Who were the people that gifted you with the joy, formation, and knowledge of your faith? Faith, our love of God, is truly a treasure for life. It impacts how we engage others, care for the earth, and view ourselves. For me, my grandfather and mother were my first guides in my faith formation. My Grandfather, who was revered by our entire family, was one of a long line of our grandfathers who passed the power and presence of faith down to us. Grandpa, used to highlight what he had learned in faith from his grandchildren when we visited, while we sat in the first row of the sanctuary as he preached. My mother taught Sunday school, had youth over to the house for baking Christmas cookies, and anchored our family faith through home advent worship celebrations. Truly the treasure of faith is loved from one to another.
The Scripture
My heart has always been captivated by Timothy. The way that Paul encouraged him to hold fast to the treasure of his faith which he grew up learning and living from his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois. Why did Paul urge Timothy to stand firm on the sound teachings of his faith in II Timothy 1:1-14? Paul knew the hardship of ministry leadership. He has experienced the isolation of imprisonment that separated him from the community of the faithful. And Paul was deeply aware of the world’s inclination toward injustice, violence, and overpowering voices that clamor for their way.
After recounting and affirming Timothy’s heritage of faith formation, Paul reminded Timothy to “fan the flames of faith.” It is so easy to become discouraged, lukewarm, or even timid in our faith. When we look at the world’s inclination toward continued injustice, continued random and intentional acts of violence, and the voices which seek self-glory and power, we too may need to fan the flames of our faith so that the Pentecostal Spirit if Christ overflows from the reservoir of our love for God.
In the fourteen verse of today’s reading from the New Revised Standard Version Anglicised, it states, ” Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.”
How do you guard the good treasure of faith entrusted to you?
Today’s Prayer Practice
Today you are invited to grab your colored pencils and create a Mandala. This scared circle is a depiction of the beginning and end of Jesus, our Alpha and Omega. This mandala will be divided into four sections. Think of cutting a pie into four equal slices. Label each quadrant from left to right and top to bottom: treasure, loss of treasure, coping skills, and treasure restored.
- As you pray consider in the first quadrant: What is your treasure of faith? Draw or write about your greatest treasure in this first quadrant.
- In the upper right quadrant consider: When have you been tempted to lose your treasure, or when has your treasure been stolen from you? Possibly, how or when has your treasure ever become lukewarm or timid. Draw or write about that sense of decreasing your treasure.
- In the lower left quadrant pray about your coping skill. When your most precious treasure was lost, endanger of being watered down, or hidden in everyday life, what were your coping skills or spiritual disciplines that fanned the flames of your faith? Draw or write about these coping skills.
- In the final lower right quadrant, imagine paradise restored; that is a time when you received your treasure back or experienced a deeper sense of God’s Pentecostal flame within you. What is it or will it be like for you? Draw or write about that sense of joy in the restoration of your treasure.
When you have completed your contemplative Mandala, offer your prayers to God in great thanksgiving for the restoration of life and God’s presence of love.
Enjoy praying.
