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Standing erect, holding our heads high, is the attitude of spiritually mature people in face of the calamities of our world. The facts of everyday life are a rich source for doomsday thinking and feeling. But it is possible for us to resist this temptation and to stand with self-confidence in this world, never losing our spiritual ground, always aware that “sky and earth will pass away” but the
words of Jesus will never pass away (see Luke 21:33)
Nouwen, Henri J. M. (2009-03-17). Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith (p. 273-4). HarperCollins.
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Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself, and know that everything in life has purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
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Recently I came across a book entitled Fly-Fishing - the sacred art. Casting a Fly as a Spiritual Practice. As you can imagine this generated immediate interest not just in the reflection of this as spiritual practice (in the vein of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance) but also in the practice of fly-fishing itself.
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I have been amiss in not getting onto the waters. It is a place to calm ones soul and I have much needed that in this last year's journey. Fly-fishing is the ideal occupation for the contemplative spirit - something I have come to understand. "Fly-fishing is a 'be here now' activity. It takes focus, balance, and being centered, physically and emotionally, to stand in the river and cast..."
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"The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual serious of occasions for hope."
"Fishing is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it."
There is certainly something in fishingthat tends to produce a gentleness of spirit, a pure serenity of mind."
We never know the worth of water till the well is dry."
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Rohr, Richard (2010-12-30). Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality
St. Anthony Messenger Press. Kindle Edition.
"In Franciscan parlance, once again, Jesus did not come to
change the mind of God about humanity; Jesus came to change the mind of
humanity about God. This grounds Christianity in love and freedom from the very
beginning; it creates a very coherent and utterly attractive religion, which
draws people toward lives of inner depth, prayer, reconciliation, healing and
even universal “at-one-ment,” instead of mere sacrificial atonement. Nothing
“changed” on Calvary, but everything was revealed so we could change! Soon we
have an energetic basis for a joy-filled and mystical Christianity, as
Franciscanism always preferred. God is not someone we need to fear or mistrust,
a nonviolent atonement theory says. (“What will God ask of me if he demands
violent blood sacrifice from his only Son?”) Our only desire is “to fall into
the hands of [such a] living and loving God” (Hebrews 10:31). But like any
trust fall, first we have to trust the one we are going to fall toward. Jesus,
for us, is the mediator of a Christianity that is much more about divine union
than a demanded payoff or a solution to a cosmic problem. Such “ungracious”
religion has only led to a kind of false idealization of egotistic
self-sacrifice, a quid-pro-quo universe that Jesus himself never taught and
even rejected: “Go, learn the meaning of the words, what I want is mercy not
sacrifice. I did not come for the virtuous, but for the sick” (Matthew 9:13).…
Jesus was precisely the “once and for all” sacrifice given to reveal the lie
and the absurdity of the very notion and necessity of “sacrificial” religion
itself. That’s much of the point of Hebrews 10 if you are willing to read it
with new eyes. But we perpetuated such regressive and sacrificial patterns by
making God the Father into the Chief Sacrificer, and basing the very notion of
divine redemption on a kind of “necessary violence.” Can God do no better than
that? Or were we attracted to such a violent redemption theory to legitimate
our own conscious or unconscious desire to be violent? Is dominative power not
our humanly preferred way of dealing with our problems? (We must ask that
question!) A violent theory of redemption legitimated punitive and violent
problem solving all the way down—from papacy to parenting! There eventually
emerged a huge disconnect between the founding story and the message of Jesus
itself! If even God uses and needs violence, maybe Jesus did not really mean
what he said in the Sermon the Mount, and we don’t have to follow it. Remember,
how you get there determines where you finally arrive! Our bellicose Christian
history has made this core problem rather clear. If God solves problems by
domination, coercion and violent demand, then we can too. Grace, mercy and
eternal generosity are no longer the very shape of God, as the Trinitarian
nature of God seemed to say. Free will, grace and love became less admirable
than some theoretical cosmic justice, law and blind obedience. We end up making
God very small and draw the Godhead into our own ego-driven need for
retribution, judicial resolution and punishment. Yet that’s exactly what Jesus
came to undo! If God can forgive, then God can forgive! We do not need one
major exception where we need atonement and payment of price. But theoretical
religion has always been more comfortable with cosmic problem solving than with
personal surrender to the healing and transformative mystery of divine love.
