A weekly collection of inspiration and resources for the journey, gathered from websites, books, and pass-alongs that have been shared with us. From The Wisdom Years – Spirituality for the Last Third of Our Lives.
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This challenging time we are living through now may actually be a spiritual gift for us. Maybe the invitation from the Spirit within us is to see this time as a precious opportunity to go deeper, to discover a rich and wondrous world within us to be explored, with the Spirit as our guide.
-Br. Geoffrey Tristram
Society of Saint John the Evangelist
Foundational Hope
By Richard Rohr
From Center for Action and Contemplation
Writing on hope, Fr. Rohr quotes Indigenous Choctaw elder and Episcopal Bishop Steven Charleston: “The signs are all around us. We can see them springing up like wildflowers after the prairie rain. People who had fallen asleep are waking up. People who had been content to watch are wanting to join. People who never said a word are speaking out. The tipping point of faith is the threshold of spiritual energy, where what we believe becomes what we do.” (From Charleston’s book Ladder to the Light: An Indigenous Elder’s Meditations on Hope and Courage.
More about Center for Action and Contemplation.
Welcomed Back By A Sacred Space
By Joanna Seibert
As she relaxes on a summer morning from her sacred space on the Gulf, Joanna Seibert reflects on the journey of deep-sea fishermen. They are, she says, “another metaphor for our spiritual journey where we search beneath the surface of our lives to a deeper place of memories, dreams, and reflections. We go with spiritual guides who have been there before and know the territory. We share the joy of what we have found in community.”
Read Joanna’s reflection.
More from Joanna Seibert.
What did you miss?
By The Rev. Jay Sidebotham
From RenewalWorks
Celebrating the Eucharist for the first time in many months, The Rev. Jay Sidebotham considers four important words from the liturgy: “taken, blessed, broken and given.” As we begin to come back into community from the pandemic, it is important to think about not only what has been lost but also what we have learned. “Those lessons,” says Sidebotham, “provide opportunity for hope, as we make our way back into community. It’s hope that this season of brokenness will lead to new life, that it will be blessed and shared.”
More from RenewalWorks.
The Wisdom of Forgetting Everything You Know
By Dr. Gail Brenner
Found in Daily Good
“There is no greater gift you can give yourself than the invitation to enter the world of not knowing,” says Gail Brenner in this provocative essay. Brenner calls us to forget what we know because by thinking we know what will happen, we close ourselves off to things beyond our imaginations. Our consistent efforts to control our lives prevent us from allowing our lives to just unfold.
Read the essay.
More from Daily Good.
More from Dr. Gail Brenner.
Living Word, Living Way
An online course from The Shalem Institute
6 sessions beginning Sunday, June 13 through Sunday, July 25, 2021
Registration deadline: June 21, 2021
Materials available for two weeks after the course ends.
“Join Shalem adjunct staff member Patience Robbins as she guides you through the use of lectio divina, walking meditation, the practice of gratitude, and intercessory prayers. Whether you feel like a beginner or want to deepen a particular prayer practice; whether you want to explore new ways of praying or are seeking the support of like-spirited others in an online setting — this course offers something for you.”
This course is asynchronous. You may access material at any time that fits in your schedule.
For more information and to register.
More about Shalem Institute.
Rumi – Living a Spiritual Life – 2021
From Spirituality and Practice
By Kabir Helminski, Camille Helminski
Sunday, June 13 – Saturday, July 10
Poetry is the language of the soul, and for Jalaluddin Rumi it was his passion to share with us his realization: There is an unseen but immanent, majestic yet tender REALITY we cannot afford to live without. And there is some work we can do to remove what stands in the way of our perceiving this Truth/Beauty and our being transformed by it.
More from Spirituality and Practice.
If you have something to add to Gathered Wisdom, send it to Marjorie George at
marjoriegeorge62@gmail.com
Gathered Wisdom is from The Wisdom Years, a ministry that invites older adults to deepening spirituality in the last third of their lives.
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