Tag: spiritual journey

Gathered Wisdom, June 13, 2023

Marjorie George

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

God is always coming to us. Pay attention to now. God’s presence is always in the present. There will be “thin places” where God breaks through to you, often mysteriously, in the here-and-now. Pay attention to now.

Br. Curtis Almquist, SSJE
Read More

Claiming My Now

A Wisdom Years Workshop
for older adults
July 15, 2023, 9 am to 1 pm

Each season of life brings new revelations, new challenges, new blessings. During the “wisdom years” – the last third of life – while the body diminishes, the spiritual longing for a deeper relationship with God increases. Our “Claiming My Now” workshop is an opportunity to consider how we can navigate the joys and the challenges of the later years of life.

Get all the details.

How to Make Stress Your Friend

We are all used to being told to reduce the amount of stress in our lives. But health psychologist Kelly McGonigal has discovered that stress can actually be good for us and even make us more social.

Watch the TED talk or read the transcript.

Found in Daily Good. 

When Fear is All Around

Like the disciples in the boat when the great storm arose, we are surrounded by fear in these days – if not because of the political and social climate, then because of our personal experiences: a life-threatening illness, or the break-up of a marriage or friendship, a damaged career or an uncertain economic future.  Like Jesus, we must speak to our fears, says Brother David Vryhof.

Read the sermon.

From Society of St. John the Evangelist.

The Quid for Which There is No Quo

Consider the Amaryllis Belladonna, that, like the lilies of the field,  “neither toil nor spin” (Matt 6:28) yet are beautiful. And they show up just when you have given them up for dead.  Perhaps there is a lesson for us in the flowers.

Read the delightful essay.

From Daily Good.

Prayer Times

Deacon Joanna Seibert reminds us that from our Jewish forebearers we inherited a pattern of prayer three times a day. Early Christians often took to heart Psalm 119:164, “Seven times a day do I praise you.” By the Middle Ages, says Seibert, monks had developed a tradition of seven daily prayer times. In our day we can strengthen our prayers by intentionally adding Noonday Prayers and Compline to our daily routine.  The forms for both are in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer.

Read more.

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, June 6, 2023

Marjorie George

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

Creativity flourishes not in certainty but in questions … Yet the seduction is always in security rather than venturing, instant knowing rather than deliberate waiting.

 -Sue Monk Kidd, When the Heart Waits

July 15, 2023

For “Claiming My Now”

A half-day hybrid workshop in-person at the Bishop Jones Center in San Antonio and on Zoom.

For adults in the last third of their lives

From The Wisdom Years

$20

“I will start from here,” said Bishop Steven Charleston. In this workshop we will ask ourselves,
“Where is my ‘here’ in this season of my life?
What nurtures my soul?
What obstacles do I face?
How can we navigate together the outrageous joys as well as the deep sorrows of these years?

Join us for reflection, conversation, sharing of wisdom, and time on the grounds of the Bishop Jones Center.

Registration for “Claiming My Now” opens in mid-June. To indicate your interest in the workshop, send an email to Marjorie George at marjoriegeorge62@gmail.com.

12 Truths I Learned from Life and Writing

The delightful and wise writer Anne Lamott offers 12 things she knows almost for sure as she leans in to being over 60. Thing number 2, for instance, is “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes — including you. ”

Read or listen to the TED Talk.

Found in Daily Good.

Resurrection is Messy

Our true selves are not defined by our virtue or accomplishments.  Our true selves are known best by our scars. Jesus’ scars did not go away after he was raised from death. When he appeared to his disciples he invited them to see the scars on his hands and his side.

Read the reflection.

From The Corners by Nadia Bolz-Weber

Synchronicity

We all have had the experience of running into just the right person, receiving just the right phone call, coming across just the right word when we needed it. These coincidences are known by some  as times of “synchronicity.” Patrick Murray calls them “moments of transformation.” They embrace us with a profound sense that life is ultimately purposeful, says Joanna Seibert.

Read the short reflection.

From Joanna Seibert.

