The hard wooden bench, hundreds of years old, in a small room that was lit with natural light, was warm and quiet as they gathered in silence at Meeting for Worship. My friend Anj had invited me to join her and L as they went to their Quaker gathering on Christmas morning. The silence, like the room, was warm and inviting.
Silence has been revealing her true heart to me in this last while. She has moved out from my view of her as the darkness of punishment and legalism into the warmth of the sunlight and shown me her embrace of tenderness and grace. My solitudinal days in the Rocky Mountains, when I lived in Alberta, have been reframed to include the beauty of silence sitting within intimate spaces with the Almighty.
In the quiet of Meeting for Worship my heart began to race and I became thirsty, literally thirsty for water. Silence often urges me to keep my eyes open and watch while I wait for her to speak to me, to make me very aware of the presence of the Trinity. On this Christmas morning of 2005 I opened my gaze and watched an icicle outside slowly drip drip drip. It had formed, grown and become still in the cold, yet now, on this morning of celebrating new life, new birth, the atmosphere that surrounded it and held it also warmed it and began to melt it. I wondered if the melting was also the water of life for my thirst. Was that my own heart journey being reflected back at me? My gaze roamed the small interior of this wooden structure with uneven beams on the ceiling, walls and floor. The years of journeying were visible, as was the invitation to come and wait within her open room. There were several rooms in this little house for worship but the walls were boards that had been hinged so that they could be lifted up and held fully open. Therefore the rooms were completely open and natural light could be seen within, without any barriers. My own heart has many rooms but if I am willing to open the doors of each one the Spirit will fill them with light. When the heart continues the process of thawing it also needs the sanctuary of warmth and Light to give it courage to remain there. My soul is thirsty for the process to continue.
Silence, sacred silence, invites me to embrace the thirst, embrace the openness, and move more deeply into the place of receiving and giving life. Because silence, for me, is becoming a beautiful open room in the dance of intimacy with the Almighty while at the same time it is the safe sacred embrace where every emotion is honoured.
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Childhood Questions
I just read a delightful comment here about experiencing the new Narnia film with the comments of a small child behind him. I can see the laughter in Wes's eyes and voice as he re-tells this addition to the movie. I often hear people say that Christmas is for children, and of course we want to be the child in that statement as well. But in this moment, reading McNair's outline and the comment my memory sorts through the archives and retrieves moments of inhaling the wonder of wisdom from a person of very few years. You know, those profound moments that when remembered you find such beauty?
Paul used to love to be read to from books on animals, and the most recent one had been describing birds with large beaks. At the dinner table he sat quietly, as my Aunt and Uncle had instructed him to, and to speak only when spoken to. There were often guests at their dinner table and that evening Mr Hill was visiting. When the meal was finished and Paul was excused he turned to Mr Hill, studying his large nose, and seriously inquired of him "are you a horned bill?".
Alicia is just 2 1/2 now and recently she has learned that inquiring about her parents day would be a suitable activity at the dinner table. She places her elbows on the table, her chin in her hands and asks her father, "how was your day Daddy?". When that is finished she asks her mother the same question.
I took two of my nephews to California when they were age 7 and 9. Disneyland was enjoyed but the highlight for Colin was Hearst Castle. One of the stops was the massive library where, out of the crowd came Colin's little voice "please can you tell me how many books are in this library?.
Taking children out to lunch on Sunday was one of my favourites times of getting to know them. One Sunday I had 4 boys along at the restaurant, ages 11, 10, 9 and 4. Asking them what they were going to do when they were finished school gave some great insight as to how they could dream, and what they already knew about themselves. The 11 year old had no clue, and he had never been encouraged to dream. The 10 year old loved food so he thought he would be a food editor and go to all the best restaurants in town. The 9 year old had already spent 2 years learning how to live with juvenile diabetes and had become one who wanted information and knowledge. He was going to be a book illustrator. Josh, the 4 year old was already reading encyclopaedia's for information and he didn't hesitate for a moment when he responded with "I will be a managing director".
Christmas may be our excuse to let the child within have fun but as I remember these titbits I wonder if it isn't a reminder to my own heart to let the wonder and the beauty of spontaneity and fun be the child like part of this adult. To always live with wide eyed wonder and exploration, to never be afraid to be like Lucy, who stepped out of the wardrobe and into the adventure with such curiosity and amazement. There is also the remembering of being full of questions as a child, and my heart and head still are asking questions, still wondering, still wanting to know more. Hmmm those are some good words to keep in mind as these last few days of the year unfold.
