Category: gathered wisdom

Gathered Wisdom, Oct 22, 2024

Marjorie George

A weekly curated collection of essays, poetry, and reflections for your spiritual journey.  From The Wisdom Years.

Attention is the most concrete expression of love. 
What we pay attention to thrives. 
What we do not pay attention to withers and dies. 
What will you pay attention to today?

-Karen Maezen Miller, Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions for an Ordinary Life
Found in Well for the Journey

Called to Love 

What do we do when we are faced with a decision to make? How do we discern what God would have us do? It is a matter of love, says Ruth Haley Barton. The questions to ask is, “What does love call for in this situation? What would love do?”

Read the reflection.

From Center for Action and Contemplation.

Come to Me 

It’s not so much that the Church is being persecuted these days as it is that so many people are indifferent to the Church. Jesus met the same obstacle, says Br. David Vryhof of Society of St. John the Evangelist. And yet so many are carrying burdens that Jesus would help with if only people knew to ask and were willing to trust.

Read the reflection.  

From Society of St. John the Evangelist.

The Chat Checkout

Few of us willingly choose the slow checkout line at the grocery store. But Dutch grocers now offer a “chat checkout” where people choose the slow lane just for the conversation. The idea is catching on in other locales – in France they are called “Blablabla checkouts.”

Read the article. 

Found in Daily Good.

Forest Dwelling

We can age as wise elders, or we can just age. A program from Oblate Seminary in San Antonio, Texas, has as its aim living into the diminishments of aging in such a way that we live our last precious years with more grace, an open heart, and a deeper awareness of the presence of God.

This series of videos shares some of the wisdom offered by the program.

To learn more about Forest Dwelling.

Facing The Unknown

Trust is our currency and wisdom is our direction says Bishop Steven Charleston. “When we follow the Spirit, the unknown is only a bend in the road.”

Read the reflection.

Found in Joanna Seibert blog.

Gathered Wisdom is an offering of The Wisdom Years, a ministry devoted to the spiritual journey of the last third of our lives.

If this post was forwarded to you, sign up to receive Gathered Wisdom in your email by subscribing at wisdomyears.org.

To learn more visit our website.

Gathered Wisdom, Oct. 15, 2024

Marjorie George

A weekly curated collection of essays, poetry, and reflections for your spiritual journey.  From The Wisdom Years.

Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work that needs to be done.
Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free.
Starhawk, American author and activist
From Well for the Journey.

Living into All the Honey: Embracing Grief and Joy

Poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer reads poems that span grief and joy from her new collection, All the Honey. She speaks of what she knows now about grief she didn’t know before her son died.

Watch the video.

From Karmatube

The First Bible

We are all connected, says Richard Rohr. Everything is part of everything else. Rohr says, “We now take it for granted that everything in the universe is deeply connected and linked, even light itself, which interestingly is the first act of creation” (Genesis 1:3).

Read the reflection

From Center for Action and Contemplation.

Knowing More Than We Know

How do we make decisions? Is it only facts and probabilities that we depend on to try to find the right choice? Or do we rely on some inner sense that we just know is correct? Mary’s acceptance of becoming the mother of Jesus did not come from reason.

Read the reflection. 

From Society of St. John the Evangelist.

On Friendship

“One of the richest experiences of grace that we can have this side of eternity is the experience of friendship,” says Ron Rolheiser. “True friendship is only possible among people who are practicing virtue,” he adds.  “A gang is not a circle of friendship, nor are many ideological circles. Why? Because friendship needs to bring grace and grace is only found in virtue.”

Read the reflection.

From Ron Rolheiser.

Join Election Night Virtual Prayers

Everyone is invited to join Election Night Virtual Prayers hosted by The Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations from 8 to 10 p.m. (ET) Nov. 5. 

Bishop Sean Rowe, who will become Episcopal Church presiding bishop on Nov. 1, will offer an opening reflection and prayer.

Episcopalians from around the church will hold silence and lead participants in prayers together for peace, the nation, and all people and countries.

For details, click here.

Gathered Wisdom is an offering of The Wisdom Years, a ministry devoted to the spiritual journey of the last third of our lives.

If this post was forwarded to you, sign up to receive Gathered Wisdom in your email by subscribing at wisdomyears.org.

To learn more visit our website.

Gathered Wisdom, Oct 8, 2024

Marjorie George

A weekly curated collection of essays, poetry, and reflections for your spiritual journey.  From The Wisdom Years.

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When the eyes and ears are open, even the leaves on the trees teach like pages from the Scriptures.

-Kabir, as quoted in Legacy of the Heart by Wayne Muller
From Well for the Journey

10 Questions for your Autumn Equinox

It’s autumn – a time for slowing down and pondering.  The days are shorter – what is one activity that you want to stop doing? Courtney Martin offers 10 provocative questions for the season. 

