Have you ever thought about if you are living dead or alive? Living is experiencing joy in our day despite our circumstances. It is knowing who we are and whose we are. We who live alive bless the Lord now and forever.
Continue reading “Week Eight: Joy. Dead or Alive.”You might find the goodness of hope by Reading with the Divine Presence from the Center for Action and Contemplation, where you can also find the source references.
Lectio divina is a contemplative way of reading and relating to Scripture and other sacred writings. The medieval monk Guigo II (d. 1188) names the four steps of this foundational contemplative practice:
One day when I was busy working with my hands I began to think about our spiritual work, and all at once four stages in spiritual exercise came into my mind: reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation. These make a ladder for monks by which they are lifted up from earth to heaven. It has few rungs, yet its length is immense and wonderful, for its lower end rests upon the earth, but its top pierces the clouds and touches heavenly secrets.
Continue reading “Hope: Looking for God’s Goodness and Weekly Reflection Summary”You might find goodness by reflecting on meaning and God’s timing in this Meditation Poem From Guerrillas of Grace by Ted Loder.
Grant Me Your Sense of Timing
Continue reading “Meaning: Looking for God’s Goodness and Weekly Reflection Summary”Savor is to taste and enjoy something completely. God gifted me with the word “savor” this year, inviting me to become immersed and devoted to the fullness of being and calling me to walk the path of meaning. My life, when lived from the heart, is a life of fullness, taking me to places of love, meaning, truth, and kindness. I live in the image of Christ here on this earth to serve and to love. I become true to myself, holding nothing back.
Continue reading “Week Six: Meaning. Savoring.”Life doesn’t add up but opens. How can it be that I’ve lived in this world for more than fifty eight years and I’m just learning what it means to be open to life. Living a life of openness and being rather than one limited by doing. Living a life always searching and acquiring rather than in the simplicity of enough.
Continue reading “Week Six: Meaning. Open.”During my walk in the world, I can always be kind. Kindness is my truest nature. I have a heavy heart at times seeing our world so far from this, lacking in toleration and kindness. I believe this is the result of us being unkind to ourselves. I’m learning that if I am not kind to myself, I don’t have the bandwidth to be kind to others. I’ve lived in the illusion that I could do this for much of my life. But as I’m walking in the clumsiness of vulnerable living, I’m seeing how I have discounted, invalidated, and sacrificed myself (not in a healthy way) as a means of survival. I see how these skills have made me a success in the world all the while losing my authentic self. As I become immersed in being kind to myself, honoring the gift of my body, paying attention to what I need in the moment and feeding my soul, I learn devotion, love and kindness.
Continue reading “Week Six: Meaning. Kindness”Meaning, truth, and kindness are my constant teachers. They help me live through fear, pain, and disappointment. They are flames that light my heart. But flames burn as well as give off light.
Continue reading “Week Six: Meaning. Truth”How devoted are you to finding meaning and God’s goodness in your life? As Mark Nepo says in the Book of Soul, “It takes effort to stay immersed until wonder reveals itself, and devotion to stay immersed until wonder becomes a way of life.” The word “devote” comes from the Latin meaning “to uphold a vow.” My life has been ever transforming since I became immersed and devoted to God’s goodness.
Continue reading “Week Six: Meaning. Devotion.”I’m learning about the spiritual quality of immersion. It takes effort to stay immersed until wonder reveals itself. I must constantly turn my heart to the good and stay the course in fortitude until my seeing becomes believing becomes seeing. The word immersed comes from the Latin meaning “dip in.” It means giving myself completely to an endeavor until it reveals its meaning.
Continue reading “Week Six: Meaning. Immersion”Finding goodness in this Meditation Poem (On breathing) From The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, by Thich Nhat Hanh
The fourth element of our body is air. The best way to experience the air element is the practice of mindful breathing.
Continue reading “The Path: Looking for God’s Goodness and Weekly Reflection Summary”
Smitten With Goodness 