Prison Sabbath
Things seem to be getting worse and worse. It is a Sabbath day. This time I am not only in a strait-jacket and gagged but I have heavy chains at my feet which prevent me from walking. A Sabbath day. The fullest Sabbath I have ever enjoyed in my life. I cannot disturb my rest even by a movement of my hands, feet or lips.
At first I felt an impulse to ask God, as St. Theresa asked him: "Why do you treat us so? I don't wonder that you have not many friends." I wanted to tell God: "You may do everything in your power to destroy my trust and my love towards you, but you will not succeed." But then I decided to give him a rest. Let him also enjoy a full Sabbath, undisturbed by any reproaches of mine.
I will once again speak only to you, my soul, my only treasure. I hope this is not blasphemy, because I believe you to be one with Christ -- with Christ who has humbled himself again, to be sin and man full of frailties within me. You are he, and therefore you are the jewel. In any case, I have no bishop, no theologians, no church elders to censor what I think. So I call you just what I like, my only treasure.
Enter into Sabbath, my soul. Overcome your anxieties and doubts. Your sins are forgiven. Not only the past sins but the future ones, too. If you don't believe me, believe Spurgeon. He also put it exactly like this. Although I wonder why you should believe Spurgeon more than me. Enter into Sabbath, my soul. You are saved from the fear of judgment. You don't even have to judge yourself.
I do not ask you, my soul, to judge and condemn yourself but rather to strive to love and worship with all your heart, with all your soul. But, having in my heart both good and bad inclinations, how can I love God with all my heart? The answer of the Kabbala, the ancient mystic teaching of the Jewish people, is: "Serve God also with your bad impulses, then you will serve him whole-heartedly." If you understand, you understand. If you don't, no explanation will help....
I don't judge you, nor condemn you, my soul, but I lay before you this noble task: be wholeheartedly Christian. How? I really don't know. You can easily recognise false teachers by the fact that they know the answers to all the questions.
But perhaps my actual state could be an indication for you: enter into full Sabbath. Don't move at all, as I do not move. Lao Tse recommended inaction as the highest type of action.
Simply trust, knowing that Jesus holds in his hands the bridle of the ass.... Just leave the bridle in the hands of Jesus. He has made saints out of murderers and thieves. He can make you a saint, also, provided you leave him alone. It is the Sabbath.... be like I am, gagged, only speaking out when it is for the honour of the Lord and for the good of His work.
It is the fullest Sabbath imaginable. Don't even be afraid of error. You are a pawn in the hands of a master chess-player. He will not lose the game.
Leave your remorse, the terrible "ifs": "If only I had acted otherwise." You could not have done otherwise. There is no free will. You are what heredity, education, social environment and the influences of good and bad angels have made you. In the last analysis, this means that at every stage of your development you are exactly what God meant you to be at that moment.
Leave your doubts. Life is incalculable. We don't know even one atom of the five octillions of atoms which make up our body. We don't know our genes. We don't know the complexities of our souls, nor what happens in our subconscious. You can remain in Sabbath only by trusting that your life has been calculated by the one who knows every drop of rain and every hair on my head. Every step of our pilgrim life is counted.
Trust in Him, even if He slays me. This is the only advice I can give you. Amen.
[RW, SISC, (c)1969]
At first I felt an impulse to ask God, as St. Theresa asked him: "Why do you treat us so? I don't wonder that you have not many friends." I wanted to tell God: "You may do everything in your power to destroy my trust and my love towards you, but you will not succeed." But then I decided to give him a rest. Let him also enjoy a full Sabbath, undisturbed by any reproaches of mine.
I will once again speak only to you, my soul, my only treasure. I hope this is not blasphemy, because I believe you to be one with Christ -- with Christ who has humbled himself again, to be sin and man full of frailties within me. You are he, and therefore you are the jewel. In any case, I have no bishop, no theologians, no church elders to censor what I think. So I call you just what I like, my only treasure.
Enter into Sabbath, my soul. Overcome your anxieties and doubts. Your sins are forgiven. Not only the past sins but the future ones, too. If you don't believe me, believe Spurgeon. He also put it exactly like this. Although I wonder why you should believe Spurgeon more than me. Enter into Sabbath, my soul. You are saved from the fear of judgment. You don't even have to judge yourself.
I do not ask you, my soul, to judge and condemn yourself but rather to strive to love and worship with all your heart, with all your soul. But, having in my heart both good and bad inclinations, how can I love God with all my heart? The answer of the Kabbala, the ancient mystic teaching of the Jewish people, is: "Serve God also with your bad impulses, then you will serve him whole-heartedly." If you understand, you understand. If you don't, no explanation will help....
I don't judge you, nor condemn you, my soul, but I lay before you this noble task: be wholeheartedly Christian. How? I really don't know. You can easily recognise false teachers by the fact that they know the answers to all the questions.
But perhaps my actual state could be an indication for you: enter into full Sabbath. Don't move at all, as I do not move. Lao Tse recommended inaction as the highest type of action.
Simply trust, knowing that Jesus holds in his hands the bridle of the ass.... Just leave the bridle in the hands of Jesus. He has made saints out of murderers and thieves. He can make you a saint, also, provided you leave him alone. It is the Sabbath.... be like I am, gagged, only speaking out when it is for the honour of the Lord and for the good of His work.
It is the fullest Sabbath imaginable. Don't even be afraid of error. You are a pawn in the hands of a master chess-player. He will not lose the game.
Leave your remorse, the terrible "ifs": "If only I had acted otherwise." You could not have done otherwise. There is no free will. You are what heredity, education, social environment and the influences of good and bad angels have made you. In the last analysis, this means that at every stage of your development you are exactly what God meant you to be at that moment.
Leave your doubts. Life is incalculable. We don't know even one atom of the five octillions of atoms which make up our body. We don't know our genes. We don't know the complexities of our souls, nor what happens in our subconscious. You can remain in Sabbath only by trusting that your life has been calculated by the one who knows every drop of rain and every hair on my head. Every step of our pilgrim life is counted.
Trust in Him, even if He slays me. This is the only advice I can give you. Amen.
[RW, SISC, (c)1969]
posted by CS at 2:20 PM
3 Comments:
O this speaks to my heart... What a terrible luxury to be in such a state, physically (Lord, deliver me from such luxury!), and yet what an honest response, in speaking to his soul. I love the "treasure" metaphor. What else will we have to give back to Christ, what else will remain after our refinement by fire? Only our one treasure, a treasure that is not ours, yet is intrinsically "US". And what beauty in such direct address!
And I love this line: "You can easily recognise false teachers by the fact that they know the answers to all the questions." Do you remember, was that a direct quote? I wanna steal it.
Thank you CS, for bringing me along with you on this walk in the sun.
Glad you're liking this stuff. Yes, this guy is so honest in his situation. This whole post is an excerpt from a book called "Sermons in Solitary Confinement" by Richard Wurmbrand. That particular line is from page 127. We quote it all the time ourselves!
P.S. Thanks a lot for taking the time to post the comment, we really value the dialogue with you.
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