Engage with the questions.

From The Examined Family.

Joy in Solidarity 

They met the small little man in a migrant shelter where he had stopped for a warm bowl of soup before crossing the border into the United States.  He would have to cross the desert, and his feet were filthy and sore inside his thin sneakers.

Read the story.

From Center for Action and Contemplation.

A Place to Watch the Rain

The recommendation said that the man could sleep in a storm. His employer found out what that meant when the bad weather hit. In the midst of a storm, “we survive by affirming who we are,” says Terry Hershey.

Read the reflection.

From Terry Hershey’s Sabbath Moment.

Parker Palmer: On The Brink Of Everything

Joanna Seibert introduces us to Parker Palmer’s wisdom on growing older in his book On the Brink of Everything. “Palmer takes us to the brink of an alternative life,”.  Says Seibert “It is a slower life where we observe and become aware of so much we missed in this world while living at a frantic pace.”

Read the reflection.

From Joanna Seibert.

Searching for a Word Filled with Reality

Faith is not something you achieve, says Fr. Ron Rolheiser. “Faith is a journey, with constant ups and downs, with alternating periods of fervor and dryness, with consolation giving way to desolation, and with graced moments where God feels tangibly present eclipsed by dark nights where God feels absent.”

Read the reflection.

From Ron Rolheiser.

Gathered Wisdom is an offering of The Wisdom Years, a ministry devoted to the spiritual journey of the last third of our lives.

If this post was forwarded to you, sign up to receive Gathered Wisdom in your email by subscribing at wisdomyears.org.

To learn more visit our website.

Gathered Wisdom, Oct 1, 2024

Marjorie George

A weekly curated collection of essays, poetry, and reflections for your spiritual journey.  From The Wisdom Years.

Your sacred space is where you find yourself over and over again. 

-Joseph Campbell, A Joseph Campbell Companion 

New Beginnings

Retirement is one of the many transitions we face in the last third of life. And though we may choose it and welcome it, we still will go through difficult emotions. Hilda Davis offers this Flourishing in Transition (FIT) ritual as we seek clarity for the path ahead.

Read the article.

From the Fuller De Pree Center.

Autumn and Impermanence

Autumn reminds us that there is a time to let go. Every autumn, says Joyce Rupp, “I turn and face the big question: how to cherish who and what I have but to hold these gifts freely, with open hands and heart.”

Read the reflection. 

From Joyce Rupp.

Patience with God

Our greatest faith struggle, says Fr. Ron Rolheiser, is being patient with God. Jesus said the meek will inherit the earth, but mostly it doesn’t seem so. Justice does not seem to prevail. “How long, O Lord?” we ask.

Read the reflection.

From Ron Rolheiser.

Practicing the Gospel

The early Franciscan friars were more interested in practicing and living the gospel than in simply teaching about it. What about us? The prophets ask, “Why aren’t you doing what you say you believe?”

Read the reflection.

From Center for Action and Contemplation.

God Callings

It is not just in our quiet time that we connect with God. Everything we do, all day long, is part of our following and serving God.  Sometimes we are doing, other times we are being – it is all our offering to God.

Read the reflection.

From Joanna Seibert.

Gathered Wisdom is an offering of The Wisdom Years, a ministry devoted to the spiritual journey of the last third of our lives.

If this post was forwarded to you, sign up to receive Gathered Wisdom in your email by subscribing at wisdomyears.org.

To learn more visit our website.

Gathered Wisdom, Sept 24, 2024

Marjorie George

A weekly curated collection of essays, poetry, and reflections for your spiritual journey.  From The Wisdom Years.

May I be open to the teachings of this season of autumn, and turn, as autumn does, toward opportunities for my spiritual transformation.

Joyce Rupp, Out of the Ordinary
Found in Well for the Journey

Woe to you

We don’t like the hard sayings of Jesus. We want to hear words of comfort and forgiveness and acceptance. But sometimes we need to heed Jesus’ condemnation and call to repentance.

Read the reflection.

From Society of St. John the Evangelist.

It’s Okay To Be Perfectly Human

Why are we so hard on ourselves? We expect ourselves to be perfect, but being “perfectly human” means we will make mistakes, and when we do, we can admit them and learn from them. 

Read the reflection.

From Awakin.

Marrying Orthodoxy To Orthopraxy

We may be able to articulate what we believe as Christians, but do we put it into action? “We are called to study God and the Spirit,” says Deacon Joanna Seibert, “but we are also compelled to find the God within ourselves, leading us to discover and connect to the God in others.”

Read the reflection.

