Introduction 2: Gospel
Question:
What new word is God speaking to you today?
Write your Answer – click here
Transcript of Video:
One of the things that has been so important for me to learn about the gospel of John is we know that John was written later than probably any of the other gospels, which means that we had three or four generations of Christian community of people that could gather together and could have conversations about who Jesus was in their prayer. How they experienced the risen Christ in their lives. And it looked like they took particular healing events, miracle events in Jesus’ life, and they literally had three generations of being in community talk about what that meant. That’s why there are so few stories in John’s gospel.
What it really invites me into, and I think our community into, is a sense that Christ is always speaking a new word and that while scripture is important and these stories are important, there is an expectation from the gospel of John that this is a tradition that’s going to continue in the life of the church. So there’s always a new word. And even though we live this very traditional life, my expectation for myself and for my Brothers and for the people that we minister with is about a new word. A word – an experience of the risen Christ that speaks to our situation and who we are.
– Br. Tom Shaw
When God is speaking a new word intended for me, I know it. Sometimes it comes from necessity, other times receptivity and still other by surprise. For ex. upon completing a book it had taken 6 years to write, my editor suggested that, contrary to our earlier agreement, I should develop the concept for the lay out due to my familiarity with the text. I felt really burdened thousands of words later! But not for long! The next day during Morning Prayer I received the entire foundation for the lay out from the Scriptural reading: John 15:1-16. It supplied me with every chapter heading and the art work that would embellish each page in a continuous, coherent and well integrated format! Wow!
We are to love one another. Jesus is telling me to “put on love” as Paul states in Colossians 3:14. I do not always feel like loving someone, but I have to “put it on” as a piece of clothing for the day and remember that I have it on all day.
Dying to Self
My new word is “abiding” in Him. He will guide as the Good Shepherd does.
The word that comes to mind is love. Love of life, Love of having the sense of Christ within me and around me at all times. Gives me a sense of peace.
Acceptance
Love life with my body, mind and spirit.
Humility. Not a new word but one that helps me better understand what it means to serve God.
God’s new word to me is the Life Style my wife and I have relatively recently taken up, of regular twice daily mindfulness meditation, a vegan diet without alcohol. Coffee, sugar or salt, Yoga in the morning. we fell into this regime after attending a retreat for cancer patients in Alice Springs, Australia in 2013
It’s taken me some time to reach this, but I think my word is new, or renew, as in ‘renew a right spirit with me.” I sometimes feel old and tired –at 44–and simply mired in the (first world) problems of the day. So a renewed spirit is just what I need, to see each day, each moment, as a new blessing, and myself as someone who can make new choices even in familiar situations.
Humility
Focus is the word that will bring me to the place where I can become the person God leads me to being -by simply being present in what lies before me!
it is “well with my soul”
LOVE…then love more and continue to love and try to emulate Christ’s characteristics in everything we do.
Thank you for your comment Sr Donna. It is so true, and something which I need in my own life. G
God is telling me to watch and listen.
Openness. I can’t hear the “new word” unless I remove the habitual blinders and pay attention to what God is doing in every fresh moment.
The new word God is speaking to me today is possibility, that all things are possible with him. I have recently experienced a healing that I know comes directly from him. I need to learn on a deeper level to ask and be ready to receive.
It’s a bit unexpected but I sense the word for me is “Time”. In this season God wants to show me that there is indeed time enough for my relationship with him. I am shuffling off things that suck away my time, I am adding activities that use my time well, and I am finding there is time to discover God in the world, his word, my work, and this website.
Companionship. To know that I am never completely alone gives me peace. The companionship comes in different forms at different times’ God’s presence, His Word, and other people. Each bring comfort and therefore peace.
New word: Llight. To receive and carry the Light, and to be a light throughout one’s own journey.
Yes. Beautiful.
Joy!
I have just returned home from 9 months doing dissertation research in China and Tibet. I learned so much there — especially the power of joy in simple things. Drinking a cup of tea, being uplifted by a new friend, sitting and writing calligraphy, reading, enjoying a hot shower — joy is so abundantly available to me if I bother to slow down and receive the gift.