Paul used to love to be read to from books on animals, and the most recent one had been describing birds with large beaks. At the dinner table he sat quietly, as my Aunt and Uncle had instructed him to, and to speak only when spoken to. There were often guests at their dinner table and that evening Mr Hill was visiting. When the meal was finished and Paul was excused he turned to Mr Hill, studying his large nose, and seriously inquired of him "are you a horned bill?".
Alicia is just 2 1/2 now and recently she has learned that inquiring about her parents day would be a suitable activity at the dinner table. She places her elbows on the table, her chin in her hands and asks her father, "how was your day Daddy?". When that is finished she asks her mother the same question.
I took two of my nephews to California when they were age 7 and 9. Disneyland was enjoyed but the highlight for Colin was Hearst Castle. One of the stops was the massive library where, out of the crowd came Colin's little voice "please can you tell me how many books are in this library?.
Taking children out to lunch on Sunday was one of my favourites times of getting to know them. One Sunday I had 4 boys along at the restaurant, ages 11, 10, 9 and 4. Asking them what they were going to do when they were finished school gave some great insight as to how they could dream, and what they already knew about themselves. The 11 year old had no clue, and he had never been encouraged to dream. The 10 year old loved food so he thought he would be a food editor and go to all the best restaurants in town. The 9 year old had already spent 2 years learning how to live with juvenile diabetes and had become one who wanted information and knowledge. He was going to be a book illustrator. Josh, the 4 year old was already reading encyclopaedia's for information and he didn't hesitate for a moment when he responded with "I will be a managing director".
Christmas may be our excuse to let the child within have fun but as I remember these titbits I wonder if it isn't a reminder to my own heart to let the wonder and the beauty of spontaneity and fun be the child like part of this adult. To always live with wide eyed wonder and exploration, to never be afraid to be like Lucy, who stepped out of the wardrobe and into the adventure with such curiosity and amazement. There is also the remembering of being full of questions as a child, and my heart and head still are asking questions, still wondering, still wanting to know more. Hmmm those are some good words to keep in mind as these last few days of the year unfold.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Trusting the Space
The only way to get from my small community into the large city is by ferry - a 40 minute space of time to stop, to slow down, to wait and watch.
I had been in the city to see a powerful and exhilerating African music production, Umoja and headed back home yesterday. People meandered around on the ferry carrying parcels, pulling luggage, children were full of energy, and somewhere at the other end of the boat the Shriners were singing Christmas songs. I snuggled down in my seat by the window just enjoying a moment to do absolutely nothing.
As the ferry pulled away and headed out 8 seagulls flew along side us, keeping pace. Those wings seemed to keep a perfect rhythm, carrying them just above the surface of the water. How do they do that? How can they fly so low and yet trust the space between their belly and the water? There must be a perfect balance of all the factors required.
I have 40 minutes of "space" to wait, or to methaphically hover, and be moved forward while I waited. Somehow this speaks to me of learning to "trust the space", trust that the Spirit is in any given moment, and when I have time to wait or to listen to lean into it.
Hmmm, it fascinates me how those gulls could know the perfect amount of space required in their flight beside us. Nature, creation and its intricate character never ceases to amaze me.
I had been in the city to see a powerful and exhilerating African music production, Umoja and headed back home yesterday. People meandered around on the ferry carrying parcels, pulling luggage, children were full of energy, and somewhere at the other end of the boat the Shriners were singing Christmas songs. I snuggled down in my seat by the window just enjoying a moment to do absolutely nothing.
As the ferry pulled away and headed out 8 seagulls flew along side us, keeping pace. Those wings seemed to keep a perfect rhythm, carrying them just above the surface of the water. How do they do that? How can they fly so low and yet trust the space between their belly and the water? There must be a perfect balance of all the factors required.
I have 40 minutes of "space" to wait, or to methaphically hover, and be moved forward while I waited. Somehow this speaks to me of learning to "trust the space", trust that the Spirit is in any given moment, and when I have time to wait or to listen to lean into it.
Hmmm, it fascinates me how those gulls could know the perfect amount of space required in their flight beside us. Nature, creation and its intricate character never ceases to amaze me.
Daring to Risk for the Dream
Reading an article this morning about an 84 year old Polish man who had a dream and dared to pursue it, reminded me that there is no age limit to following our dreams.
