4,000 Neighbors And Me
Good morning... Four thousand neighbors struggle with me through an internet outage. We have been without service for about thirty-six hours, thus no blog post this morning. No internet also means no TV, no email, none of the normal communications I usually take for granted. An insight sparks as I sit at Starbucks at 8:30 pm, writing. Our final scripture verse in our last blog was this: On a good day, enjoy yourself; [...]
When It Came Time To Leave
Good morning... Thoroughly enjoying our final Monday class, we read aloud some of our favorite passages from The Other Side of Chaos by Margaret Silf. The fourteenth chapter is entitled Yesterday Is Already Ours. This enduring truth - yesterday is already ours - is embedded in us as we walk away from a transformative season together. Now let's remember the deep wisdom we all hold most dear. ****** Excerpt from The Other Side [...]
We Can Never Go Back
Good morning... Sometimes there is a "before," and then there's an "after." Developmentally, our magical thinking evaporates around at around age ten, replaced by concrete perception and object permanency. There is no recovering what is lost. Good-bye peek-a-boo, magic elves doing mischief in the middle of the night, Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, and make-believe worlds. We can never go back to un-know what we start to know. Once our tiny eyes are [...]
Just Like Bath Water
Good morning... Over the past twenty-four hours, I have reminded myself repeatedly, "Be a reservoir." When I was tempted to talk too much . . . then decided to listen instead, "Be a reservoir." When I crafted a long confusing text . . . before deleting it, "Be a reservoir." When I felt sucked into the middle of things . . . and instead stood still, "Be a reservoir." When I was invited [...]
Live Like A Reservoir
Good morning... We meet monthly as a small group of spiritual directors, learning to listen keenly for the movement of God. Practicing a new-to-me way of focusing our attention, yesterday I said, "I would need to repeat this way of listening, regularly, by myself, processing my own experiences and gradually building up my inner resources, before I would ever feel comfortable guiding another person in this way." One friend said, "I get it. [...]
This One Thing
Good morning... She texted me the photo above after enjoying yesterday's post, Power Drained Out Of Me. Having gone with her church to the Holy Land the day after our group returned from our trip in March, she wondered, "Did you guys go to this church (please don't ask me where) in Israel with this painting of the woman touching Jesus and the power going out of him? It was beautiful and powerful." [...]
Power Drained Out Of Me
Good morning... Last night power drained out of me, as I taught a roomful of women at a nearby church. The requested topic? The Enneagram, an ancient personality test used by Christian mystics. My source of exhaustion? A new group of people, a plethora of information, tons of creative energy expended. The greatest grace experienced? Afterwards, I had time alone at home to gradually recharge. I felt drawn to create a Soul Collage [...]
Welcome To My Guest House
Good morning... Before we began our time together, she read aloud to us this poem. ****** The Guest House by Jalaluddin Rumi This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes As an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they're a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still treat each guest [...]
What Is Love All About?
Good morning... I like to buy $3.00 bunches of outdated flowers from Kroger. Continuing to allow last week's roses to gently unfold, I am keeping them on as they age quietly, at their own pace. With the dying process, the fragrance changes. The soft texture dries and browns. The layers droop down into a new form of beauty. These roses remind me of an important writing about love. ****** What is Love? By [...]
Good Friends Help
Good morning... Our Friday class began by giving updates on our prayer concerns. The basement space in our home, where we gather for class, has lovingly been called "a womb with a view," as we circle up in the presence of God, week after week, important things gestate in the hiddenness of our soul. Then last night I received the tender image above from one of these friends, Joan Alexander, who recently spoke [...]
We All Need A Little Mercy Now
Good morning... The rains held off, and we walked in wonderful weather, mild and inviting. Along our way, we ran into two 'soul friends' also walking and talking at the horse farm. One is supporting her husband through treatment for his pancreatic cancer and the other is blossoming beautifully on the other side of a divorce and remarriage to the love of her life. Both are being schooled by the Spirit, moment by [...]
Let This Day Gently Unfold
Good morning... We were trying to schedule a walk-and-talk to and from the horse farm. "Tomorrow might work as long as the weather holds..." she texted. "Want to play it by ear and text each other in the morning?" "Yes, that's perfect," I responded. "Have an awesome day. Just let it gently unfold." I looked up and snapped a photo of an antique pink rose unfolding on our coffee table. With my 'soul [...]