Shape Of Silence

Writer Kent Nerburn invites us to pay attention to the silence that surrounds each day. “A day comes alive by the silence that surrounds our actions,” he says. “The shape of the silence that surrounds us . . . opens our heart to the unseen, and reminds us that the world is larger than the events that fill our days.”

Read the reflection.

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.

Gathered Wisdom, May 23, 2023

Marjorie George

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

During Ascensiontide, we behold the glory and grandeur of God – not by gazing at feet dangling out of clouds, but by pondering the very heart of mystery. We too are clothed in glory, even now.

Br. James Koester, SSJE

SAVE THE DATE

For “CLAIMING MY NOW”

A workshop for older adults.
From The Wisdom Years

July 15, 9 am To 12:30 pm
$20

A morning for digging into the joys and challenges of the later years.

In-person at the Bishop Jones Center in San Antonio
And hybrid by Zoom

To indicate interest, email to marjoriegeorge62@gmail.com.

Registration opens in early June.

The Divine Dimension of Life

James Finley, Center for Action and Contemplation teacher and psychotherapist, provides a helpful image about how our lives and struggles intersect with the ever-present love of God. The image help us remember we are not alone. Finley uses the technique with his patients, but we need not be clinically depressed to appreciate the image.

Read the reflection.

Graphic from Center for Action and Contemplation.

I Will Not Leave You Orphaned

The night before he was crucified, Jesus gave a comforting message to his friends. “I will not leave you orphaned,” he said to the gathered disciples. He was telling them that Holy Spirit would walk with them. This Sunday, May 28, we celebrate Pentecost – the day of the coming of the Holy Spirit – not just to the first disciples but to all of us.

Read the sermon.

From Society of St. John the Evangelist.

Cataclysms of the Heart

When our world falls apart, when we enter that “dark night of the soul,” we must remember that God does not desert us. Why does this “dark night” happen? It is like a honeymoon, says Fr. Ron Rolheiser. Honeymoons are wonderful, but, on a honeymoon, generally we are more in love with being in love and all the wonderful energy this creates than we are in love with the person behind all those feelings.

Read the reflection.

From the blog of Ron Rolheiser.

Earth Turns to Gold

In this short film from Green Renaissance, Shalav Israel says that “When we begin to share our stories, our experiences, then we are slowly peeling away on these ideas that separate us and create more pain and suffering. More and more, people are beginning to realize that it is not my skin color that defines me, it’s the concern that I have for the next person.”

Watch the video.

Posted on the Grateful Living Network.

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, May 16, 2023

Marjorie George

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

In prayer today, we might ask God to reveal to us the opportunities that are before us at this moment. Perhaps there is a window of opportunity in which we can express our love and gratitude to someone. Perhaps the soil is just right for planting some new seeds. Do not delay. Do not lose this opportunity. Take full advantage of this moment in your life’s history.

Br. David Vryhof, SSJE

A Lesson in Aging

Aging is a gift, even if unwanted, says Fr. Ron Rolheiser.  Aging, he says, “forces us, mostly against our will, to listen to our soul more deeply and more honestly so as to draw from its deeper wells and begin to make peace with its complexity, its shadow, and its deepest proclivities.” 

Read the reflection.

rom the blog of Ron Rolheiser.

An Open Empty Space

Richard Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline, insists that regularly-scheduled private retreats are essential for spiritual growth. In this, we follow our leader, Jesus, who often went away to a lonely place for prayer and refreshment.

Read the reflection.

From Renovare.

Making It Real

We are limited, fallible, frail creatures, says Br. Lain Wilson of the Society of St. John the Evangelist. So when Jesus says to us, “Do not let your hearts be troubled” (Jn 14:1). Do we believe him? God is always speaking to us—in word and image, relationship and experience, memory and imagination. God is always speaking to us, and it’s up to us to learn how to listen. 

Read the reflection.

From SSJE.

See The Universe In A Sunflower

Just because we can’t see something right now doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. It’s just a matter of time and latent conditions says Thich Nhat Hanh.

Read the reflection.

From Awakin.

Trusting God

Even when we feel out of control, the psalmist teaches us to recall God’s past faithfulness and look toward to the future with trust.

Find the materials for week 5 of The Wisdom Years psalms study, “God’s People Speak to God.”

