Discriminate

Many of us think of prayer as something which comes from one's own heart and mind. It follows that when prayers are offered in the assembly among other believers, they are given extempore, not read out. This practice is specially valuable when prayers are offered at times of crisis or special need. Sometimes however prayers are made as a matter of routine - at a certain stage in a service, prayer is offered. Prayers given in these circumstances tend to become repetitive from week to week, indeed, if one knows who is to offer prayer, one knows almost exactly what will be said. This is not very different from reading prayers from a book, it is just that the minister's own usual words are repeated, and not someone else's. For the congregation an effort is required in these circumstances, to enter into the prayer with heart and mind and not just let the words drift over your head. The electric spark of truly spontaneous prayer may be missing, yet any prayer sincerely meant is surely heard by the Lord, and entering into prayer helps our faith to grow. The Lord's prayer is a particular example of this: as we repeat it together, it may not have the electric effect it had when Jesus first taught it as an example to a group of enthusiastic young disciples about to be sent out two by two on mission, but we can say it with meaning, and our needs and our worship will continue the same through the years.

There are some 'book' prayers which over time have become well known, and are often used because they speak what is in our hearts. The following prayer is one such:

Lord, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labour and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that I do your will

It is always of interest to know who first wrote a prayer like this, and what was his character. This prayer is from the sixteenth century and is attributed to Ignatius of Loyola, ex-soldier, briefly a recluse, mystic, activist and devoted worker for his church which he believed to be Christ's church. His spirit of thoughtful devotion can be seen in these words which begin his 'Spritual Exercises':

The goal of our life is to live with God forever.
God, who loves us, gave us life.
Our own response of love allows God's life to flow into us without limit.
All the things in this world are gifts from God,
presented to us so that we can know God more easily
and make a return of love more readily.
As a result, we appreciate and use all these gifts of God
insofar as they help us to develop as loving persons.
But if any of these gifts become the centre of our lives,
they displace God, and so hinder our growth toward our goal.
In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balance
before all of these created gifts, insofar as we have a choice
and are not bound by some obligation.
We should not fix our desires on health or sickness,
wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one.
For everything has the potential of calling forth in us
a deeper response to our life in God.
Our only desire and our one choice should be this:
I want and I choose what better leads to God's deepening his life in me.

There are not many who would disagree with this, though it may be difficult to live up to. It is sad that Ignatius taught other things, that cause problems. He was insistent, for example, on the authority of the church. Freedom of thought was not something he accepted. "That we may be altogether of the same mind in conformity with the Church herself, if she shall have defined anything to be black which appears to our eyes to be white, we ought in like manner to pronounce it to be black. For we must undoubtedly believe, that the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of the Orthodox Church His Spouse, by which Spirit we are governed and directed to salvation, are the same." He believed that his church spoke for Christ, being Christ's bride. If only!

This is a tendency which we notice in many denominations. 'The brethren believe this.... so you ought to believe it.' There is a balance to be struck here: if someone has mad ideas - heresies ? - we cannot be expected to follow the ideas and should avoid the teaching. But this is not the same as believing exactly what we are told to believe by those in leadership. The test is whether the teaching is true. And who is to decide what is true?

A further teaching of Ignatius is that 'it is permissible to do evil that good may come'. We shake our heads at this, but there is a point to consider. Is locking someone in jail an evil? It seems so to the criminal concerned (and who says he really is guilty?) Or to drop a bomb, an atom bomb. It is claimed that what happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought one war to a speedy end, and has prevented the occurrence of further global wars. Was not this a supreme example of an evil deed which was intended to have good effects? In the case of Ignatius, however, this teaching permitted the 'Church' to torture people, so as to make them believe, or at least to say, the right things, and also to make them betray heretics.

In all these things we need to discriminate. Freedom? or authority? Spontaneous prayer? or using the prayers others have written? Truth? or possible error? Assurance? or bigotry?

Those who lead need a proper humility, for they may be wrong. We who follow need wisdom, to seek for the mind of Christ.