Providing Christian resources from the YMCA past and present to nourish inclusive, equitable work in our diverse and global neighborhoods that build up healthy spirit, mind and body for all.
Pray alongside Jesus for unity in our world, including amongst all of us who believe in Christ and strive to love, serve and care for all who God brings into our life. Join this seven-day series available online via YouVersion and reflect with other believers on ways we can keep our eyes and hearts centered on Christ Jesus.
It’s based on the Good News that Jesus prayed in the Garden on the night he was arrested: “that they all may be one.”
Meditate on the faithfulness of Jesus to the world – use this link to access the devo:
In those moments, when as a YMCA leader you feel overwhelmed, adrift, lost in your spirit, alone in your anxiety, yearning to have the lifelessness of your Y transformed into vibrant energy – this prayer of Kierkegaard is for you.
“Father in heaven, let your voice come to me, be heard by me, even though it overtake me where I live secluded and alone.
You, my Lord Jesus Christ, you who came into the world to save those who were lost, look for me even in my errors where I hide myself from you and from others; let me hear your voice, let me know and follow it.
You, O Holy Spirit, breathe for me in inexpressible sighs, bring life to me though I am a barren tree.
You who bears again to life those who are already dead, you who gives youth to the aged, create in me a new heart.
You who with motherly care protects everything in which there is a spark of life, send forth the growth that you would have for me.”
based on/adapted from “The Prayers of Kierkegaard,” no 47 by Ole Anthony
Using our YMCA Core Values to stir up our spirit and mind, to rattle us and convict us, to encourage and guide us, authenticity is more about responsible honesty than unencumbered identity-declarations, about caring for ourself and others in a mutually respectful way.
Our authenticity ought to stimulate not just boundaries on who we think we are, but humility about who we really are, which includes the darkness alongside the light, the good and evil intertwined within us, the beautiful and ugly that is us.
In the YMCA our leadership is often defined by our character, our programs are successful when stories emerge of how the character-building emphasis worked; as my friend Dave at the Parkview Family YMCA quips: “transformed people transform people.”
Spiritual authenticity is more than just declaring what you believe about spirituality and expecting respect for it, it’s actually being honest and responsible for your own spirit, it’s health, and how it is doing in reality, in real life.
It’s about taking responsibility for the health of your spirit and doing the work so that it grows in its capacity to care for all in a mutually respectful way.
Authentic spirituality which doesn’t expand in its capacity to love is just a clanging gong or clashing symbols out of tune with reality.
At the YMCA, when we are authentic about our origins, about our motivations for why we got started, about the foundation we build on, about the roots which nourish our growth, it also requires honesty about the failures and hurts that have come through the YMCA. not just institutionally, but personally – the Y is all about people and building a healthy spirit, mind and body for all using Christian principles in practical ways. And for all the times we get it right, someone can point to ways we didn’t.
In those moments, when as a YMCA leader you feel authentically overwhelmed, adrift, lost in your spirit, alone in your anxiety, yearning to have the lifelessness of your Y transformed into vibrant energy – this prayer of Kierkegaard is for you.
He was writing in Denmark around the time George Williams was launching the Y.M.C.A. in England, and though his writings weren’t that popular when the Paris Basis was being crafted, Kierkegaard was “discovered” after the horrific tumult of the Great War, which was a shining moment for the Y, but also a dying of the world’s hope for peace in the world.
The Holocaust, the Atomic Bomb, the Cold War, global terrorism, genocides – this reality of YMCA members around the world ought to still way heavy on all Y members – in solidarity – and in accord with the prayer of Jesus in John 17:21 “that they all may be one.”
This means not just in our salvation and reconciliation but also in our empathy and practical actions of love.
And in that suffering is when we too often (if we quit avoiding this stark and disturbing reality) feel lost, in error, and without life. This is why the writings of Kierkegaard and his prayers continue to be sought out, for he seeks to get at the real, our actual lived existence, us, me, I – known and loved by God.
Maybe everything is fine for you in your life and family, your YMCA branch members and staff; but if we were going to be authentic, it’s not all we hope and pray for…yet; in the meantime keep honestly praying to the Lord, in humility and openness, like this prayer of Kierkegaard:
“Father in heaven, let your voice come to me, be heard by me, even though it overtake me where I live secluded and alone.
You, my Lord Jesus Christ, you who came into the world to save those who were lost, look for me even in my errors where I hide myself from you and from others; let me hear your voice, let me know and follow it.
You, O Holy Spirit, breathe for me in inexpressible sighs, bring life to me though I am a barren tree.
You who bears again to life those who are already dead, you who gives youth to the aged, create in me a new heart.
You who with motherly care protects everything in which there is a spark of life, send forth the growth that you would have for me.”
based on/adapted from “The Prayers of Kierkegaard,” no 47 by Ole Anthony
May the Grace and Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Join us for the 12 Day YMCA Devotion Series – LIVING STONES: LEAD, CARE AND SERVE LIKE JESUS
How can we be ‘like Living Stones’ used by God to strengthen the presence of Christ where we lead?
Recently, 24 YMCA leaders with the OnPrinciple program visited 12 places throughout the Holy Land where Jesus taught about how to live and lead in God’s kingdom.
From this experience comes 12 spiritual leadership principles – or Living Stones – (inspired by 1Peter 2:4-5) that Christ-followers can embody as we are being built up to lead, care and serve everyone, like Jesus.
by Tim Hallman, Christian Emphasis Director with the YMCA of Greater Fort Wayne
“It’s so dark and loud, I can’t believe how intense and crowded it is up here” I whispered to myself as a few of my friends squeezed through the dense throng with me in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher at the end of the Via Dolorosa.
We were in the Old City of Jerusalem trying to see the eleventh and twelfth stations of the cross, where Christ is depicted as being nailed to the cross and then dying on it.
Standing there in the dim candlelight and swirling incense, I wondered what it would have been like for the Lord’s beloved disciples and family as they tried to see him on the cross.
Bewildered? Terrified? Heart-broken? Wondering: “How could this happen?” “Why did this happen?”
We’ve all had our own moments of dark grief, loud confusion, and intense fear; there is no escaping suffering in this world, it is all around us in spirit, mind, and body.
Kierkegaard comments that when we suffer patiently this is not specifically Christian, freely choosing to suffer, though, is.
Jesus willing and freely chose to suffer and die on the cross – it is both our salvation from sin and an example to us on how to sacrificially lead and love.
Especially as Christian leaders, we imitate Christ Jesus when we follow his example of practical compassion to those who are suffering and thirsty for loving help – organizing and inspiring from start to finish.
The work that God gave Jesus to do was triumphantly completed on the cross, and our Lord was faithful to the finish, which included suffering at the hands of those he loved and was sent to save.
When Christians lead with sacrificial love, when we choose to suffer from others, we are allowed to share in word and deed the Good News of Christ Jesus and what he finished on the cross.
What is the sacrificial work God has given you to finish in your community, with your friends and family, in your congregation or workplace?
What has Christ been calling you to finish, to complete, to bring to an end for those in your midst who need a drink of hope and forgiveness?
May the suffering and compassionate Jesus be an example to you in spirit, mind, and body to finish what you started, sustaining you as living stones sacrificially leading, loving, and serving where he has sent you.
“Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.”
With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
Gospel according to John, 19.28-30 NIV
This YMCA devotion series brought to you by onPrinciple – click here to learn more about it – a new leadership development program to strengthen the presence of Christ in the YMCA
Click here for the entire devotion series as a downloadable PDF booklet.
