I doubt I am the only one that feels that Michael Jackson's death has had enough coverage and it's time to move on. But, it would seem that there are plenty of folks that are having trouble in their own way "moving on". They seem to be very emotionally attached to the person of Michael Jackson that his death has brought them to a standstill. I would not for a minute say that we should not grieve when people die. What I do wonder at is why we tend to go overboard when folks of celebrity status die and why we grieve with such intensity when there are so many other things we can be grieving about.
Why dont' we grieve about...
> the countless lives lost both in Afghanistan and Iraq...American and Iraqis / Afghanistan
> the seemingly reckless behavior of countries as the make threats to wipe out other countries
> the countless number of families and individuals who suffer from lack of adequate health coverage
> the many who have lost their jobs, in fear of losing their job, or stuck in a dead-end situation because they have no options
> the countless refugees in other countries who flee violence, tribal warfare, and oppressive regimes and don't have the basic needs of food, clothing, and even water
There is so much else we can grieve about that grieving endlessly about celebrities dying or sports athletes leaving teams and playing for other teams in order to make more money seems out of balance - way off center.
Grieving is important - but grieving for the right reasons...in the right way...for the right causes.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
The Ultimate Source of Fulfillment and Happiness
I was skimming through the classic book, Centering Prayer by Basil Pennington and I came across this quote:
"Much of the unhappiness in our world comes from our seeking to find fulfillment and happiness in things that ultimately cannot satisfy us. In fact, only One can truly satisfy us and that is our God...To choose as the ultimate goal of our lives anything less than God will leave us frustrated, unsatsified, despairing of finding any meaning that is worthy of us, anything that can satisfy the limitless hunger of our minds to know, of our hearts to love. If we do not see all the other things we choose in life as in some way opening out to this infinite fullness, they will prove to be dead ends. Not matter how good and beautiful they may be, no matter how much of ourselves we invest in them, there will come a time when we will say, 'Is this all there is?' And life will appear as a cruel joke, a project that can only lead to frustration and misery. It will be something we need to escape from by drugs, liquor, the passing excitment of sex; something we will try to sleep off or let slip away while we sit mindless before the 'boob tube.' For only so long can we chase, breathless, after passing goods before we discover the cruelty of their limits." (p.142)
God doesnt desire that we not enjoy life. Only that we do not substitute the things that we enjoy for the Source of our enjoyment. When we do that, they become idols and we seek to find fulfillment and happiness in them. They become spiritual dead ends. God desires that we do enjoy life, that we do experience happiness and fulfillment. There is nothing self-serving in any of that. But, God also desires that we recognize God as the ultimate Source of all that is good and beautiful and enjoyable.
"Much of the unhappiness in our world comes from our seeking to find fulfillment and happiness in things that ultimately cannot satisfy us. In fact, only One can truly satisfy us and that is our God...To choose as the ultimate goal of our lives anything less than God will leave us frustrated, unsatsified, despairing of finding any meaning that is worthy of us, anything that can satisfy the limitless hunger of our minds to know, of our hearts to love. If we do not see all the other things we choose in life as in some way opening out to this infinite fullness, they will prove to be dead ends. Not matter how good and beautiful they may be, no matter how much of ourselves we invest in them, there will come a time when we will say, 'Is this all there is?' And life will appear as a cruel joke, a project that can only lead to frustration and misery. It will be something we need to escape from by drugs, liquor, the passing excitment of sex; something we will try to sleep off or let slip away while we sit mindless before the 'boob tube.' For only so long can we chase, breathless, after passing goods before we discover the cruelty of their limits." (p.142)
God doesnt desire that we not enjoy life. Only that we do not substitute the things that we enjoy for the Source of our enjoyment. When we do that, they become idols and we seek to find fulfillment and happiness in them. They become spiritual dead ends. God desires that we do enjoy life, that we do experience happiness and fulfillment. There is nothing self-serving in any of that. But, God also desires that we recognize God as the ultimate Source of all that is good and beautiful and enjoyable.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
So Beautiful...God As Relationship - Not A Principle
I just picked up Len Sweet's most recent book So Beautiful and am finding that it's full of great quotes and nuggets of truth. I intend to sit down and read the whole thing but here is one quote that already is drawing me into what he has to say:
"If God were a thing or a principle, we could discover God through things and principles. But if God is not a thing but a Spirit, and a personal God at that, then God is truly discovered in personal relationship. We must invite others to venture into a personal relationship with Jesus of Nazareth, not matter how tenative, no matter if all opinions are open, and trust the Spirit to take it from there...Jesus never one mentions religion or orthodox theology, nor does he outline certain religious 'beliefs' and 'precepts' by which we wil be judged. He outlines actions by which we will be judged, but not propositions and creeds. The problem with religion as a 'belief system' is what I call the 'belief relief.' The relief of belief is that a belief doesnt force you to do anything other than to 'believe' or to 'think' it. Relations require action; beliefs require only assent. You can believe something without changin one iota how you live and move in the world...There are twenty-one original prayers that Jesus prayed in the Gospels. Every one of them begins by addressing God as Father, a name drawn from human relationships, not from philosophy. The creeds begin, 'I believe.' But Jesus begins, 'Our Father.' "
"If God were a thing or a principle, we could discover God through things and principles. But if God is not a thing but a Spirit, and a personal God at that, then God is truly discovered in personal relationship. We must invite others to venture into a personal relationship with Jesus of Nazareth, not matter how tenative, no matter if all opinions are open, and trust the Spirit to take it from there...Jesus never one mentions religion or orthodox theology, nor does he outline certain religious 'beliefs' and 'precepts' by which we wil be judged. He outlines actions by which we will be judged, but not propositions and creeds. The problem with religion as a 'belief system' is what I call the 'belief relief.' The relief of belief is that a belief doesnt force you to do anything other than to 'believe' or to 'think' it. Relations require action; beliefs require only assent. You can believe something without changin one iota how you live and move in the world...There are twenty-one original prayers that Jesus prayed in the Gospels. Every one of them begins by addressing God as Father, a name drawn from human relationships, not from philosophy. The creeds begin, 'I believe.' But Jesus begins, 'Our Father.' "
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The Redeeming Power of Gratitude
This is a portion of an article written by David Steindl-Rast O.S.B
You can see more of his writings at www.gratefulness.org
As you read it, be mindful of how your sense of gratitude can be a powerful force in your sphere of incluence today.