Farmer's dream ends at Heathrow
An elderly farmer who disappeared from his home in central Poland was found wandering around London's Heathrow Airport in search of a new life.
Ludwik Zon, 84, put on his best clothes and rode his bike to catch the bus and train to Warsaw, then flew to London without telling his family.
Read the rest of it here. That kind of courage and guts makes me laugh with wonder.
Farmer's dream ends at Heathrow
An elderly farmer who disappeared from his home in central Poland was found wandering around London's Heathrow Airport in search of a new life.
Ludwik Zon, 84, put on his best clothes and rode his bike to catch the bus and train to Warsaw, then flew to London without telling his family.
Read the rest of it here. That kind of courage and guts makes me laugh with wonder.
Friday, December 16, 2005
Women of Strength
Each Monday afternoon 13 women gather to share where they are on the journey, to tell their stories, and to hold each other in the Light as they walk through their fear, their joy, their pain and their healing. This group started over a year ago with one woman coming to Linwood House to share and she has brought many more. We call it our Happy Hour group! A couple of weeks ago two new women came to join us and see what this was all about. One of them, S, is celebrating one month on the road to freedom from addictions. She has never come this many days before and this week she brought a copy of what women of strength are to her, as she continues toward freedom:
A Woman of Strength
A strong woman works out everyday to keep her body in shape,
And a woman of strength builds relationships to keep her soul in shape.
A strong woman isn't afraid of anything,
But a woman of strength shows courage in the midst of her fear.
A strong woman won't let anyone get the best of her,
But a woman of strength gives the best of herself to everyone.
A strong woman makes mistakes and avoids the same in the future,
But a woman of strength realizes life's mistakes can also be unexpected blessings and capitalizes on them.
A strong woman wears a look of confidence on her face,
But a woman of strength has faith that it is in the journey that she will become strong.
I have the privilege of working with an amazing team of women, and men like Mike, learning who Jesus is and how he asks us to live, and sharing that path with any who cross it.
A Woman of Strength
A strong woman works out everyday to keep her body in shape,
And a woman of strength builds relationships to keep her soul in shape.
A strong woman isn't afraid of anything,
But a woman of strength shows courage in the midst of her fear.
A strong woman won't let anyone get the best of her,
But a woman of strength gives the best of herself to everyone.
A strong woman makes mistakes and avoids the same in the future,
But a woman of strength realizes life's mistakes can also be unexpected blessings and capitalizes on them.
A strong woman wears a look of confidence on her face,
But a woman of strength has faith that it is in the journey that she will become strong.
I have the privilege of working with an amazing team of women, and men like Mike, learning who Jesus is and how he asks us to live, and sharing that path with any who cross it.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Fragile Packages
Fragile Gift
Yesterday I had a couple of hours to do some Christmas shopping. You can get such a variety of packaging for any gift. Gifts are being wrapped and carefully carried home, hidden, or placed beneath the Christmas tree. Some of the contents are incredibly fragile.
Yet in the midst of this time that seems to be obsessed with "buying gifts" my heart is constantly reminded of those who are holding fragile packages of life in their hands. This photo is Amy - being held for the first time by her Mommy, when she was almost a month old. She was such a fragile delicate package of life - only 10 months were on this earth. Amy is my niece.
During this season of festivity and laughter there are those who are painfully spending the last precious moments of life with those who are weak and fragile. There may be only moments, or days, or months of that left, and those with them are spending Christmas keeping watch as life slips away. Perhaps it is a son or daughter by the bed of a parent, or a parent at the bedside of a child. It could be a volunteer beside someone who has no family or a friend sitting with one who has meant so much to them. Husbands and wives - one of them slipping away from life. How do you hold this package that is filled with pain and longing, and you are powerless to keep it in your hands?
I have no children of my own but within me is a mother's heart that aches for those in pain. Within me is God's heart beat that is both mother and father. And perhaps it is those Divine hands that hold the most fragile packages of life at this time - a father's hand and a mother's hand. Henri Nouwen describes these hands of the Almighty in his book "The Return of the Prodigal Son":
"The Father is not simply a great patriarch. He is mother as well as father. He touches the son with a masculine hand and a feminine hand. He holds, she caresses. He confirms and she consoles. He is, indeed, God, in whom both manhood and womanhood, fatherhood and motherhood, are fully present." Pg 99 Return of the Prodigal Son
I remember the week I sat with my friend Edith as she died - a gift that will be in my heart for a lifetime.