Contemplation is the fullest expression of this paradigm, I believe. By slowing down to keep a more reflective pace, walking in step with God, joys manifest in abundance! Even though Lent is traditionally a season of penitence and discipline, right now I see nothing but joy waiting to offer itself to me if I can assume the responsibility to nurture my inner life, to slow down, to listen to God, to savor the simple blessings around me.
How blessed you are in learning this path to joy; slowing down and living fully into each moment and activity. I am blessed by reading your reminder of this truth. God paints our Kansas skies with morning and evening colors daily. Those colors and clouds call me back to wonder at HIS creation and meditate in gratitude for all of my blessings.
My word is trust. I need to allow God to “lead me, guide me along the way” so I can put aside my fears and my need for control.
The word is touch. To be touched is to make the connection, to feel the presence of God and to know God is with me.
My word from God today would be openness – to be open to other peoples’ feelings as well as trying to be more in touch with my own feelings, with God’s help.
Not sure — that is why I continue to search.
Arise! Inhabit your life.
Am feeling the stirring of physical depression and the word popped into my head immediately following the video.
I am so pleased that I found this Lenten discipline this morning. I am focusing on two phrases today — disciple and “called to be a Saint” (from Paul’s letter to the Romans). Love is at the core of living the life of a disciple and working at becoming a saint.
Gospel is saying: SLOW DOWN, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS.
LOVE
Only on day three and I’m already behind schedule. But the new word isn’t going to be ‘tardy’ –that’s old and worn out.
Perhaps it is ‘listen’ or maybe ‘quiet.’ You can’t hear a new word if you don’t listen.
My word was 2: committed listening
I think my word is “cherish.” Surrender, patience, faith, love, and peace are all in there too. I’m going to keep myself open for this question.
Surrender. Trust that God is my everything and all that I need.
I agree with Katherine Johnson’s comments, the old words become “New every morning” and one can find new meanings in them.
Listen be open to hearing God’s call and be attentive those around me.
l also need to be attentive to those so I can hear the word through them….
Patience – This is the old and new word that I appears again and again in this Lent.
Reconciliation, and compassion.
reconciliation
The commandment to love my neighbor as myself… I need to learn to love and care for myself more fully, so that I can love and care for my neighbor more fully.
Restoration
Holy Listening, to be open to the spirit.
Believe.
intentional listening
Surrender. That’s what it’s all about for me this Lenten season.
Discipline, which is the hardest to stick with in a world which teaches us immediacy.
not a word but a phrase that i choose to believe is a promise….’God is not through with me yet’.
it gives me hope and encouragement and relieves my anxiety about a ‘timeline’ for growth.
Probably “gratitude”. I’m very ungrateful and really have a lot to be thankful for.
ContriteIs this not an old word made new?
What does this word really mean?
Relationship. A word that helps me to conect with the people around me and share the love of God that I feel.
“Relationship” is the word I hear. Relationship with God, relationship with each other (loved ones, friends, those yet to be met and known). My relationship with God is the most important one to me. I think relationship is also how we can show the face of God to others in life, how we can make Christ known in the world. I have sensed a relationship with a dear friend might be recently broken, because I have not heard from her in a few weeks, which is very unlike her. So I called her today (because of your question)–didn’t get her but left a message inviting her to call so that we can work out any difficulties between us, if in fact that’s the problem. The relationship is worth a lot to me, and I would be sad to see it end. I think she owes me an apology for something, or at least needs to say that she heard what I said and is sorry for making me feel the way she did. But the principle is not as important as the relationship. We’ll see what happens. I extended a hand in love, and the rest is up to her and God. I accept whatever happens and will not beat myself up over it, but I will be sad if she decides to end our relationship.
My Word is humility…the kind of humility gained from the experience of extreme physical pain or from very public failure. It reminds me of the Cross. It reminds me of human fragility, extreme dependence on God.
