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This quarter focuses on God’s “Call” – to Moses, to the people of Israel and – by extension – us.  We closed out last quarter with a discussion surrounding “the whole armor of God” and – in particular – the need for such armor in “this present darkness”.  When those words were written, like much that seems paradoxical about the Bible, they were “for the ages”.  In every “present” there is a need to withstand (stand opposed to) the darkness.  That darkness may be overt persecution, it may be enlightened post-modern challenge to belief, it may come from within a self-satisfied, politically correct church or from the self-pitying navel-gazing of individuals.  In short, it may come as tyrant or temptress and we need to be prepared to stand opposed to it if we are to call ourselves members of God’s church.

Indeed, as we’ve discussed before, the very word chosen to articulate the idea of “the church” – ekklesia – means to be called out: in the sense of being called out to serve.  That’s something that we’ve lost since the beginning of “modern times”.  We are so wrapped up in expressing our individualism, that we forget what it means to be part of community – to subordinate ourselves to God’s will and the service of others.

One neglected way of putting on the full armor of God is to “pray without ceasing”.  As mvtclass members know, I teach a couple of other classes as well – one of which doesn’t generally use the Adult Bible Studies series.  I had already thought of teaching a series in this class (which is focused on historical religious studies) on the Liturgy of the Hours.  Partly this was because I became interested in the concept not only of monastic prayer, but of cathedral prayer, when we did our study on the history of worship.  Partly it was because the references to Morning Prayer and Evensong that I’ve read quoted in novels (think P. D. James for one) always struck me as both comforting and beautiful.

 One thought that has recurred to me as I’ve explored this whole “blogging concept” is that – with our busy post-modern lives, maybe the only way to have daily communal prayer and study is virtually – in an online world.  It’s one of the reasons that I’ve added a feature to the right-hand sidebar that will provide the full text of the Daily Bible Study scripture from our quarterly lesson books.  That way, if you forget to read the verses before you leave the house in the morning (or if you forget where you put your book ), you can find it on the blog.  Whether you read any of the posts or comments, you can read God’s word – “the sword of the spirit” – and utter a brief prayer.  As virtual cathedral prayer, it’s not much, but it’s something. 

So – what are your thoughts on God’s call?