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, May 9, 2023

Marjorie George

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

There is a journey you must take. It is a journey without a destination. There is no map. Your soul will lead you. 

-Meister Eckhart, Meister Eckhart’s Book of the Heart by Jon Sweeny and Mark Burrows

From Well for the Journey

Peace I leave with You

Holy Week and the events of Easter gave us a definite timeline and focus for our spiritual journey. But now the timeline seems a little harder to track. What keeps us coming back?

Read the reflection:

From Society of St. John the Evangelist.

Fly Loose

If the airplane pilot grips the yoke too tightly during turbulence, it actually makes the plane less steady. When the going gets tough, we need to remember to fly loose.

Read the reflection:

From Center for Action and Contemplation

Thirsty for Wonder

If you live as a contemplative person, you are likely to see God in unexpected moments. “The more you intentionally turn inward, the more available the sacred becomes,” says Mirabai Starr.”

Read the reflection. 

From Daily Good.

End Of the World

If the world as we know it is ending, it is up to us now to give it a good send off –  “To let it hand on its gifts and teach the lessons that may only become apparent as the end approaches,” says Douglad Hine.

Read the reflection.

From Awakin.

A Love So Wide and Deep

As we engage the psalms this week, we learn a new word: hesed. The word tries to capture what is unexplainable – God’s love. In week 4 of “God’s People Speak to God,” we look at the psalms of penitence and apply hesed.

Find the material for our psalms study 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, May 2, 2023

Marjorie George

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

Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost.

-Erol Ozan, Talus
Found at Well for the Journey

In the Shelter of Each Other

What do Mr. Rogers and Willie Nelson have in common? They are what Terry Hershey calls church.

Read the reflection.

From Terry Hershey Sabbath Moment

Embracing Change

Esther de Waal finds that the Christian journey – like the journey of the Hebrews across the desert – is full of uncertainties. Christ, she says,  “challenges people to leave their nets, or to leave a nice safe booth, and follow him.”

Read the reflection

From the Center for Action and Contemplation.

Loss Gave Life to My Empathy

He was expecting a day full of fun with his family, then unexpected death abruptly overcame their plans. He now knows that episode shaped his life and his career.

Read the story.

From Grateful Living.

The Journey of Healing and Faith

“We may feel tempted to hide beneath our scars thinking they are still wounds,” says Br. Jack Crowley from the Society of St. John the Evangelist. Or we can look at the scars as reminders that we have been healed. “We can smile with the wrinkles around our eyes.”

Read the sermon.

From Society of St.John the Evangelist.

The History of the Journey

The Israelites remembered their salvation journey in the history psalms. These they told to their children as they recalled and celebrated how God formed them as a people.  We too can tell the stories of our journey.

Find the material for week 3, the storytelling psalms, of our “God’s People Speak to God” study 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 April 25

Marjorie George

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

Be outrageous in forgiving. Be dramatic in reconciling. Mistakes? Back up and make them as right as you can, then move on.

New Mercies, Measured Out with Coffee Spoons
(with apologies to T.S. Eliot)

The writer of Lamentations was hopeful because “he remembers the unchanging love of God. But he also hopes because he knows that God’s mercies are new every morning. This is the twofold nature of hope: it is rooted in God’s character and work, and it renews with the sunrise.”

Read the reflection from Molly Harnish.

From Kolbe Times.

Lessons For The Great Fifty Days Of Easter

Drawing from Bishop Steven Charleston’s Easter reflection, Joanna Seibert reminds us of the hope Easter brings and urges us to apply ourselves to the healing of society.

Read the reflection.

From Joanna Seibert.

Our Utterly Unique Experience of God

The apostle Thomas gets a bad rap for being a doubter. But Brother Curtis Almquist sees it as Thomas needing to experience it for himself. We all have our own experiences of God, says Br. Almquist. “There is also a chamber in God, into which none other may enter excerpt you, the peculiarly unique person you are,” he says.

Read or listen to the sermon.

From Society of St. John the Evangelist.

Instructions For Living An Easter Life

The Rev. Mike Marsh gleans three instructions for living Easter from the Gospel of Luke. Pay attention. Be astonished.  Tell about it.