From the blog of Joanna Seibert.

The Spiritual Meaning of the Autumn Equinox

The seasons of spring and summer, with their long days, are all about play and pleasure, notes Julie Peters writing in Spirituality and Health. During fall and winter, we have more hours of darkness than of light, more time for rest, solitude, and reflection.

Read the article.

From Spirituality and Health.

But We Had Music

Even while we watch our society fall apart, a single episode with nature can bolster hope.  For this poet it was the starlings. This short video sets Maria Popova’s poem “But We Had Music” to captivating visuals. 

Watch and listen.

From Daily Good.

Gathered Wisdom is an offering of The Wisdom Years, a ministry devoted to the spiritual journey of the last third of our lives.

If this post was forwarded to you, sign up to receive Gathered Wisdom in your email by subscribing at wisdomyears.org.

To learn more visit our website.

Gathered Wisdom, Sept 17, 2024

Marjorie George

A weekly curated collection of essays, poetry, and reflections for your spiritual journey.  From The Wisdom Years.

Peace in its most fundamental form is the connection of one human spirit to another.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, from A Network from Grateful Living’s Everyday Gratitude
Found at Well for the Journey

Violence Begets Violence

There is nothing good about violence, says the late Rev. James Lawson, writing in Daily Meditations. “It drains emotional, psychological, moral, and spiritual energy with no good consequences.”

Read the reflection.  

Found in Center for Action and Contemplation.

A Sparrow’s Song To Lift Up the Sky

The sky is falling, and what can one little sparrow do about it? Our society is crumbling, and what can one little act from you or me do about it? Maybe the one little thing we add will be the yeast to bring about change.

Read the reflection.

From Daily Good.

Do Not Fret

There is much to fret about in our world today, but Psalm 37 calls us particularly to leave off fretting. Instead, we must “claim our own agency to make for right in what is within our own reach and power,” says Br. Curtis Almquist, “especially on behalf of the powerless and voiceless in God’s creation.”

Read the short reflection.

From Society of St. John the Evangelist.

 

Embittered Moralizing

As we age, we tend to become bitter, angry, and judgmental, especially against those who have not done the right things like we have, says Fr. Ron Rolheiser. We become the older brother in the story of the prodigal son. How fair is it that someone who hasn’t gone to church in years gets the same mercy from God as we who are there every Sunday?

Read the reflection.

More about Ron Rolheiser.

Unceasing Thoughts Becoming Unceasing Prayers

Brother Lawrence knew how to pray without ceasing – while he was scrubbing pots, cooking, or buying wine for dinner. Henri Nouwen says to turn unceasing thoughts into prayers.

Read the reflection.

From Joanna Seibert.

Gathered Wisdom is an offering of The Wisdom Years, a ministry devoted to the spiritual journey of the last third of our lives.

If this post was forwarded to you, sign up to receive Gathered Wisdom in your email by subscribing at wisdomyears.org.

To learn more visit our website.

Gathered Wisdom, Sept 10, 2024

Marjorie George

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.”

Read the article.

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?

Read the reflection:

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.”

Read the reflection.

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.”

Read the reflection.

From SSJE.

Gathered Wisdom is an offering of The Wisdom Years, a ministry devoted to the spiritual journey of the last third of our lives.

If this post was forwarded to you, sign up to receive Gathered Wisdom in your email by subscribing at wisdomyears.org.

To learn more visit our website.

Gathered Wisdom, Sept 3, 2024

Marjorie George

A weekly curated collection of essays, poetry, and reflections for your spiritual journey.  From The Wisdom Years.

Some people go through life trying to find out what the world holds for them, only to find out too late that it’s what they bring to the world that really counts.

-Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
From Well for the Journey

Adjusting Expectations

She expected to be sitting in front of a lovely lake.  Instead she was looking at a large field of oats. Was this what her spiritual director meant by meeting God where he wants to be met?

Read the reflection.

From Joyce Rupp.

Positive Disruption

Jesus spoke in parables and often about disruption. “Jesus was calling for a radical disruption in his religion, a great spiritual migration,” says Brian McLaren, “and a similar disruption and migration are needed no less today in the religion that names itself after him.” 

Read the reflection.

From Center for Action and contemplation.

Justice and Charity

There is a difference between charity and justice, says Ron Rolheiser. And often, charity gets in the way of justice. Yes we feed the homeless; but do we know how our systems create homelessness in the first place?

Read the reflection.

From Ron Rolheiser.

Why Not to Be Afraid

The disciples were terrified when a storm erupted suddenly on the Sea of Galilee. We, too, face many moments of fear in our lives. Jesus may not take away the fearful situation, but he promises to be with us in it.

Read the reflection.