After listening to Br. Tom, the word/experience that came to mind was forsake. God will never forsake us. To me, because of this, everyday is a new opportunity to deepen my relationship with Christ.
Self-worth. This is the word that has been speaking to me in my prayer recently. It is a word that I hear, but I am not actually listening to it. I am not hearing and inwardly digesting the word, instead it goes in one ear and out the other. I am slowly approaching a goal that I have been working towards for a long time, a goal that at one point seemed unachievable, but now I am on the verge of its realization. This goal has and will continue to shape and form my life. While this is an exciting time, I am now questioning just how good will I be in living out this goal. Am I good enough? Will I make a difference? What sets me apart from others who are also realizing the same goal? I believe that I am called to a specific vocation. I believe that I have a range of gifts and acquired skills that will support this vocation. But somewhere, somehow I do not feel good enough. It is not that I need to be told that I am good enough by others because I tend to diminish or dismiss their praise. However, it is clear that if God is telling me that I am good enough and others are telling me that I am good enough then perhaps it is time for me to stop hearing and actually listen.
Be not afraid. God really does love you!
When I experience doubts regarding my worthiness it is helpful for me to focus on this concept: I am worthy because of the One who made me, The One who loves me….not because of my own efforts.
This could not be truer….
Indifference…in the Ignatian sense of the word. A deepening surrender, holding desires with open hands.
I really appreciate the nuance in that term….indifference does not have to mean inattention but rather holding in grace…thank you for that insight
Peace, Patience, Gratitude. I know if I only had patience with myself, I would feel His Peace more abundantly. Then I would be thankful for everything all the time. Thank You Father for accepting me this work in progress.
The word for me today is gratitude. I am partially self-employed and winter is a challenging season. The door just opened to a new opportunity that I am very grateful for.
The new word God is speaking to me today is that I cannot accept ideas from others at face value. Instead I need to be ready to look at concepts with fresh eyes- as the video says Christ that speaks to our situation and who we are. This thought comes because each Lent I try to take on a better understanding of how Christ expects me to fulfill my mission in life. I decided to join this group because it seems to be a model I can do each day and learn from. When I understood the study would be focused on the Gospel of John I thought- Oh boy John is my least favorite because the gospel seems to blame the Jews for Jesus’ death. While I believe the most important part of my spiritual story requires Jesus to be crucified I never liked the idea that the “Jews did it!” and therefore hung back from listening to the word of God in John. So now here I am taking a fresh look at John to see how it speaks to me now. I just reread the Gospel of John and then reviewed some interpretations- this one struck me as my key takeaway- “who killed Jesus is irrelevant. If you’re a devout Christian, Jesus would tell you not to blame but to forgive. If Jesus hadn’t died on the cross, you’d have no route to salvation. So in a way you should be thanking those who executed him, not blaming them.”. The second take away is each author of each of the 4 gospels has his own bias’ and agenda. So, here I am listening to how Jesus is speaking to me through John…. with Love.
My new word is acceptance…acceptance of others – their differences and their sameness – the good with the not as good – acceptance of the humanness of others and remembering that what really is that we are ALL children of God and he loves us equally as we are
The word “gel” struck me as I heard how many generations after Christ that the gospel of John was written. There was time to let ideas gel and form something. Also gel works because I don’t think the Bible was “cast in stone.” It can still have substance and form without being rigid. Hmmm, I may need time to let some things gel.
Thank you. That’s wonderful!
The words that come to me today are: New Life, Renewable Faith, and Gods’ Love!
Love your fear
New word to me is Jesus speaking to us today about the issues we face today both as individuals and as a community. While human behavior remains essentially the same throughout time I continually ask myself how do I respond to the challenges I face in today’s world?
I speak to Him today through gratitude. He speaks to me with over abundant love. I am so grateful as I feel His love.
The word for me is LISTEN
Me too!
