2.20.2009

Something's wrong here - can you spot it?

Something's wrong with this picture...
Each night, I still make my requests "known to God," just as the Bible tells us to do (Phil. 4:6), but in the morning I don't ask God for anything. Instead, I center down on Jesus.

To do so, I have to drive back the animals--the "animals" being the hundred and one things that trouble me from the day before and the many things that are waiting to be done in the new day. I've got to push everything out of mind save the name of Jesus. I say His name over and over again, for as long as fifteen minutes, until I find my soul suspended in what the ancient Celtic Christians called a "thin place"--a state where the boundary between heaven and earth, divine and human, dissolves. You could say that I use the name of Jesus as my koan. Perhaps that's because, as my friends and the country gospel musicians the Gaithers, sing, "There's just something about that name."

- Tony Campolo, Mystical Encounters for Christians (www.beliefnet.com)
Note: If you don't know what's wrong with this picture, click on the links within the quote. If you can spot what's wrong without clicking on the links, you get a ***gold star!

3 comments:

Underdog Theology said...

The sins of VAIN REPETITION IN PRAYER and USING THE LORD'S NAME IN VAIN.

Futile esoteric mysticism blended in with Christian terminology.

reformed1 said...

I graciously and humbly accept my gold star!

carla said...

Wow, two gold stars in a row. Most impressive. :)