One day when Brendan and his company were traversing and searching the sea, they happened upon the little country which they had been seeking for seven years, to wit, the Land of Promise; as it says in the proverb: “He that seeketh, findeth.” When they came near to this land, and they were minded to take harbour there, they heard a voice of a certain elder speaking to them and saying: “O much travailed men, O holy pilgrims, O ye who look for the heavenly rewards, O ever-toilsome life in labouring and waiting for this country, stay a little from your labour now.”
– The Life of Brendan of Clonfert
Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
Each one appears before God in Zion.
– Psalm 84.5-7
Through many dangers, toils, and snares
The paragraph cited above represents the high-water mark of Brendan’s journey over the ocean. I have skipped several pages of the hagiographer’s report, and these are full of the trials and intermittent blessings the saints experienced as they pressed on in their journey. After the “demon smithey” and his friends they had to fend off sea beasts, a griffin with great claws, more marine monsters, and finally a terrifying “sea cat”. In between these trials, however, they found islands of fresh water, welcoming men, fruitful trees, and even twelve wise Irishmen. God blessed them along the way, both by their trials as well as His various refreshments. Through it all, Brendan led his men in keeping their focus on God and tending to their sails and oars—tedious work and hard, but work that allowed them to know progress for seven long years.
I hope you can see in this a parable of the life of faith. Each of us has a calling from the Lord. That calling is full of promises to know His beauty, joy, and peace—to know Him with us now and ultimately in that place He is even now preparing for us. But there will be many dangers, toils, and snares to deal with along the way; and we can be sure of a steady flow of blessings and provisions from the Lord, if only we will continue faithful in the daily work appointed to us.
Heavenly rewards
The paragraph that opens our story is the Rosetta Stone for the entire book. Note the key words: “searching the sea”—you don’t reach the promised land without sincere seeking. Then “to take harbour there”, that is, to go ashore into the promises of God, both for now and for the world to come. A “certain elder”—one who had gone before them who would put their journey into a proper overall perspective. He affirmed them heartily for looking for “heavenly rewards”. Even as we seek the promises of God here and now we know they have the sense, the scent, and the savor of heaven; and this is what we want, to realize the then and there in the here and now of our lives. But, the elder continued, such realizations only come through labor and waiting, and even then, even as the reality of that heavenly realm enfolds us in our daily lives, we can only “stay a little” from our continuing labors.
C. S. Lewis, if he ever read The Life of Brendan of Clonfert, would have delighted in it as much as any of the faerie tales that inspired so much of his writing. He understood about the “stay a little” moments in the then and there amid the crazy here and now of our lives. He wrote: “The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”[1]
Those scents, echoes, and tunes, await us every moment, bringing news of the world to come. Our visits to them will be fleeting and infrequent, but if we seek heavenly rewards more than any on earth, and if we can put off “the evil enchantment of worldliness”[2]which casts doubt on the reality of our visions and hopes, we’ll know the real deal with increasing peace and joy; and knowing it, glimpsing this “little country” which awaits us all, will make all our daily labors worthwhile.
For Reflection
1. How would you describe the vision of Jesus and the “heavenly rewards” that you are daily seeking?
2. How does focusing on this help you to realize more of it here and now?
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).
Other columns of interest this week: Our Read Moore podcast is focusing on realizing more of our great salvation. Our current ReVision series, “The Kingdom Economy”, examines the role of commerce for the glory of God. And new in our bookstore, our workbook, The Ongoing Work of Christ, shows us how the book of Acts provides a template and footprint for all who take up the work of building Jesus’ Church.
Thank you.
Many of you are faithful and generous in praying for and supporting Crosfigell and The Fellowship of Ailbe. Thank you. May I encourage all our readers to seek the Lord about becoming a supporter of The Fellowship of Ailbe? It’s easy to give to The Fellowship of Ailbe, and all gifts are, of course, tax-deductible. You can click here to donate online through credit card or PayPal or Anedot, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
All Psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[1] C. S. Lewis, Weight of Glory, https://books.apple.com/us/ book/weight-of-glory/id360623945
[2] Ibid.
