I bind unto myself this day hésuchazó and charmolupē (Stillness and Joy-Grief)

Ruach Breath of Life

When I wrote this piece, Stillness and Joy, I ‘bookended’ it with the theme from that wonderful hymn, 'I bind unto myself this day’ – the great ‘Breastplate’ prayer for protection that is widely accredited to St Patrick.* The Greek words I used in the title are hésuchazó (stillness, rest, quiet, silence) and charmolupē, a remarkable compound word that St John Climacus, a 7th century monk of Sinai, coined, which means a combination of joy and grief. Only in the Lord can we bear heavy burdens in the Spirit that move us to tears, and yet still know the deep stirrings of the Lord’s joy in our hearts. We only read twice in the gospels of Jesus weeping. The first time is when John records Him weeping when He hears of the death of Lazarus. The second, in Luke’s gospel, is the occasion when Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, because it had failed to recognise the hour of its visitation, and would pay a terrible price for its blindness and deafness. There are many things in the world around us, and perhaps in our own immediate circumstances too, to move us to tears. May we experience much of the Lord’s own hēsuchia-stillness as well as His charmolupē, joy-grief, as we draw close to Him –pressing through the challenge of external distractions and inner whirring thoughts, before we reach a place of greater settledness and closeness to the Lord who loves us so much, and who hears our every prayer. May this music help to focus the longings, emotions and deep concerns of our heart in prayer. See also our blog post from early in 2021 in the immediate aftermath of the election crisis in Washington DC, when we were led to pray with the words of the Lorica: ‘We arise this day a mighty army.’ https://ruachministries.co.uk/we-arise-a-mighty-army-this-day-the-lorica-breast-plate-of-st-patrick/