A weekly curated collection of essays, poetry, and reflections for your spiritual journey. From The Wisdom Years.
All the buried seeds crack open in the dark, the instant they surrender to a process they can’t see …. this innate surrender allows everything edible and fragrant to break ground into a life we call spring. In nature, we are quietly given countless models of how to give ourselves over to what appears dark and hopeless, but which is ultimately an awakening beyond all imagining.
Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening
Found in Well for the Journey
Straining to Hear the Voice of Good Friday
In 1981 in El Salvador, a young Christian woman was repeatedly raped by soldiers, then shot, and eventually hacked to death. Through it all, she sang hymns. The soldiers were haunted by her voice. And so her horrible death will be remembered. So, too, the death of Jesus on the cross – always remembered. And, says Ron Rolheiser, “the voice of self-interest, injustice, violence, brutality, and rape will ultimately be silenced in favor of the voice of innocence, graciousness, and gentleness.”
From Ron Rolheiser.
You Can’t Get There From Here
In this short piece, Pema Chodron offers three guides for the practice of meditation. “Don’t make your meditation a project or a special event,” she says. “Don’t bring into it an attitude of great seriousness and solemnity.”
From Awakin.
Being Simply Beautiful
A once-wealthy South African reflects on what happens when all our possessions are taken away. We must not let our “stuff” define us, says Theo Du Plessis. Only take into your life that which is real. Another powerful video from Green Renaissance.
From Karmatube.
Love of Others Begins with Love of Self
“Love your neighbor as yourself,” Jesus taught. This means we are asked to love ourselves in the same way that we love our neighbor. It begins with loving ourselves. “When we don’t love ourselves, it is impossible to love our neighbor. . . . “ says the Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis.
Community
Both the Old and New Testaments have multiple stories of God’s people being called into community. “In community, we learn how our gifts are needed, and how we don’t need to have all the gifts or be in control,” says Joanna Seibert.
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.
The Wisdom Years 