"Violence has roots in every heart. It is within my own heart that I must recognize fear, agitation, coldness, alienation, blind anger and the impulse to retaliation. Here in my heart I can turn fear into courageous trust, agitation into stillness, confusion into clarity, isolation into a sense of belonging, alienation into love, and irrational reaction into Common Sense. The creative intelligence of gratefulness will suggest to each one of us how to go about this task. As examples I will list here five small gestures of gratitude that I have personally tested. They create a ripple effect to counteract violence.
All gratitude expresses trust. Suspicion will not even recognize a gift as gift: who can prove that it isn't a lure, a bribe, a trap? Gratefulness has the courage to trust and so overcomes fear. The very air has been electrified by fearfulness these days, a fearfulness fostered and manipulated by politicians and the media. There lies our greatest danger: fear perpetuates violence. Mobilize the courage of your heart. Say one word today that will give a fearful person courage.
Because gratitude expresses courage, it spreads calm. Calm of this kind is quite compatible with deep emotions. In fact, mass hysteria fostered by the media betrays a morbid curiosity rather than deep feeling—superficial agitation rather than a deep current of compassion. The truly compassionate ones are calm and strong. Make a firm resolution never to repeat stories and rumors that spread fear. From the stillness of your heart's core reach out. Be calm and spread calm.
When you are grateful, your heart is open—open towards others, open for surprise. When disasters hit we often see remarkable examples of this openness: strangers helping strangers sometimes in heroic ways. Others turn away, isolate themselves, dare even less than at other times to look at each other. Violence begins with isolation. Break this pattern. Make contact with people whom you normally ignore—eye-contact at least—with the cashier at the supermarket, someone on the elevator, a beggar. Look a stranger in the eyes today and realize that there are no strangers.
You can feel either grateful or alienated, but never both at the same time. Gratefulness drives out alienation; there is not room for both in the same heart. When you are grateful you know that you belong to a network of give-and-take and you say "yes" to that belonging. This "yes" is the essence of love. You need no words to express it; a smile will do to put your "yes" into action. Don't let it matter to you whether or not the other one smiles back. Give someone an unexpected smile today and so contribute your share to peace on earth.
What your gratefulness does for yourself is as important as what it does for others. Gratefulness boosts your sense of belonging; your sense of belonging in turn boosts your Common Sense—not the conventional mind set which we often confuse with it. The common sense that springs from gratefulness is incompatible with a set mind. It is just another name for thinking wedded to cosmic intelligence. Your "yes" to belonging attunes you to the common concerns shared by all human beings—all beings for that matter. In a world we hold in common, nothing else makes sense but Common Sense. We have only one enemy: Our common enemy is violence. Common Sense tells us: we can stop violence only by stopping to act violently; war is no way to peace. Listen to the news today and put at least one item to the test of Common Sense."
You can see more of his writings at www.gratefulness.org
As you read it, be mindful of how your sense of gratitude can be a powerful force in your sphere of incluence today.
"Violence has roots in every heart. It is within my own heart that I must recognize fear, agitation, coldness, alienation, blind anger and the impulse to retaliation. Here in my heart I can turn fear into courageous trust, agitation into stillness, confusion into clarity, isolation into a sense of belonging, alienation into love, and irrational reaction into Common Sense. The creative intelligence of gratefulness will suggest to each one of us how to go about this task. As examples I will list here five small gestures of gratitude that I have personally tested. They create a ripple effect to counteract violence.
All gratitude expresses trust. Suspicion will not even recognize a gift as gift: who can prove that it isn't a lure, a bribe, a trap? Gratefulness has the courage to trust and so overcomes fear. The very air has been electrified by fearfulness these days, a fearfulness fostered and manipulated by politicians and the media. There lies our greatest danger: fear perpetuates violence. Mobilize the courage of your heart. Say one word today that will give a fearful person courage.
Because gratitude expresses courage, it spreads calm. Calm of this kind is quite compatible with deep emotions. In fact, mass hysteria fostered by the media betrays a morbid curiosity rather than deep feeling—superficial agitation rather than a deep current of compassion. The truly compassionate ones are calm and strong. Make a firm resolution never to repeat stories and rumors that spread fear. From the stillness of your heart's core reach out. Be calm and spread calm.
When you are grateful, your heart is open—open towards others, open for surprise. When disasters hit we often see remarkable examples of this openness: strangers helping strangers sometimes in heroic ways. Others turn away, isolate themselves, dare even less than at other times to look at each other. Violence begins with isolation. Break this pattern. Make contact with people whom you normally ignore—eye-contact at least—with the cashier at the supermarket, someone on the elevator, a beggar. Look a stranger in the eyes today and realize that there are no strangers.
You can feel either grateful or alienated, but never both at the same time. Gratefulness drives out alienation; there is not room for both in the same heart. When you are grateful you know that you belong to a network of give-and-take and you say "yes" to that belonging. This "yes" is the essence of love. You need no words to express it; a smile will do to put your "yes" into action. Don't let it matter to you whether or not the other one smiles back. Give someone an unexpected smile today and so contribute your share to peace on earth.
What your gratefulness does for yourself is as important as what it does for others. Gratefulness boosts your sense of belonging; your sense of belonging in turn boosts your Common Sense—not the conventional mind set which we often confuse with it. The common sense that springs from gratefulness is incompatible with a set mind. It is just another name for thinking wedded to cosmic intelligence. Your "yes" to belonging attunes you to the common concerns shared by all human beings—all beings for that matter. In a world we hold in common, nothing else makes sense but Common Sense. We have only one enemy: Our common enemy is violence. Common Sense tells us: we can stop violence only by stopping to act violently; war is no way to peace. Listen to the news today and put at least one item to the test of Common Sense."
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Prayer of the Ropes End
"God, this is too big for me. Take over. Take over all the way. I give myself to your strong heart. Lift me, pray for me, endfold me."
(Flora Wuellner)
(Flora Wuellner)
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Practicing God's Presence
Not too long ago, author John Ortberg wrote a book entitled God Is Closer Than You Think. It was a book about how to recognize God in the everyday...in our ordinary existence. Early on in his book, Ortberg offers this definition of spiritual growth: "Spiritual growth...is simply increasing our capacity to experience the presence of God." This definition is so much different then how folks so often define spiritual growth today. We often define spiritual growth in an "event" type of way...in other words...the more "events" you show up to the more spiritual you are. So, if I attend all sorts of religious events and spiritual activities then I must be a spiritual person. The issue is we can become so busy in spiritual activities but yet have no inward change occuring. Our capacity to experience God's presence has not increased.
