Winter of the spirit . . .

Perhaps there are times when our faith is weak. But Jesus explicitly states that it is not how much faith we have that counts but whether we simply do our duty and exercise whatever faith we do have; and an infinitesimal amount, he says, is enough. The issue, after all, is not whether we are spiritual giants but whether God really is able to do anything. Faith is not a feeling or a capacity we conjure up but trusting that God can act decisively in the world.

- Walter Wink

Stories

“Stories unveil the holy purposes at work deep within life together. Where stories are told, community emerges and new worlds come into being.”

– John S. Mogaahgah, ‘Weavings’

Needing things . . .

Deliver me, Lord, from the endless desire
to acquire
the urge to heap possessions on possessions.

Set me free to enjoy the blessings
I already have received: this world in
all its wonder,
my friends and family, my church,
this self
you have entrusted to me with all its
possibilities and challenges.

And
fix my eyes on you,
and on the prize you have prepared
life eternal in your presence and your
grace.

 - J. Barrie Shepherd

Being There

Thinking back to the Peter Seller's movie, 'Being There' and through the lines of the following, I rebuke myself at the many times in which I am not mostly nor fully present.

“Sometimes I am amazed when I realize how rarely I am where I am. More often than not, my body is in one place and my mind is in several others. That, I know, is energy diffused. But there are times when I can just be where I am and do what I am doing. There are times when I can just be where I am and do what I am doing. There are times when I am not engaged in maintaining a self-image – that is, when I am able just to do what needs to be done, and to forget myself in the doing; when I am not thinking at all about how I am doing or looking. When my energy is concentrated in the given of the moment, then it flows freely from the centre, without diversion into folds or side pockets. Then, I think, the light shines brightly. Then there is a kind of pure power in what is done . . .”

- Elaine M. Prevallet, S.L.

Something larger . . .

“The saint is a saint not because he is good, but because he is transparent for something that is larger than he is.”

- Paul Tillich

Getting out of the way . . .

“As long as my centre is occupied with the marshalling of my own feeble powers, there will be no space for God’s power to flow through me. As long as I am in my own way, I will not live in the power of God’s way.”

 - Martin Luther King

Where to begin . . .

"All art begins with the artist's wound."

 - John Gardner

God dances ? . . .

Joy is divinity dancing within us.

- Wendy M. Wright

Created anew . . .

"The poet enters into himself (or herself) in order to create; the contemplative enters into God in order to be created."

- Thomas Merton