Joy to the World

Tomorrow, Oct. 4, is the day we especially remember and give thanks for St. Francis of Assisi. In his sermon on joy for the day, Br. Geoffrey Tristram recalls visiting the town of Assisi in Italy and offers three suggestions for connecting with joy in our lives.

Read or listen to the sermon.

From Society of St. John the Evangelist.

Finding God’s Kingdom as We Age

Growing older, says Alice Fryling, is a moving target. Some days we appreciate the ability to spend more time in quiet and less time rushing. Other things, like loss of energy, we don’t welcome. Fryling finds comfort and direction in the words and actions of Jesus.

Read the essay.

From the DePree Center of Fuller Seminary.

At Home in Our Own Skin

“When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability. To be alive is to be vulnerable,” said Madeleine L’Engle. And often, adds Terry Hershey, we are not comfortable in our own skin.

Read the reflection.

From Terry Hershey’s Sabbath Moment.

More Than Enough

We think we should be doing more. Our offering to God of our time and energy is too paltry to have significance, we think. Fred Smith reminds us that God has set us in a certain place for a certain task, and no matter how big or small it is, it is enough.

Read the essay.

From The Gathering

Life After Death

Nothing is wasted in nature or in love, says poet Laura Gilpin in this short excerpt from her longer poem.

Read the poem.

Found in Daily Good.

A Cloud Never Dies

Thich Nhat Hanh introduced the concept of mindfulness in his home country of Vietnam and the entire world. His inspiration was his experience of war in his own young life in Vietnam. “A Cloud Never Dies” tells the story of this humble young Vietnamese monk and poet whose wisdom and compassion were forged in the suffering of war.

Watch the biographical video. (It is about 30 minutes long.)

From Karmatube.

There Are Many Voices Beside Ours

For Native Americans, interrupting someone who is talking is seen as bad manners or even stupidity. “People should regard their words as seeds says Ella Cara Deloria, a Yankton Dakota educator. “They should sow them, and then allow them to grow in silence.”

Read the reflection.

From Awakin.

The Eight Kinds of Humility to Help You Stay Grounded

Most cultures value humility as a virtue to be emulated. Humility teaches us to see that there is always more to learn and different perspectives to be considered. This articles offers eight different varieties of humility to think about and learn from.

Read the article.

Found in Daily Good.

Gratitude Lists Didn’t Work For Me

Writer Andrea Gibson confesses that “what we are truly craving can only be found with gratitude, and what taught me to be grateful was not what’s sweet about this life, but what’s sour.”

Read the essay.

From Grateful Living.

God is not a Cosmic Egotist

What response is there to God’s staggering generosity in the act of creation? What do we give back to the one who gave us everything? “We give thanks. We bow in honor. We dare to draw near — boldly, because permission has been granted, and trembling because God is infinite personal energy and only fools approach that lightly,” says Brian Morykon of Renovare.

Read the essay.

From Renovare.

Drawing a Picture of God

We each have a picture of God, whether or not we are aware of that. We may believe that God is an unloving tyrant, or a divine candy machine, or a scrupulous bookkeeper of our sins. Dallas Willard has pointed out that since we live at the mercy of our ideas, we would be wise to reflect carefully on those that we have about God.

Read the essay.

From Renovare.

The Practice Before The Practice

A life of spirit, regardless of the path we choose, begins with a person’s acceptance that they are part of something larger than themselves, says Mark Nepo. “We are meaning-seeking creatures,” says Nepo, “looking for what matters though we carry what matters deep within us.”

Read the reflection.

From Awakin.

The Framed Infinite

Windows are to be looked through, but often they are just overlooked. A window is “a portal, and a horn of plenty, an altar, an avenue whose significance is vital and imperative to life,” says writer Pavithra Mehta. “if you do not have a meaningful relationship with windows, then it is possible, that you have some difficulty perceiving grace,” she says.

Read the reflection.

From Daily Good.

An Alternate Expression of Love and Trust.

When someone you love is angry with you, it may be that you are the recipient of that person’s anger but not the cause of it. You may be the one safe place where this person can lash out without fear of retaliation and have his or her bitterness absorbed. “But this can be very hard to accept, even when we understand why it’s happening,” says Fr. Ron Rolheiser. 

Read the reflection.

From Ron Rolheiser blog.

Staring Mercy in the Eye

When Brother Jim Woodrum looked at the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), he found that the rich man had probably committed no crime in his acquisition of wealth. Rather his was the sin of omission: He never saw Lazarus lying at his gate.