In his book, Ortberg offers some "foundational truths" to guide us in increasing our capacity to experience God...
1) God is always present and active in my life, whether or not I see God.
2) Coming to recognize and experience god's presence is learned behavior; I can cultivate it.
3) My task is to meet God in this moment.
4) I am always tempted to live "outside" this moment. When I do that, I lose my sense of God's presence.
5) Sometimes God seems far away for reasons I do not understand. Those moments, too, are opportunities to learn.
6) Whenever I fail, I can always start again right away.
7) No one knows the full extent to which a human being can experience God's presence.
8) My desire for God ebbs and flows, but God's desire for me is constant.
9) Every thought carries a "spiritual charge" that moves me a little closer to or a little farther from God.
10) Every aspect of my life - work, relationships, hobbies, errands - is of immense and genuine interest to God.
11) My path to experiencing God's presence will not look quite like anyone else's.
12) Straining and trying harder do not help.
Orberg recommends reviewing these truth's once a day for two weeks in order to cultivate the practice of God's presence. Whether you do that or not, I think it's important to realize that increasing my capacity to experience God's presence is something I can cultivate. It doesn't "just happen" - there can and needs to be some intention on my part.
In his book, Ortberg offers some "foundational truths" to guide us in increasing our capacity to experience God...
1) God is always present and active in my life, whether or not I see God.
2) Coming to recognize and experience god's presence is learned behavior; I can cultivate it.
3) My task is to meet God in this moment.
4) I am always tempted to live "outside" this moment. When I do that, I lose my sense of God's presence.
5) Sometimes God seems far away for reasons I do not understand. Those moments, too, are opportunities to learn.
6) Whenever I fail, I can always start again right away.
7) No one knows the full extent to which a human being can experience God's presence.
8) My desire for God ebbs and flows, but God's desire for me is constant.
9) Every thought carries a "spiritual charge" that moves me a little closer to or a little farther from God.
10) Every aspect of my life - work, relationships, hobbies, errands - is of immense and genuine interest to God.
11) My path to experiencing God's presence will not look quite like anyone else's.
12) Straining and trying harder do not help.
Orberg recommends reviewing these truth's once a day for two weeks in order to cultivate the practice of God's presence. Whether you do that or not, I think it's important to realize that increasing my capacity to experience God's presence is something I can cultivate. It doesn't "just happen" - there can and needs to be some intention on my part.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Slivers of Truth
"The real truth is that God is too great to be lost in the smallness of any single sliver of life. Truth is One, yes, but truth is many at the same time.The greatest danger of them all may be in buying into too small a part of the truth. When that happens, change, growth, repentance, and development are impossible. We find ourselves frozen in the shards of yesterday.Truth is not any one truth, not any one institution, not any one way. Nor can we truly bend ourselves to all of them. Instead, each of us must live our own singular piece of the truth with love. What else can possibly be the final test of what is truly true? "
(Joan Chittister, Welcome to the Wisdom of the World)
(Joan Chittister, Welcome to the Wisdom of the World)
Making Mistakes In Our Spiritual Evolution
One of my favorite authors / bloggers is Jim Palmer out of Nashville, Tennessee. He has written two very good books..."Divine Nobodies" and "Wide Open Spaces." In these books he more or less chronicles his spiritual growth and his spiritual journey from who was all caught up in religion to one who is now "shedding religion." He blogs regularly at www.divinenobodies.com I decided to include this whole post because of the good things Jim has to say about making mistakes in our spiritual evolution and journey. Read...and enjoy!
"What follows are a few mistakes I’ve made in my spiritual evolution and lived to tell about it. Referring to these as “mistakes” may be unfair. What I’m about to describe is fairly normal, probably unavoidable, and perhaps even necessary at the time. I own these choices as part of my journey these past few years. As it turns out, these choices didn’t defeat me. I refer to them as “mistakes” because they don’t seem to be very productive as a regular practice, and I would not intentionally repeat them again.
1) Fundamentalism
The term “fundamentalism” is probably most associated with ultra-conservative, legalistic Christians. However, I’ve discovered there are progressive/liberal Christian fundamentalists, Atheist, Agnostic, and Humanistic fundamentalists, Buddhist, Muslim, and Jewish fundamentalists, and New Age fundamentalists. What I mean by “fundamentalist” is postulating your belief system, philosophy, understandings or experiences as superior to others, which means others with different beliefs, understandings or experiences are either wrong or deceived.
In my case, I left Christian fundamentalism behind but managed to create a different fundamentalism around whatever my new understanding, concept, experience, or discovery was at the time. In other words, each step of enlightenment became the new “it” or standard that I judged others by. I wasn’t necessarily nasty or belligerent about it but there was a certain silent pride and arrogance to it.
2) Over-correction
You are driving down the street and notice you are about to go off the road into a ditch. Your reaction is to grab the wheel and by over-correcting, you fly across the road and off into the ditch on the other side. By avoiding one ditch, you managed to steer right into another. It’s no secret that any person who feels led astray and betrayed by their religion is likely to become it’s biggest critic. It’s not uncommon that in such cases the baby gets thrown out with the bathwater. For example, a person lives many years under the oppression of religion. In reaction to this, they over-correct and become an Atheist. There are lots of options between a hideous concept of God and concluding there is no God at all, but when you over-correct you skid by all the stuff in the middle and just go into the ditch on the side.
By the way, please don’t hear me saying that every person’s beliefs are the result of over-correction. I know Atheists who are not guilty of over-correction - they are Atheists because they have done their due diligence and have genuinely concluded that the existence of God is neither possible nor useful. Another example may be someone who concludes that the Bible isn’t a “supernatural” book and over-corrects to the view that the Bible has no value at all. For me, I have had some instances of over-correction. For example, organized church and religious rituals were not meaningful for me, and as a reaction I concluded all organized church and religious rituals are intrinsically meaningless and has no real objective value for anyone.
3) Insecurity
Insecurity can express itself in a strong need for your beliefs and experiences to be validated by others. How do others validate your beliefs and experiences? By agreeing with or sharing your beliefs and experiences. And so it’s not brain surgery to see that people who don’t agree or share in your beliefs and experiences are a threat to your sense of identity. You feel invalidated. It’s very difficult to truly accept and learn from another as long as your need for validation is running the show. What happens is that you begin dividing people up on sides. You want people on “your side” because that makes you feel secure and validated. People on the “other side” are seen as the enemy. Needing to be “right” is often a issue of insecurity and needing validation from others. Trust me, I made a fine art out of this.
