Sunday January 24: Beyond Opposites

[link to full email]: https://mailchi.mp/coutreach/word-of-the-week-jan24

[excerpt from email]: “God is at a place of knowledge and love that is beyond opposites – where all opposites are complementary. In the simplicity of God, everything is resolved. It’s into that unity of consciousness that God is inviting us in our human adventure.” – Thomas Keating, God is in All: The Evolution of the Contemplative Christian Spiritual Journey

Practices: Pray the passages in the manner of Lectio Divina.  Pray the Welcoming Prayer with triggers and feelings of resistance.

 

i just want to put this down while i continue to reflect. that image is intriguing , if not soothing.

the second reading from today is about time running out, about being married , doing this thing or that as if we aren’t . to me , it means standing a bit away from the (problematic ) other and me , the church  and me, all my projects: practical , intellectual and even spiritual. Living tentatively, playfully, holding lightly on the steering wheel of my day.

i am so appreciative of how the few of you who post here….your contrbutions…. reflect years of silence deep within , joined with your engagement in ordinary life. such a collection of misfitting puzzle pieces  this life is for me, and that is how it is supposeed to be! only God  is able to make sense of the mess that is me and this world. It feels kinda comfy with Him incharge.

There is a letter to the editor in todays paper that i wrote…pretty much pouring out my heart about being our best selves. What the heck. it  cant hurt to try.

kathy

hilma of Klimpt was a theosophist as were many Group of 7 artists (canadian early 1900 s) my art teacher for many years was a theosophist.

to be spiritual while remaining bodily present in the day to day world is a constant challenge.

What newspaper is this?

hi sister, i wrote this letter and it was printed  in pur local newspaper: the watertown times.

To. The Editor:
‘
I appreciate the letter written by Mark Zehr and published in the Sunday, Jan. 17, issue of the Watertown Times. He expressed reticence about publicly making his opinion known, given the readership of the Watertown Times.We need to hear each and everyone who feels their views are not respected.

We all have our personal history, which provides a foundation for our later view of the world..  Could we listen to each other’s stories? We can all ask ourselves: How do I know if what I know is true? None of us knows it all, and we need to look for measurable guides for what is factual and what is not.

The “news” we consume: how much of it is factual and how much is interpretation? Could we not have actual periods when all that is reported is what happened? Where did it happened. Who did what? Who observed it? What time did it happen and for what duration, and in what sequence? The meaning of events should are addressed at a different time.

I have enduring beliefs and values, by which I judge what I experience in the world. According to Marilynne Robinson, saying my values are right and yours are wrong is like saying “my mother is better than your mother”.

Can’t we all go over and climb that little hill over there (in our mind’s eye)_ and get a God’s-eye view of the different ways of seeing things?

From Psalm 85: Kindness and truth shall meet. Would that this be so. I commit to that goal in. My own thinking and speaking.

What is in my own mind is what I project out onto the world. The world “out there” is also the world “in here” . How is what I am watching, listening to or reading contribute to the world I see and make real by my expectations?

Let us each take courage and be our best selves, just one moment at a time. Do you think you could try? Just for today? I for one, am going to start to walk my talk. Words are cheap.

Thank you, Kathleen, for including your letter and your earlier posting. Yes, this indeed is a very challenging time to be at our best.

I find myself repeating to my adult children to be especially patient with themselves and others and to recognize that everyone is under all kinds of pressures in ways we cannot see. It is very hard to be at our best today and hearing you desire to, “walk the talk” is helpful. I find it difficult to know which “talk” to start with.

Even when practicing silence and attempting in prayer to quietly listen, I feel diminished by so many distractions.  Such is my experience.

Surrender

Empty

Descend

I let go of my desire for power and control, over myself.

In my spiritual infancy, unsteady steps towards walk the talk through The Welcoming Prayer.

The comments made here and during our Zoom sharing often open up new windows to the mystery we live in and to my own soul. I know my life was very much influenced by the Civil Rights Movement, its rootedness in God and it’s courage to speak the truth and act from it. Much of my work focused on faith based efforts aimed at economic justice. As I now spend more time in silence, I feel like a dancer who has reached the still point. All of the lessons learned in the dance of my life are still spinning and slowly unraveling.  Word of the Week has been part of the process. I know that my inner truth has been formed by a certain time in history and how I chose to respond to it. Yet, there are bigger and deeper truths that arise. My task is to be quiet and let God be the guide. Yes. The world in its present form is passing away. My safe harbors and clear paths have disappeared.  But I trust in a new vision, the one being created moment by moment. With gratitude for all of you.

Susan Kenney wrote:

The comments made here and during our Zoom sharing often open up new windows to the mystery we live in and to my own soul. I know my life was very much influenced by the Civil Rights Movement, its rootedness in God and it’s courage to speak the truth and act from it. Much of my work focused on faith based efforts aimed at economic justice. As I now spend more time in silence, I feel like a dancer who has reached the still point. All of the lessons learned in the dance of my life are still spinning and slowly unraveling. Word of the Week has been part of the process. I know that my inner truth has been formed by a certain time in history and how I chose to respond to it. Yet, there are bigger and deeper truths that arise. My task is to be quiet and let God be the guide. Yes. The world in its present form is passing away. My safe harbors and clear paths have disappeared. But I trust in a new vision, the one being created moment by moment. With gratitude for all of you.

Sorry, I wanted to quote only two significant sentences from Susan, the second and third last – and I couldn’t undo  the rest of the quote..

Might I add that for me the Welcome prayer is a blessing in surfacing “feelings of resistance and emotional triggers”. A significant breakthrough happened this week. I had to admit my powerlessness  over several days and then “I got it”!

Sunday, January 24: Beyond Opposites

This has been my lectio passage: “In the simplicity of God, everything is revealed. It’s into that unity of consciousness that God is inviting us in our human adventure.” How do I resolve conflict within and without? “In the simplicity of God.” It is a great trust adventure into which God calls us to participate, and not as spectators but as active co-creators. We allow God “to experience human nature in your uniqueness.” My uniqueness is my gift I can bring. <3 linda

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