ. This would seem to suggest that glimpsing the reality of who God is allows a person to build their faith in God. It would seem that God builds up an individual’s faith prior to allowing their faith to be attacked.

Ultimately, the author of Mark is trying to present Jesus as the Son of God. In order to do this he must, to some extent, establish who God is. Through brief glimpses by witnesses we are given an account of the reality of God so that we might believe in God’s son.

Throughout my life there will be times when I will be given a glimpse of the reality of God. During these times I need to praise and glorify God as the paralytic man and his friends did in 2:1-12. When those opportunities come I need to be aware that this is a time for God to strengthen my faith, and I also need to prepare for that strengthened faith to be tested. When I fail a test I need to weep as Peter wept and return to Jesus.

Mystical events are times for me to recognize that Jesus is the Son of God and that God is being revealed to me so that I might worship God all the better. However, I do not have to wait for a mystical moment to happen. I have the opportunity to go and earnestly pray any time I choose. Through times of prayer I can enter into the presence of God and fortify my faith.

There will times that I will look back on and realize that God had revealed himself to me. I should treasure those moments up and glorify God for them, even if they occurred long ago. To recognize the reality of God is a special event that will sustain the soul.

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As we look at the debates over science in the late 19^th and early 20^th century it is easy to see that many of the warring factions clung to one corner of the quadrilateral. Many of these groups were unwilling to explore how the other three points of the quadrilateral would affect their theology.

In the early 20^th century there were two extreme camps and (as usual) the majority in the middle. The first extreme was the group that believed that the end of religion was in sight. This group, inspired by the enlightenment, believed that humanity was moving out of an age of religion and into an age of reason. Inspired by Darwinian evolution, scientists such as John Wesley Powell believed that religion was a necessary step in the evolution of ethics. Humanity needed to go through the process of creating and living out religion in order to develop morality; now that this morality had developed religion would be allowed to fade away and it could be replaced by science. Powell called this “the metamorphosis wrought on religion by science.”[3]

The other extreme is exemplified by characters such as T. DeWitt Talmage (a popular preacher) and William Jennings Bryan (a lawyer and politician). Talmage spoke vehemently against evolution because he believed the Bible contradicted evolutionary theory. He said, “I do not care so much where I came from as where I am going to.”[4]

Bryan, in his written out but undelivered closing statement at the Scopes trial, spoke eloquently of the evils science has wrought upon the world. He then got to the heart of his message:

“The world needs a saviour more than it ever did before, and there is only one name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. It is this name that evolution degrades, for, carried to its logical conclusion, it robs Christ of the glory of a Virgin birth, of the majesty of His deity and mission, and of the triumph of His resurrection.”[5]

Both Talmage and Bryant felt that science was not only wrong, but was a danger to the gospel message of Jesus Christ.

Many people stood between these two poles; among them James Cardinal Gibbons (a Roman Catholic Cardinal), Joseph Le Conte (a professor of geology), and James McCosh (a Presbyterian clergyman). Each of these individuals believed that science, rather than being a threat to Christianity, was in fact a blessing. Le Conte wrote, “In every case Christianity has risen from the contest stronger and purer”[6]. Cardinal Gibbons wrote:

“Science and Religion…are sisters, because they are daughters of the same Father…Now since reason and revelation aid each other in leading us to god, the Author of both, it is manifest that the Catholic Church, so far from being opposed to the cultivation of reason, encourages and fosters science of every kind.”[7]

This group was enabled to see scientific advance as a blessing because they were not trying to defend the Bible. They felt that the Bible could defend herself. Rather this middle group of people was attempting to understand the truths God was speaking to them through the Bible by first understanding a little better the world around them.

Can a conclusion for today’s young scientists be made? What are the lessons we can learn from our past? I would suggest that we need to stay rooted in the biblical revelation, our ecclesial traditions, human understanding, and the experiences which we and the spiritual community around us live out. At the same time we need to allow ourselves to explore ideas that make us uncomfortable. Evolution was a very uncomfortable idea for many in the early 20^th century because it forced a drastic shift in worldview. It changed completely the way they thought the world worked.