God’s new word for me today is Renewal. Friends are facing illness, job loss, loss of loved ones, even death. I’m facing my own issues, too, and at times it seems I’ve hit a dead end. Yet God continues to “do a new thing”, creating out of nothing or transforming something old into something new. Where there seemed to be no options, a new one appears. Where there seemed to be old pain and frustration, something alive and fresh springs up. Especially in light of Br. Tom Shaw’s words, I see this as the movement of the Holy Spirit and i am yearning to be attuned to it more and more.
As I drove to work today I prayed for God to guide me through this day and give me confidence in his strength – so I guess I have to words for today. Many people are coming to me for guidance today in my job and at home; I cannot guide others but only follow the spirit that God provides for us all.
What new word is God speaking to me today? That it’s okay to be where I am, in at the corner of messy and crabby. It’s okay to be here and to have patience. The process of becoming the person God made me to be cannot be hurried.
He is saying, “I’m alive” “I live within you” “I love you”
Healing
I am blessed by watching God shimmer in the sunlight, dancing on the abundant leaves… God’s abundance!
Beautiful image, Mary. Every day I see God dance in the dappling of the sunlight on the leaves.
God is saying to me, do not quarrel but be gentle, patient and eager to teach (2 Timothy 2:24). He is also telling me to get wisdom (Proverbs 4:7) and He is urging me to be still (Psalm 46:10). He has also let me know that my competence is in Him (2 Corinthians 3:4-5).
The word I’ve been given for today is “Acceptance”….of others, of myself, of whatever unwelcome events may occur today. I truly believe that everyone who touches my life (no matter how briefly) and every event in my life (welcome or unwelcome) has a purpose and with God’s help, ultimately works for the good of all concerned. My job for today is to live in a way that shows I believe that. To quote a very wise person, “and acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed it is because I find some person, place, thing or situation -some fact of my life-unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly as it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God’s world by mistake”.
At the Ash Wednesday service yesterday we talked about forgiveness – how it leads to love. Listening for the Word today to help to forgive.
As I have been recovering from serious back surgery, I have found myself not only using the word FAITH, but repeating frequently” TRUST”…..trusting totally that each day will be another step forward in regaining my strength, believing in a power stronger than me. Trust may not be a new word in my believing, but it has become a stronger word.
Katherine – I loved your response of “what new Word” and also your explanation of word and deed having the same meaning in the Hebrew word “davar”. So I guess my “new” word today is “mystery”. For it is in God being never changing yet ever new in Word that fills me with the joy and excitement of what is to come. This all left me with two words. “Coming home.”
Patience – Lent is a time not only to cast off bad habits but also a time to take up something that is missing in our lives – like more intentional Bible study. We are not to get discouraged if we don’t think we are doing as good as we should be. God is happy that we are trying.
God’s new word for me is hope, as I come through a time of struggle and challenge in my life. Yesterday’s question about abundant life led me to recall the (many) times in my life when I have known abundant life, which has seoemed more distant recently. That recollection and Tom’s words today are helping me to hear Hope.
To me the Word God speaks is the truth of reality itself, only poorly suggested by any of our actual “words.” I think of the Zen teaching, “close your mouth and point,” directing us to a direct encounter with life without the insulation language interposes.
The Word to me, then, is spoken directly in my heart through the medium of everyday experience. The question is, “Am I listening?” Usually not. I’m busy with my own stuff.
I seek this Lent to cultivate a listening heart.
Peace
I want to say trust God (oops 2) but I hear “silence” ringing in my head. This is probably because learning to be still and invite (head) silence is always a problem for me.
The word that came to me is “relax.” In that, I hear “trust” and “abide” and “patience” and “peace.” Now to try to implement it! 🙂
The question today spurred an insight that the LOVE LIFE
production beaming out to the Internet brings the thought
that he Evangelist John jumps into the Post Modern arena through a small group of men, who have found a way to shower the WORD to a very needful society in America.
The WORD is a new one to those who first encounter the Gospel and respond to it in their Lives.
