Cor Unum Abbey

            Upon examination, what did Mary Geegh do, more than to keep her heart clean, listen and obey?

            Those are bedrock essentials for all of us in Cor Unum.

            What more is there?  We are not called to initiate or determine courses of action to bring before God for His “approval.”

            God has a plan, and His sheep hear His Voice.

            Mary Geegh spent thirty-eight years on the mission field in India, listening for her next part in God’s plan.  Most of those with whom she spoke were not missionaries.  They were students and wives and businessmen, but they, too, learned what God had planned for them, and time after time, when they listened, they were given a simple step of obedience that altered the course of their lives in truth and blessing.

            Here in Cor Unum, we are not afraid to discover God’s NEXT step for us.  He leads us beside still waters.  He restores our souls.  He leads us in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake.

            He prepares for us a table in the presence of our enemies, and our cup overflows.  May we ever live what we know.

            Goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives, and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

            Like Mary.

Punjab Kitchen

Sanyam Bahga

Mary Geegh.  That may be a name you have never heard before.

Born, December 21, 1897.  Died January 30, 1999, at 101 years of age.

Missionary to India for 38 years.

What can she teach us?  The same thing she taught on the mission field . . . how to hear God.

She preached to the Indian people; sometimes she prayed all night long for a person to turn to Jesus Christ.  Nothing seemed to happen.

Then a man named Dr. R. L. Scudder, Sr. came to the village.  People began to seek him out in order to turn their lives from sin to righteousness.  Mary went to him and asked him how she, too, might become an effective missionary for the Indian people.

His advice to her was simple, and it is life-changing.  She employed it and taught countless others to do the same.   He told her first to WAIT . . . to be still before God and start listening.

Then, she was to repent specifically of any sin in her life, every day.

Next, with notebook and pencil at hand, she was to write down whatever the Holy Spirit spoke to her mind, predetermined to obey.  The story of one of her first challenges in listening to God is priceless, and of course, when she had obeyed, it worked.

            Finally, she must share with others what this practice did for her.

Wait ’till you hear what happened next!

A quick review … 1) be still and listen, 2) repent of all known sin, 3) write down whatever the Holy Spirit speaks to your mind, predetermined to obey, 4) tell others of what this practice has done for you.

That’s how our cloister becomes a calling, and our calling becomes critically important in the Kingdom of God.

Wikimedia Commons

Mary Geegh

GOD GUIDES, Baker House

“My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him and burn incense.”  2 Chronicles 29:11

            What makes a man or a woman decide to leave day-to-day life behind and close their lives up in a convent or monastery … with the hope of leaving, never?

What makes a young person give up the social life and the aspirations of independence, as well as the hope of marriage and family, in order to enter a cloistered community?

Contrary to what we may have heard or sometimes been taught, most monastics are not there in order to make points with God.  Rather, they have somehow learned to value His company and to value the privilege of worship and prayer in extraordinary ways.  Extra-ordinary, yes, but not unreasonable.  This is GOD we are talking about.  Worthy of all praise.  Monastics believe that!

Here is something to think about: how many monastics, whether enclosed in a monastery or in a devoted heart, and missionaries would there be on earth if all those who had considered a life of devotion had pursued that end?

It is pitiable sometimes that those deep desires are not expressed, esteemed, and nurtured more fully in homes and schools, because there are certainly many more members of Cor Unum than we will ever know, men and women and young people who thought they had to leave home in order to live lives of deepest devotion.

How many of them have dismissed their deepest devotional desires through lack of understanding or simple counsel, never having been reassured of the simple and universal reminder to God’s people that any one of us may have all of God at all times all the days of our lives?

Today is a good day for giving thanks for those dedicated places that we fill and faithfully maintain, such as marriage and parenthood and even career and civic involvement when those are sustained “as unto God.”  For us in this very real cyber monastery, we share a mutual encouragement that what we do, the ways that we press in, the small steps we take toward  purity of heart and devotion, are all effective and purposeful.  There will be result and, as the Lord has said, reward.  Not points, but great reward.

On this first day of Lent, may the blessings of God be upon your smallest step in a devoted direction and upon your truest desire for God however limited your time and ability may be.  If you are raising children, your forty minutes of stillness and worship and prayer and four hours of parenting sum up to a full measure of devotion!

If you, on the other hand, are alone and have an entire day stretching before you, be sure that the Lord does not get bored with you!  He never tires of your company, and the Lord’s work may be carried out daily through intercession and worship and in the pure enjoyment of His Presence.  Whatever the boundaries of our cloister, may we find leisure and relaxation in Him and fullness and satisfaction in His Word, and may we come to know with all our hearts, that the work of God is to believe on the One whom He has sent.  Amen.

John 6:29 … Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

public domain photo, Wikipedia

         Those who have consecrated themselves to prayer and worship . . .  and fasting . . . are privileged to consider the privileges of a fasted lifestyle.  Let us look at just two verses and see the promises of God to those who fast “the Lord’s fast.”

         Isaiah 58:8, 9  …  Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.  Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’

         Not a bad trade off for butter and cheese, is it?

         What we must do, of course, is accept the terms of the fast.  The Lord clearly states earlier in the chapter that the fasting that touches His heart is not the bowing down of one’s head for a day and sitting in an ash heap, while the issues of the heart continue in selfishness, quarrelsomeness, and control over others.  That kind of abstinence, as He tells us so plainly, will not cause our voices to be heard on high. 

         This powerful word gives us hope, nevertheless.  It gives us the assurance that there is a fast that will cause our voices to be heard, and as we investigate, we see that there is fasting that touches the very soul of God.

         The Lord’s fast DOES THE WORK OF THE LORD more than just adjusting our food intake.  To fast certain foods, to fast meals, is powerful when we remember the Lord’s compassions and purposes, and that is what we are about during these special days.  We have entered a season of holy and sober celebration, and our love will prove our preparation, here in Cor Unum Abbey.

          Please allow this Abbey to encourage a season of special fasting and prayer, and in the company of people all over the world and of all sorts of denominations.  Though few in number, there are monastic men and women in cloisters and monasteries and convents who will begin their Lenten fasts tomorrow, and while vocations are rare in our day, these are many, cumulatively.  Multiplied millions more will join in to fast with their families and churches.  Let’s make ours purposeful and joyful.  

          One wise Sister always reminds us that she never wants to behave while fasting the way that the Israelites did as they traveled to the Promised Land, grumbling and blaming and ungrateful.  Isn’t that a great perspective?  Let us for joy choose the fast that will help the oppressed to go free, and break every yoke, and that our own light will break forth as the dawn and our health be restored.  Lord God, we believe … you reward those that diligently seek you, and you reward what is done in secret.  We close ourselves in now with You, Father, on behalf of those we love, and for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.

Isaiah 58:6 … “Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?

Matthew 6:6 … But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place;and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

Hebrews 11:6 …But without faith it is impossible to please Him,for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.