As we move forward into this young 21^st century we need to be prepared for the day when we realize that we are wrong. We need to prepare for a time when our worldview, our personal paradigm, is forced to shift and completely rearrange our perception of how the world works. When this happens, we can remain grounded in our faith by recognizing that God has not changed; it is only our perception that has changed.

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This single event of Passover was of such great significance that it has been commemorated for well over three thousand years. This event was both backward and forward focused. It was the beginning of the realization of God’s promise to Abraham; it was also a foreshadowing of God’s coming salvation to the rest of the world through Jesus Christ. The themes of suffering, purification, death, and salvation will play themselves out over and over until the end of time.

The prelude to the Passover meal begins in Exodus 12. There are speeches given in this chapter. The first speech (verses 1-20) is God’s commandments to Moses. It can be concluded that this speech was made at least four days before the Passover meal, because God commanded the people to select a lamb four days prior to the meal.

The second speech (verses 21-27), although written directly following, takes place on the actual day of Passover, which was a few days later. In this speech Moses addresses the elders and instructs them on the ceremonial cleansing that must take place with the lamb’s blood and hyssop.

The lambs are slaughtered, as God commanded, on the day of Passover. That evening, at the beginning of the Passover worship, the elders take the blood from the slaughtered lambs and place it on the doorframes of there houses. Everyone then stays inside the house to participate in the worship of God through the Passover meal.

At midnight, as the Israelites are either finishing their Passover worship or beginning their sleep, there is another slaughter. Throughout Egypt all those who have not worshipped God and purified themselves by the sprinkling of the lambs’ blood on the doorframes come under the judgment of God. This judgment requires the death of the first born of all the families that have not purified themselves through the worship of God. All of Egypt had come under the judgment of God and few were found innocent.

Because of their trust in and worship of God, the Israelite people received a form of salvation. They were allowed to leave the land of Egypt and were delivered from their enslavers. The Israelite people had made God known to their community, Egypt. In fact, the presence of God has been made so painfully clear that Pharaoh, after giving the Moses permission to leave with the Israelites, asks for a blessing. It is a tremendous act of worship that makes God’s enemy long for his presence.

It is important to note that no one expected Pharaoh to release the Israelites. Nobody really expected Pharaoh to suddenly change his mind regarding their captivity. It came as a complete surprise that Pharaoh was letting the Hebrew slaves go free. This is made evident by the fact that the dough for their bread did not have time to rise, so they had to make cakes of unleavened bread.

It is amazing that these people were willing to follow God’s instruction and worship as God commanded with no incentive known before hand, other than the general belief that God would eventually free them. The Israelites have just suffered through many of the plagues along with the Egyptians. The Egyptians have been making them work harder and harder and life is getting worse all the time. However, they are still willing to follow God’s commands. The Israelites were truly tested in their worship before God freed them.

The biblical passage then concludes by laying out how Passover is to be commemorated in the future. There are three main parts to the Passover remembrance: the reenactment of the Passover (verses 43-49), keeping the feast of unleavened bread (verses 13:3-10), and the consecration of every firstborn male (verse 11-16). In these three ways the holy people of God, Israel, are to continue worshipping God.

Within the Passover celebration there is much ritualized worship of God that foreshadows future acts of worship. The blood of the lambs is smeared with hyssop. Hyssop will be used as a means of applying ritual purification for many centuries to come. The Passover meal closely parallels accounts of the consecration of the Aaronic priests in Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8. The slaughtering of the lamb, the sprinkling of the blood, and the eating of the flesh form basic elements of consecration rituals, and will share a great similarity to the death of Christ and the institution of the sacrament of communion.

T.D. Alexander writes of the consecration this way, “The sacrifice of the animal atones for the sin of the people, the blood smeared on the doorposts purifies those within, and the eating of the sacrificial meat consecrates those who consume it. By participating in the Passover ritual the people sanctify themselves as a nation holy to God.” (p. 173)

Over the course of my life I have had the honor to sit in on several Passover celebrations with various Christian and Jewish organizations. I am always amazed by how fresh and new it feels to worship God by remembering the great things he has done for my spiritual forefathers who lived over three thousand years ago. I am honored that I have the opportunity to be sanctified by Christ, and my faith is deepened by remembering those who went before me and followed God just because God made a promise to their forefather. I often suspect that those early Israelites had far more faith than I have. They listened to God and worshiped God, not because God had done anything for them, but because God promised to care for them.

