Do Our Rituals Create Us or Do We Create Them? Are we creatures of our own rituals? I know people who find it impossible to function unless they do things in specific ways. Some of us need to begin our mornings with exactly the right type of caffeination. We may have certain routes we follow whenever we go particular places. Some of us have specific procedures for what we wear. The dictionary tells us rituals are religious or solemn ceremonies... Read more
The Stillness of Knowing Ourselves For many of us spiritual life focuses on our personal journeys of knowing ourselves. Some of us arrive at a place where we realize we do not know ourselves particularly well. It could be a time when our lives no longer meet our expectations. We have heard many things from many different people and we need to spend some time listening. Listening to sacred stillness is often how we begin to appreciate knowing ourselves. We... Read more
Spiritual Life Sparks Our Fire I belong to a liturgical church. Liturgical churches often try to remind us of our story by appealing to as many of our senses as possible. People stand and retell it to us so we can hear it. We use special music, or even ring bells, to remind us of our story. Many of our buildings are filled with pictures to remind us. Some of our pictures are painted on canvas and others are windows... Read more
Appreciating Questions as Much as Answers Many of us become interested in spiritual life because we are looking for answers. We live in a world where appreciating questions can be a challenge. It is easy for us to assume life is about finding answers to our questions. Most of us do not really appreciate having questions. Questions often make us feel nervous and a little uncomfortable. We do not want to have questions, what we really want are the answers... Read more
Where Do We Find Our Needed Rest? I have needed rest recently. Since having surgery a few weeks ago I have spent more time resting, recovering, and reading. Life starts to feel like a swing in the park. Some days I sail up into productivity while other days I swing back into rest and recovery. Maybe it is more of a pendulum. I am hoping to feel the sweet point of balance between the extremes. Many of us are challenged when... Read more
Seeing Through Eyes of Love Spiritual life works in us to change the way we see ourselves, each other, and the world around us. Some of us believe spiritual life draws us into seeing more deeply or more clearly. Sometimes we become able to see things which have been invisible to us or were obscured. Spiritual life can reveal things which are contrary to what we have believed in the past. I believe it is essential to spiritual life we... Read more
Living at the Speed of Life Some of us are in a rush to live faster than the speed of life. We are eager for tomorrow, or next week, to arrive. There are people who cannot wait for this month to be over and next month to begin. Many of us live our lives leaning forward into the future. We may be impatient for the world to become a different place, for us to grow into new people. If we... Read more
Listening to the Sacred Stillness Within Us We sit still, listening to the sacred stillness within us. When we become confused or exhausted, when we think we can go no further, we stop and listen. The only way we can find our path past the voices all around us is in the stillness. Some of us have little experience with the stillness within us. Like children who are afraid of the dark we have hidden from sacred stillness as long as... Read more
We Remember This is a weekend for us to remember. We take time in our busy schedules to pay attention to the giants on whose shoulders we stand. Some of them are people we have known who helped shape our lives. There are those who fought to bring about and protect the freedoms we enjoy. This long weekend is an opportunity for us to remember and be grateful. We remember by setting aside our assumptions and preconceptions and taking time... Read more
We Begin in Stillness Sitting and listening in stillness is how we start. We give ourselves and our imaginations a little time in stillness to find our next starting point. Some of us need to sit quietly and rest before we begin thinking in a new direction. We may take time to make sure of what we want to do next. Some of us spend time with our plans and goals and expectations, testing to find ant weaknesses. Sometimes we... Read more
Strategic Monk
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