A five-minute Christian meditation and lectio divina practice on 1 Kings 19:5-8, with words from the Iona Community communion liturgy. Day 50 of the Unseen Existences series.

Scripture

1 Kings 19:5-8 (NRSVUE)

Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep.

Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him,

“Get up and eat.”

He looked, and there at his head

was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water.

He ate and drank and lay down again.

The angel of the LORD came a second time,

touched him, and said,

“Get up and eat,

otherwise the journey will be too much for you.”

He got up and ate and drank;

then he went in the strength of that food

forty days and forty nights

to Horeb the mount of God.

Refrain

When my strength is gone, I am fed for the journey.

Quote

From the Iona Community communion liturgy

“This is the table, not of the church, but of the Lord.

It is made ready for those who love him,

and for those who want to love him more.

So come, you who have much faith, and you who have little;

you who have been here often, and you who have not been here long;

you who have tried to follow, and you who have failed,

come! Because it is the Lord who invites you.

It is his will that those who want him should meet him here. Amen.”

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Scripture

Genesis 32:1-2 (NRSVUE)

Jacob went on his way,

and the angels of God met him,

and when Jacob saw them he said,

“This is God’s camp!”

So he called that place Mahanaim.

Refrain

I am sheltered under angel wings.

Quote

Sergius Bulgakov, from Jacob’s Ladder

“The world is sheltered by angel wings.

Angel eyes keep watch without rest over us.

Between heaven and earth

the holy angels ascend and descend unceasingly.”

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Scripture

Matthew 18:10 (NRSVUE)

Take care that you do not despise

one of these little ones,

for, I tell you, in heaven their angels

continually see the face of my Father in heaven.

Refrain

I am not alone. A friend is near.

Quote

Sergius Bulgakov, from Jacob’s Ladder

“At that time the voice of a companion sounded within:

I was not alone but together with my own other I;

it was my guardian angel.

He told me that we had gone too far ahead

and it was necessary to return....

I returned to life from death.

And I knew all this time that I was not alone,

that with me was a friend, the most near, tender and quiet.”

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Scripture

2 Kings 6:15-17 (NRSVUE)

When an attendant of the man of God

rose early in the morning and went out,

an army with horses and chariots

was all around the city.

His servant said,

“Alas, master! What shall we do?”

He replied, “Do not be afraid,

for there are more with us than there are with them.”

Then Elisha prayed:

“O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.”

So the LORD opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw;

the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire

all around Elisha.

Refrain

Lord, open my eyes that I may see.

Quote

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, from Aurora Leigh

“Earth’s crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;

But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,

The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries.”

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Scripture

Hebrews 1:14 (NRSVUE)

Are not all angels spirits in the divine service,

sent to serve for the sake of those

who are to inherit salvation?

Refrain

I travel in the company of angels.

Quote

Brian Zahnd, from Unseen Existences

“What I desire most is for you to remember

that as we journey through life,

we really do tread on paths of unseen existences.

In our darkest hours, we are never alone;

we really do travel in the company of angels.”

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Scripture

Philippians 2:13 (NRSVUE)

For it is God who is at work in you,

enabling you both to will and to work

for his good pleasure.

Refrain

Let God talk to me about me.

Poem

Brian Zahnd, "About You," from Unseen Existences

Let God talk to you

About you

For if you imagine God talking to you

About her or him, those or them

You're on the fast-track to Pharisee City

And life there is anything but pretty

Some of the worst stuff I ever heard

Began with these arrogant words:

"God told me to tell you"

Let God talk to you

About you

It's a bit of good counsel

I try to let God talk to me

About me

Because my worst enemy

Is not her or him, those or them

But me

So Jesus, save me

From me

It's not the enemy without

But the enemy within

Who will do me in

Lord Jesus, save me

From me

And what about you?

Well, I have some good news

Jesus believes in you

It's true

So cast off that heavy yoke

That miserable constraint

Where you think

You have to

Set everybody straight

You don't

Have to

Let God talk to you

About you

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Scripture

Daniel 7:9-10 (NIV)

Thrones were set in place,

and the Ancient of Days took his seat.

His clothing was as white as snow;

the hair of his head was white like wool.

His throne was flaming with fire,

and its wheels were all ablaze.

A river of fire was flowing,

coming out from before him.

Thousands upon thousands attended him;

ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.

The court was seated,

and the books were opened.

Refrain

I am held in the fire of God's love.

Quote

Alexandre Kalomiros, from The River of Fire

"Love will enrobe everything with its sacred Fire

which will flow like a river from the throne of God

and will irrigate paradise.

But this same river of Love,

for those who have hate in their hearts,

will suffocate and burn."

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Scripture

Genesis 1:26a, 27 (NRSVUE)

Then God said,

"Let us make humans in our image,

according to our likeness."

So God created humans in his image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

Refrain

God knows the self I was made to be.

Quote

Thomas Merton, from New Seeds of Contemplation

"Every one of us is shadowed by an illusory person: a false self.

This is the man that I want myself to be but who cannot exist,

because God does not know anything about him.

And to be unknown of God is altogether too much privacy.

My false and private self is the one who wants to exist

outside the reach of God's will and God's love,

outside of reality and outside of life.

And such a self cannot help but be an illusion."

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