Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God

God speaks to each of us as he makes us,

then walks with us silently out of the night.

These are the words we dimly hear:

You, sent out beyond your recall,

go to the limit of your longing.

Embody me.

Flare up like flame

and make shadows I can move in.

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.

Just keep going. No feeling is final.

Don't let yourself lose me.

Nearby is the country they call life.

You will know it by its seriousness.

Give me your hand.

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Receive, Receive, Receive

"Faith is having hands for the first time, hands that enable us to receive the grace that includes everything we need for life and godliness."  - Randy Draughton, Midtown Fellowship Church, Nashville, TN

    His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

(2 Peter 1:3-4 ESV)

Manna Kept, Is Worms

I’ve decided to explain myself. The name of my blog may sound odd – “Umm, manna, that’s from the Bible. Good one.” But believe it or not, choosing the title took a bit more effort than “insert religious word here to indicate that I will talk about Christianity.” Really.

Manna Kept comes from a quote in The Pilgrim’s Regress, an allegory by C.S. Lewis: “Manna kept, is worms.” In the book, a hermit is speaking about the true nature of love. He argues that passion cannot – and should not – be sustained. When I chose this quote as the title of my blog, I saw a lesson not in love, but in grace.  When held with clenched fists, God’s grace turns to rot. “Manna kept, is worms.”

The word “manna” sounds similar to the Hebrew expression for “What is it?” It signals the arrival of news, of rescue. After the people of Israel escaped from Egypt, they wandered in the desert toward Mount Sinai. At one point, they were starving, and God sustained them with manna, a bread-like substance.

  

Manna. Sustenance. Life. Where did it come from? The Israelites were not sustained by the work of their own hands. The people of God were called to humbly receive life-giving food from His hand. But when the Israelites hoarded this sustenance from the Father, it rotted. Exodus 16:20 says “…it bred worms and stank.” So what’s the message? Clean out your pantry once in a while? Not quite.

When we hoard the love of Christ, we are not somehow “conserving blessings.” We are withholding life. We hoard the sustaining love of God, because we fear that it will somehow be lost. So we clench our fists more tightly: “Why would I welcome her? Why would I stick up for him? I’ve got to make sure I’m taken care of first.”

Normally, we wait until we feel emotionally or financially secure before we even consider giving to others. But we will never feel secure before God through our actions, feelings or strength of faith. We are secure when we believe that Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf before the Father is sufficient for our salvation. With that knowledge firmly planted in our hearts, we can begin giving immediately. There is no reserve of love or strength to build up. When we believe in Christ alone for salvation, we are given access through the Holy Spirit to the love and strength of Jesus, in its entirety. We can give and receive the Father’s love with liberated hearts. And we know that manna kept, is worms – so we live with open hands.

What's Your Religion?

“What’s your faith?” My parents used to live in Memphis, and they told me I would hear this phrase once I moved down South. When people pose the question, they usually mean, “To which denomination of Christianity do you belong?” The other day, I finally encountered this Southern saying. I told a man where I attended church, and he asked, “What religion is it?” I stammered, “Well, um, Christianity? Oh, it’s Presbyterian.” The charms and quirks of living in a new place make me smile.

But truly, this man’s question made me think. Some people get songs stuck in their head; ideas stick in mine. “What’s your religion?” That question has more meanings than you would think. What do you believe in? What do you lean on? What do you hold to be true?

In matters of faith, individual beliefs and desires usually supersede our belief in a corporate, doctrinal faith. So we pick Christianity apart, and choose only the teachings we like. Sometimes we just make things up. Or we eschew God altogether, and make something else our religion – we put something else in God’s place. School, work, success, a spouse. The approval of others. Comfort.

 

 

We get confused. We take bad advice. We relate to God however we see fit. But we have to define our terms. "Who is God?" is not the same question as "Who do you perceive God to be?" The first question is one of theology - the study of who God is. The second question is one of religion - the study of humankind's behavior toward God. Theology reveals who God is; religion reveals who we have made Him to be. See the difference?

Who are you making God into? How does that differ from who He says He is?