4) Laziness
I don’t mean for the word to sound as harsh as it might seem. Here’s my point. Most people want a formula or magic bullet. They are not truly willing to do their own due diligence at a soul level, and would prefer someone just give them the answer. They are hoping for a formula that promises that if you do ‘A’ then ‘B’ will happen. Paradox, mystery, ambiguity, abstraction, self-honesty, vulnerability, humility are but a few of the things many people would like to avoid if possible, and would rather just have someone figure things out for them.
So, what mistakes have you made? In other words, what things have you discovered along the way that you’ve recognized as a hindrance in your journey? I guess it might require a dose of humility to share this sort of thing. I sometimes wonder if these kinds of issues hinder our truly learning from each other, and even accepting each other.
Consider this post to be the kind of thing where I’m asking you to draw upon your experience and wisdom from your journey. What have you learned? What would you have done different? Looking back, what mistakes have you made? Where do you see that you might have spared yourself or others a lot of difficulty? What is the wisdom you would share that we could all learn from? Every voice is welcomed regardless of where you are right now on your journey. People may be on totally opposite sides of the spectrum. Fine! I really hope we get responses from people who represent the entire spectrum."
So, what mistakes have you made?
"What follows are a few mistakes I’ve made in my spiritual evolution and lived to tell about it. Referring to these as “mistakes” may be unfair. What I’m about to describe is fairly normal, probably unavoidable, and perhaps even necessary at the time. I own these choices as part of my journey these past few years. As it turns out, these choices didn’t defeat me. I refer to them as “mistakes” because they don’t seem to be very productive as a regular practice, and I would not intentionally repeat them again.
1) Fundamentalism
The term “fundamentalism” is probably most associated with ultra-conservative, legalistic Christians. However, I’ve discovered there are progressive/liberal Christian fundamentalists, Atheist, Agnostic, and Humanistic fundamentalists, Buddhist, Muslim, and Jewish fundamentalists, and New Age fundamentalists. What I mean by “fundamentalist” is postulating your belief system, philosophy, understandings or experiences as superior to others, which means others with different beliefs, understandings or experiences are either wrong or deceived.
In my case, I left Christian fundamentalism behind but managed to create a different fundamentalism around whatever my new understanding, concept, experience, or discovery was at the time. In other words, each step of enlightenment became the new “it” or standard that I judged others by. I wasn’t necessarily nasty or belligerent about it but there was a certain silent pride and arrogance to it.
2) Over-correction
You are driving down the street and notice you are about to go off the road into a ditch. Your reaction is to grab the wheel and by over-correcting, you fly across the road and off into the ditch on the other side. By avoiding one ditch, you managed to steer right into another. It’s no secret that any person who feels led astray and betrayed by their religion is likely to become it’s biggest critic. It’s not uncommon that in such cases the baby gets thrown out with the bathwater. For example, a person lives many years under the oppression of religion. In reaction to this, they over-correct and become an Atheist. There are lots of options between a hideous concept of God and concluding there is no God at all, but when you over-correct you skid by all the stuff in the middle and just go into the ditch on the side.
By the way, please don’t hear me saying that every person’s beliefs are the result of over-correction. I know Atheists who are not guilty of over-correction - they are Atheists because they have done their due diligence and have genuinely concluded that the existence of God is neither possible nor useful. Another example may be someone who concludes that the Bible isn’t a “supernatural” book and over-corrects to the view that the Bible has no value at all. For me, I have had some instances of over-correction. For example, organized church and religious rituals were not meaningful for me, and as a reaction I concluded all organized church and religious rituals are intrinsically meaningless and has no real objective value for anyone.
3) Insecurity
Insecurity can express itself in a strong need for your beliefs and experiences to be validated by others. How do others validate your beliefs and experiences? By agreeing with or sharing your beliefs and experiences. And so it’s not brain surgery to see that people who don’t agree or share in your beliefs and experiences are a threat to your sense of identity. You feel invalidated. It’s very difficult to truly accept and learn from another as long as your need for validation is running the show. What happens is that you begin dividing people up on sides. You want people on “your side” because that makes you feel secure and validated. People on the “other side” are seen as the enemy. Needing to be “right” is often a issue of insecurity and needing validation from others. Trust me, I made a fine art out of this.
4) Laziness
I don’t mean for the word to sound as harsh as it might seem. Here’s my point. Most people want a formula or magic bullet. They are not truly willing to do their own due diligence at a soul level, and would prefer someone just give them the answer. They are hoping for a formula that promises that if you do ‘A’ then ‘B’ will happen. Paradox, mystery, ambiguity, abstraction, self-honesty, vulnerability, humility are but a few of the things many people would like to avoid if possible, and would rather just have someone figure things out for them.
So, what mistakes have you made? In other words, what things have you discovered along the way that you’ve recognized as a hindrance in your journey? I guess it might require a dose of humility to share this sort of thing. I sometimes wonder if these kinds of issues hinder our truly learning from each other, and even accepting each other.
Consider this post to be the kind of thing where I’m asking you to draw upon your experience and wisdom from your journey. What have you learned? What would you have done different? Looking back, what mistakes have you made? Where do you see that you might have spared yourself or others a lot of difficulty? What is the wisdom you would share that we could all learn from? Every voice is welcomed regardless of where you are right now on your journey. People may be on totally opposite sides of the spectrum. Fine! I really hope we get responses from people who represent the entire spectrum."
So, what mistakes have you made?
Friday, June 19, 2009
Help Me Now to Unclutter My Life - Celtic Daily Prayer
Lord, help me now to unclutter my life,
to organize myself in the direction of simplicity.
Lord, teach me to listen to my heart;
teach me to welcome change, instead of fearing it.
Lord, I give You these stirrings inside me,
I give you my discontent,
I give you my restlessness,
I give you my doubt,I give you my despair,
I give you all the longings I hold inside.
Help me to listen to these signs of change, of growth;
to listen seriously and follow where they lead
through the breathtaking empty space of an open door
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Making Up There Come Down Here...Thine Kingdom Come
One of my favorite authors is John Ortberg. In his book, God Is Closer Than You Think, he gives a great description of what it looks like to truly bring God's kingdom closer to where we live:
"God, make up there come down here.
It can happen. Every time you are in conflict with someone, want to hurt them, gossip about them, or avoid them, but instead go to them and seek reconciliation and forgiveness - The kingdom is breaking into this world.
Every time you have a chunk of money and decide to give sacrificially to somebody who is hungry or homeless or poor - The kingdom is breaking into the world.
