I have been revisiting my bookshelf this summer and decided to make this a series in the month of August. Each week I will rediscover an old friend, reread its wisdom and share a title, its theme, a few quotes, and a small reflection/application. When I slowly took the books from the shelf it felt like I was holding treasure. I can’t help to think that wisdom in these pages call to me for this particular time. And the excitement of possibilities! “A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.” – Robertson Davies Hearing with the Heart - Debra Farrington Discernment is an essential spiritual practice for all of us. Hearing with the Heart was one of the first books I read about discernment and still continues today to be a resource of wisdom and guidance. “To discern means more than to understand or to make a decision, Discern comes from the Latin … [Read more...]
Hassles Happen
When you travel, hassles happen.When you don’t travel, hassles happen. I was thinking the other day about some of the glitches that occurred on our vacations. Moments of frustrations. Change in plans. Disappointments. Then I remember snags, detours, and mishaps occurred on almost every trip – some I remember, but often most fade behind the good memories. But hassles happen even when we don’t travel, right? Those everyday nuisances, interruptions, glitches. Internet that won’t work. Dead batteries. Missed appointments. Too many things to do. Dishes break. Forgotten birthdays. Misplaced items. Hassles happen. Glitches are a part of life, home or while traveling. Now I am not referring to major life events – a troubling diagnosis, a failing marriage, a job loss, or unexpected death or injury. But when I step back and look at life, it is the little annoyances that many times drain our spirits. Ever notice how these tiny gremlins accumulate? That is when I lose my patience … [Read more...]
Practice of the Presence – Book Review
Practice of the Presence is a new translation of the writings by and about Brother Lawrence. Carmen Acevedo Butcher is the author and I love the way she works with his words and brings them alive in our century. She includes her notes, so the reader also has a deeper understanding of her reasons for choices for translation. I have known about Brother Lawrence for quite a while, yet this new book animated his spirituality. I highlighted, journaled, and took copious notes. I didn’t just read this book, its practices seeped into my life. Brother Lawrence, birth name of Nicolas Herman, was born in1614. He lived in the time of the Thirty-Year War (when he was injured, a disability that he suffered with the rest of his life), bubonic plagues, poverty, and famine. When he was 18, he received “a profound awareness of God’s kindness and power there never left his soul.” He failed as a monk, but re-entered a monastery in Paris as a lay brother in 1640 when he received his new … [Read more...]
Empty
Empty. Simple thoughts stirring in my soul. Empty is a word unfolding in my heart lately. Holding space within me and for what will be, not full of my plans and to do’s. I become an empty cup. Empty of me.Empty of words.Empty in anticipation.Empty to receive. “God cannot fill what is full. He can fill only emptiness – deep poverty – and your “yes” [to Jesus] is the beginning of being or becoming empty. It is not how much we really “have” to give – but how empty we are – so that we can receive fully in our life and let him live his life in us. In you today – he wants to relive his complete submission to his father – allow him to do so. Take away your eyes from yourself and rejoice that you have nothing.” Mother Theresa I suppose being empty could also imply spiritual drying, times of not experiencing God. Loneliness. Fear. But this time empty is more of an invitation to feast, not a wilderness to wander. To be loved, not lost. More God, not me or the world. Letting … [Read more...]
Mid-Year Check-up
We have hit the mid-year point in 2023 – time for a check-up. Maybe a better word would be check-in as in assessing your inner self where are you, where you wanted to be, and where you are heading. Many of our yearly goals have long disappeared and lie in a pile of “I’ll get to that later” and “I know at the end of the year, I will regret not at least trying.” But I am a goal setter and do attempt to grow and accomplish what I set out to do. Guess it’s my nature or my paranoia. HA! But the end of June issues an invitation to each of us to pause and take a look. To evaluate and possibly realign our trajectory for the rest of 2023. To celebrate, adjust, forgive, and move forward with life. Goal Check-Up Yes I am strange when it comes to goals. I print them out. I divide them into quarters. I hang the sheets up on the wall by my desk. Then I only glance at them periodically. But I don’t give up. Or least I keep dreaming. I know I won’t … [Read more...]
Forgiveness – A Complex, Challenging, and Heavy Practice
F stands for forgiveness. Forgiveness is a pillar of a healthy spirituality. In 2023 I plan to explore different building blocks, components, the essential nutrients that support a vibrant strong life with God. I hope to learn, study, and share thoughts about these various aspects and hope they bring fresh insights to all of our earthly journeys as God continues to shape our souls. I am also participating in a yearlong “Reading the Sacred in Everyday Life” program by SpiritualityandPractice.com. Each week we study an alphabet practice through readings, movie clips, discussion, presentations, quotes, poems and many other rich thought-provoking and heart-stretching words. This site actually offers 37 practices, so some letters are repeated twice. F stood for faith. F also represented forgiveness. Faith appears easy at first, but the readings burrowed new perspectives deep into my being. But forgiveness pushed me into uncomfortable realities of wounds long buried and concepts … [Read more...]
What’s Saving My Life Right Now?
What’s saving my life right now? Now. At this present moment. What is life-giving, uplifting, refreshing and stirring my spirit? What’s saving my life right now is a question Emily Freeman (A true mentor of mine) asks frequently. She discovered this question in a book by Barbara Brown Taylor (another mentor of mine!) in her book, Leaving Church. Taylor shares the story of being a guest speaker at an event. When she asked for her topic, this was her host’s request: “Tell us what is saving your life right now.” These words invite us to pause, reflect, and savor what is giving us life at this moment. When I relistened to Emily’s podcast and what she was noticing in her life, that question dug deep into my soul. What is saving my life right now? What’s Saving My Life? Journaling – I know writing in a journal isn’t for everyone but wrestling with words to express my prayers, my desires, my longings, my hurts brings me healing and draws me closer to God. This is an … [Read more...]
Be Curious – Pondering the Pillars of a Healthy Spirituality
What are the pillars of a healthy spirituality? In 2023 I am exploring different building blocks, components, the essential nutrients that support a vibrant strong life with God. I hope to learn, study, and share thoughts about these various aspects and hope they bring fresh insights to all of our earthly journeys as God continues to shape our souls. This is our third exploration of one of the characteristics of a healthy spirituality. You can read about the others, being awake and being humble here and here. This week I am sharing interesting and curious quotes and insights about curiosity. Quotes “When you’re curious you find lots of interesting things to do.” Walt Disney “If you can let go of passion and follow your curiosity, your curiosity just might lead you to your passion.” Elizabeth Gilbert "Be curious, not judgmental.” Walt Whitman “I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that … [Read more...]