Healing and forgiveness have not been in the forefront of Christian history,
even though these are almost the only things Jesus does. Sacrificial thinking
is in the human hardwiring and has been so glorified in myth, ego and war, that
most people are unable to live without some form of blood expiation and
vengeance toward problems. Now if the Godself even needs appeasement, atonement
and necessary victims—we are in an utterly closed system of supposed redemptive
violence. That’s exactly the “useless” offerings that most of the prophets, and
many of the Psalms (40, 51, 69) railed against."
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Much of our dysfunction and inability to extend grace and forgiveness to ourselves, and to those around us, seems to be a reflection of our inability to love ourselves.
To love oneself can be seen as narcissism - a sense of inflated self-importance, egotism, vanity, conceit, or just simple selfishness. Much of society's values push us in this direction - to see everything in terms of what it is for us and what it can give us - with us at the centre.Alternately, in some circles, we are so tuned to the notion of our own worthlessness that we only see others being better than ourselves. We minimize our own capacity. We don't see our own value and focus more on our incapacity and weaknesses. We are victims of life and unfairness in terms of what we perceive has been given to us.
Both of these notions support a unrealistic and disrespectful perspective that feeds our ego. We either see ourselves as irreplaceable and at the 'centre' of everything or as being on the outside with nothing to offer. So either we self-congratulate or self-depreciate. Both are self-sustaining mythologies that create their own inner logic but are not rooted in a healthy cosmology.
That self-centered mythology aside, the notion of' loving oneself' can more reflect a much deeper and fundamental understanding of who we are - as individuals and community created in the image of God. To love oneself in this context is to own our being and to recognize that we are valued, loved, energized and made free by the spirit of the one who created us. We take our identity from the creator and not from ourselves. It is about God loving us and God in us.
Much of our lives however are experienced in the context of community - we are not alone nor do we self-define. So our sense of self is also drawn from our environment and from those with whom we live, work and play. This is crucial so that we do not create independent and destructive mythologies about ourselves and our relationships.
As I was contemplating this the other day I wondered how we can begin to see ourselves as loved by God, as complete, fulfilled, centered and joyful people when we often feel broken, confused, tired and find ourselves wandering witlessly through life. How can we begin to see the gift of life in ourselves and how that intersects with our environment and our contribution to it all.
Maybe if we begin with that which is nearest us and often not seen or heard because we are not looking for it. To begin to love oneself is to become self-aware and to recognize our part, our space, our presence in the world. It is often found in the simple things of life, the daily task and the daily intersect with people.
So here's an ode to loving oneself (at least beginning to enter that space).
Loving oneself is:
- breathing deeply of the fresh morning air and feeling alive,
- enjoying the trilling song of the bubul and cape robin,
- appreciating the warmth of a summer evening or the sparkling snow of a sun-filled morning,
- welcoming someone into your home,
- being thankful - for the day, for work, for family, for something...
- opening your heart in prayer,
- articulating your feelings when angry, frustrated, or lonely,
- learning to trust God, even a little bit,
- acknowledging your gifts, your interests and your desires, even if they don't bring the world to attention,
- taking care of yourself,
- enjoying a cup of cappuccino at a roadside cafe
- forgiving those who have hurt you deeply and who seek to undermine you,
- enjoying a lovely salad or stewed apple with maple syrup,
- thanking God for who you are and what he or she is doing in and through you,
- loving your spouse or partner without attachment,
- recognizing that you are part of the community you live in and that you help shape its very existence, its hopes, and its struggles,
- seeing a tree full of angels as you walk through the day.
So thank God for who you are, for the gifts you have been given, for the space you occupy, and for those who walk with you. You are not alone! You are loved! You are the image of God! If you can imagine that you have the grace to extend that love to those around you.
Carpe diem!
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My Lord God
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean
that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that my desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
- Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
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Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me...
You will know them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? ... A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit... Thus you will know them by their fruits.
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Is this not the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. Isaiah 58:6-9
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A Morning Prayer
+ O God, this morning I come, into the quietness and stillness of your presence, to begin the day, so that out of this moment, I may take with me a quite serenity, which will last me through the rough, and the smooth of this day’s life.
+ I come to find wisdom, so that today I may not make any foolish mistakes, that I may know when to speak and when to keep silent, when to act and when to refrain from action.
