Day 27 - Wings

Here I am, praying in the middle of the night. To start off, I listen to some music written by Hildegard of Bingen, a Benedictine Abbess from the 12th century. For those who've never heard of her before, her music is mainly for female voices and is modal and is written in plainsong, which is basically a melody line with no accompaniment (except perhaps a drone) and it follows the rhythm of the words so there's no time signature. You might think it sounds boring, but actually, Hildegard's music seems to be full of light and joy. It's lovely to listen to.

Throughout the ages the Catholic and Orthodox churches have venerated certain Christians who lived a holy life and called them saints. As we read the Bible nowadays, we have come to realise that every Christian is a 'saint' (or holy one) because Jesus' death on the cross means that he has bridged that great gulf between God and humans and we can all become right with Him through faith. However, we in other church traditions have our own venerated Christians who we look up to. I have been personally inspired by D.L. Moody, an American evangelist who lived in the 19th century, and Smith Wigglesworth, an amazing man of faith who took the church by storm in the early 20th century. There have been many others..... John Bunyan, John Wesley, Martin Luther, all the Celtic saints, Gladys Aylward, and Mother Teresa to name only a few. 

It is good and right to have people we look up to and who inspire us. However, it isn't good for us to let all the 'great' people be up there, next to God in heaven, so that we can just be the ordinary ones. We can live an ordinary life, doing a few good deeds here and there, and when we do make it to heaven, we'll wave at Jesus from the back benches.

I read from John's gospel yesterday that Jesus said we'd do the same sorts of things he did, and more, because we have the Holy Spirit living in us. That sounds more like an extraordinary life to me.

Here are some words I wrote as I waited on God in the stillness of the middle of the night:

'How can I inspire people to greatness?

If I could lift them and carry them on eagles wings
It would be easy.
But I must inspire them to grow wings of their own
And take a few tottering steps....
Using their faith, like a weak muscle,
Gradually gaining strength until they're ready
to fly.'