Works Cited and Consulted

Alexander, T.D. From Paradise to the Promised Land. Baker Academic. Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Barker, Kenneth L. & John Kohlenberger III,eds. Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary. Zondervan Publishing House. Grand Rapids, Michigan

Dillard, Raymond B., & Tremper Longman III. An Introduction to the Old Testament. Zondervan Publishing House. Grand Rapids, Michigan

Richards, Lawrence O. New International Encyclopedia of Bible words. Zondervan Publishing House. Grand Rapids, Michigan

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The Holy Spirit is the person of God who is the active agent in this world through whom all of mankind is directed toward God. Even this basic statement creates a number of questions by which my reader may be distracted; questions regarding the nature of the trinity, God’s involvement in this world, and God’s interaction with non-Christian persons. I cannot begin to explore these questions in this paper, but I do acknowledge that these are reasonable lines of inquiry.

As an active agent, the Holy Spirit works in at least four distinct ways. First the Holy Spirit works to draw the pre-repentant individual toward God. The Holy Spirit works to diversify the kingdom of God through individual giftings. The Holy Spirit works to bond the Church together through baptism and communion with God. Finally, the Holy Spirit works to reveal the will of God to the seeking post-repentant individual and community.

Drawing man toward God

There is debate as to whether God the Holy Spirit can interact with a pre-repentant individual. I would argue that it is impossible for the pre-repentant individual to find salvation in Christ without the urging of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works to draw the pre-repentant individual toward God. I would further argue that God does not give up on anyone and the Holy Spirit will continue to knock on the door of the hearts of all those who have not turned toward God until their hearts cease beating.

Rick Richardson does an excellent job of presenting several theologies of evangelism in his book Evangelism Outside the Box. In one section, Richardson focuses on John Wesley’s four steps into the Kingdom of God. The first step and the step that is the focus of this section is the awakening of the soul. After the soul has been awakened to the concept of and desire for God, the individual can move on to experiencing Wesley’s final three steps: community, conversion and transformation (pp. 54-55).

In his book, The Supremacy of God in Preaching, John Piper argues that the soul is awakened through the human act of preaching (p 62). Piper seems to imply that the Holy Spirit may work through the preacher, but the Holy Spirit does not work directly on the pre-repentant individual; there must be an intermediary step.

On the contrary, I would argue that the Holy Spirit is perfectly capable of working on a pre-repentant individual’s heart in order to awaken them to a desire to search out God. There seem to be many cases of this presented throughout history and two mammoth cases presented in the Bible, one in each testament. In the Old Testament, there is the case of God hardening pharaoh’s heart in regards to the release of the Israelites from Egyptian captivity (Exodus 7-14). The second obvious case is Saul on the road to Damascus when God worked directly in awakening Saul to the Gospel of Christ (Acts 9).

The Holy Spirit seems to be at work in awakening the pre-repentant individual and drawing them toward God. The Holy Spirit is free to do this in any way that God (the trinity) deems appropriate. Often times the Holy Spirit will gift a post-repentant Christian ahead of time to be ready to play a role in the awakening of a pre-repentant individual’s soul. This gifting is the role of the Holy Spirit which is the next topic for our discussion.

Diversifying the Kingdom on earth

In The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church, Vladimir Lossky writes: “The work of Christ concerns human nature…[t]he work of the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, concerns persons, being applied to each one differently.” Lossky goes on to say, “the work of Christ unifies; the work of the Holy Spirit diversifies. Yet the one is impossible without the other.” (pp 166-167)

The Holy Spirit diversifies the Kingdom of God on earth through the bestowment of spiritual gifts. I believe that God gifts every Christian to best minister to the community that God has placed him or her in. We do not get to choose our gifting, nor do we get to limit God in what he is able to gift. God gifts to meet His needs. It is our responsibility to be in constant communion with God, searching out how we can best use these giftings to minister to our small slice of the world.

