Category: Carmichael, Amy

Friday: from the archives

Sr. Dorcee, belovedLeave a comment

(First posted October 7, 2009)

The Age Long Minute

The title of this post comes from a meditation by Amy Carmichael on Ps 107.29-30: He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.  Then they were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.  I have to say that my first thought after reading Then they were glad because they had quiet, was: “This verse must mean a lot to parents of toddlers and teenagers!”  Amy’s reflection was other–and deeper–than mine.

jesus-walking-on-the-water“Then they were glad because they had quiet;” the words were music to me.  Then in reading the different stories of the Lord calming the sea, I found this: “He came to them . . . and meant to pass by them” [Mk 6.48].  The more literal the translation the more startling it is.  As I pondered the matter I saw that this “age-long minute” was part of the spiritual preparation of these men for a life that at that time was unimagined by them–a life of dauntless faith and witness in the absence of any manifestation of the power of the Lord; and it must be the same today.  Such minutes must be in our lives, unless our training is to be unlike that of ever saint and warrior who ever lived.  Our “minute” may seem endless–”How long wilt Thou forget me,” cried David out of the depths of his–but perhaps looking back we shall in such an experience a great and shining opportunity.  Words are spoken then that are spoken at no other time . . .  We have a chance to prove our glorious God, to prove that His joy is strength and that His peace passeth all understanding, and to know the love of Christ that passeth knowledge.And the “minute” always ends in one way, there is no other ending recorded anywhere: “But immediately he spoke to them, and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; have no fear” . . . and the wind ceased” [Mk 6.50].
“Then they were glad because they had quiet; and he brought them to their desired haven.”
(Edges of His Ways, pp. 143-44)

If you feel that you are in “an age-long minute”, have hope–He is coming to you and will bring you to your desired haven.

Our high calling

Sr. Dorcee, belovedLeave a comment

Luke 6:28  Pray for those who abuse you.

In these days where we find ourselves unliked as Catholics for our stance on so many things, we would do well to heed Amy Carmichael’s advice regarding this Scripture passage–actually this is good advice regarding anyone we may find difficult:

Are there any who are making your burdens heavier than they need be?  Sometimes very small things can make our burdens feel heavier.  The temptation always is to resent this, and feel ruffled.

The Lord Jesus says to us, “Pray for those who compel you to carry burdens.”  Don’t talk about them to others, unless that talk will bear the scrutiny of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Don’t talk about them to yourself.  Look up to your Father for them.  Pray that their burden may be lightened.  (Perhaps they have some of which you know nothing.)  Pray, and as you pray, love will flow into your heart for them.

Thick clouds

Sr. Dorcee, beloved1 Comment

Ps 18: 9-11 He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub, and flew; he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering around him, his canopy thick clouds dark with water.

“I found great comfort one day in these verses.  It was when God was flying upon the wings of the wind to the relief of His servant, that His servant looking up, saw thick clouds of the skies.  The pavilion of the Lord is not always a golden glory, such as our sunrises so often open before us.  It is sometimes darkness.  He made darkness His secret place; His pavilion round about Him dark waters, thick clouds of the skies.

“You will wonder where the comfort came in.  Quite simply: long ago we chose Mary’s favorite place—‘Mary . . . sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard His word.’  If we, who would always abide there, find ourselves at any time wrapped in darkness, it is only because we are in the cloud that is under His feet, for it is written, ‘darkness was under His feet’, and ‘the clouds are the dust of His feet’ [Nahum 1.3].” (Amy Carmichael, Edges of His Ways)

Why? Why? Why?

Sr. Dorcee, beloved1 Comment

[I was out of town and then came down with a nasty head cold . . . thus, my absence this past week.]

Today’s reading from Amy Carmichael’s Whispers of Power:

Mt 11.6 And blessed is he, who shall not be offended in Me.

All of us are sometimes troubled by questions.  Why is the secret of healing not opened more fully?  Why is that key not put into wise and loving hands?  Why does He whose touch has not lost its ancient power not come immediately and touch and heal?  Why have the wicked such awful power?  Why are we ourselves sometimes like the little ship on the sea of Galilee beaten by the winds?  And even after we have heard our dear Lord’s Peace, be still, why is it that there is not always instantly a great calm, a lasting calm?  Why do the winds return again?

We could go on forever, piling question on question.  Why?  Why?  Why?

But faith is not “trusting God when we understand His ways”–there is no need for faith then.  Faith is trusting when nothing is explained.  Faith rests under the Unexplained.  Faith enters into the deep places of our Lord’s words.  And blessed is he, who shall not be offended in Me.  Faith, having entered into those deep places, stays there in peace.

The storehouse of our mind

Sr. Dorcee, beloved3 Comments

When you find yourself in the middle of a trial, is there a verse from Scripture that wells up from your heart to sustain you?  I hope that is the case for you.  Amy Carmichael writes about the importance of filling the “storehouse of our mind” with the riches of the Scriptures so that we may find strength in time of need.

