Pursuing a Closer Relationship with God

This summer, before the world-traveling adventures begin, I have the pleasure of attending a theological class at Campbell.  This class is rightfully named "Intentional Faith Communities" as we are studying and visiting different types of intentional faith communities within the realms of Monasticism and New Monasticism.  As a part of the class we are visiting TWO different communities that reside within our wonderful state of North Carolina.  The first of which is Belmont Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Belmont, NC.  The second of which is Rutba House, a New Monastic community in Durham, NC.

This past Monday my class visited the monks at Belmont Abbey and had a fantastic, enlightening time.  We were able to partake in mass, midday prayers, and vespers.  We were also given a tour of the basilica and were given a peek into the daily life of a Benedictine monk at Belmont Abbey.  It was wonderful!  However, there is something that I simply cannot limit to myself and it is found within one of the monks', Brother Elias, testimonies on becoming a monk.  He writes,

“I believed that the primary way for me to help other people was by deepening my holiness, a result of the transformation effected in my life by God when I am fully open to God, seek God with my whole heart, and generously give to God all that I have.  When this is true, I will be an extension of God, instead of just working by human means; all of my actions will have more effectiveness than years of toil without personal holiness.  It is from this foundation, that knowledge I share with other people, words I speak to them, or actions I do on their behalf will be most efficacious.” ^[1]

It is evident via his testimony that helping others is incredibly important to Elias.  Yet, he discovered that the best and “most efficacious” way to help others is by acting from personal holiness achieved through complete obedience to God, humility, and self-denial.  In other words, by wholly pursuing a relationship with God and seeking to be Christ-like Brother Elias found that he would be so much more effective than if he tried to help others without God.  

But wait, I'm not quite finished!  I was reading today in Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals as part of my class requirements and the Morning Prayer readings for today contains a quote by Evelyn Underhill in which she writes, 

"Adoration, as it more deeply possesses us, inevitably leads on to self-offering.  Charity is the life wire among which the power of God, indwelling our finite spirits, can and does act on other souls and other things, rescuing, healing, giving support and light.  Such secret intercessory prayer ought to penetrate and accompany all our active work.  It is the supreme expression of the spiritual life on earth.  It moves from God to others through us, because we have ceased to be self-centered units, but are woven into the great fabric of praying souls, the 'mystical body' through which the work of Christ on earth goes on begin done.” ^[2]

Isn’t it just so ridiculously cool that yesterday I read the testimony of a monk, and today I’m reading in a book of prayer and I come across the same idea?  We have to give up ourselves in order to do our best work.  This reminds me of a sermon I recently heard by an amazing and wise man of God on Philippians 4:13 which says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  We can’t do everything just because we are people of God, but God through us truly can do anything – far more than we could ever do ourselves.

So, how can we -- How can I -- become less self-centered, be fully open to God, and seek God with my full heart today? -t

"'I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.'" -- John 15:5 

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[1] Brother Elias on Becoming a Benedictine Monk, retrieved from http://belmontabbey.org/learn-about-the-monastery/brother-elias-on-becoming-a-benedictine-monk, accessed 20 May 2014.

[2] Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, and Enuma Okoro, Common Prayer (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), http://commonprayer.net.