This fall has been so beautiful I can hardly stand it. It is so beautiful it makes me weep. That is what happens, I guess, to the aging body and spirit. You become susceptible. I am developing a particular sensitivity to wonder. Continue reading
spirituality
Me and my pet ego
Here is a status report on this spiritual transition that I seem to be experiencing. “Spiritual” because it’s taking me into unknown territory, unseen stuff, related somehow to God and especially to Jesus or Christ. For shorthand I could say it’s about “Christ consciousness.” That is because I am seeing it, influenced by my recent reading*, as a response to the invitation Jesus brought, to join him in the realm of the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven, which was all about consciousness, a way of seeing.
But you could also say that this is in the realm of my very human psyche Continue reading
The spiritual practice of making mistakes
I am beginning to get the idea that making mistakes, being wrong, is an important spiritual discipline. I picked up on this when I was traveling to Congo and making a lot of mistakes, some cultural, some quite blatantly personal. I learned to expect to be wrong quite often. I cheerfully let my ego take a backseat and realized that the education you get from errors is so valuable that you shouldn’t try too hard to avoid them. Nothing ventured–no embarrassment risked–nothing gained. Continue reading
What happens next
I have an addiction to confess. I am a sucker for well-written series thrillers. I spent most of the day Sunday, after church and lunch, reading one book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series, start to finish, more than 400 pages. I’ve been binge-reading Jack Reacher. This was the fourth in five days. Continue reading
Keep no secrets
My husband and I had paired dreams this morning. This has not happened for a long time. When it does you can be sure that something is up between us. We pay attention.
In my husband’s dream a very reliable source told him I was leaving him. Continue reading
Dripping from God
Dream: I am finding my way in an unknown city in winter, in a fog, on snowy streets, around construction, on a bike. It is treacherous and unclear whether I am going somewhere or just out for exercise.
This is a reminder that the spiritual transition in which I find myself (see the last two posts) is likely to be difficult and unpleasant at times. Continue reading
Shift happening
I don’t know if I can take you on this journey with me. Things are moving so fast. Let me see if I can sum up what I’ve learned, what I’ve come to believe, in the past week or so. The change in my thinking has been breathtakingly fast because these ideas are not really new to me; they have just been presented in a way that makes a great deal of sense, and in a way that makes sense of what I have long felt and suspected and been confused about. Continue reading
The Jives of St. Ives
Be forewarned that I may be on the cusp of a shift in consciousness and, hence, preoccupation. I am in the process of having my mind blown and I am not sure where the pieces will land. Take everything I write–up to now but especially from now on–as descriptive, not prescriptive. