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- Using the Spiritual Journey Series for Ongoing Enrichment
These days there is a rhythm of finding myself braving courageously the edge of no return only to find this is not falling into the abyss of oblivion but a further releasing of the bondage of my false self. These words from Rumi, this week. invite me to go where I would not rather go, but do offer glimpses of releasing into letting go:
Run from what is comfortable.
Forget safety.
Live where you fear to live.
Destroy your reputation.
Be notorious.
I have tried prudent planning long enough.
From now on,
I’ll be mad.O what courage to embrace the plan, not of my choosing. For this I am strangely grateful.
A big thank you, Pamela, for sharing this post. Lately I find myself making decisions for a time I am not yet living. Words like “parting fibers”, “very marrow of my substance” are an anchor for the present moment. Blessings to all on the long long path of seeking/consenting and for those who share that precious nugget of grace and mercy, of ever so slowly “coming into being”.
Come into Being as you pass away.
– Gospel of Thomas Logion 42All week i struggled to get past the examen question ” What is my most precious story?” All it seemed I could do was centering prayer and the welcome prayer, till this morning when the child of my ego self met my inner child. Long ago, perhaps forty years or so, during a guided mediation, God was this robust prairie willow on the edge of a prairie slough, and me, ( my inner child) was a very very small willow, oh so so, close to this robust prairie willow. Perhaps around the same time it was time for a new stage in my ego development, when I discover I have ( or am) an “i am”. This week I come face to face with the mirage exposing my “no such self”. Once again I am trusting the big I AM to empower my powerlessness as I continue to consent to ” coming into being”. In humble gratitude!
At the beginning of the week I found the image disgusting, upsetting, then this morning following an intense week of “walking with Pope Francis on his penitential pilgrimage”, the word peeling as the contemplative way of door knocking, is making sense if I consent to the presence and action. loved and mercy, of the great peeler.
As I participate in this historic “pilgrimage”, this week, the words: ASK, SEEK, KNOCK, SURRENDER plunge me into a deep abyss of listening with a “new heart”……….
Thanks, Susan, you who have travelled to the margins have let your heart be changed, though this is a significant “penitential pilgrimage” there are more “to be walked with”.
These words from Rumi: “Having died to self interest, she (love) risks everything and asks for nothing.” reverberating wordless volumes churning in that deep abyss within. Julian’s phrase, “all shall be well and…” bubbles up.
For those who walk with us here in Canada July 24-29 you might find these 2 websites helpful: http://www.papalvisit.ca
and http://www.living withchrist.ca/pope
Sitting with this question: influence of fear in my life and its place in decision making, out of know where pops into my awareness the temptation narrative. I tried to ignore this for 4 days, as I am participating in a retreat. In retreat closure, I came face to face with the “devil” that is me , the one for whom the “plan” is important; not just any plan, but “my” plan, “the plan”; “the plan which is my plan”. Right now I don’t have the words to share this experience, suffice it to say, I am experiencing something similar to that of Mary Magdalene in the garden (John 20: 16-17).
Please pray for my niece, Cherie, who lost her life in violent assault. Prayers especially for my sister, her mother. We are all in shock, a homicide number attached to someone we know and love.
Thank you, Linda, your phrase of “need to know basis”, a key to understanding my experience of June 2022. God’s “lure” (Hosea) “You duped me and I let myself be duped” (Jeremiah). Keating’s stages of transformation: 1) human effort – being willing(check off), 2)inadequate, unprepared, failure/humiliation private and public, (check off); slow descent into the pit of despair (God never let go, though I knew it not). Somewhere from in side me flowed up words , in my voice, of encouragement for each one involved. It was as if we experienced the glue of the Spirit, each in her own way. (No check mark this time), for I am in God’s world, God’s plan. I find myself in a new place of God’s doing. I am experiencing the most complete dependence on God ever….. The new( to me)/”glue-experience” continues. The Spirit… “seems to be encouraging a simplicity of being, to travel light physically, mentally and emotionally. a kind of leave-no-trace psychic footprint.” I am truly grateful that the Spirit takes care of my/our “psychic footprints; and will be there in making amends/in compassion/walking the path of “truth and Reconciliation” with those on my/our path.
“The Kingdom of God requires a world organized …..around love and compassion.” You are probably aware Pope Francis is coming to Canada July 24-29 to continue his walk with our Indigenous people, another step in apology…. along the path of truth and reconciliation. The Canadian Church has “put a hand on the plough” moving forward, step by step, painful step by painful step. Pope Francis’ painful knee is very symbolic. If you are interested, “Living with Christ” is creating a free exclusive digital edition, praying these days as they unfold: http://www.living with Christ.ca/Pope.
What feeds my soul?, the word “communion” as in “where 2 0r 3 are gathered”; as in John 13 ” washing feet”; as in living the charism of a vowed life; as in ” Synodality walking with” our indigenous brothers and sisters, or “care of our common home, this earth, this planet; as in our Wednesday one hour Centering prayer time. Such as these feed my soul. For this I am deeply grateful.
This week’s reflection is clicking with the unfolding of my life; “We are exactly what’s needed”. I am living into “what’s needed to heal the world” in my own little space/place on this planet. The challenge is ” my very wounds enable making a difference”. How self centered I have been for so long. This journey into detachment of self will be challenged during this week into the next six months. The key “radiating love in the most ordinary circumstances”. “It is not all about me.”
How is the Spirit speaking into my life this Pentecost 2022. The common lectionary reading for this past Friday, 1Kgs 19, the movement in Elijah from total commitment to what he sees as his Mission through despair, lamentation, hiding in the cave as nature produce its worst to then being enveloped in this moment of “sheer silence” to humbly responding to” What are you doing here?” to naming I have given my all for you, and this is the result! The Spirit draws Elijah into “passing on the torch” by anointing two kings and his own successor. Ronald Rolheiser omi, and Henri Nouwen both speak of living our more senior years as a blessing. This Pentecost is drawing me into giving my life asway so others may have life. Living this all is the hardest yet.
How is the Spirit speaking into my life? Pentecost 2022, not two days ago and the Spirit presents us/me with the widow of Zaraphath, at the end of “her all”; one last act of kindness for her and her son. Then the encounter with Elijah – there is more unfolding of “her all”; just trust the oil and flour for today is sufficient to continue the descent into the abyss of “her all”. Finally one has to face ” it is not all about me” but a willingness to embrace the “fire” of the Spirit.