Those father and mother hands of Abba hold the living and the dying - I pray comfort in this season of holding fragile packages of life, no matter what race or religion you are, whether you have a faith or not. Life is still a fragile gift to be held in our hands.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Seven Things
Bobbie tagged me, so here is my response:
Seven Things I want To Do Before I Die:
-visit Calcutta
-complete my Story Cookbook
-Spend another year in Italy
-Become fluent in more languages
-Tangibly live in freedom
-be in a mutually loving, passionate, committed relationship
-facilitate story and food workshops
Seven Things I Cannot Do:
-stay completely organized
-draw
-write legibly
-hide my feelings
-ignore people who stand alone in a room
-stop dreaming
-be athletic
Seven Things That Attract Me to People (romantic, best friends, whatever applies to you)
- love of adventure
- love of dialogue
- depth of heart and soul
- sense of humour
- ability to think globally
- an open heart (authentic)
- ability to let go and be zany
Seven Things I Say Most Often:
- oh dear
- I've been thinking about...
- Oh Mama Mia
- What does that look like for you?
- What are you passionate about?
- That is crap
- Love you
Seven Books, or Series, That I Love
- Pilgrims Progress (childhood favorite)
- When The Heart Waits
- The Promise, The Chosen
- Sea Edge
- Bread and Wine
- Interview with History
- The Mother Machine
Seven Movies I Would Watch Over Again
- Sound of Music
- La Vita Bella (in Italian)
- Jerusalem
- Sheltering Sky
- Pole to Pole (Michael Palin Series)
- Cry the Beloved Country
- Out of Africa
Thanks Bobbie for an interesting look within.
Seven Things I want To Do Before I Die:
-visit Calcutta
-complete my Story Cookbook
-Spend another year in Italy
-Become fluent in more languages
-Tangibly live in freedom
-be in a mutually loving, passionate, committed relationship
-facilitate story and food workshops
Seven Things I Cannot Do:
-stay completely organized
-draw
-write legibly
-hide my feelings
-ignore people who stand alone in a room
-stop dreaming
-be athletic
Seven Things That Attract Me to People (romantic, best friends, whatever applies to you)
- love of adventure
- love of dialogue
- depth of heart and soul
- sense of humour
- ability to think globally
- an open heart (authentic)
- ability to let go and be zany
Seven Things I Say Most Often:
- oh dear
- I've been thinking about...
- Oh Mama Mia
- What does that look like for you?
- What are you passionate about?
- That is crap
- Love you
Seven Books, or Series, That I Love
- Pilgrims Progress (childhood favorite)
- When The Heart Waits
- The Promise, The Chosen
- Sea Edge
- Bread and Wine
- Interview with History
- The Mother Machine
Seven Movies I Would Watch Over Again
- Sound of Music
- La Vita Bella (in Italian)
- Jerusalem
- Sheltering Sky
- Pole to Pole (Michael Palin Series)
- Cry the Beloved Country
- Out of Africa
Thanks Bobbie for an interesting look within.
Friday, December 09, 2005
Solitude and Community thoughts
Parker Palmer has some interesting thoughts on solitude and community, and spoken of within the context of the "circle of trust" - safe places. In my own journey into solitude and into community, both have undergone transformation in my perspective and in my degree of participation. Solitude, or aloneness, seemed to be a punishment, an isolation where others did not want my company. Community on the other hand was simply a place of being alone when surrounded by others and neither looked like the circle of trust that Palmer speaks of. Wearing a mask, carrying high walls round the heart, and trying to live a performance based life (the performance to please others) contributed a great deal to the fear of solitude and the fear of community.
Palmer says "We have much to learn from within, but it is easy to get lost in the labyrinth of the inner life. We have much to learn from others, but it is easy to get lost in the confusion of the crowd. So we need solitude and community simultaneously: what we learn in one mode can check and balance what we learn in the other. Together, they make us whole, like breathing in and breathing out." (pg 55 Hidden Wholeness)
"it is about being fully present to ourselves, whether or not we are with others." (pg 55 Hidden Wholeness). This comment in particular has given me new insight into "love your neighbour as yourself" - the ability to love community as much as I love solitude. In the place of hating who I am and keeping walls around my heart I am unable to love, partly because I don't know who I am when I stay in that place. Solitude is the sacred space that invites us to let our soul speak, to be alive, to be authentic, to be heard by our heart and to be heard by the Almighty (as well as the sacred space to listen to the Almighty). How will I be able to let my heart be open to loving others when I cannot love myself? Perhaps Jesus knew how hard it is to truly love ourselves as we and for who we are, yet we deeply crave others to love us. How confusing! I am again seeing the thought of how unbalanced love is when we want others to love us but we are unable to love ourselves. We are not fully present in solitude therefore we are unable to be fully present in community, in relationships. Being fully present anywhere is a journey in itself. How wise of the Almighty to see that we must start so much from the inside so that we can enjoy, participate, be present in the life on the outside, and know true freedom. Loving from within also gives us the grace to find the beauty of others in community, and to accept them as they are. At least that is my quest - as I learn to love myself and be patient with myself, that there will be more grace, patience and love for those around me.
