John 4:32-34 NLT

But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.” “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other. Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.”

If the first principle in the Oratory is walking God’s way, the second is closely aligned. This encourages each of us to journey deeper into the heart of God in prayer, so vital and important. Yet each of us has discovered prayer is not as simple as it first appears. So easily we slip from the habit of seeking God. Our approach becomes mechanistic and we grow stale. We wonder if we are really touching the hem of Jesus’ garment or simply lost in a crowd of fellow seekers. We easily lose heart and prayer becomes sporadic and lifeless.

Many people visit the Oratory and talk of their search for effective prayer. We can only ever signpost the way to God’s heart, for prayer is a unique journey of discovery for each one of us. I agreed some years ago to accompany God on a journey into contemplative prayer. Along that path I discovered that my Myers-Briggs profile leant itself to contemplation, to centring prayer and [itals]Lectio Divina[end itals]. My learning is that each of us are wired to engage God through a particular lens that meets us within our unique personality. This personality is handcrafted by God.

The remarkable fact remains that God has chosen to make himself known to each of us. The challenge is in persevering in prayer to journey closer to God. The initial hurdle is remaining faithful to God’s invitation to pray, maintaining focus and confidence that prayer is essential, regardless of how far we can measure its effect upon life around us. Prayer is primarily the way in which my intimate relationship develops in Christ.

QUESTION: How important is prayer to you?

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you that you are known and not hidden. Thank you that through Christ I can know that you hear my prayers.

Isaiah 35:8 NLT

'And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there.'

We have three core principles for St Cuthbert’s Oratory. The first is that we walk in the way of God. If we imagine life as a road leading from birth to death, we have an invitation to follow God’s highway of holiness or build our own road through the landscapes of our life. As with any road along which we travel, we cannot help notice the landscape we pass through. We can also stop at any point, turn about and return from where we came, or keep moving forward, regardless of obstacles that are not of our own making.

I too often find myself driven by an internal clock which wants to determine my need to hurry along so as to achieve my next task. No sooner do I sit to pray than my mind directs its attention to what essential tasks I’ve not completed. Unless I check such a thought, it has the power entirely to disrupt my prayer. Then there’s the conflict between what appear different realms; my spiritual life, my work life, my social life and my family life. While differentiation helps when knowing for which sphere I’m planning, I am in fact an integrated person. Yet, I often fail to establish an integrated approach to how I live my life. This failure generates stress, irritability and confusion.

God’s way is cohesive. As I continue upon his way I discern, then discover, God’s presence in every sphere of my life, a presence that knits and holds everything together in one single activity of loving and serving God. We are still exploring what walking God’s way means in practice. Walking the way of God is not about living among the guilt-laden shadows of moral imperatives. It is rather discerning and then choosing to live as God is calling each of us to live. It addresses every area of our life.

QUESTION: How is God calling you to live for him?

PRAYER: Lord, may every area of my life be for your glory.

1 Kings 17: 2-4 NLT

Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.”

“Why St Cuthbert’s Oratory?” is a question often asked of me. The simplest answer is that it’s what God has guided us to. A longer one is that it affords a home of prayer where we are able to practise the principles that provide the foundation for our Christian walk of faith and call into the contemplative life.

Contemplative life involves the growing awareness of the presence of God in every sphere and detail of my life, learning to discern the goodness of God in all things. Elijah heard and responded to God. He was fed by the hand of God courtesy of the ravens. My faith was quite some measure from that, yet was I willing at least to explore journeying further along faith’s road?

So we began life in the Oratory; a routine of prayer and then we made the offer of our first retreat. Made known simply through Facebook and a small group of contacts, we welcomed precisely no one but ourselves. However, as God had called us to this first retreat, Jayne and I participated together and had a wonderful day. It was the first of many experiences when God tested our sincerity in this venture, and where we had to press on regardless of how our human reason processed that reality. Faith demands obedience.

Faith is a realm that lies beyond rationality, even as its substance is perfectly rational. Faith is a mystery; it is both reasonable and unreasonable. We simply respond to God’s invitation to the degree that we feel able to at the time of calling. So, no surprise that it has taken so many years for me to find the conviction and the courage intentionally to pursue the way of a contemporary contemplative.

QUESTION: What steps of faith is God asking you to take?

PRAYER: Lord, when you speak and call me onwards, give me the strength and courage to follow.

Psalm 15:5 NLT

'Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.'

Research shows happiness doesn’t increase with earnings above £75,000. Certainly the lower one is below that threshold, unhappiness may increase. Yet money never buys happiness. The real art to living is finding contentment. This means knowing who I am and what I like to do.

I’m never likely to join even the moderately wealthy; yet my lifestyle gives me deep contentment. We’ve crafted a way of living in the Oratory that’s designed to help us realise fullness of life. Our holidays are taken in the Oratory and our activities revolve around the rhythms of the seasons as we maintain the garden, offer retreats and spiritual encouragement, living a life of prayer and celebration. As such we do not need large salaries, and we anticipate working in some form or another until physical weakness or death interrupts our flow.

It’s taken time, and any number of dead ends, to discover who we are in God. This is not static and I am sure there remain more changes as we get older. Yet we do know who we are in God’s service and have found great contentment together in our individual and collective calling. Of course, our challenge is that we must continue to work to earn the income we need to live, but this is no different to the majority of people in the world. It does demand a change of mindset from that which we grew up with where retirement from all work was the aim and the norm. Such a norm will not be available to our children and grandchildren.

Our contentment has been crafted from our personal battles with money. From experience, the thought of insufficient funds creates a painful level of internal anxiety. It is an anxiety born of fear and compounded by comparison with others. God calls us to have an honest relationship with money. Yes, we need to live, but most importantly our contentment is found in God and we only need a moderate income for a highly fulfilling life.

QUESTION: What does your relationship with money reveal about you?

PRAYER: Lord, help me to live simply and generously, trusting in you in all I do.

Psalm 15:4 NLT

'Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honour the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts.'

Growing up I had a loose relationship with the truth. I developed the habit of telling whatever story I thought stood the best chance of keeping me out of trouble. Lying became second nature. I also assumed most people behaved in a similar way and didn’t necessarily believe what they said either. I failed to hold myself or others with much respect. It was becoming a Christian that radically changed me and my approach. I had to let go of my instinctive lying and learn to navigate life with nothing but the truth.

I developed a strong dislike for lies. I realised nothing of substance can be built upon a lie, the reason God finds all lying contemptible.

It is essential in God’s eyes that we keep our word even when it hurts. A few years ago I had a collision with another car in the car park. I was accused of reversing my car into the vehicle in question. I was preparing to reverse to allow another vehicle in front of me to park, but did not recollect actually reversing. When interviewed by my insurance company and asked if I reversed or not, I said I didn’t know. This was an unsatisfactory answer and they explained I had to say yes or no. I refused to do so and so a long claims process began. Three years later it was only resolved when the person claiming against me attempted to claim the same damage in similar circumstances in another car park.

What can be an instinctive attempt at self-preservation can lead us to be economical with the truth. God requires that we treat truth with the greatest of respect and do not play games with it. It is far easier to concentrate on maintaining the sacramental elements of our faith than living by its moral code, but being true to my word is now a critical element to my faith.

QUESTION: Where are the challenging lines for you when it comes to truth-telling?

PRAYER: Lord, you are true and you are truth. Help me to live true and speak the truth.