The Gift of Quieting . . .

 

To all that is chaotic in you,                                                                                                    let there come silence.

Let there be
a calming
of the clamoring,
a stilling
of the voices that
have laid their claim
on you,
that have made their
home in you,

that go with you
even to the
holy places
but will not
let you rest,
will not let you
hear your life
with wholeness
or feel the grace
that fashioned you.

Let what distracts you
cease.
Let what divides you
cease.
Let there come an end
to what diminishes
and demeans,
and let depart
all that keeps you
in its cage.

Let there be
an opening
into the quiet
that lies beneath
the chaos,
where you find
the peace
you did not think
possible
and see what shimmers
within the storm.

~ Jan Richardson, paintedprayerbook.com   

https://www.janrichardson.com/

 

The Art of being present . . .

 

 

 

Two Drops of Oil

Spiritual Story by Paulo Coelho

A merchant sent his son to learn the Secret of Happiness from the wisest of men. The young man wandered through the desert for forty days until he reached a beautiful castle at the top of a mountain. There lived the sage that the young man was looking for.

 However, instead of finding a holy man, our hero entered a room and saw a great deal of activity; merchants coming and going, people chatting in the corners, a small orchestra playing sweet melodies, and there was a table laden with the most delectable dishes of that part of the world.

 The wise man talked to everybody, and the young man had to wait for two hours until it was time for his audience.

With considerable patience, he listened attentively to the reason for the boy's visit, but told him that at that moment he did not have the time to explain to him the Secret of Happiness.

He suggested that the young man take a stroll around his palace and come back in two hours' time.

"However, I want to ask you a favor," he added, handing the boy a teaspoon, in which he poured two drops of oil. "While you walk, carry this spoon and don't let the oil spill."
The young man began to climb up and down the palace staircases, always keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. At the end of two hours he returned to the presence of the wise man.

 "So," asked the sage, "did you see the Persian tapestries hanging in my dining room? Did you see the garden that the Master of Gardeners took ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?" Embarrassed, the young man confessed that he had seen nothing. His only concern was not to spill the drops of oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.

"So, go back and see the wonders of my world," said the wise man. "You can't trust a man if you don't know his house."

Now more at ease, the young man took the spoon and strolled again through the palace, this time paying attention to all the works of art that hung from the ceiling and walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains all around the palace, the delicacy of the flowers, the taste with which each work of art was placed in its niche. Returning to the sage, he reported in detail all that he had seen.

"But where are the two drops of oil that I entrusted to you?" asked the sage.
Looking down at the spoon, the young man realized that he had spilled the oil.

 "Well, that is the only advice I have to give you," said the sage of sages. "The Secret of Happiness lies in looking at all the wonders of the world and never forgetting the two drops of oil in the spoon."

Slowing ~ A spiritual exercise!

 

+ + +

“One of the problems with our modern age is that we are driven to do more and more. We are faced with new technologies that make it possible to speed things up driving us to a faster and faster pace in our life. Each week there is a new gadget or software that is presented to us to make our life easier or more productive. Look at how the internet and the use of cell phones have changed our lives. These new technologies do have benefits, but they also speed life up so that we don’t have sufficient time to think about and act on what is really important for our salvation. We become like robots moving through a web of activities deprived of time for what is essential to nourish our soul and to cultivate our spiritual growth. In this mad rush we forget that our aim in this life is to seek union with God. . .

There in no magic formula to slowing down and simplifying your life. The possibilities are endless. Start by clarifying your priority values. Then make a list of all your activities. Record them over a week’s time. Take time to reflect on what you have recorded and which ones fit with your priorities. Think about what you can eliminate to put a different priority in place in your life. Begin to consciously reengineer your pattern of life. Experiment with ways to slow down and simplify and you will find yourself coming closer to God in your daily activities. Through your prayers seek God’s help in this task.”  (~ Rev. Charles Joiner)

 

 

God, put a little slow in my hurry!  (Macrina Wiederkehr)

Ponderings . . .

 

Gather Me to Be with You

O God, gather me now to be with you as you are with me.
Soothe my tiredness; quiet my fretfulness; curb my aimlessness;
Relieve my compulsiveness; let me be easy for a moment.