In the modern culture that has existed for the last two hundred years, with its emphasis on science and logic, there has not been as much need for God to gift his children with the gift of tongues or healing or exorcism. To a modern culture, these are not effective means of ministry. Therefore, it does not surprise me at all that we see a limited gifting in these areas. I suspect that as we move into a post-enlightenment society, a society that focuses more on spirituality and dichotomous truths, God will begin to gift people more and more with the gift of tongues, healing or exorcism, as these giftings will once again become useful for ministry.

Karkkainen, in his work on Pneumatology, suggests that the Eastern Church (and Lossky in particular) put too much emphasis on the idea of a twofold divine economy: the work of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit (pp 17, 109). I agree to the extent that the ultimate power residing in these two economies comes from the same place. I would suggest that viewing the works of Christ and of the Holy Spirit separately is merely a tool that fallible human beings can use to begin to understand the infinite infallibility of God.

Bonding the Church together

The Holy Spirit bonds the church together through baptism and through both individual and corporate communion with God. It is at this point that we, as Quakers, differentiate ourselves from other Christian denominations. The other denominations will agree that there is a spiritual aspect to both baptism and communion, but they will not place such an emphasis on the Holy Spirit’s work in both baptism and communion as to reject all physical ceremony that goes these works.

The thirteenth proposition in Robert Barclay’s Apology For the True Christian Divinity reads:

“The communion of the body and blood of Christ is inward and spiritual, which is the participation of his flesh and blood, by which the inward man is daily nourished in the hearts of those in whom Christ dwells; of which things the breaking of bread by Christ with his disciples was a figure, which they even used in the church for a time, who had received the substance, for the cause of the weak; even as “abstaining from things strangled, and from blood;” the washing one another’s feet, and the anointing of the sick with oil; all which are commanded with no less authority and solemnity than the former; yet seeing they are but the shadows of better things, they cease in such as have obtained the substance.”

Communion is fellowship with God. This can and should occur at both an individual and a corporate level. Centering upon the Holy Spirit is the means by which we have this fellowship with God.

Baptism is also an inward and spiritual event performed by the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” (John 3:5-6) It is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that Christ left us after his ascension to heaven, that births us into a new life.

These acts of communion and baptism bond the church together into unity under the banner of God. Lossky drives this point home when he writes, “the spirit is present with everyone who receives Him as if there were but one receiver, but bestows sufficient and complete grace on all” (p. 166). Few Christians would disagree with this statement or the idea that the Holy Spirit is actively involved in each of these events. The only disagreement that our heritage brings to the table, is the question of the necessity of physical elements. Even this disagreement can be viewed as minor. Leonard J. Vander Zee, the reformed author of Christ, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper wrote, “[t]he sacraments have no capacity to affect us in any way apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in awakening and assuring our faith through them.” (p. 55)

Revealing the will of God

Finally, the Holy Spirit works to reveal the will of God to the seeking post-repentant believer and to the seeking Church. In Acts 6, a dispute came up over how to distribute food to the widows. The Apostles needed to do other ministries so they appointed others to oversee the distribution of food. When these men were selected, the Apostles prayed and laid their hands on them. A problem came up that needed to be dealt with carefully. The church prayed and the Holy Spirit provided a solution. The best way to deal with the controversy was given to the Apostles because they kept their focus on God and his will.

The post-repentant believer can ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit just as easily as the pre-repentant individual. When we ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit, we attempt to accomplish what we believe is best for God. When we keep our focus on the leading of the Holy Spirit, we can accomplish what God thinks is best.

The root of most sin is the attempt to supplant God’s will with our own. When the believer stays centered on the leading of the Holy Spirit we lessen the frequency of our sinfulness. The less sinful we are, the more God is able to accomplish through us. This does not limit what God is capable of accomplishing, it just limits how useful we can be to accomplishing God’s will.

The individual or community that is not actively seeking the will of God can never be a success for God. The only way we can measure our success is against the ruler of what God wanted us to accomplish. God communicates this standard to us via the Holy Spirit. When we seek out guidance from the Holy Spirit, we are able to understand where we are trying to go, how we can get there, and whether or not we eventually arrive.

