A PREDECESSOR

is one who ‘precedes another in time, especially in holding an office or position.’ This is where I find myself in the evening of my life. I’ve preceded a lot of others who now hold positions and offices like the ones I once held. I find myself wishing we could have coffee together and learn from one another. I want to know what you are discovering, and if asked, give you some things I have learned along the way. It’s what predecessors do. But the predecessor’s in our lives often wait for good questions that never come, because, well … ‘listening well’ is not something that comes easily.

 

GOOD PREDECESSORS

also never get too old to envision what the next year of our lives may entail. So I’ve recently taken some special time out to think and read and pray. I’ve also been listening (literally)[1] daily to what God has offered to my predecessors for thousands of years. If it was a transformative guide for them, why not for me, too?

 

Prayerfully, I write down on paper the plans and goals I believe God desires from me. Then I put it to the test of a few trusted friends. After this, I stay open to signals that change throughout the year, like a good quarterback, who sees in the moment he must make a decision based on what is happening around him, what he knows from practice and past experience, and what he has learned from his predecessors.

 

IN THE PROCESS OF ENVISIONING 2022

I have been led to something both spiritually intimate and personal. One of my predecessors shared this with me as something she had done. Take a lunch by yourself one day. Or maybe an afternoon in a park, or some other quiet place especially inspirational to you. If you know the words of the Lord’s Prayer, recite them softly to yourself, letting the presence of God surround you with his love. If you are unfamiliar with this prayer, it’s easy to find in any Christian Bible. Go to The New Testament book of Matthew 6:9-13. It is repeated in Luke 11:1-4. It is a model for prayer included in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.[2]

 

In a notebook, diary, or on a simple piece of paper, write out your responses to this prayer, the one most oft-repeated by Christ-followers everywhere. Fill this prayer with heartfelt and meaningful thoughts related to your own sacred journey through life. There is something about these words that always unite us. It was the ‘Lord’s Prayer.’ The ‘Our Father Prayer.’ And it is a ‘predecessor’s prayer,’  helping us reach back in order to see what is yet to be done going forward.

 

“Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name”

         In the years that remain, let me come to you each day as my “Abba[3] Father,” with the trust of an innocent child for my “Abba,” embraced by your infinite love and resilient in offering the best of my love and obedience in return.

 

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”

“Abba Father,” through your Holy Spirit you have adopted me as your child. Help me be a man of simple intention, seeking to know and do your will in each day you give me and to leave the results in your hands alone.

 

Father, help me listen well for your voice as I practice your Presence. As I grow older, filling time with more things has become easy. Help me instead to allow space to remain open until I see you, Father, in that space and then go there to enjoy it with you, deciding together what to do in and with the space. This will be my holy adventure.

 

“Give us today our daily bread”

You are aware of my needs, Lord, and my resources. I have been a steward of what you have provided in earnings, saving and investing for tomorrow, wishing only for enough to care for my needs and those of my family until you are done with me here on earth. You know my tomorrows, be they few or many, and I trust you for each one of them. Today, I pray for today’s needs.

 

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”

Thank you, “Abba Father,” for your undeserved forgiveness on so many levels in my life. Your mercies are beyond measure. They draw me ever closer to you. And forgive me if I forgive others too much or too easily. You are the one who has given me the bad example.

 

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one”

When I am tempted, keep me from falling. And if I fall, lift me up again. I am so human, but you know this and patiently show how resilient I can be when I draw my strength from your Word and I walk in your Spirit.
Perhaps, my friend, a ‘predecessor’s prayer’ like this can be for you an exercise filled with spiritual meaning and intimate fellowship with Jesus.[4]

 

May Jesus keep us close in 2022.

 

 

 

[1] I recommend David Suchet’s audio book reading of the Holy Scriptures. His voice is truly a gift.

[2] Mathew chapters 5-7

[3] “Abba,” an Aramaic word meaning intimacy and obedience

[4] The above Lord’s Prayer was written in my journal on 26 December 2021