Inhale solitude, exhale solitude
Inhale community, exhale community
and love.
"If we want to create spaces that are safe for the soul, we need to understand why the soul so rarely shows up in everyday life." pg 52 Hidden Wholeness
More morning ramblings.
Palmer says "We have much to learn from within, but it is easy to get lost in the labyrinth of the inner life. We have much to learn from others, but it is easy to get lost in the confusion of the crowd. So we need solitude and community simultaneously: what we learn in one mode can check and balance what we learn in the other. Together, they make us whole, like breathing in and breathing out." (pg 55 Hidden Wholeness)
"it is about being fully present to ourselves, whether or not we are with others." (pg 55 Hidden Wholeness). This comment in particular has given me new insight into "love your neighbour as yourself" - the ability to love community as much as I love solitude. In the place of hating who I am and keeping walls around my heart I am unable to love, partly because I don't know who I am when I stay in that place. Solitude is the sacred space that invites us to let our soul speak, to be alive, to be authentic, to be heard by our heart and to be heard by the Almighty (as well as the sacred space to listen to the Almighty). How will I be able to let my heart be open to loving others when I cannot love myself? Perhaps Jesus knew how hard it is to truly love ourselves as we and for who we are, yet we deeply crave others to love us. How confusing! I am again seeing the thought of how unbalanced love is when we want others to love us but we are unable to love ourselves. We are not fully present in solitude therefore we are unable to be fully present in community, in relationships. Being fully present anywhere is a journey in itself. How wise of the Almighty to see that we must start so much from the inside so that we can enjoy, participate, be present in the life on the outside, and know true freedom. Loving from within also gives us the grace to find the beauty of others in community, and to accept them as they are. At least that is my quest - as I learn to love myself and be patient with myself, that there will be more grace, patience and love for those around me.
Inhale solitude, exhale solitude
Inhale community, exhale community
and love.
"If we want to create spaces that are safe for the soul, we need to understand why the soul so rarely shows up in everyday life." pg 52 Hidden Wholeness
More morning ramblings.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Early Morning Rambling
In the movie Secret Garden there is a special key to the garden and once it is found they go in and begin to discover the beauty the lies dormant within those walls. I thought of my heart that way and wondered why someone didn't find the key or climb over the wall to see who lived within. I had this picture again this morning and thought of how my heart was never really seen until I began taking down the walls, open the gate and letting others in.
Perhaps if we wait for someone to climb over the walls, the truth is the relationship will be co-dependent because we see them as our rescuer who is responsible for our happiness. Authentic friendship, love, authentic relationship will evolve when I become vulnerable enough to risk. That sounds theoretical but for me it has been the truth. Only when I am willing to keep my heart open do others see who the real me is. It isn't for them to discover it - it is my gift to offer it.
Does it get trampled on? Yes. Does it get misunderstood - yes? Does anyone really hear my heart? Oh yes they do and those are the gifts of friendship that are very valuable.
Just some early morning ramblings.
Perhaps if we wait for someone to climb over the walls, the truth is the relationship will be co-dependent because we see them as our rescuer who is responsible for our happiness. Authentic friendship, love, authentic relationship will evolve when I become vulnerable enough to risk. That sounds theoretical but for me it has been the truth. Only when I am willing to keep my heart open do others see who the real me is. It isn't for them to discover it - it is my gift to offer it.
Does it get trampled on? Yes. Does it get misunderstood - yes? Does anyone really hear my heart? Oh yes they do and those are the gifts of friendship that are very valuable.
Just some early morning ramblings.
Monday, December 05, 2005
Faith, Passion, Contentment and Stillness
Some recent conversations round the table have entered the realm of "faith and passion" and why is it that the Christian community seems to feel those two cannot go together. The answer to "why" has not yet become clear but my search for it deepens.
