Mission and Outreach Blog
Chriost Liom
February 21, 2009
I love how the Spirit sends the exact right words at the exact right time. To have deep needs realized and met by the Spirit always stuns me and recaptures my awe for the Spirit's insight and the presence of God. It's a beautiful reminder of God's presence in the minutes or even seconds of our lives.
I have no idea where I saw it, but after a hard week, where the challenges seemed to come from every possible angle, I came across Chriost Liom, a modern Irish song meaning Christ with me. When I read the words, I immediately recognized the voice of the Spirit - as if the Spirit was looking over my shoulder into my life - now providing a precious reminder for my weary heart.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind 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 when I arise...
Eager to know more about the history of the words, I fired up google and to great surprise, learned these words are attributed to St. Patrick! As it turns out, St. Patrick was a Welsh missionary to the Irish. When he was 16 years old, he was captured by Irish raiders and imprisoned in Ireland for six years before escaping.
As the tradition goes, St. Patrick came to know Christ in an incredibly deep relationship while in prison. And it would be the Irish he would return to years later to bring God's word and literally live out God's command to love our enemies. St. Patrick would become a model for the church in it's outward mission to make Christ known.
These words, part of a bigger prayer, are not the words of a passive, self-pitying, doubtful person. These are the words of a faithful follower of Christ who took incredible risk in being Christ to those who needed to hear most.
What beautiful words to take with us in our everyday, to remember of God's continual presence in our lives.
(italics mine)
Christ with me (here in the present),
Christ before me (Christ has taken care of the future),
Christ behind me (Christ has reconciled the past),
Christ in me (Christ calming my emotions, mind and heart),
Christ beneath me (Christ is the foundation I walk upon),
Christ above me (Christ sovereign over me, and preparing the way to the Father),
Christ on my right, Christ on my left (Christ protecting me from the attacks of the enemy),
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down (Christ with me at the end of the day),
Christ when I arise...(Christ with me at the beginning of the day)
To read the full prayer, click here.