I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends Your works to another; they tell of Your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of Your majesty — and I will meditate on Your wonderful works. They tell of the power of Your awesome works — and I will proclaim your great deeds. They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of Your righteousness. Psalm 145:1-7
“My heart laughs, my mind is exalted, my soul becomes cheerful, all things around me are blithe and merry; whatever is around me and within me is turned to Thy praise. That which before seemed hard, difficult, irksome, impossible, becomes suddenly easy and pleasant. To give myself to fasting, watching, and prayer, to suffer or abstain or avoid, in a word all the hardnesses of life seem when compared with Thy presence to have no irksomeness at all. My soul is bathed in radiance, truth, and sweetness, so that all its labours are forgotten. My heart delights itself in abundant sweet meditations, my tongue learns to speak of high things, my body is brisk and ready for any undertaking; whoever comes to ask my advice, takes back with him high counsels such as he desired to hear. In short, I seem to myself to have transcended the limits of time and space, and to be standing on the threshold of eternal bliss. But who, O Lord, can secure for me, that I may be long in this state? Alas, in a moment it is withdrawn from me; and for a long space again I am left as naked and destitute as if I had never experienced anything of the kind; till at last, after many and deep sighings of heart, it is restored to me.”
Meister Eckhart (1260-1327) in “A Meditation on the Passion of Christ” in Meister Eckhart’s Sermons, Trans. Claud Field (London: H. R. Allenson) 79.
Eckhart was both a Dominican friar (which means he was a traveling monk who preached and trusted God to supply his needs) and mystic (wherever he went, he emptied himself to help people to grow more closely in relationship to Jesus). Great combination! Jenni and I can really relate to this guy! I read three of his sermons. Short and powerful.
This excerpt caught my attention with this expression: “abundant sweet meditations.” He echoes David, who in the Psalms, likewise celebrates God’s abundant goodness. Both David and Meister get lost in the awe and wonder of God, as if to be captivated into the heavens. Then, when their feet get back on the ground, they can only praise.
What’s this got to do with generosity?
The world needs more people who drip like this, to remind them that there’s more to life than the troubles that surround us. What can we do? Spend time with Jesus. He prayed the Psalms. Try praying Psalm 145 with Him today. Get lost in the wonder that the God of the universe loves you, and then drip His goodness everywhere you go.
Do this and people might call you a “generosity friar” which has a fun ring to it.