Anytime someone has an addiction and wants to partner with God so much they're willing to stop hiding, acknowledge the truth, and get help from a loving community - The kingdom is breaking into the world.
Every time a workaholic parent decides to stop idolizing their job, rearranges their life to being to love and care for the little children entrusted to them - The kingdom is breaking into the world.
Every time you love, every time you include someone who's lonely, ever time you encourage someone who's defeated, every time you challenge somebody who's wandering off the path, every time you serve the under-resourced - it is a sign the kingdom is once more breaking into the world."
We often think in terms of big ideas, big events, and big plans when it comes to bringing God's kingdom and presence to bear on this world. What we often miss, though, are the small and ordinary ways we can incarnate God's presence in our world and the places we exist. To pray, "Thy kingdom come, they will be done" is not a wish...it is a call to action! We are called to put into action God's presence and make real God's reign...God's kingdom.
"God, make up there come down here.
It can happen. Every time you are in conflict with someone, want to hurt them, gossip about them, or avoid them, but instead go to them and seek reconciliation and forgiveness - The kingdom is breaking into this world.
Every time you have a chunk of money and decide to give sacrificially to somebody who is hungry or homeless or poor - The kingdom is breaking into the world.
Anytime someone has an addiction and wants to partner with God so much they're willing to stop hiding, acknowledge the truth, and get help from a loving community - The kingdom is breaking into the world.
Every time a workaholic parent decides to stop idolizing their job, rearranges their life to being to love and care for the little children entrusted to them - The kingdom is breaking into the world.
Every time you love, every time you include someone who's lonely, ever time you encourage someone who's defeated, every time you challenge somebody who's wandering off the path, every time you serve the under-resourced - it is a sign the kingdom is once more breaking into the world."
We often think in terms of big ideas, big events, and big plans when it comes to bringing God's kingdom and presence to bear on this world. What we often miss, though, are the small and ordinary ways we can incarnate God's presence in our world and the places we exist. To pray, "Thy kingdom come, they will be done" is not a wish...it is a call to action! We are called to put into action God's presence and make real God's reign...God's kingdom.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Living In The House of Fear or the House of Love
“There are two houses in this world: the house of fear, and the house of love…
“When Jesus says, “Make your home in me as I make mine in you” (Jn.15) he offers us an intimate place that we can call home. Home is that place or space where we do not have to be afraid but can let go of our defenses and be free, free from worries, free from tensions, free from pressures. Home is where we can laugh and cry, embarce and dance, sleep long and dream quietly, eat, read, play, watch the fire, listen to music, and be with a friend. Home is where we can rest and be healed.. a good place to be, it is the house of love.
“But in this world millions of people are homeless. Some are homeless because of their inner anguish, while others are homeless because they have been driven from their own towns and countries. In prisons, mental hosptials, refugee camps, in hidden-away apartments, in nursing homes and overnight shelters we get a glimpse of homelessness.
“Speaking of himself as the vine and of his disciples as the branches, Jesus says: “Make your home in me.” This is an invitation to intimacy. Then he adds: “Those who remain in me with me in them, bear fruit in plenty.” This is an invitation to fecundity. Finally, when he says, “I have told you this so that your joy may be full,” he promises ecstasy.”
“When Jesus says, “Make your home in me as I make mine in you” (Jn.15) he offers us an intimate place that we can call home. Home is that place or space where we do not have to be afraid but can let go of our defenses and be free, free from worries, free from tensions, free from pressures. Home is where we can laugh and cry, embarce and dance, sleep long and dream quietly, eat, read, play, watch the fire, listen to music, and be with a friend. Home is where we can rest and be healed.. a good place to be, it is the house of love.
“But in this world millions of people are homeless. Some are homeless because of their inner anguish, while others are homeless because they have been driven from their own towns and countries. In prisons, mental hosptials, refugee camps, in hidden-away apartments, in nursing homes and overnight shelters we get a glimpse of homelessness.
“Speaking of himself as the vine and of his disciples as the branches, Jesus says: “Make your home in me.” This is an invitation to intimacy. Then he adds: “Those who remain in me with me in them, bear fruit in plenty.” This is an invitation to fecundity. Finally, when he says, “I have told you this so that your joy may be full,” he promises ecstasy.”
Henri Nouwen, Lifesigns
Blessed Are the Confused
Blessed Are the Confused
by M. Scott Peck
"When Jesus gave his big sermon, the first words out of his mouth were: "Blessed are the poor in spirit." There are a number of ways to translate "poor in spirit," but on an intellectual level, the best translation is "confused." Blessed are the confused. If you ask why Jesus might have said that, then I must point out to you that confusion leads to a search for clarification and with that search comes a great deal of learning. For an old idea to die and a new and better idea to take place, we have to go through periods of confusion. It is uncomfortable, sometimes painful to be in such periods. Nonetheless it is blessed because when we are in them, we are open to the new, we are looking, we are growing. And so it is that Jesus said, "Blessed are the confused." Virtually all of the evil in this world is committed by people who are absolutely certain they know what they're doing. It is not committed by people who think of themselves as confused. It is not committed by the poor in spirit."
If the confused are blessed then I am truly one blessed person! How about you? Are you feeling blessed today...and hopeful...now that you know the confused are blessed?
by M. Scott Peck
"When Jesus gave his big sermon, the first words out of his mouth were: "Blessed are the poor in spirit." There are a number of ways to translate "poor in spirit," but on an intellectual level, the best translation is "confused." Blessed are the confused. If you ask why Jesus might have said that, then I must point out to you that confusion leads to a search for clarification and with that search comes a great deal of learning. For an old idea to die and a new and better idea to take place, we have to go through periods of confusion. It is uncomfortable, sometimes painful to be in such periods. Nonetheless it is blessed because when we are in them, we are open to the new, we are looking, we are growing. And so it is that Jesus said, "Blessed are the confused." Virtually all of the evil in this world is committed by people who are absolutely certain they know what they're doing. It is not committed by people who think of themselves as confused. It is not committed by the poor in spirit."
If the confused are blessed then I am truly one blessed person! How about you? Are you feeling blessed today...and hopeful...now that you know the confused are blessed?
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Trust Your Experience
"In recent years I seem to hear God say, 'Put your books away. Be with me. Trust your experience. There are no experts in prayer, only people who have been faithful to the ache.' I reflecton this with both anxiety and joy. Why shouldn'tour experiences be filled with God? Who do we think it is who is breathing in us? Where do we think this ache has come from? And has it ever crossed our minds that God, too, has a deep yearning for us? This is the only message I've been receiving in prayer these days: 'Forget the experts for a while. Trust your own experience.'
