Have you ever heard of the Enneagram? Think you know yourself? Each year I get to know myself at a deeper level and am slowly understanding how God wired me. I find as I journey through this life, I am accepting and being more compassion of this soul created by God. I’ll journal something and am shocked to reread the words as buried emotions drip from my pen and my heart. My spiritual director asks me a probing question that help me pause and see my actions and behavior in a new light. I quiet myself in the early morning and listen to God. His gentle wisdom guides my self- understanding as a child of God. I mentioned last week a self-assessment I recently completed. You can read that post here. After talking with several of you about that test and what we all learned and pondered, I remembered a book I recently purchased call The Complete Enneagram – 27 Paths to Greater Self Knowledge by Beatrice Chestnut. More light to the age-old question we all face: Who am I? The … [Read more...]
Simple Ideas for the Spiritual Practice of Simplicity
Many of us long to live more simply, but though it sounds easy, implementing this lifestyle is challenging. The spiritual practice of simplicity is this month’s Tending the Holy topic. Each month on my Thursday posts, I pick one theme (or person of faith) to explore deeper. The last two Thursdays, I introduced simplicity, looking at its definition and insights and then listed 10 quotes to ponder and deeper your ideas about this topic. This final week I’m sharing ideas for putting this discipline into practice. Simple Foundation of Simplicity The foundational idea for putting simplicity into action in our daily lives starts with God. It is about God, not us. The central point to simplicity is to seek God first, then everything else will fall into proper order. A single undivided focus on God, a single-minded heart. I am beginning to form a concept about this practice. I identify what distracts me from God and the stuff, possessions, and attitudes I cling to due to fear, hurt, … [Read more...]
Watch What You Pray For
“Watch what you pray for” has been an expression that usually brings a smile of recognition to my face. I nod at its word of caution and crawl back into my safe arena of known predictability. God listens. Be careful, he loves to answer the prayers of his children. “Be careful what you pray for. You just might get it.” - Anonymous Praying can be dangerous business when you trust God and take those steps out of your comfort zone. I enter into prayer wanting the answer to be safe, easy, and clear. I may as well pray: “just fix the problem, Lord. Of course, on MY terms.” But God doesn’t work that way. We come into his presence, tell him our concerns, needs and desires, release them into his hands. He walks with us on this human journey providing times to learn, to be transformed, and to serve. I know this all too well and right now I’m not smiling pleasantly at power of prayer. I’ve taken the risk this summer and ventured into new risky prayers. God is answering me in … [Read more...]
10 Quotes to Ponder about Simplicity
The spiritual practice of simplicity is this month’s Tending the Holy topic. Each month on my Thursday posts, I pick one theme (or person of faith) to explore deeper. Last Thursday I introduced simplicity, looking at its definition and insights about this easy to talk about, but hard to do subject. Next week I will list some practices we can try to create more simple approaches in our living. Today though, I want to share with you some quotes to ponder and take you deeper into spiritual practice. 10 Quotes to Ponder about Simplicity Which one of the follow resonates most with you? Challenges you? Makes you want to copy it and put it in your journal? Take at least one of the quotes and “chew” on it more, allowing the words to open your heart to this practice. Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough. Charles Warner ****** Beware the barrenness of a busy life. Socrates Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast … [Read more...]
Fuel Your Faith – Igniting a Healthy Spirituality
How do we fuel our faith? What do we do when our faith need to be rekindled? When I survey the readers here at Healthy Spirituality, one of the most mentioned struggles is connecting with God and cultivating a deeper relationship with our creator. Too often we live a lukewarm existence mired in a rut of unfulfilled restlessness. How do we live with a vibrant faith? The concept of fueling our faith began to bubble up last year in my heart, my prayers, and my writing. I felt drawn to compiling a resource to help myself and others energize and feed the God-given faith within us. All this led to my latest book. Fuel Your Faith – a Practical Guide to Igniting a Healthy Spirituality is a guidebook to fan the flames of your faith. This book is not a deep theological discourse about spiritual disciplines, but a quick resource for ideas to stir the embers of belief God gives each of us. In Fuel Your Faith, you will: Discover a potpourri of spiritual practices to move you from … [Read more...]
Searching for the Spiritual Practice of Simplicity
Simplicity often makes the bottom of my list of the favorite, most, appealing, and “wow I need to do this” desirable disciplines for me. I feel bad admitting my reaction, but I neglect and put off this practice. We live in a complicated world, overflowing with noise, expectations, and loaded calendars, but there is voice inside me whispering “keep it simple, silly.” I know living simply calls to me, so decided to explore the spiritual practice of simplicity this month on the Tending the Holy Thursday series. Each month on my Thursday posts, I pick one theme (or person of faith) to explore deeper. Today I will share some insights about this topic and next week, 10 quotes to ponder and deepen our journaling about this topic. Then the third week I will list some simple practices we can try to implement this practice in our daily lives. I am giggling as I write this, thinking how ironic it is to write about simplicity and attempting to keep the topic simple. Ahh, my first lesson: … [Read more...]
Seven Fun Facts about the Fourth of July
The Fourth of July has arrived. Where is the summer going so quickly? In the U.S., we celebrate freedom as today was the day the country’s founders signed the Declaration of Independence. In essence, our country’s birthday. Or was this the actual day? I’ll answer that question later. Reflecting on both our personal, our family’s, and our country’s history helps us understand ourselves better and how we fit into God’s grand plan. Whenever I study a person of faith’s story or read about a past faith movement, I take the time to also explore their world view. What else was happening around them that shaped their thoughts and beliefs? What is happening right now in our world that influences us too? Does terrorism make us more cautious? More fearful? Does the political atmosphere drive us into action or press us into the shadows of doubt? How does the current culture affect our faith and the practices we use to express our relationship with God? How would you describe your … [Read more...]
Monthly Musings –What I Learned in June
June busted out all over – remember that song? – in my case, plans, good intentions, and goals all spattered on the cement and melted in the August type humidity we’ve had in NW Ohio. I did NOT get done all I wanted to this month. Seems to me though every summer gets this way and another great reason to pause and review the past month to capture its lessons. How are you living a reflective life? Each month I look back at what I am discovering, learning, and exploring in life – I call these my monthly musings. Capturing these special moments gives meaning, depth, and delight to life. Let’s wake up to the wonders in the ordinary all around us. I record what I notice on the pages of my Monthly Musing Journal. You can use anything, scrapes of papers, a journal, or a calendar. Copies of my Monthly Musing Journal are available on Amazon and are a convenient way to keep track of the little things in life we often miss. Or if you want to click the button at the end of … [Read more...]