Hymn of St. Francis

HYMN OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASISI (AD 1225)

Highest, all powerful, good Lord,
Thine is the praise, the glory and the honour,
And every blessing.
They belong to Thee alone.
And no [one] is worthy to speak Thy Name.

So, praised be Thou, My Lord, in all Thy creatures,
Especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who maketh the day and enlighteneth us through Thee.
He is lovely and radiant and grand;
And he heralds Thee, his Most High Lord.

Praised be Thou, my Lord, for Sister Moon
And for the stars.
Thou have hung them in heaven shining and precious and fair
And praise to Thee, my Lord, in Brother Wind,
In air and in cloud, calm, and every weather
That sustains Thy creatures.

Praised be Thou, my Lord, for our Sister Water,
So very useful, humble precious and chaste.

Yea, and praise unto Thee, my Lord, for Brother Fire,
Through him Thou illumine our night,
And he is handsome and merry, robust and strong.

Praised be Thou, my Lord, for our Sister, Mother Earth,
Who nourishes us and teaches us,
Bringing forth all kinds of fruits and coloured flowers and herbs.

O, and praise be unto Thee, my Lord,
For those who forgive one another in Thy love,
And who bear sickness and trials,
Blessed are they who live on in peace,
For they will be crowned by Thee, Most High!

Praise unto Thee, my Lord, for our Sister bodily death,
From whom no living man may escape:
How dreadful for those who die in sin,
How lovely for those who are found in Your Most Holy Will,
For the second death can do them no harm.

O praise and bless my Lord,
Thank Him and serve Him
Humbly but grandly!

A Midnight Prayer 1

Give me, O God,
that spirit of interior recollection
which will make me attentive to Thy holy will
and faithful to Thy graces.
Grant that the remembrance
of Thy awful presence may remind me continually
of Thy blessed life and conversation,
and effectually control me during my earthly pilgrimage.
I am weary, O God,
of living an exile from Thy presence, and
of being so little affected by the consideration of Thy majesty
as to do nothing to please Thee.
What can I find in heaven or on earth that is comparable to Thee?
Thou art the God of my heart;
grant I may be ever sensible of Thy presence,
and desire only the happiness of pleasing Thee,
in time,
that Thou mayest be my portion for eternity.
Amen.

Different Kinds of Prayer

Different Kinds of Prayer

by N. T. Wright

There are, broadly, three types of prayer. One launches off messages to distant divinities, like a sailor sending messages off in a bottle hoping someone will receive them.

Another tries to get in touch with the immanent spirit of the world all around, or possibly within oneself. The third brings together the sense of awe at the transcendence of the God who made the world, with the sense of intimacy that this same God wants to be in personal touch with his human creatures.

This third sense is what we find in the Psalms and elsewhere in the Jewish scriptures; and it is this that comes to full expression (from the Christian point of view, of course) in and through Jesus. For the Christian, prayer is simultaneously the adoration and wonder of contemplating, and thanking, God the creator and redeemer, and the awareness of an intimate and loving relationship bubbling up from within, which shapes the character and the content of prayer so that it reaches out to embrace the suffering world – and all kinds of particular needs and problems within it – and finds that it embodies the presence and healing love of Jesus himself as it does so.

Yes, I pray – to this God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I pray for all sorts of things, but especially for the great issues our world is faced with just now, and for those who make difficult decisions that affect the lives of millions; and for many individuals, near and far, who need God’s help, protection and love.

I also pray, of course, for the churches for which I am responsible, and those who worship and work in them. And I pray for forgiveness for my many faults and failings, for strength to resist the power of evil at every level, for provision for my needs, and for wisdom in the many tasks to which I am called.

I also pray, by the way, for those who read what I have written, that anything I have said that is less than helpful may be taken away from people’s attention and that anything I have said that is useful and helpful may stick in their minds, not as from me but as a gift from God.

Posted by Nicholas T. Wright on February 2, 2007 8:15 AM

Sumber: http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/nicholas_t_wright/2007/02/there_are_broadly_three_types.html

Pelukan Kekal

ROMA (Reuters) – Sebut saja pelukan kekal.

Para arkeologi di Italia telah menemukan satu pasang kekasih yang terkubur selama 5000 sampai 6000 tahun yang lalu, saling memeluk.

“Ini sebuah kasus yang luar biasa,” kata Elena Menotti, yang memimpin tim tersebut untuk menggali di sebelah utara dekat kota Mantova.

“Belum pernah ada penguburan dua orang sekaligus yang ditemukan dalam periode Neolithikum, apalagi dua manusia tengah berpelukan—dan mereka sungguh-sungguh berpelukan.”