This brief position paper cannot begin to touch on the other roles the person of the Holy Spirit has played over the centuries or will possibly play in the future. It is important to consider the roles the Holy Spirit played in creation, the various covenants, Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection, the early church, and church history up to modern times.

I would argue that the Holy Spirit has played many roles over the course of human existence. The four roles I have touched on here are the roles that I believe the Holy Spirit plays most prominently in our contemporary age. How the Holy Spirit fulfills these roles, and even the roles themselves, may change over time. I believe that at any time and/or place, the Holy Spirit functions in the way that will best allow God’s children to minister to the communities around them.

In our contemporary society, the Holy Spirit draws, diversifies, bonds and reveals in ways that are very specific to our culture. As we go out and share the Gospel of Christ with the world, I would suggest that we pay particular attention to how the Holy Spirit wishes us to engage with different cultures. Different cultures have different needs, but the Holy Spirit is big enough to meet all of our divergent needs.

Works Cited and Consulted

Barclay, Robert. Apology for the True Christian Divinity. Public Domain: 1675.

Copeland, Mark A. “The Leading of the Holy Spirit”. Sermon series. http://www.ccel.org/contrib/exec_outlines/hs/hs_09.htm.

Karkkainen, Veli-Matti. Pneumatology. Baker Academy, MI: 2002

Lossky, Vladimir. The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, NY: 1976.

Piper, John. The Supremacy of God in Preaching. BakerBooks, MI: 1990

Richardson, Rick. Evangelism Outside the Box. InterVarsity, IL: 2000

Vander Zee. Christ, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. InterVarsity, IL: 2004.

Wright, J. Robert. “Holy Spirit in Holy Church: From Experience to Doctrine”. Angelican Theological Review. Summer 01, Vol. 83 Issue 3, p443, 12p.

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My speculations on heaven and hell and mortality began at an early age, generated in part by my father’s illness. Paralyzed with multiple sclerosis for most of my life, my father appears in each of my books, often in multiple poems. When my first book was accepted and I realized that my father would be seeing the poems about him for the first time (and they didn’t always present him or our relationship in the best light), I asked him, in the nursing home where he spent his last years, whether he’d prefer that I remove them from the book. He said something that has been very important for my writing. He said, “I’ve felt so useless to anyone over the years that if I can be of some use to you in your writing it would make me happy.”

Appropriation of other people’s stories, and the exposure of friends’ and family’s lives, has always been a vexing problem for writers, so my father’s permission was liberating. In the poem, “Hardware,” written after my father’s death, I acknowledge his importance for me as a kind of “tour guide” and “translator” of the foreign country of adulthood, suggesting that no words are finally sufficient to accommodate the enormity of his loss. Faced with such sorrow, the heart has only “doohickeys and widgets, watchamacallits and thingamabobs” with which to try to make do.

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Thank you for my family. Put a hedge of protection around their lives. Keep them safe from evil influences as they grow. Bless my wife. Guide her ever closer to you. Give her peace and assurance. Thank you for sharing her with me. Thank you for my children. Bless them as they sleep. As they grow help them to grow ever closer to you. Give them hearts to fulfill your wishes. Protect them from evil and guide them into your realm. Help me God. Help me to be the father and husband you need me to be. Help me to guide my family through the times of trials and pain.

Place your protection around me and keep me away from evil. Strengthen my soul so that I have the ability to turn away the evil that wishes to influence me. Soften my heart so that I might be in tune with the needs of those around me. Guide me into the situation that you want me to live in. There is nothing in the world greater than you God. Help me to live my life by that truth. You are holy and glorious and beautiful and almighty and righteous and wonderful and amazing and powerful and true. I give my life wholly to you to do with it as you will. There is no greater desire in my heart than to follow you and to help others find you. Give me the strength to do what you want done. Give me the spirit to willingly and cheerfully work under those people I dislike. Give me the humility to do the things that I find most embarrassing. Give me the wisdom to avoid the sins I find most natural.

God, you are all there is. Thank you for making it that way and help me to live my life that way. I ask that at this very moment you give all of the Christians doing your business all around the world one instant of unexpected hope. It can be so gloomy down here. Thank you God. Thank you. Amen.

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