A weekly curated collection of essays, poetry, and reflections for your spiritual journey. From The Wisdom Years.
When life feels too big to handle, go outside. Everything looks smaller when you’re standing under the sky.
L. R. Knost, The Gentle Parent
Found in Well for the Journey
Finishing First: What It Really Means to Win
How much does winning contribute to a good life? “When winning is pursued with integrity and a sense of purpose, it can be a catalyst for personal growth, fulfillment, and a more meaningful existence,” says writer Alene Dawson. But winning at any cost “can have a dark side, leading to cheating, self-harm, or a failure to connect winning to a larger life purpose.”
From the John Templeton Foundation, found in Daily Good.
About the John Templeton Foundation.
The Martyrs of Memphis
In the summer of 1878, Memphis was besieged by yellow fever. Some 5,000 people died from the mosquito-borne illness. A community of Anglican nuns from New England could have left like so many did, but they stayed to care for the sick and dying.
Read the story of the martyrs of Memphis.
From Joanna Seibert.
Read about it in Episcopal Church dictionary.
Getting it Down to the Essentials
“Nobody comes to adulthood, let alone to old age, without being deeply hurt,” says Ron Rolheiser. All of us will be treated unfairly at some time in our lives. For that, we should grieve. Therefore the task of our later years is to forgive. It’s not a question of were we hurt; it’s what is my hurt and how can I move beyond it?
From Ron Rolheiser.
Wholehearted and Fully Alive
If we are going to experience life in its fullness, we have to be willing to “get in.” Terry Hershey quotes Paul Tillich as saying, “You are accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know. Do not seek for anything. Do not perform anything, do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted.”
From Terry Hershey.
Anxiety: Opening Up to God
Brother Jack Crowley of Society of St. John the Evangelist writes about his trials with anxiety attacks. “One thing I have learned in my experiences with anxiety is you never really know how anxious someone is,” says Br. Jack. “Sometimes the most anxious person in the room is the last person you would suspect.”
From SSJE.
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