“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
“Suppose when you reach home you find a group of friends engaged in ordinary conversation. Can you remember God at least once every minute?
This is hard, but we have found that we can be successful if we employ some reminders. Here are aids which have proven useful:
1. Have a picture of Christ in front of you where you can glance at it frequently.
2. Have an empty chair beside you and imagine that your unseen Master is sitting in it; if possible reach your hand and touch that chair, as though holding His hand. He is there, for He said: ‘Lo, I am with you always.’
3. Keep humming to your self a favorite prayer hymn—for example, ‘Have Thine Own Way, Lord, Have Thine Own Way.’
4. Silently pray for each person in the circle.
5. Keep whispering inside: ‘Lord, put Thy thoughts in my mind. Tell me what to say.’
6. Best of all, tell your companions about the ‘Game with Minutes.’ If they are interested, you will have no more trouble. You cannot keep God unless you give Him to others.
Frank C. Laubach (1884-1970) in Letters By A Modern Mystic (Feedbooks: 2009) letter entitled, “While In Conversation.”
I hope you are appreciating these posts as much as I am. Laubach seeks to change how we interface with people, bringing Christ into every minute of every conversation.
I normally think of making disciples as passing on information to them. He’s stretching me to understand that how to form surrendered souls.
Surrender has become central to my faith with “The Surrender Novena” as my centering prayer, prayed often through the day. But now I am seeing how to multiply surrendered souls.
And notice how it shapes our generosity. “You cannot keep God unless you give Him to others.” You cannot impart what you don’t possess.
Possess him for minutes to share Him for minutes. God help us become so full of you through this game that give you away to someone else today.