Once, when she was caught up in heavenly meditation, as was her custom, and her thoughts were raised from earth to heaven, she let a dog take away a piece of bacon of some considerable size. After a month had passed the meat was found whole and untouched exactly where the dog normally lay. Not only had the dog not dared to devour what the blessed virgin had left, but since its usual nature had been subdued by a divine miracle, it had patiently guarded the bacon. The number of her miracles increased daily…so many acts of pity and righteousness did she perform, answering the needs of the poor, whether it was convenient to do so or not.
– Cogitusus, The Life of St. Brigit the Virgin
But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.
– Mark 3.7, 8
Of dogs and bacon
Cogitosus persists in referring to Brigit as the “virgin” and even the “blessed virgin”. He is positioning Brigit as the mother of the Irish Church, a role which, I fully believe, she would have declined to embrace. Our author is a Roman apologist, and he is doing just what we might expect, what we all would do, rewriting history to suit our own view of things. How many times, during an argument with your spouse, have you tried to “rewrite” events to justify your actions? Uh huh.
Despite his politicizing agenda, Cogitosus offers some beautiful vignettes, giving insight to Brigit’s character and offering lessons for us as readers. Here is a woman who routinely sets her mind on heavenly matters, gazing into the very throne room of the Lord to see Him in His beauty. This is not a calling for mystics or super-nuns only. Paul commands us all to seek Jesus in His glory as earnestly and eagerly as the people of Jesus’ day sought Him wherever He went (Col. 3.1-3).
At the same time, Brigit was not so heavenly minded as to be of no earthly good. A slab of bacon for a lowly dog might just as well have been help for some pleading beggar, injured farmer, or sick child. Brigit was fully and gladly invested in the care of those entrusted to her by God. And, at the same time, she was fully invested in seeking the Lord in His glory.
So must we all be if we are to be as fully useful in the Lord’s work as is possible for us.
Of heaven and earth
Of course, meditating on heavenly matters takes time. So does helping the needy in our community. Are we willing to take the time for such activities? Jesus did, as did Brigit, “whether it was convenient to do so or not.” Because we tend to live our Christian lives in niches—Sunday worship, Sunday school, Bible study group, choir rehearsal, men’s prayer, etc.—and try to spend some time in daily prayer and Scripture reading, we don’t have time for more “Christian” activity. There are other niches to be filled, and for many of us, faith doesn’t typically go along in these.
We are not given to praying without ceasing, continuous meditation on the Lord, making the most of our time for His Kingdom, and doing all things to glorify Him. We have our time for “heavenly things”, but during the other time of our weekly life the things of heaven grow strangely dim in the light of pressing matters of work, diversion, recreation, household duties, hobbies, and who knows what else. We may not have dogs at our feet, begging for bacon, but we have real human beings all around us who, because they are made in the image and likeness of God, deserve our attention, interest, kindness, and care. A word of encouragement, an offer to help, a promise to pray—this is how heaven and earth begin to meet in our lives, so that the latter is washed over with the grace of the former.
Meditating on heavenly matters is no frivolous pastime or discipline for the devoted. It is a privilege for all Christians to see, with the eyes of the heart, Jesus exalted in glory, surrounded by joyful angels and departed saints who sing His praises continually and invite us in our meditations to do the same. We are citizens in this world of a Kingdom not of this world. We pray that God’s Kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven, and it can do just that, day by day, if, in our times of meditation and prayer, we make our hearts ready to offer a slab of bacon to a beggar.
Our minds set on Christ and our souls tapped into the power of heaven, we can rewrite the sad, boring, anxious, fretful histories of those around us by bringing an altogether new perspective into their lives. Convenient or not, we will do so, bringing a bit of heaven to earth if we have been faithful in bringing earth to heaven through meditation and prayer.
For Reflection
1. How would you explain the discipline of meditation to a new believer?
2. What can we do to keep from falling into a “niche” view of our faith?
Psalm 84.5-7
(Holy Manna: Brethren, We Have Met to Worship)
Blessed are they whose strength is founded
in Your strength, O LORD above.
All whose hearts in You are grounded
journey in Your strength and love.
Though they weep with tears of sadness,
grace shall all their way sustain.
In Your Presence, filled with gladness,
they shall conquer all their pain.
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we begin looking at the nature of justice as God defines it. In our Read Moore podcast we wrap-up our readings from the book, To Know Him. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