Trusting our own experience is not nearly as easy as it sounds. We have not been brought up to trust our own experience; we have been encouraged to listen to 'the ones who know.'...You are a dwelling place for the Source of AllLIfe. You are an offspring of the One who said, 'I Am who Am.' If the One who gave you birth lives within you, surely you can find some resources there in your sacred Center. An expert lives within you. An expert breathes out of you. Are you able to be still enough to become intimate with the One who lives within? This is the only expert you will ever meet. Your life is entwined with the God who gave you birth. Frail dust, remember, you are splendor!"
( A Tree Full of Angels, Macrina Wiederkehr)
We live in an "expert saturated" culture. We leave it up to the "experts" to handle all the tough issues of life. To be sure, there are those that are trained to help us through tough times and help us see issues that we might never see on our own. But, we also lose sight of the fact that our present experience can often be our best teacher and our most reliable guide. Present with our experience is the Living Teacher - the Living Christ.
We delegate our spiritual journey and our spiritual work to others. We delegate it to them and expect them to do it for us and simply give us a report - we want them to "get back to us." We delegate it to authors, pastors, priests, teachers, government officials, kings, queens, governors, and presidents. We delegate our growth, understanding, and realities to the "experts".
Friends, an "expert" lives within - an expert called "your experience" guided and informed the the Living God who resided within us all and is the source of our experience. Trust your experience!
Trusting our own experience is not nearly as easy as it sounds. We have not been brought up to trust our own experience; we have been encouraged to listen to 'the ones who know.'...You are a dwelling place for the Source of AllLIfe. You are an offspring of the One who said, 'I Am who Am.' If the One who gave you birth lives within you, surely you can find some resources there in your sacred Center. An expert lives within you. An expert breathes out of you. Are you able to be still enough to become intimate with the One who lives within? This is the only expert you will ever meet. Your life is entwined with the God who gave you birth. Frail dust, remember, you are splendor!"
( A Tree Full of Angels, Macrina Wiederkehr)
We live in an "expert saturated" culture. We leave it up to the "experts" to handle all the tough issues of life. To be sure, there are those that are trained to help us through tough times and help us see issues that we might never see on our own. But, we also lose sight of the fact that our present experience can often be our best teacher and our most reliable guide. Present with our experience is the Living Teacher - the Living Christ.
We delegate our spiritual journey and our spiritual work to others. We delegate it to them and expect them to do it for us and simply give us a report - we want them to "get back to us." We delegate it to authors, pastors, priests, teachers, government officials, kings, queens, governors, and presidents. We delegate our growth, understanding, and realities to the "experts".
Friends, an "expert" lives within - an expert called "your experience" guided and informed the the Living God who resided within us all and is the source of our experience. Trust your experience!
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Theoretical Person
"The picture that I had inside me was more real than anything outside, and yet it was getting ever smaller and farther away and harder to call back. That, I guess is why I got so sad. I was living, but I was not living my life. So far as I could see, I was going nowhere. And now, more and more, I seemed also to have come from nowhere. Without a loved life to live, I was becoming more and more a theoretical person, as if I might have been a figment of institutional self-justification: a theoretical ignorant person from the sticks, who one day would go to a theoretical somewhere and make a theoretical something of himself - the implication being that until he became that something he would be nothing."
(words of Jayber Crow in Wendell Berry's novel, Jayber Crow)
Personal sadness is an elusive thing in the sense that we often don't know where it comes from and we're not sure we know where it will take us. Since it doesnt seem to take us anywhere we often look for where it comes from. We end up looking outside of ourselves to locate the source of our sadness and we try to fix it with things outside of ourselves. But, if young Jayber Crow is right...and I think he's on to something...the source of our sadness can often be found inside of ourselves. The sadness finds us when we realize that we are living...we're just not living our life. We're living but we are living the life everyone expects us to live and imagines us living. We have never truly given thought to who we are and where we might be going and what it is our hearts calls us to be and do. Jayber Crow says it well, "The picture that I had inside me was more real than anything outside, and yet it was getting smaller and farther away and harder to call back."
The picture that we have inside of us is often the dream that God plants within. It's the picture of who we feel called to be and do..it's the "God dream" planted within our soul. Young Jayer Crow is fighing with all his might to keep that dream alive amidst his struggles with who he is, where he is from, and where he is going. He is on a journey...literally...back home Port Williams where he eventually becomes the town barber. But, he is also on a different kind of journey - the journey back to who he truly is and what he truly believe. That picture of ourselves is inside of us and it is more real than anything outside but it gets smaller and farther away as the years go by. And, if we let it, that which is real inside of us becomes nothing more then a distant memory. It becomes so distant that we convince ourselves that it's not real and that it was foolish to believe we could ever do "this or that." Pretty soo, we just give up and we enter into living a resigned life...resigned to "that's just the way things are" and we go through the motions of doing what is most productive and necessary.
The spiritual journey, among other things, seems to me to be an experience of calling back that which is most real inside of each of us. It's a "going home" to who we truly are and who we knew we were created to be. The spiritual life is exactly that...a life. It's not an event. It's not a show. It's not an exercise in "impression management". It's a life - a life of calling back that which is more real within us - and living our life.
The danger, as Jayber Crow put is, is that we may end up living a "theoretical life". The meaningof "theory" is simply, "A set of ideas offering an explanation on how something work or why something happens but has not been completely proved." A "theoretical life" is a life that has all sort of opinions, explanations, and ideas...but it's not a life that has been lived. A theortical faith is the same - all sort of opinions, ideas, explanations, ideas, and answers - but not something that has really been lived. Jayber Crow tells us directly that without a loved life we simply become theoretical people...and what's worse...who we really are and were created to be becomes a distant memory which, some day, we might never be able to call back.
Dont' just live...live your life...live a loved life.
(words of Jayber Crow in Wendell Berry's novel, Jayber Crow)
Personal sadness is an elusive thing in the sense that we often don't know where it comes from and we're not sure we know where it will take us. Since it doesnt seem to take us anywhere we often look for where it comes from. We end up looking outside of ourselves to locate the source of our sadness and we try to fix it with things outside of ourselves. But, if young Jayber Crow is right...and I think he's on to something...the source of our sadness can often be found inside of ourselves. The sadness finds us when we realize that we are living...we're just not living our life. We're living but we are living the life everyone expects us to live and imagines us living. We have never truly given thought to who we are and where we might be going and what it is our hearts calls us to be and do. Jayber Crow says it well, "The picture that I had inside me was more real than anything outside, and yet it was getting smaller and farther away and harder to call back."