Read or listen to the sermon.

From Society of St. John the Evangelist.

An Ode To Imagination

It is our ability to imagine what does not yet exist, and then to create it, that is unique to our species, says writer Geneen Marie Haugen. “The human imagination may be our greatest unacknowledged and underutilized innate capacity,” she says.

Read the reflection.

From Awakin.

11 Interventions in the 10 Days of Your Dying

If you have lost a loved one, you will resonate with this remembrance of the days of death. It is the little details that embed themselves in memory.

Read the reflection.

From Orion Magazine.

Be Awake

When Jesus tells his followers to watch and be awake, (Mark 13:33–35) he is not threatening us or talking about punishment. He is reminding us to be fully conscious to his presence among us all the time. We say, “Christ will come again,” but Christ is already and always here. We are called to participate in the “sacrament of the present moment.”

Read the reflection.

From Center for Action and Contemplation.

You Shall Have no Other Gods Before Me

What is idolatry? Most of us are not making a golden calf in the basement, but we diminish God in very many ways. “Whenever we conceive of God as somehow being defensive, exotic, anti-enjoyment, less compassionate and intelligent than ourselves, and preferring orthodoxy to compassion, we are breaking the first commandment. Such is idolatry,” says Fr. Ron Rolheiser.

Read the reflection.

From the blog of Ron Rolheiser.

Finishing Craft Projects with Love

Donna Savastio started making a rug as a gift for her sister. But when she developed Alzheimer’s disease, she could no longer follow the intricate instructions to complete the rug. Out of seemingly nowhere someone showed up who offered to complete the rug.  He was from Loose Ends, a program that matches volunteer knitters, quilters and other crafters with projects left unfinished when a person dies or becomes disabled. 

Read the story.

Found in Karuna News.

When Time Stands Still

Renowned scripture scholar Gerhard Lohfink says we can experience time right now as it will be experienced in eternity.  It happens whenever we’re in adoration of God. It is then that we stand in pure wonder, pure admiration, ecstatic awe, entirely stripped of our own heartaches, headaches, and idiosyncratic focus. “God’s person, beauty, goodness, and truth overwhelm us so as to take our minds off of ourselves and leave us standing outside of ourselves,” says Fr. Ron Rolheiser.

Read the reflection.

From the blog of Ron Rolheiser.

A Flame In A Dark Cave

Imagine a flame in a dark cave. It shows its own surroundings, but it also reminds us of how much more there is of that cave that we do not yet know. We see, says writer Colin Walsh, “that life isn’t about reaching firm conclusions anyway, but about opening yourself to the possibility that you might be wrong, that there’s always more to learn.”

Read the reflection.

From Awakin.

 The Gift of Tiny Miracles

The little girl was delighted when she found the penny on the post office floor – several times.  What delights us? What brings us joy? And can we take the risk of sharing those moments with others?

Read the reflection.

From Terry Hershey.

Jesus’ Work of Shalom

The idea of biblical justice, says Shane Claiborne, was not getting what you deserve. “Rather, it was making right what was done wrong, restoring what had been destroyed, healing the wounds of an offensive act. It was about bringing balance and wholeness back to the community, which is why you often see scales as an icon for justice.”

Read the reflection.

From the Center for Action and Contemplation.

Let Your Life Speak

Listening for the voice of vocation as older adults
Online
Sept 7 – Oct 12
4 – 5:15 p.m. (Central time)

What is my purpose now, we ask.  Now that I am retired, now that the kids are grown, now that I can’t do everything I used to be able to do, does God still have need of me? Emphatically, yes. In this 6-week study, starting September 7, we will use Parker Palmer’s book Let Your Life Speak to look at what our faith and experience have taught us and how we can continue to offer our skills and talents for God’s kingdom. 

Click on the link for all the information: https://wisdomyears.org/let-your-life-speak/

The Radical Act of Letting Things Hurt

When someone we care about is hurting, our first instinct is to try to make it better. But not only is that unhelpful, it can actually be harmful, says Maria Popova.

Read the essay and watch the animated video.

Found in Daily Good.

A Case for the Porch

Front porches are the original social media. From the porch one can talk to neighbors about the goings-on up and down the street, even from the required distance of COVID. Porches are “the perfect vehicle to get outside without leaving home,” says writer Charlie Hailey in Orion magazine.

Read the essay.

Found in Daily Good.

Psalm 23 and Shepherds

When we think of shepherds, we envision young boys out in the fields with staff and slingshot.  But in biblical times, girls were more often shepherds than we realize. Perhaps we need to read the Bible stories we thought we knew so well looking for new insights.