Read the sermon.

Read more at Interrupting the Silence.

God’s People Speak to God

What hill are you climbing just now? The ancient Hebrews traveled uphill to the sacred city of Jerusalem in their quest for God. But they sang as they went. We hear their voices in the “psalms of ascent.”

Join us for our six-week study of the psalms. We gather by Zoom on Thursdays at 4 p.m. (Central time). Or use the study materials on your own.

Find it at
https://wisdomyears.org/gods-people-speak-to-god-introduction/

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, April 18, 2023

Marjorie George

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

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other”
doesn’t make any sense.

Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi – 13th century Persian poet     

The Invitation of Grace

We each have a song, says writer Terry Hershey. “It is the song that reminds us we are beautiful, when we feel ugly. It is the song that tells us we are whole, when we feel broken.”

Read the reflection.

From Terry Hershey Sabbath Moment

Resurrection Words

The Jesus story wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. He was supposed to conquer all the enemies of the Jews. Instead he died a horrible, cruel death. But then something strange happened – the resurrection!

Read the sermon from Br. James Koester.

From Society of St. John the Evangelist.

Mighty in Contradiction: Love Powerfully

The opposite of love is not hate, says Patty De Llosa. It is power. Power seeks dominion, she says. love is about caring, taking in the message, finding what’s needed, seeing what wishes to appear and helping it to flower. Unfortunately, both of them operate in us.

Read the short reflection.

From Awakin.

Watchful for Resurrections

Death is inevitable, but so is resurrection. We remember that as our world emerges from winter into new life. Our own little resurrections come every time we choose to die to fear and egocentricity.

Read the reflection.

From the Center for Action and Contemplation.

God’s People Speak to God – a study of the psalms

The psalms of creation reveal God’s majesty and power and remind us that our God is a God of abundance, not scarcity. And yet, God has made man a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8).

Our study of the psalms starts this week. Engage it on your own, with your small group, or join us on Zoom on Thursdays from 4 to 5:15 pm (Central time). If you are interested in joining the Zoom group, send an email to Marjorie George at marjoriegeorge62@gmail.com.

The six-week study will be posted on the Wisdom Years website at
https://wisdomyears.org/gods-people-speak-to-god-introduction/

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.

God’s People Speak to God

God’s People Speak to God

Marjorie George

A new study from The Wisdom Years

A six-week study of the psalms

April 20 to May 25, 2023

With online conversation Thursdays, 4 to 5:15 p.m. (Central time)

We gaze adoringly at the new baby and immediately place him or her into the family legacy.

“He has your eyes,” we say to the dad. 

“I see Aunt Ruth in her smile.”

“He is going to be just like his grandfather.”

This new life is shaped in great part by those in the lineage who came before.

So it is with our ancient ancestors in the faith – the journey of the Old Testament Israelites becoming a people of God is our journey too. The joy and sorrow and tribulation we encounter along the way is the very same our ancestors knew.

For the Israelites, one expression of their relationship with God spilled out in the psalms they prayed and sang. In the psalms, the people praised God and argued with God and thanked God and got angry with God. All emotions we know today.

In this six-week study, we will be invited to make the psalms our own prayers and songs as we apply them to our lives. We will

  • look at the variety of psalms our ancestors relied on as they lived out their relationship with God
  • through reading the psalms and group discussion, identify our own desire to connect with God through the psalms
  • experience a community that provides a safe space, honesty, and acceptance

Each week we will post on our website a brief teaching, questions for reflection, and suggestions for bringing the psalms into our daily lives.

On Thursday afternoons, Apr 20 through May 25 (Apr 20 and 27, May 4, 11, 18, and 25) we will gather by Zoom from 4 to 5:15 p.m. (Central time) for full-group and small-group conversation.

To register for this study, or if you want to know more, please email Marjorie George at Marjoriegeorge62@gmail.com.

You are also welcome to use the material on your own or in congregational small group settings.

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This study is an offering from The Wisdom Years, a ministry of spiritual formation for those in the last third of their lives. Find us at www.wisdomyears.org.