My mind is so quick to jump in with answers. Perhaps I need something truly new. Perhaps I need to listen for something new. And let this word arise within me Like the risen Christ
Thanks, Lynn. Me too. Too quick to jump in, to grab the dictionary and thesaurus. I will listen until Easter.
Redeemed. I’m a new creation in Christ – praying I will grow in this new life and accept this great gift of love. I would like to love others like he loves.
The word I’m hearing is “rest”. I need to let go of my anxiety and rest in Love.
SPIRIT. I have been reading Phyllis Tickle and Jon M. Sweeney’s book The Age of the Spirit as well as Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler’s book Abundance, The Future is Better Than You Think and I am very hopeful to be living into a vision of the new (and renewed) word… SPIRIT. I do wonder what the Church will look like in 5 or 10 or more years as we live more and more deeply into this Abundant time in the age of the SPIRIT.
The Word is dynamic. The essential truth, which I would briefly outline quite simply as “Jesus loves me, this I know” never changes. But how we understand and live out the Word is not static. And its dynamism flourishes in community, as Brother Tom said when he pointed out that the gospel of John came out of three generations of community talking about what the stories of Jesus meant. This can be a little scary; it’s more comfortable in many ways to decide that everything is written down and cut and dried and that’s that. But God is all about relationship, and that kind of static, confined thinking gets in the way of relationship.
God is inviting/insisting that I love my “enemies.” Even those who don’t seem as bad as enemies–those with whom I have disagreements. I have felt God’s presence as I discerned my understanding of the issues at stake, and now God seems to be saying–“All right, you’re sure of yourself. Now reach in out love. Because it’s not about being right; it’s about being in a community of love.”
Yes, you do have to be sure of yourself in order to reach out in love. Not only of yourself, but of God also. We cannot love without His Love… He enables us to love. He shows us how…He gives us the where-withal. Once He has made us whole as individuals then we can help others to be whole and bring them to light and love.
Follow Jesus’ example: welcome the outcast, the marginalized and the oppressed.
Love; I know it isn’t a new word but an important one to remember. Throughout Religion history, God have spoken to the Jesus, prophets, And sages to remind us what God is ‘Love’ and wants from us all, ‘love’. I know I am one of those people he has appointed to be a messenger of ‘love’. Not because I have no anxe but cause I try to overcome them every day to become closer to God
Believe. When answering the call of Jesus, and feel overwhelmed, I must stop and say “believe”. Jesus is walking with me holding my hand giving me strength and courage.
Sharing Gods Love with others:
Today, my wife, Jo, and I ill travel to Hayfork, Trinity County, California to visit Jo’s 92 year old aunt, the only surviving sibling of Jo’s father. We will take lunch to her and share a meal together.
I admit I don’t often stop to listen for God in my life as much as I should. If I quiet myself and truly listen, it is “light”. Though Lent is more of a “dark”, brooding season, the true light is yet to come. It’s also good that He sent some sunlight today! 🙂 I also think of “light” as in having a “light” heart. If God is with me, why should I worry?
Drink deeply
Lean: as in, trust; rely; be supported by; and as in, lighten up, be spare, simplify; reveal bareness; this is easier than you think; stop making it so complicated. Lean. Be available, be present, be reliant. Let go. Lighten up.
Seeking more thoroughly, delving deeper into myself, which can be difficult.
Trust. I am ever wanting to take back the reins of my life. I want to be God in my own life, and that, like it did for Adam, means disaster. I must continually turn my life over to God, to give the reins back, and let him lead. I must Trust.
The new word God is speaking to me today is “patience.” Reminding to to trust in him, that things will become clearer if I just sit back and let things be.
Thank you for your insight. Patience was the word that I thought of. I want to be in control of everything and learning how to be patient and turn everything over to God is what I need.
The word that came to me was peace. Not the peace associatd with miltary conflict, but the inner peace that comes from the accepting that God is all I need. Letting go of my anxiety and fear, and just knowing that God will provide what I need is not easy, but if I am able to do so, there is such an inner peace that flows over me.
peace was the same word that came to my mind; an ever-grasping,
just-out-of-reach attempt to find it.