 + + +  

O God, gather me to be with you as you are with me.

Forgive me for claiming so much for myself that I leave

no room for gratitude; for confusing exercises in self-importance

with acceptance of self-worth;

+ + +

For complaining so much of my burdens that I become a burden;
For competing against others so insidiously that I stifle celebrating
them and receiving your blessing through their gifts.

+ + +

O God, gather me to be with you as you are with me.

Keep me in touch with myself, with my needs,

my anxieties, my angers, my pains, my corruptions,

that I may claim them as my own rather than

blame them on someone else.

+ + +

O God, deepen my wounds into wisdom; shape my weaknesses

into compassion; gentle my envy into enjoyment,

my fear into trust, my guilt into honesty,

my accusing fingers into tickling ones.

+ + +

O God, gather me to be with you as you are with me.

(From: Guerrillas of Grace by Ted Loder)

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

From Litany of Resistance, by Jim Loney

Response: Forgive us, we pray O God.
• For our hardness of the heart
• For wasting our gifts
• For wanting too much
• For wounding the earth

• For ignoring the poor
• For trusting in weapons
• For refusing to listen
• For exporting arms
• For desiring dominance
• For lacking humility

• For failing to risk
• For failing to trust
• For failing to act
• For failing to hope
• For failing to love
• For failing to negotiate
• For our arrogance
• For our impatience
• For our pride
• For our silence

Response: Change our hearts, we pray O God.
• That we learn compassion
• That we embrace nonviolence
• That we act in justice
• That we live in hope
• That we do your will
• That we love our enemies
• That we strive to be peacemakers
• That we live simply
• That we practice sharing
• That we protect the earth
• That we cherish life

Adapted from Pax Christi USA)

The season of risk . . .

  

 

This Time

To everything a season, a time for every purpose under heaven
and yet this time out of all other times is special
A moment of grace,
A kairos time,
A time for urgency when there is no time
A window opened on eternity where all is possible
For those with eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to understand
A time to risk all that has not been risked before
so that we might flow with all that God intends.

A time to seize because it will not come again.
A time to place our lives where words have been.
A time for bridges to be built and others crossed, and others burned,
because there is no going back.
A time to leave the past behind because the present, this precious “now,”
is Holy Ground and from it the future beckons.
To leave the past, and not to do so lightly.
To take it out and dare to look and name what has been done 

and cannot be undone.

To allow the pain to surface.
To give voice to silent wounding, that, hearing, and being heard,
we might with due and holy reverence allow the dying to take place,
and, picking up the pieces that give life, to travel on;
our burden now a cleansed and sanctified inheritance;
one that puts into our step a spring and into our hearts
a flame of hope that cannot be extinguished.

This time so fragile and so priceless, gift of God to you and me
to grasp and to embrace, to give it all we’ve got;
and, in the giving and receiving, to learn to celebrate the Presence of the One
who in His mercy and Her grace has given one more time.

~Reverend Ruth Patterson

Our Inner Journey . . .

 

 

The River Birch in winter.

 

“There is no pain or sorrow
which comes to us that has
not first passed through the
heart of God.”   -Meister Eckhart

The river birch with its salmon-colored shaggy bark is very hardy – able to withstand frost and wind, and to thrive well in damp riverside soil. About the only thing it cannot tolerate is shade. Shedding its bark is a natural developmental characteristic – the peeling of paper-thin layers makes room for new growth to happen. If the peeling is premature, the tree will become “wounded” and fail to grow.

Sometimes along our journey of life, we come to an awareness that we need to be healed from our inner wounding that resides deep in our soul space. This healing is always a challenge, a process, and a sacred adventure! Much like the river birch trees, we, too, have layers of old wounds that need to be peeled away, each in its own time.

To set out on this inner quest, we (unlike the river birch) learn to befriend the shade – our shadow self, who truly is our teacher – inviting us to name our fears, doubts, pains, and illusions. In so doing, we gently peel off layers placing all into God’s loving embrace.

With each inner “pilgrimage”, we gather courage and integrity to go ever deeper to enter our wounding with grace and faith. We then let grief have its way with us, allowing our tears to bless us as they carry away our hurts.

The River Birch in autumn.