The picture that we have inside of us is often the dream that God plants within. It's the picture of who we feel called to be and do..it's the "God dream" planted within our soul. Young Jayer Crow is fighing with all his might to keep that dream alive amidst his struggles with who he is, where he is from, and where he is going. He is on a journey...literally...back home Port Williams where he eventually becomes the town barber. But, he is also on a different kind of journey - the journey back to who he truly is and what he truly believe. That picture of ourselves is inside of us and it is more real than anything outside but it gets smaller and farther away as the years go by. And, if we let it, that which is real inside of us becomes nothing more then a distant memory. It becomes so distant that we convince ourselves that it's not real and that it was foolish to believe we could ever do "this or that." Pretty soo, we just give up and we enter into living a resigned life...resigned to "that's just the way things are" and we go through the motions of doing what is most productive and necessary.
The spiritual journey, among other things, seems to me to be an experience of calling back that which is most real inside of each of us. It's a "going home" to who we truly are and who we knew we were created to be. The spiritual life is exactly that...a life. It's not an event. It's not a show. It's not an exercise in "impression management". It's a life - a life of calling back that which is more real within us - and living our life.
The danger, as Jayber Crow put is, is that we may end up living a "theoretical life". The meaningof "theory" is simply, "A set of ideas offering an explanation on how something work or why something happens but has not been completely proved." A "theoretical life" is a life that has all sort of opinions, explanations, and ideas...but it's not a life that has been lived. A theortical faith is the same - all sort of opinions, ideas, explanations, ideas, and answers - but not something that has really been lived. Jayber Crow tells us directly that without a loved life we simply become theoretical people...and what's worse...who we really are and were created to be becomes a distant memory which, some day, we might never be able to call back.
Dont' just live...live your life...live a loved life.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Being Changed By Questions
"By then I wasn't just asking questions; I was being changed by them. I was being changed by my prayers, which dwindled down nearer and nearer to silence, which weren't confrontations with God but with the difficulty - in my own mind, or in the human lot - of knowing what or how to pray. Lying awake at night, I could feel myself being changed - into what, I had no idea. It was worse than wondering if I had received the call. I wasn't just a student or a going-to-be preacher anymore. I was a lost traveler wandering in the woods, needing to be on my way somewhere but not knowing where."
Jayber Crow, by Wendell Berry
I am just beginning this novel by Wendell Berry. It's about a young man who struggles with his "call" to ministry and in the end abandons that call and becomes a barber. Through his struggles, you read about his spiritual journey and his interactions with the various people of the town. In this novel - this story - I find myself reflected in the Jayber's thoughts and struggles.
In the end, we just don't ask questions, we are changed by them. Questions have a negative connotation with some folks - as if they signify doubt. And, maybe they do indicate doubt. But doubt is not the end of faith. Sometimes it's the beginning. If we allow them to, our questions will change us and not always for the negative - many times for the positive. Our questions change us into folks who realize that life is not always about having easy answers but sometimes living in the middle of ambiguity but with a deep faith in God who also resides in that ambiguity. Our questions change us into people who keep searching and keep exploring because we don't believe we hear the final word in this lifetime - but that there is more to learn, more to hear, and more to understand. Our questions keep us humble and open because we don't fall into the arrogance of feeling we now know it all.
A deep step in faith happens when we realize we are not just asking questions but that we are allowing the questions to change us. That's when we realize we are truly on a spiritual journey and a powerful search. And maybe, just maybe, there will be an answer along the way that will transform our hearts and souls.
Jayber Crow, by Wendell Berry
I am just beginning this novel by Wendell Berry. It's about a young man who struggles with his "call" to ministry and in the end abandons that call and becomes a barber. Through his struggles, you read about his spiritual journey and his interactions with the various people of the town. In this novel - this story - I find myself reflected in the Jayber's thoughts and struggles.
In the end, we just don't ask questions, we are changed by them. Questions have a negative connotation with some folks - as if they signify doubt. And, maybe they do indicate doubt. But doubt is not the end of faith. Sometimes it's the beginning. If we allow them to, our questions will change us and not always for the negative - many times for the positive. Our questions change us into folks who realize that life is not always about having easy answers but sometimes living in the middle of ambiguity but with a deep faith in God who also resides in that ambiguity. Our questions change us into people who keep searching and keep exploring because we don't believe we hear the final word in this lifetime - but that there is more to learn, more to hear, and more to understand. Our questions keep us humble and open because we don't fall into the arrogance of feeling we now know it all.
A deep step in faith happens when we realize we are not just asking questions but that we are allowing the questions to change us. That's when we realize we are truly on a spiritual journey and a powerful search. And maybe, just maybe, there will be an answer along the way that will transform our hearts and souls.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Our Smaller Stories In Light of God's Story
Since the retreat with the good folks at the Advent Center, I have been contemplating the meaning of story even more. In preparation for teaching a summer series on Ephesians for an Adult Sunday morning class, I picked up the new commentary by N.T Wright entitled Paul for Everyone. In his introduction Ephesians and his beginning comments about chapter one in Ephesians, Wright as this to say:
"Paul's great prayer at the opening of this letter is a celebration of the larger story within which every single Christian story - every story of individual conversion, faith, spiritual life, obedience and hope - is set. Only by understanding and celebrating the larger story can we hope to understand everything that's going on in our own smaller stories, and so observe God at work in and through our own lives."
N.T. Wright's thought were just a reminder to me that our lives are truly made up of smaller stories. These stories are sometimes written by us and sometimes they are scripts handed to us through other people's expectations. Also, we find "substitute stories" that give our lives a sense of meaning and even hope. The only way we can truly understand our stories is to live them in light of the larger story which has to do with God and God's work in our life and world.
And, as a way of explaining the "contents" of this story, N.T Wright states it this way: "Look back over the story which Paul has told as an act of worship. God has taken the initiative; God has done what was necessary at great cost to himself, to buy us back from the slavery of sin; God has given us the spirit as a sign and foretaste of the whole renewed cosmos which awaits us as our inheritance. Discovering that you are to receive an inheritance like that should change your whole life. How can you not join in the hymn of praise."
Our story...our larger story...is a story or praise which gives shape and meaning to our smaller stories.
