A meditation

Arsenios · Post by **Arsenios** » Sun 13 July 2003 5:38 pm

Dear bread of life (Jn. 6:35, 48), Thou living water (Jn. 4:10-14) who constantly bestows upon us good gifts, (Matt. 7:11)
You give us tears as our bread, you give us weeping to fill our cup for drink (Ps. 80:5)
Tears that flow in the measure that we can handle them (1 Cor. 10:13)
And we happily accept this meat and drink that you give, until we appear before you (Ps. 42:1-3)

Until we can meet You, our tears will continue to flow, with much affliction and anguish of heart (2 Cor. 2:4)
You told us that we would lament and weep, being in mourning, while we live in this world (Jn. 16:20)
And so we cry in sorrow as we look at our own troubled humanity, (Jer. 9:1-6) it is truly the time to weep (Eccl. 3:4)
But you will give us joy in heaven (Lk. 6:21), after we have wept for a "night": that is, our life (1 Sam. 30:4)

We weep for those who are lost, for those who remain in their sickness and cannot see God (Acts 20:31; Phil. 3:18-19)
We shall weep over the spiritual disaster that we see around all around us, (Jer. 9:1, 18; 13:17; 14:17; Lam. 2:11)
Acknowledging that we are the greatest sinner of all (1 Tim. 1:15), mingling all that we do with tears (Acts 20:19, 31)
Offering up our prayers with tears as did Melchizedek (Heb. 5:7), and repenting in tears as Saint Peter did (Matt. 26:75)

Our friends take note of our tears (2 Tim. 1:4), and they do join us in our sorrow (Rom. 12:15)
Even as we likewise cry for others, and they for others still (Job 29:12)
Yet we cannot stop crying even when our friends comfort us: we must endure this sweet trial (cf Is. 22:4)
Even as we also try to comfort those who cry, and help those in need (Job 30:25)

But we seek the Lord in meekness and repentance, knowing that he does not accept everyone who cries (cf Heb. 15-17)
And we realise that those who do not seek the Lord constantly must shed many tears before they are heard (Mal. 2:1-14)
And so we will weep for our sins, for our neighbor's pain, for the body of Christ in her present sickness,
And not waste our tears on those things which we should not cry about (cf 1 Sam. 1:8; Acts 21:12-13)

No! I will offer my tears to God in humility, even washing his feet with them if he'd allow me such an honor (Lk. 7:32-38)
I will weep because of those who come in dressed as sheep, and then destroy the true flock (2 Kings 8:11-12)
I will weep because of our present sickness (cf Ps. 137:1), because our gates are being assaulted constantly (Neh. 1:3-4)
Orthodoxy weeps! (Lam. 1:2) and we are Orthodoxy.

Therefore with tears and fasting, we will persecute our souls (Ps. 69:10) and examine what faults of our brought this about
With weeping we will confess in repentance, and pray for forgiveness to Christ our God (Ez. 10:1)
Again, we will turn to God with all of our hearts, mingling them with fasting and weeping (Jl. 2:12)
To what extent can we go to show our repentance Lord? Show us to what extreme! (Ps. 102:9)

We will constantly beseech you Lord, help us as we cry out to you! (Mk. 9:24)
We will cry out to you, deliver us from our sins and our enemies! (Ps. 22:5)
With our whole heart we will cry unto you: help us O Lord, and save us! (Ps. 119:145)
Out of the depths of our heart, out of our innermost being, we continually call on you! (Ps. 130:1)

I know that you hear us, O Lord, you hear our weeping as we cry out to you (Ps. 6:6-9)
You remember every tear, as though you were keeping track of them down to the last drop (Ps. 56:8)
I will send tears up to you my Lord (Job 16:16-20), as my Lord once cried for we sinners (Lk. 19:41)
As you wept over your Lazarus (Jn. 11:135), so to will we weep, and you shall hear us, you shall hear our cries! (Is. 30:19)

Truly you will see our tears and respond, O Lord (2 Ki. 20:5; Is. 38:5), saving those who cry unto you (Ps. 56:9)
You will deliver our souls from death, you will someday deliver us from our tears (Ps. 116:8)
In that day you will destroy all death and wipe away all of our tears (Is. 25:8; Rev. 7:17; 21:4)
For our spiritual growth now through weeping will then bring us to spiritual joy inexpressable! (Ps. 30:5; 126:5-6)

Arsenios · Post by **Arsenios** » Sun 13 July 2003 5:39 pm

How did those emoticons get in the text

尼古拉前执事 · Post by **尼古拉前执事** » Sun 13 July 2003 6:06 pm

What emoticons?

Arsenios · Post by **Arsenios** » Sun 13 July 2003 7:57 pm

Thank you for fixing that Nicholas.

尼古拉前执事 · Post by **尼古拉前执事** » Sun 13 July 2003 7:59 pm

No problem. I AIM to please. BTW in the future, when you post a message with scripture quotations, you may want to click on the checkbox (below the message entry text box) that reads Disable Smilies in this post.

Methodius · Post by **Methodius** » Mon 14 July 2003 6:05 pm

Who wrote that meditation Arsenius?

Arsenios · Post by **Arsenios** » Mon 14 July 2003 6:21 pm

It was I.

I thank God that that does not really mean anything since I am anonymous on the internet!