Author: Jay Forrest

Rev. Dr. Jay Forrest is a progressive Christian with a mystic heart.

If It’s Going to Be, It’s Up to Me

“It is if it’s going to be, it’s up to me.” – William H. Johnsen

In order to help me fulfill my aim to “never complain, never explain,” I use another saying, “It is if it’s going to be, it’s up to me.” For too often we would rather complain about what someone is not doing rather than just do it ourselves

Let me get personal for a moment. My wife is not big on cleaning the house. We both work full time, so I understand. Yet the chores are no split equally. I usually do most of the cleaning.

I am going to be honest, at first this bugged me. I should have given it to the Lord. But I didn’t. It made me upset. She doesn’t cook my meals or clean my house.

But finally, I realized that I was the only one I was hurting by me being upset. It was my peace I was forfeiting. And so I remembered an old slogan I heard from Dr. Robert Schuller, “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.” I believe he got it from William H. Johnsen.

Now if something bothers me, I just do it. I soon discovered that God helps those who help themselves. It is better to just do it than to complain about it, even if it’s just complaining in your own thinking.

A Hermit and His Disciples

Once upon a time an old hermit and his disciples were making their living tending a farm. They lived near a village that was situated on the border of another country.

One day, the discipline left the barn gate open and their only horses they needed for plowing ran off. All the villagers felt sorry for the disciple. But the old hermit spoke to his disciples, “Whether this event is good or bad, only God knows.”

A couple months later his horse came back with a group of good, noble healthy wild horses. All the villagers congratulated the disciple. But the old hermit spoke to him, “Whether this event is good or bad, only God knows.”

One day the disciple, who loved riding horses, tried riding one of the wild horses. But the horse threw him, and he fell and broke his leg. All the villagers felt sorry for him. But the old hermit spoke to him, “Whether this event is good or bad, only God knows.”

A month later the two countries went to war. The government issued a draft requiring all able bodied men to join the army. When they came to the hermit’s farm, they did not draft ever of them, for The hermit was too old and his disciple had a broken leg. All the villagers were amazed. Who could have foreseen these events?

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Adapted from a Chinese Parable

St. Romuald’s Brief Rule

St. Romuald’s Brief Rule is a concise set of spiritual guidelines for hermits. It’s a guide for those seeking to grow spiritually while living in solitude. You might find it helpful.

The Brief Rule
  • Sit in your cell as in paradise.
  • Put the whole world behind you and forget it.
  • Watch your thoughts like a good fisherman watching for fish.
  • The path you must follow is in the Psalms — never leave it.
  • If you have just come to the monastery, and in spite of your good will you cannot accomplish what you want, take every opportunity you can to sing the Psalms in your heart and to understand them with your mind. And if your mind wanders as you read, do not give up; hurry back and apply your mind to the words once more.
  • Realize above all that you are in God’s presence, and stand there with the attitude of one who stands before the emperor.
  • Empty yourself completely and sit waiting, content with the grace of God, like the chick who tastes nothing and eats nothing but what his mother brings him.

The Canonical Hours

The canonical hours are the times of day that monks, nuns, and some hermits stop what they are doing to pray.

This is based on the Bible passage which says, “Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous ordinances” (Ps. 119:164). St. Benedict of Nursia added an eighth.

The eight canonical hours are the following:

  1. Matins or Night Prayer (at or after midnight)
  2. Lauds or Morning Prayer (at or before sunrise)
  3. Prime or Early Morning Prayer (around 6 a.m.)
  4. Terce or Mid-Morning Prayer (around 9 a.m.)
  5. Sext or Midday Prayer (around noon)
  6. None or Mid-Afternoon Prayer (around 3 p.m.)
  7. Vespers or Evening Prayer (around 6 p.m.)
  8. Compline or Bedtime Prayer (around 9 p.m.)

Hermits can observe these, but they don’t have to. In fact, I do not, because I work full-time. I observe morning prayer and bedtime prayer. I don’t recommend much more if you are working full-time. If you can, I would add Midday Prayer.

The Divine Feminine

“So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27).

Patriarchy is a real thing. In this passage, we are clearly told that the image of God is “male and female.” Yet where do we see the feminine aspect of God.

Holy Ruach

Actually, we see it in the fact that the Holy Spirit (ruach) in the Hebrew language is a feminine noun. In the New Testament, she becomes neuter. Even the pronoun is neuter, “the Spirit itself” (Rom. 8:16 KJV). This is the correct literal translation.

But modern translators change this to “Himself” (NKJV, NIV, NASB). But why not translate it “Herself?” There is no precedence for the masculine, but there is for the feminine. So why is there no translation reflecting this?

Holy Sophia

We also see in the Old Testament another feminine figure named Sophia, usually translated as Wisdom. When God established the heavens, Sophia was there. The Bible says that Sophia was beside him, like a master worker. She was daily His delight (Prov. 8:22-31).

In the Book of Wisdom, Sophia is described as guiding the Israelites during the Exodus through the wilderness: “she gave the holy ones the reward of their labors, conducted them by a wondrous road, became a shelter for them by day a starry flame by night” (Wis. 10:17 NAB). Could Sophia be the name of the Holy Spirit?

Holy Mary

The lack of the feminine was later filled by the exaltation and veneration of Mary as the Mother of God. Clearly, the void caused by the lack of the feminine created a felt need in the Church.

But patriarchy will not allow the feminine to reach all the way up to the Divine. That even though the “image of God” is both “male and female.” Nor can it accept that the Holy Spirit is not a “He.” Perhaps it’s true that in the beginning, man created God in his own image.