"Paul's great prayer at the opening of this letter is a celebration of the larger story within which every single Christian story - every story of individual conversion, faith, spiritual life, obedience and hope - is set. Only by understanding and celebrating the larger story can we hope to understand everything that's going on in our own smaller stories, and so observe God at work in and through our own lives."
N.T. Wright's thought were just a reminder to me that our lives are truly made up of smaller stories. These stories are sometimes written by us and sometimes they are scripts handed to us through other people's expectations. Also, we find "substitute stories" that give our lives a sense of meaning and even hope. The only way we can truly understand our stories is to live them in light of the larger story which has to do with God and God's work in our life and world.
And, as a way of explaining the "contents" of this story, N.T Wright states it this way: "Look back over the story which Paul has told as an act of worship. God has taken the initiative; God has done what was necessary at great cost to himself, to buy us back from the slavery of sin; God has given us the spirit as a sign and foretaste of the whole renewed cosmos which awaits us as our inheritance. Discovering that you are to receive an inheritance like that should change your whole life. How can you not join in the hymn of praise."
Our story...our larger story...is a story or praise which gives shape and meaning to our smaller stories.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The Spiritual Life as Story - Advent Center Retreat, June 3-6, 2009
Last week I had the good fortune of being a presenter at a retreat sponsored by the Advent Center out of Mars Hill, NC. The Advent Center is a ministry that offers a place for folks to experience spirituality and forms of contemplative worship, centering prayer, and a variety of spiritual practices. It is inter-denominational and inter-faith although it has a defined Christian orientation. But, within it's Christian focus, it is very inclusive. The retreat was held at the Laurel Ridge Moravian Conference Center north of Wilkesboro, North Carolina - a beautiful conference center that is probably one of the best kept secrets in North Carolina...other then the Moravians...I'm sure they know about it.
The theme of the retreat was "A Story-Filled Life: Listening to and Living Into Our Stories." Essentially the focus was on acknowledging that our lives are shaped and formed by stories and that our life is, in fact, a living story. The question becomes - what is shaping and forming our personal story? Without a doubt, many forces, events, people, and places have formed and informed our personal stories. Some of these have been positive and some have not. The other piece to this retreat, then, was to connect up our personal stories with the Biblical story. Or, as Ron Martoia calls it, God's "Great Big Fat Story". In other words, how can God's story inform our personal stories and how can the great big story of the Biblical narrative inform our personal stories and journey? To this end, we are invited to listen to the Biblical story to see how it informs our story and where we are invited in.
In this retreat, we are invited to consider four areas that affect and impact our personal stories: events, places, people, and community. Each of these areas has the potential to have a significant impact on our personal story. And, in fact, they might already have. For my part, I sought to show how certain Biblical stories exemplified each of these areas. For example, the event of Jesus baptism and places such as Jacob wrestling with God or the woman at the well that interacted with Jesus. And, people such as Eli and Samuel or Ruth and Naomi. Each of these Bibical stories exemplified these areas and reminded us that we have had events, places, people, and even communites that have shaped our story. To this end, it was a few days of truly hearing people's stories and exploring our own stories.
I want to add what a fantastic job the leadership team of Amy Jennings, Stephanie Ford, and Paula Dempsey did in planning such a spiritually enriching event. I have spoken at events before but this was a first time of not only giving but receiving! A huge part of what enriched me were the worship times organized around the Daily Office. We had morning, noon, late afternoon, and evening prayes. It was a nice way to add a spiritual rhythm to our lives. This was a gift to me. Having come off a very hectic schedule prior to the retreat, the pace of the worship times, the music, and the intentional focus on prayer, centering, and seeking the Living Christ was like cool water to a parched soul.
I will have more to say about this retreat and it's theme but I would encourage everyone to check out the Advent Center and all it has to offer. These are wonderful folks offering a wonderful ministry that truly exemplifies hospitality. You can find out more about them at www.adventcenter.org
I close with this quote from Sue Monk Kidd: "A personal spiritual story is the narration of the unique movements of the human soul. At the deepest level we are stories being told by the Storyteller. Yet we are called to participate with God in the telling of our own tale, to become co-story-tellers, discovering and shaping our individual stories, and in doing so, enriching God's universal story."
The theme of the retreat was "A Story-Filled Life: Listening to and Living Into Our Stories." Essentially the focus was on acknowledging that our lives are shaped and formed by stories and that our life is, in fact, a living story. The question becomes - what is shaping and forming our personal story? Without a doubt, many forces, events, people, and places have formed and informed our personal stories. Some of these have been positive and some have not. The other piece to this retreat, then, was to connect up our personal stories with the Biblical story. Or, as Ron Martoia calls it, God's "Great Big Fat Story". In other words, how can God's story inform our personal stories and how can the great big story of the Biblical narrative inform our personal stories and journey? To this end, we are invited to listen to the Biblical story to see how it informs our story and where we are invited in.
In this retreat, we are invited to consider four areas that affect and impact our personal stories: events, places, people, and community. Each of these areas has the potential to have a significant impact on our personal story. And, in fact, they might already have. For my part, I sought to show how certain Biblical stories exemplified each of these areas. For example, the event of Jesus baptism and places such as Jacob wrestling with God or the woman at the well that interacted with Jesus. And, people such as Eli and Samuel or Ruth and Naomi. Each of these Bibical stories exemplified these areas and reminded us that we have had events, places, people, and even communites that have shaped our story. To this end, it was a few days of truly hearing people's stories and exploring our own stories.
I want to add what a fantastic job the leadership team of Amy Jennings, Stephanie Ford, and Paula Dempsey did in planning such a spiritually enriching event. I have spoken at events before but this was a first time of not only giving but receiving! A huge part of what enriched me were the worship times organized around the Daily Office. We had morning, noon, late afternoon, and evening prayes. It was a nice way to add a spiritual rhythm to our lives. This was a gift to me. Having come off a very hectic schedule prior to the retreat, the pace of the worship times, the music, and the intentional focus on prayer, centering, and seeking the Living Christ was like cool water to a parched soul.
I will have more to say about this retreat and it's theme but I would encourage everyone to check out the Advent Center and all it has to offer. These are wonderful folks offering a wonderful ministry that truly exemplifies hospitality. You can find out more about them at www.adventcenter.org
I close with this quote from Sue Monk Kidd: "A personal spiritual story is the narration of the unique movements of the human soul. At the deepest level we are stories being told by the Storyteller. Yet we are called to participate with God in the telling of our own tale, to become co-story-tellers, discovering and shaping our individual stories, and in doing so, enriching God's universal story."
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