This Ignatius Life is one of my favorite blogs to read. I enjoy their world view and challenging posts.Last week the post titled “The Daily Working” by Michelle Franci-Donnay resonated with me. Here is a portion of what she wrote:“You have to love the daily working,” suggested choreographer Merce Cunningham. He was talking about what it took to be a dancer — not a teacher, researcher, writer, mother or contemplative, or in my case, all those things tangled into a single day. He meant you have to enjoy being crammed into a studio taking class with forty other students, that you have to delight in the doing of the hundred-thousandth plie. You have to be willing to lovingly and gratefully return to the basics each and every day, even — and perhaps most particularly — in the midst of chaos, or you cannot dance.”Dancing in the everyday nitty-gritty of life. For me this means finding the joy in the sometimes-tedious details of the life of a writer, a speaker, a retreat leader, a mother, a … [Read more...]
Children in Jesus’ Arms
And he took the children in his arms,placed his hands on themand blessed them.Mark 10: 16Children in his armsWhat a tender moment, Lord.You welcoming the littlest ones into Your kingdom.You pausing from the main task of the world to greet, bless and love children.Or did You really pause? Break from Your primary purpose?Or did You come to earth to wrap Your arms around each of us?To remind us You love and accept us as we are, immature, misbehaving, delightful children of God?Lord, let me rest in Your arms today.When the world crashes around me and buries me in its rubble of hate, misunderstandings, wars and lies, I need the peace found only in Your embrace.When fear takes my heart and angry occupies my mind, I run to You for Your healing touch.When my path is dark, confusing, and full of potholes and detours, Your hand gently guides me.May I spend the rest of my life, as a child, in Your embrace. … [Read more...]
Permission: Let Your Light Shine – Quote of the Week
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God … It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same."- Marianne Williamson … [Read more...]
Embracing Obscurity – Book Review
On retreat this summer the leader told us about one of St John of the Cross’s prayers:Make me invisible, Lord.That prayer has lingered with me and invited me to think about insignificance as a spiritual discipline. I am a three on the Enneagram and if you know anything about that personality, I thrive on achievement. Accomplishment is my motivator whether it is crossing things off my to-do list, obtaining goals and diving into items on my bucket list. I am driven to make a difference, to be remembered, and to leave a lasting legacy.I “do” “do” well. Just “being” is a lifelong struggle for me.Imagine then my astonishment at a book titled: Embracing Obscurity - Becoming Nothing in Light of God’s Everything. When I had a chance to read this advance copy of this new book published by B & H Publishing, I took the opportunity. God was certainly getting my attention with this topic.And get this: the author is “anonymous.” Isn’t that different? The book tells us this is a well-known author … [Read more...]
Lessons from the Tough Times
1968.1968 was a tough year. Earthquakes and wars left the world unsettled. Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia. Our own county erupted in riots; Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. Viet Nam dominated the evening news with body counts.1968 was a tough year for my family too. My dad had died the year before and my mom and I moved. Both my brothers were serving in Viet Nam. My mom glued herself to the news each night to try to understand what was happening. I was oblivious to my mom’s emotional plight. Wrapped up in my senior year of high school, I made plans to head off next year for the new exciting world of college. I look back on that year now and just can’t imagine how empty her world was - her sons in war, empty nest looming and struggling with being a widow. I never heard my mom complain. She survived.Sometimes tough times are just plain “get through” times. 1944.For our local newspaper I interview the men and women who go on “Honor Flights,” the group … [Read more...]
Prayer is the Key – Lectio Divina
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray.Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.James 5: 13-16PrayHere You go again, Lord. Reminding me in Your simple, pure, and unconditionally uncomplicated way.Prayer is the key.If I am upset. Troubled. Struggling. Failing, Stressed and up the creek without a paddle - PrayWhen all is wonderful. Joy abounds. I move freely without the weight of the world - PrayCranky with cold, cancer or other conditions - Pray.Darkened by sin, fearful by the menacing world events, shamed with my own failings - Pray.Just come to You open and … [Read more...]
The Wonder of a Child – Quote of the Week
“Children live in a world of dreams and imagination, a world of aliveness...There is a voice of wonder and amazement inside all of us,but we grow to realize we can no longer hear and we live in silence.It isn’t that God stopped speaking; it is that our lives became louder."Mike Yaconelli … [Read more...]
What/Who Do You Honor?
I heard a fun and interesting speaker this past weekend. Terry Hershey is the author of numerous books including The Power of Pause and Soul Gardening. His superb story telling opens the heart and makes you think and the quotes he shares lingers within you.Terry said one of his favorite quotes was by Plato: “What is honored will be cultivated.”He noted that Plato didn’t say what is taught, what is learned, what is believed, but what is honored. When we honor something, it grows, develops, encourages, and supports.I looked up and the actual quote from Plato is this: "What is honored in a country will be cultivated there." Mmmmm, now there is another aspect to think about!But the whole issue of what am I honoring in my life has stayed with me this week. What does it mean to honor something/someone? In my life am I honoring God? Honoring the Sabbath? Honoring others? Honoring myself as a child of God?To honor means to treat with respect, to keep your word, to speak highly of someone … [Read more...]