Passion - a word of enormous significance, and defining for me. Passion, as I see it, means living life with your senses fully awake and alive. Yet somehow, in religious terms, it seems to be solely connected to sexual passion. While that is a piece of it, there is so much more to this vitality of living, of seeing, of hearing, of knowing, of tasting of life that allows us to live in colour, in sound, and in texture. I like to call this holy passion, the place where I am learning to let the breath of God, Ruach, breathe into my whole being, and the exhaling of that passion into living.
I feel like I am starting my favourite sermon here, but I can't help it... I feel so passionately about living with passion! My heart has come alive after years of being in a boxed up prescribed place and it just refuses to let me stay long in anything less that the passion for which it/we were created. Oh I still wrestle with it, but I am learning to lean into it. Maybe it is like leaning into love.
The table discussion went something like "somehow the church has decided that faith and passion don't exist together". Not only is that hogwash, or whatever word you prefer to use, it is a complete lie and travesty of who the Almighty created us to be, created in his image.
When the Spirit breathed into the friends of Jesus it must have been a breath of passion for their soul. I feel the breath of the Spirit breathing this same fire for life into my soul, my heart, my senses, and my words. Anj has written this wonderful piece about contentment and in it I hear passion. "Be still and know that I am God" - is a place of contentment and stillness as well as passion - at least from my perspective.
I have been mediating on Galations 5:13-23 (The Message) which is all about passionate living - and nothing less than that.
Abba, I so want to live this life with the inhaling of your passion and exhale it into life for as long as my heart beats. Not with arrogance or power but from a place of trust, an open heart, humility, wisdom and love for others as I love myself in the "act of true freedom".
"Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit"
"But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard - things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We developed a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people."
I'd love to hear your thoughts on how faith, passion, contentment and stillness fit together.
Passion - a word of enormous significance, and defining for me. Passion, as I see it, means living life with your senses fully awake and alive. Yet somehow, in religious terms, it seems to be solely connected to sexual passion. While that is a piece of it, there is so much more to this vitality of living, of seeing, of hearing, of knowing, of tasting of life that allows us to live in colour, in sound, and in texture. I like to call this holy passion, the place where I am learning to let the breath of God, Ruach, breathe into my whole being, and the exhaling of that passion into living.
I feel like I am starting my favourite sermon here, but I can't help it... I feel so passionately about living with passion! My heart has come alive after years of being in a boxed up prescribed place and it just refuses to let me stay long in anything less that the passion for which it/we were created. Oh I still wrestle with it, but I am learning to lean into it. Maybe it is like leaning into love.
The table discussion went something like "somehow the church has decided that faith and passion don't exist together". Not only is that hogwash, or whatever word you prefer to use, it is a complete lie and travesty of who the Almighty created us to be, created in his image.
When the Spirit breathed into the friends of Jesus it must have been a breath of passion for their soul. I feel the breath of the Spirit breathing this same fire for life into my soul, my heart, my senses, and my words. Anj has written this wonderful piece about contentment and in it I hear passion. "Be still and know that I am God" - is a place of contentment and stillness as well as passion - at least from my perspective.
I have been mediating on Galations 5:13-23 (The Message) which is all about passionate living - and nothing less than that.
Abba, I so want to live this life with the inhaling of your passion and exhale it into life for as long as my heart beats. Not with arrogance or power but from a place of trust, an open heart, humility, wisdom and love for others as I love myself in the "act of true freedom".
"Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit"
"But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard - things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We developed a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people."
I'd love to hear your thoughts on how faith, passion, contentment and stillness fit together.
Friday, December 02, 2005
quote de jour
Erin over at Biscotti Brain sent me the link to Superhero Journal for this beautiful quote, along with some amazing photography.
"Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes.If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you’d be paralyzed.Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as bird wings."-Rumi
"Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes.If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you’d be paralyzed.Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as bird wings."-Rumi
Thursday, December 01, 2005
What is Love?
Love is the most characteristic and comprehensivie act of the human being. We are most ourselves when we love; we are most the People of God when we love. But love is not an abstract word defined out of a dictionary. In order to love maturely we have to live and absorb and enter into this world of salvation and fredom, find ourselves in the stories, become familiar with and follow the signposts, learn the life of worship, and realize our unique identity as the People of God who love.
From the Introduction to the Books of Moses in The Message
Thanks Wes for the tip on some good reading.
From the Introduction to the Books of Moses in The Message
Thanks Wes for the tip on some good reading.
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