Looking for God’s Goodness in contemplation and prayer. Three Ways to View the Sunset. Father Richard describes how a simple experience such as viewing a sunset can be an opportunity for contemplative “third-eye” seeing:
Continue reading “Week Twenty-Four. Connected. Looking for God’s Goodness and Weekly Reflection Summary.”What stops you from having complete and absolute confidence in God’s endless goodness? Have the doors of your heart been locked over time? What is it that makes us stop cold in the path of conversion and commitment?
Continue reading “Week Twenty-Four. Connected. Total Confidence.”I was fortunate to have the Golden Rule as one of my life guideposts. Treating others how I want to be treated is part of my rule of life. But there is a fine line I can cross when I’m not constantly seeking awareness and knowing myself.
Continue reading “Week Twenty-Four. Connected. A Soft Heart.”We are promised the gift of peace. I often use this as a litmus test for myself to see if I’m functioning in God’s will or my own. If I’m connected and living in a relationship with God, the wholeness of who I am, body, mind and spirit, I have a sense of calm and trusting peace.
Continue reading “Week Twenty-Four. Connected. Body, Mind and Spirit.”As I get to know my authentic self, I have confidence and hopeful acceptance. As humans we all long to be loved and to belong. When I feel more at home in my own skin, I appreciate my unique beauty. I start to understand that I am a single drop of paint on the canvas of God’s masterpiece.
Continue reading “Week Twenty-Four. Connected. Hopeful Vision.”So much of life we live in our brokenness rather than living a life of transformation and wholeness. It’s our human condition, but God’s love helps us bridge the divide within ourselves. We are better together rather than apart. God’s love and support allows me to see deep within my heart. I know I can only see as far into the world as I can see into myself.
Continue reading “Week Twenty-Four. Connected. Better Together.”Today we celebrate the Holy Trinity in the church. The deeper I fall into a relationship with God, the more I appreciate the ways he presents Himself to me. God is so much bigger than I can ever know or understand but to draw me in a relationship, He speaks to me in ways that I can taste and see, ways to remain in the Spirit and stay firmly connected in love.
Continue reading “Week Twenty-Four. Connected. In Love.”Looking for God’s Goodness in contemplation and prayer. The Gravity Center focused on contemplative activism, provides a Loving Kindness meditation as an unconditional, inclusive meditation practice that aids in the development of radical compassion for yourself and others. Called metta bhavana in the Buddhist tradition, this practice may be adapted or used as a tool for coming into greater awareness of your own belovedness. When practicing a Loving Kindness meditation, we dial down the voice of our inner critic, muting the self-criticism, and internal commentary. In this way, we open to “presence of being” with ourselves in a non-judging way, just as we are. Herein lies the portal to generating compassion. The practice of Loving Kindness progresses from generating compassion for ourselves, to those we love, and eventually for even those we may consider our enemy.
Continue reading “Week Twenty-Three. Fortitude in Love. Looking for God’s Goodness and Weekly Reflection Summary.”There is the saying that if you aren’t moving forward, you are moving backward. I’m finding that this is especially true in spiritual life. If I’m not always striving to do better, live a virtuous life, and make progress, I’m usually surrendering to the comfort of worldly things and ideals.
Continue reading “Week Twenty-Three. Fortitude in Love. Making Progress.”Do you own your God-given belovedness? As I grow in this awareness, there is a presence about me that flows to others around me and from them back to me. It’s the ability to take a sacred pause when I want to react in an emotional manipulative way, take a deep breath in prayer, and respond with kindness and love. This shifts the energy in the interaction into detachment, allowing God to dictate the flow. As I see through God’s eyes, I can recognize this flow around me. The flow of pure love and God’s goodness.
Continue reading “Week Twenty-Three. Fortitude in Love. Pure Love.”
Smitten With Goodness 