Perhaps it is something so incredibly easy, just letting go of fears and accepting his peace. Peace to you.
Thank you, Paul, for this insight.
The morning dawns without a cloud today. It is bright and clear. God’s word for this day is clarity. The clarity that comes with divine understanding, that there is a clarity, and over time, with glimpses of this over-riding clarity our hearts will come to peace.
Thank you for clarity. I received it this morning but I didn’t recognize it as a Word.
The new word that God is speaking to me is that He is ever present and so is His Kingdom. He wants it for me right now. He wants me to share in the love which passes between Jesus and God the Father through the Holy Spirit. He wants me to share this Love with others and with myself.
Patience in adversity.
Hmmm, a new word. My thought is that words become new when read with ‘fresh’ eyes. My prayer today is to read with eyes newly opened.
I find the Word of God to be sufficient and through reading and Lectio to speak to me in the ever changing contexts of my life.
The “new” word I am hearing these days is just a deeper understanding of what it means to say that God is the One “in whom we live and move and have our being.” It’s not quite like “God is everything and everything is God.” More like “God is in everything and everything is in God.”
Abide. This is very difficult for me due to all the noise & distractions that seem to bombard me each day. It is hard for me to be still long enough to truly abide in Him. I pray this Lent that I will learn how “to be still and know that He is God”.
I too need to get up a little earlier in the morning in order to have the quiet time to abide with God so that I can go forth into the rest of the day within that abiding…
I think Jesus speaks new words to us through daily experiences with people. The word that is speaking to me today is compassion. We often do not see much compassion in our world and at this time in Lent I am aware of the compassion that Jesus has for all of us.
Thank you for this, Deb. I was thinking something similar. A new word was spoken to me as I offered Ashes on the Go yesterday. A young woman in bright yellow clothes and using a walker came for her ashes. She wept, wondering what were her gifts from God. We hugged. It was a word from God for me, and I think for her.
My word for today was also compassion. Not only finding compassion for others suffering in the world, but for those who are close to me — both physically and emotionally — that are suffering. Also, having compassion for myself when I know that I my own failings hurt others. Have compassion, and in doing so, may we turn that emotion into positive action. Truly, my word for this day and for the Lenten season is compassion.
I think God’s new word for me is “trust”. Trust that things will work out for my good and the good of my community. Trust that a disappointment needn’t be a sign of God’s disfavor but God directing me elsewhere.
Like you, Jim, trust comes to mind. I so want to surrender fully to God. The hard things that have come into my life sometimes cause fear to creep in. The next thing I know, I’m tied up in knots trying to fix things myself,completely forgetting that I believe in a God who loves me and wants me to lean on and trust in Him. This leads me to another word- abide. By abiding in Him I stay close to truth about who He is and that is, among other things, trustworthy.
The answer doesn’t come readily to mind in the way that yesterday’s answer (abundant life) did. My first response is to say that God is always speaking old words, but they are renewed each day in me. As I read scripture, which I have been doing for decades now, besides having been immersed in an atmosphere of scripture growing up, I often see words in a familiar passage that I hadn’t noticed before. Whether I’m reading silently, hearing a pericope read aloud, or reading it aloud myself, a phrase I hadn’t noticed will pop out of the otherwise familiar passage. Or I’ll be going about my daily activities, and a word from scripture will come to me that illuminates my life just at that moment or gives me insight into something I hadn’t previously understood. However this doesn’t answer the question: “what new word …?” It might be more accurate to say, “what new Word”, since the Word of God is found in God’s being and deeds. In Hebrew, רבד (davar) is the word for “word,” but it also means “deed” or “action.” Is God acting in a new way in my life? This will require contemplation.
Connection.
This word is related to my current journey of seeking a closer, personal and continual link to God.
To be more intentional about feeling the love of God and how to share it with others.
Looks like He’s giving some kind of new insight into the Lenten Season.