Devotion and Jesus Spirituality

Let Flowers Fall at Jesus Feet

                                                                      by Bruce Williamson

Let flowers fall at Jesus' feet

soft and sweet.

Let flowers fall at Jesus' feet, not to die but to live again;

to rise and bloom

bigger, brighter than before

                                                  so soft and sweet.

                                                   Roses red, carnations white, bluebonnets, lilies, orchids 

                                                   showy, honeysuckle sweet,

                                                   and all the rest,

                                                   falling to flower in vivid life

                                                   at Jesus' feet

                                                    Could I fall at Jesus' feet?  To trust my all lying there at Jesus' feet?  Covered in flowers soft and sweet with them to rise and bloom again --

bigger, brighter than before finding my all in His Father's grace, so soft and so sweet.

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          Devotion is personal and emotional.  The spirituality of Jesus is loyal love.  A love that follows after Jesus Christ in daily life.  But for devotion to endure through the years, it must sink deep roots into the soul, and learn much about Jesus and his spirituality. 

          Like humor, devotional materials, poems, prayers, works of art and music are subjective matters.  What appeals to one person as fresh and alive, strikes someone else as shallow.  Still we share both jokes and prayers.  We pass on what is witty to our tastes and what speaks well to us of the sacred.  I am sharing this website's material with you in hopes that it brings a smile or a reverent moment of faith, or both to you. 

         But even if this material leaves you cold, you must find the styles and material that cultivates your own devotion, OR Write, Compose, or Draw your own.  For devotional practices and expressions are necessary to sustain Christian spirituality through the years of life.  Indeed, without practices of spirituality all the faith you have now may in time grow dry and cold.  A spiritual practice that feeds your faith is a requirement, not an option in life's long journey. 

            The devotional practices of Jesus spirituality go far beyond prayers asking for success, comfort and the various stuff of life.  One approach is to pray to see or to know God's presence about us.  Consider the ancient Sarum Prayer from before the 13th Century A.D. from near Salisbury, England.

The Sarum Prayer

                                               God be in my head, and in my understanding;

                                               God be in my eyes, and in my looking,

                                               God be in my mouth, and in my speaking,

                             God be in my heart, and in my thinking.

A similar prayer approach is found in St. Patrick's prayer, "I Will Arise."

Patrick is praying for protection, and near the end of the prayer he says,

                          "Christ with me, Christ before me,

                                  Christ in me, Christ beneath me,

                                  Christ above me,

                                  Christ on my right, Christ on my left,

                                  Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,

                                  Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

                                  Christ in the eye that sees me,

                                  Christ in the ear that hears me.

                                  I arise today."

    These two prayers are closely aligned in thought to St. Paul's statement to the Colossians, "Christ in you the hope of glory."  (See  Colossians 1: 22 - 28.)  How far this is from the common thought that we live the Christian life through our own will and effort ! 

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