Menotti berkata ia percaya keduanya, hampir dapat dipastikan seorang laki-laki dan seorang perempuan meskipun hal ini perlu dikonfirmasi, meninggal pada usia muda karena gigi mereka masih rapat dan belum rusak.

“Saya harus berkata bahwa ketika kami menemukannya, kami semua menjadi sangat terpesona. Saya telah melakukan pekerjaan ini selama 25 tahun. Saya telah melakukan penggalian-penggalian di Pompeii, semuanya situs-situs terkenal,” ia memberi tahu Reuters.

“Tetapi saya belum pernah seharu ini sebab ini merupakan penemuan yang istimewa.”

Sebuah laboratorium sekarang akan berupaya untuk menentukan umur pasangan ini pada waktu mereka meninggal dan berapa lama mereka telah terkubur.

Sumber: www.yahoo.com headline news (6 Februari 2007)

Pengetahuan Ultimat

PENGETAHUAN ULTIMAT

Pikiran-pikiran manusia, kata Kitab Suci, adalah sia-sia dan tiada guna,
jika di dalam hal-hal tersebut seseorang
tidak mendekatkan pikirannya untuk mengenal serta mengasihi Allah,
dan oleh karenanya mengabaikan diri serta membenci keakuannya.
Iman yang sederhana dan yang hidup dari satu jiwa
yang bersandar kepada segala pengajaran Allah,
tanpa ragu-ragu dan kebimbangan,
dan melakukan segala yang Ia tuntutkan
hingga mencapai kesempurnaan keselamatan,
jauh lebih berharga
daripada segala ilmu pengetahuan mengenai Allah ataupun manusia,
yang bila di dalam dirinya sendiri tanpa iman yang seperti itu,
hanyalah akan mengisi pikiran dengan keangkuhan,
menjadikan hati kering
dan menyebabkan kekosongan dalam hidup.
Sampai-sampai, kekekalan hidup itu menjadi impian kosong.


Doa

Tatalah, ya Yesus, hasratku untuk mengerti akan banyak hal,
dan luruskan kembali kemalasanku untuk mengerjakan keselamatanku
dalam karya dan tindakan nyata:
sebab Dikau menghendaki bukan untuk menghakimiku
berdasarkan apa yang kuketahui,
tetapi oleh kehidupanku secara utuh,
atau manakalah aku lalai untuk menjaga kemurnian tindak-tandukku.
Mungkinkah kuterapkan pikiran-pikiranku untuk mengenal Dikau sampai tuntas,
dan tidak bersujud takzim serta mengasihi Dikau?
Dan mungkinkah aku mengenal diriku sendiri
tanpa kemudian berlaku untuk membenci dan mencampakkan keakuanku?
Oh betapa hidup yang tiada kukenal!
Hidup yang tersembunyi di dalam Yesus Kristus, di dalam Allah!
Betapa dahsyatnya sarana yang Dikau berikan kepadaku
di dalam pengudusan di sepanjang peziarahanku!
Namun, betapa betapa Dikau menjadi kecil ketika aku berada
di tengah-tengah orang-orang yang mengenal aku,
bahkan di antara orang-orang Kristen!
Mari, ya Tuhan, berilah kepadaku agar semua
orang dapat mengenal,
menghormati
dan mencintai keselamatan itu,
dan dituntun olehnya.
Amin.

Nietzsche Quoted

“Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker.”

“That which does not kill me, makes me stronger.”

The Art of Forgiving

THE ART OF FORGIVING

The most creative power given to the human spirit is the power to heal the wounds of a past it cannot change.

We do our forgiving alone inside our hearts and minds; what happens to the people we forgive depends on them.

The first person to benefit from forgiving is the one who does it.

Forgiving happens in three stages: We rediscover the humanity of the person who wronged us, we surrender our right to get even, and we wish that person well.

We forgive people only for what they do, never for what they are.

We forgive people only for wounding and wronging us; we do not forgive people for things we do not blame them for.

We cannot forgive a wrong unless we first blame the person who wronged us.

Forgiving is a journey; the deeper the wound, the longer the journey.

Forgiving does not require us to reunite with the person who broke our trust.

We do not forgive because we are supposed to, we forgive when we are ready to be healed.

Waiting for someone to repent before we forgive is to surrender our future to the person who wronged us.

Forgiving is not a way to avoid pain but to heal pain.

Forgiving is done best when it is done intolerantly.

Forgiving someone who breaks a trust does not mean that we give him his job back.

Forgiving is the only way to be fair to ourselves.

Forgivers are not doormats; to forgive a person is not a signal that we are willing to put up with what he does.

We do not excuse the person we forgive; we blame the person we forgive.

Forgiving is essential; talking about it is optional.

When we forgive, we set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner we set free is us.

When we forgive we talk in stride with the forgiving God.

(Lewis B. Smedes)