Sunday March 27: Eyes of the Heart, Eyes of Faith

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  • Sunday March 27: Eyes of the Heart, Eyes of Faith
    • Posted by pbegeman on March 25, 2022 at 6:29 pm #122673

      [link to full email]: https://mailchi.mp/coutreach/word-of-the-week-mar27-2022

      [excerpt from email]: To Practice:

      • Recommit to your daily practice of Centering Prayer and other practices. Just show up and trust the process of transformation in you through the power of the Spirit.
      • Pope Francis talks of the “virus of indifference”, the habit of looking away, of not seeing the other. After a few moments of silence, open your eyes, look around at the familiar and notice something new, something or someone that you had never seen quite that way before. You are invited to journal about what you discover or to share it in the community forum.

       

    • Posted by tcf2_comcast_net on March 27, 2022 at 11:45 am #122701

      Several reactions to this reading.

      -“our egos create divisions between the privileged and oppressed, between human em beings and the rest of creation.”  I’m so glad to see Fr Keating remember “the rest of creation.”  I grieve as I see my own community gobble up natural habitat, wooded areas clear cut to make room for condos.  I have a space outside where I can stand in a circle of trees and feel more energy from their lives in thst spot than I can in a church service – hmmm,  maybe I’m being too divisive in the other direction.

      As for oppression others, June and I are reading now with dismay about how our own Episcopal. Church has in the past embraced class and race privilege in so many ways.  One of our seminaries was founded in 1859 specifically to promote the superiority of “Ango-Saxon” people.

      Is anyone here also getting Spiritus? As we discuss Fr K’s  warning about hearing voices, it does seem that Dr King had a strong premonition

       

    • Posted by Adeline Behm on March 27, 2022 at 6:43 pm #122708

      On this joy Sunday of Lent 2022 “Blindness” is a revealing theme. On a personal level I own up to my personal blindness of not seeing the other as ‘beloved’, certain others. As a co-responsible Canadian  we are faced with our blindness toward our Indigenous peoples. On the eve of the delegation meeting with Pope Francis, we are “survivor/settler” together on the the path of reconciliation. The Archdiocese of Regina SK is in a 5-years survivor led reconciliation.

    • Posted by tcf2_comcast_net on March 28, 2022 at 12:20 am #122711

      <p style=”text-align: left;”>Adeline, thank you for your story of reconciliation with indigenous people in Canada.   May the USA follow your example</p>
      <p style=”text-align: left;”></p>
       

    • Posted by linda rhead on March 28, 2022 at 11:15 am #122721

      Sunday March 27: Eyes of the Heart, Eyes of Faith

      Recommitting to twice daily Centering Prayer keeps me focused on what is important on my journey to love others. I have been near-sighted since a very young age, unable to see far, the big picture. As I aged the inability to read small print took my vision correction to a new level – bifocals. As I recommit today, my “visual” going forward is I need twice daily Centering Prayer as much (if not more) than I need my glasses. I want to allow Christ’s Spirit in me to perceive the same Spirit in others every day. <3 linda

    • Posted by James Lang on March 28, 2022 at 4:05 pm #122724

      I’m very much appreciate the opportunities to practice centering prayer. Like any act where some skill or finesse is required. I find  benefit in practice. In adult life I found that being caught “being in my head,” caused me to not see/hear/feel- the bigger/deeper picture, and therefore I suffered and others suffered. My commitment to centering prayer is one method I have found effective to allow me to return to heart centeredness

    • Posted by Susan Kenney on March 28, 2022 at 7:27 pm #122728

      On Fire. To me the image is of Sophia Wisdom on fire with the energy of justice and reconciliation. Justice for all who are oppressed or fleeing from war.  And reconciliation for Canadian settlers and first people, for the privileged and the impoverished, for the institutional church and those who are ignored, diminished or demonized.

    • Posted by Kathleen M. Kelly on March 28, 2022 at 7:46 pm #122729

      ii am interested as well

      in the spiritus readings. i find the discussion of mystical phenomena fits nicely with my decision to lump feelings, moods, and even thoughts under the umbrella of phenomena.

      “what an interesting thing to say, Kathleen. (“he’s a jerk”) the thought, the statement…phenomena to watch, to discern . noticing the feeling underlying the outburst. praying through it.

      looking away…no. just more evil, more unkindness, more hard-heartedness. no.

    • Posted by John Haney on March 29, 2022 at 1:08 pm #122740

      That is a lovely thought!

    • Posted by Susan Kenney on April 1, 2022 at 9:35 pm #122810

      Seeing Differently. Today I went to a retirement party for a woman who was an essential part of HOPE Cooperative for 33 years. I have known her for 21 of those years. She is a creative, compassionate and sometimes driven person. Today I saw her with her husband and daughter. She instantly became more human, more approachable and a bit fragile. I saw a small piece of the support that her family had been through the years. No one stands alone.

    • Posted by Adeline Behm on April 2, 2022 at 4:21 pm #122817

      During the Wednesday afternoon C.P. group meet something was stirring deep within. I sat for a few minutes when it was over in receiving mode. The phrase: “Existential myopia is always about holding on to something we’re afraid to let go of.” Clearly I heard ADELINE. Initially stunned, just a fraction of a nanosecond. I heard… I saw… I felt… something so true, no pondering, no debating… just stark reality. An amen/your will be done kind of experience. Next day at a ministry, trauma listening, I heard/saw/felt into a painful reality, decluttered part of ADELINE.

      It seems God has 3 assignments for me, a well seasoned octogenarian, one of which is walking the healing/reconciliation path with our Indigenous folk. All three a “walking with” kind of assignment.

       

      • Posted by pbegeman on April 4, 2022 at 3:17 pm #122839

        Adeline: Thank you for sharing this deep, grace-filled experience of kenosis.  So grateful to be walking with you in deep waters. – Pamela

    • Posted by Susan Kenney on April 2, 2022 at 7:18 pm #122820

      Walking With. Thanks, Adeline, for that reflection. When I worked in mental health, I often thought that my main job was being a companion to those on their own journey to wholeness. It was not my job to decide what wholeness was for each person or to determine the best path to that wholeness. What I could do was create an environment for the journey to begin.

    • Posted by Julie Acosta on May 25, 2022 at 8:40 pm #124493

      This is actually a wonderful thought process, really nice.

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