From Society of St. John the Evangelist.

The Real Work of Mentoring

A mentor is someone who companions and guides us through our Real Work, says Richard Rohr. That work “is always going to be focused on the inside, not the outside. Real Work is second-half-of-life work,” says Rohr.

Read the reflection.

From Center for Action and Contemplation.

Gathered Wisdom is an offering of The Wisdom Years, a ministry devoted to the spiritual journey of the last third of our lives.

If this post was forwarded to you, sign up to receive Gathered Wisdom in your email by subscribing at wisdomyears.org.

To learn more visit our website.

Gathered Wisdom, Aug 27, 2024

Marjorie George

A weekly curated collection of essays, poetry, and reflections for your spiritual journey.  From The Wisdom Years.

Community is first of all a quality of the heart.
It grows from the knowledge that we are alive
not for ourselves but for one another.

-Henri J. M. Nouwen, Bread for the Journey

Sacred Time

We treat time as a commodity: We talk about how we plan to “spend” it, and calculate how much we will need to complete a certain task.

But author Christine Valters Paintner invites us to a different experience of time; she encourages us to see time as offering us invitations rather than making demands on us.

Our online fall study will explore our relationship with time using the book Sacred Time. It begins Thursday, Sept. 5.

See the details and register.

The Righteousness of God

“We are called into partnership with Jesus to care about how the world around us does or does not conform to God’s design,” writes Frederick Schmidt.   We do that in part by making daily personal choices that witness to God’s presence in our lives.

Read the reflection.

From Joanna Seibert.

Order, Disorder, Reorder

At some point in our lives, there will likely be a death, a disease, a disruption to our normal way of thinking or being in the world. We will find ourselves in great disorder. It is necessary if any real growth is to occur, says Richard Rohr.  

Read the reflection.

From Center for Action and Contemplation.

The Problem of Suffering and Evil

It is a question so many people ask: How can a loving God allow suffering in this world? Is it about God giving us humans free will? Can we see God as a redeeming God instead of a rescuing God? Fr. Ron Rolheiser offers some thoughts.

Read the reflection.

From Ron Rolheiser.

Sanctuaries of Silence

Acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton takes us on a short journey of natural silence. Hempton defines silence not as the absence of sound, but as a void of noise pollution created by modern life, and warns that, with the pervasiveness of noise pollution, “silence is on the verge of extinction.”

Watch and listen.

From Karmatube.

Gathered Wisdom is an offering of The Wisdom Years, a ministry devoted to the spiritual journey of the last third of our lives.

If this post was forwarded to you, sign up to receive Gathered Wisdom in your email by subscribing at wisdomyears.org.

To learn more visit our website.

Gathered Wisdom, Aug 20, 2024

Marjorie George

A weekly curated collection of essays, poetry, and reflections for your spiritual journey.  From The Wisdom Years.

Many of us have lives that are full. We have full bellies, full closets, full calendars, full trash cans, full purses and full email inboxes. But at the end of the day, we are empty. God made us all with a built-in desire to find the meaning to life and to spend time on things that are meaningful.

-Courtney Joseph and Beverly Wise, Ecclesiastes: Wisdom for Living Well

From Well for the Journey

Sacred Time

We treat time as a commodity: We talk about how we plan to “spend” it, and calculate how much we will need to complete a certain task.

But author Christine Valters Paintner invites us to a different experience of time; she encourages us to see time as offering us invitations rather than making demands on us.

Our online fall study will explore our relationship with time using the book Sacred Time. It begins Thursday, Sept. 5.

See the details and register.

Wingspan of the Soul

The world tells us we are not enough: not adequate, not prepared, not smart enough. But Paul, in the letter to the Colossians, reminds us that in Christ we are more than enough. We are inheritors of Christ’s power. 

Read or listen to the sermon from Br. Keith Nelson of SSJE.

From Society of St. John the Evangelist.

How Kids Describe Love

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds: “What does love mean?” The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. Read and enjoy.

Read  what the children had to say.

From Daily Good.

Wise Selfishness

What’s the difference between wise selfishness and foolish selfishness? Feeding the soul of another that also feeds our soul is wise selfishness. An act of loving-kindness is always wise selfishness.

Read the reflection.

From Joanna Seibert.

The Great Divide

A poem.

On the left there is business
It loves to think and problem solve
Perform so hard it wears you down
If only it would stop to breathe and look around

Read the rest of the poem.

From Awakin.

Gathered Wisdom is an offering of The Wisdom Years, a ministry devoted to the spiritual journey of the last third of our lives.

If this post was forwarded to you, sign up to receive Gathered Wisdom in your email by subscribing at wisdomyears.org.

To learn more visit our website.