+ I have come to find peace, so that nothing may worry or upset me, all through today.
+ I have come to find courage, to be patient not to give up hope, when hopes are long in coming true, to accept disappointment without bitterness, and delay without complaint.
+ I have come to find love – to listen to your love, so that all through today I may love, without being attached, that nothing may make me bitter or unforgiving.
+ I have come to begin the day with you so that I may be able to continue it, and end it, without regret.
+ And I have come this day, O God, to be real, transparent as a mountain spring, with a heart open and spontaneous as a child.
+ Hear this, my morning prayer: in the name of Jesus and for the sake of the world.
Amen – May it be so.
Found at Morningstar R.C. Seminary, Barrackpore, IN (adapted by Kent Ira Groff)
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In solitude we can slowly unmask the illusion of our possessiveness and discover in the center of our own self that we are not what we can conquer, but what is given to us. In solitude we can listen to the voice of him who spoke to us before we could speak a word, who healed us before we could make any gesture to help, who set us free long before we could free others, and who loved us long before we could give love to anyone. It is in this solitude that we discover that being is more important than having, and that we are worth more that the result of our efforts. In solitude we discover that our life is not a possession to be defended, but a gift to be shared. It's there we recognize that the healing words we speak are not just our own, but are given to us; that the love we can express is part of a greater love, and that the new life we bring forth is not a property to cling to, but a gift to be received.
From Out of Solitude by Henri Nouwen
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There must be always remaining in every [person's] life some place for the singing of angels, some place for that which in itself is breathlessly beautiful and, by an inherent prerogative, throws all the rest of life into a new and creative relatedness, something that gathers up in itself all the freshets of experience from drab and commonplace areas of living and glows in one bright light of penetrating beauty and meaning - then passes. The commonplace is shot through with new glory; old burdens become lighter; deep and ancient wounds lose much of their old, old hurting. A crown is placed over our heads for the rest of our lives we are trying to grow tall enough to wear. Despite all the crassness of life, despite all the hardship of life, despite all the discords of life, life is saved by the singing of angels.
From Deep is the Hunger by Howard Thurman
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Our situation, say the Greek Fathers, is like that of the ... people in the desert of Sinai: we live in tents, not houses, for spiritually we are always on the move. We are on a journey through the inward space of the heart, a journey not measured by the hours of our watch or the days of the calendar, for it is a journey out of time into eternity.
... Christianity is more than a theory about the universe, more than teachings written down on paper; it is a path along which we journey - in the deepest and richest sense, the way of life.
There is only one means of discovering the true nature of Christianity: We must step out upon this path, commit ourselves to this way of life, and then we shall begin to see of ourselves. So long as we remain outside, we cannot properly see for ourselves. Certainly we need to be given directions before we start; we need to be told what signposts to look for, and we need to have companions....
No one can be an armchair traveller on this all-important journey. No one can be a Christian second hand. God has children, but he has no grandchildren.
From The Orthodox Way by Kallistos Ware
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This page is inspired by conversation with a friend while visiting Ontario this November as we talked about our spiritual journeys and how God works in and through us.
The name of the page title comes from David Bosch's (South African missiologist) book A Spirituality of the Road. This page will consist of reflections on our spiritual journeys as we seek to find meaning and hope. The first posting is a reflection of some of David's thoughts from his book:
‘Starting with the certainty that the crucified Saviour is also the risen Lord... We can wade into the human struggle with our gospel of hope, side with the victims, find ways to confront, influence, modify and make responsible the powers around us, suggest structures of greater justice and human compassion, and above all, let others know who the Lord of the struggle is. This... is a form of mission to our culture.
It belongs to our missionary mandate to ask question about the use of power in our societies, to unmask those that destroy life, to show concern for the victims of society, while at the same time calling to repentance those who have turned them into victims, and to articulate God’s active wrath against all that distorts and diminishes human beings and all that exploits, squanders, and disfigures the world for selfishness, greed and self-centered power.
... there is already very much religion and believing in Western society. What we do not need, then, is to introduce more religion. The issue is not to talk about God in a culture that has become irreligious, but how to express, ethically, the coming of God’s reign, how to help people respond to the real questions of their context, how to break with the paradigm according to which religion has to do only with the private sphere.’