1 Cor 1.3  Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.

In one of his letters, Adolph Monod tells how he found in his hardest moments that it was enough to take firm hold on a single promise.  It sustained him the the sorest difficulties.  He loved the words Father of Compassions, as 2 Corinthians 1.3 has it in French.

When one is in great pain or trouble, or caught suddenly by fierce temptation, it is the word of strength or comfort that is set deep in the memory that takes life.  It speaks in a new tone, and becomes to us at that moment more than we could have ever believed it would be.  John 14.26 explains this: But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost . . . He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

So let us fill the storehouse of our mind with the treasure of God’s word.  Every day offers opportunities.  When we go to bed tonight, let us think, “What treasure did I put in my storehouse today?”

“But take comfort”

Sr. Dorcee, beloved1 Comment

A bit of a balm for those who are fearful:

Jer 39.17: But I will deliver you on that day, says the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.

What is the thing you most fear and most earnestly pray about, the thing that you most dread?  If you love your Lord and yet know your own weakness, it is that something may happen to sweep you off your feet, or that your strength may be drained and you may yield and fall, and fail Him at the end.  The lives of many are shadowed by this fear.

But take comfort.  The God who knew the heart of His servant Ebed-melech knows our heart too.  He knows who the men are (what the forces of trial are) of whom we are afraid.  And He assures us and reassures us.  The Bible is full of “Fear nots.”  You shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.  (Amy Carmichael)

A good old hymn

Sr. Dorcee, beloved2 Comments

Sometimes an old hymn is just what we need to lift up our hearts and souls.  So many of the old hymns are laced with Scripture, and singing them speaks much deeper to our hearts than we know.  (God’s word always goes much deeper than we know.) Here is a beautiful rendition of O God, Our Help in Ages Past (with subtitles so you can sing along!).

The reason why singing is such a splendid shield against the fiery darts of the devil is that it greatly helps us to forget him, and he cannot endure being forgotten.  He likes us to be occupied with him, what he is doing (our temptations), with his victories (our falls), with anything but our glorious Lord.  So sing.  Never be afraid of singing too much.  We are much more likely to sing too little.  (Amy Carmichael)

Doing for others and sitting down on the green grass

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From my friend, Amy Carmichael–before we get too busy for this day:

Mark 6.39  And He commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.

Psalm 23.2  He makes me lie down in green pastures.

Those who do most in the day and who always have time for one thing more are those who know what it is to sit down on the green grass.  It is not the bustling, chattery people who do most for others.  It is those who know most of the quietness.

Before our Lord Jesus could feed the people, He had to make them sit down.  Before He can feed us we too must sit down.  David sat before the Lord; he was quiet before his God.  Even if we have not a long time to spend in the morning with our God, much can be received in a very few minutes if only we are quiet.  Sometimes it takes a little while to gather our scattered thoughts and quiet our soul.  Even so, don’t hurry; make it sit down on the green grass.

Gather my thoughts, good Lord, they fitful roam,
Like children bent on foolish wandering,
Or vanity of fruitless wayfaring;
O call them home.

All my longing is known to Thee

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Another little gem of a comment on Psalm 38:9  by Amy Carmichael:

Lord, all my longing is known to Thee, my sighing is not hidden from Thee.

“Only a simple word.  This afternoon, words would not come when I tried to pray, and this troubled me; and then it was as if He, Who is never far away, said, What does it matter about words, when all your desire is before Me? Perhaps you, too, find that words will not come when you wish they would.  So I pass on my comfort.

“In St. Augustine’s words: ‘To Him Who is everywhere, men come, not by travelling but by loving.’”

Look straight up and praise

Sr. Dorcee, beloved1 Comment

I’m still delving deep into Amy Carmichael’s commentaries on the psalms.  I can’t help but share the precious tidbits I keep finding.  Here are her comments on that transition we find in the psalms from weeping to praise, that encouragement to look straight up and praise God with a song (when we least feel like it . . .):

“I have been noticing how in the Psalms every experience of distress turns to a straight look-up, and praise.  I had not noticed till recently that the Psalm of the weaned child (Ps 131) ends like that: ‘O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and for evermore.’ And today I read Ps 69, and there again I found the look-up that ends in praise.  Kay translates v. 10, ‘I wept soul-tears’, and that is just what it is like at times, when all we have done to help another soul seems to end in failure.  Even so, ‘I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving’ (v. 30).

 “Surely this emphasis on praise in the Psalms is because to turn from discouraging things and look up with a song in one’s heart is the only sure way of continuance.  We sink down into what David calls mire, slime, deep waters, if we do not quickly look up, and turning our back on the discouraging, set our faces again toward the sunrising.

“Perhaps that is what v. 32 of that Psalm means, ‘You who seek God, let your hearts revive.’

“I found all this very reviving.  It led straight to ‘They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength’ [Is 40.31], and ‘Let them that love Him be as the sun when he rises in his might’[Jgs 5.31].” (Edges, p.159)