Read the short reflection.

From Joanna Seibert.

Meditation: Being Attentive to God

The psalmist declares he meditates on God all night (Ps 63:6). But meditation is not just thinking. Christian meditation, says Joyce Huggett, engages every part of us — our mind, our emotions, our imagination, our creativity and, supremely, our will. Meditation establishes a connection with God.

Read the essay.

From Renovare.

Let Your Life Speak

Listening for the voice of vocation as older adults
Online
Sept 7 – Oct 12
4 – 5:15 p.m. (Central time)

What is my purpose now, we ask.  Now that I am retired, now that the kids are grown, now that I can’t do everything I used to be able to do, does God still have need of me? Emphatically, yes. In this 6-week study, starting September 7, we will use Parker Palmer’s book Let Your Life Speak to look at what our faith and experience have taught us and how we can continue to offer our skills and talents for God’s kingdom. 

Click on the link for all the information: https://wisdomyears.org/let-your-life-speak/

Let Your Life Speak

Listening for the voice of vocation as older adults
Online
Sept 7 – Oct 12
4 – 5:15 p.m. (Central time)

What is my purpose now, we ask.  Now that I am retired, now that the kids are grown, now that I can’t do everything I used to be able to do, does God still have need of me? Emphatically, yes. In this 6-week study, starting September 7, we will use Parker Palmer’s book Let Your Life Speak to look at what our faith and experience have taught us and how we can continue to offer our skills and talents for God’s kingdom. 

Click on the link for all the information: https://wisdomyears.org/let-your-life-speak/

What Is the False Self?

From Richard Rohr: “We each have different faces and different colors of skin; some of us have hair, some of us don’t; some are tall, some are a little shorter. If we are living out of the false self, all we can do is measure, compare, evaluate, and label.” Rohr adds that when we know our true self, we know our identity comes from God’s love.

Read more.

From Center for Action and Contemplation.

Compulsion to Closure

We try and try to find a “final truth,” but as long as we are trying to find this kind of certainty, it is pretty much guaranteed that uncertainty and doubt will always be nipping at our heels, says writer Joan Tollifson. “And that nipping produces a kind of anxiety in us, an uneasiness, which sets us up to be easily attracted to people and systems that offer seemingly comprehensive answers that explain how the universe works.”

Read the essay.

From Awakin.

Thurman: Love

All of us want to be more loving in our hearts. Theologian Howard Thurman teaches that will only happen when we live in connection with the Holy Spirit, the divine within us. Then we will know the fruit of the spirit as we put ourselves in position to connect to God within.

Read the reflection.

From Joanna Seibert.

A Prophetic Mantra About the Poor

Nobody gets to heaven without a letter of reference from the poor, said James Forbes. Fr. Ron Rolheiser adds that the prophets of old said, “The quality of your faith will be judged by the quality of justice in the land. And the quality of justice in the land will always be judged by how widows, orphans, and strangers are faring while you are alive.” 

Read the reflection.

From Ron Rolheiser’s blog.

Tale of the Ringless Ring

A man in a small village had to move to a different city for work. He wanted to take and wear his spiritual leader’s ring to remember him by.  But the spiritual teacher had a better idea: the man would not take the ring and thereby remember the spiritual teacher every time he looked at his empty ring finger.

Read the reflection.

From Awakin.

Becoming A Compassionate Neighbor to Myself

If we are going to live with compassion for others, we must start with compassion for ourselves.  Processing our own pain helps us reach into the hearts of others who are in pain.

Read the reflection.

From Upper Room.

Life and the Living God

Walking through a forest, Br. Lucas Hall realized that our God is a living God. He participates in the growth experience. Our God does not just passively accept what we bring to Him. He is actively involved with things that are alive and give life rather than things that are static.

Read or listen to the sermon.

From Society of St. John the Evangelist.

How the Soul Matures

The process of dying is calibrated by God and nature “to help ease our grip on this world and more gracefully move on to the next world,” says Fr. Ron Rolheiser.   The breakdown of our bodies deepens, softens, and matures the soul.

Read the reflection.

From Ron Rolheiser.

Surrendering to the Present Moment

If we pay attention we will see that most of our life is lived in the past or future rather than in the present. In fact, “the only way many of us know how to motivate ourselves is to create problems or to need to ‘fix’ someone or ourselves,” says Richard Rohr.

Read the reflection.

From Center for Action and Contemplation.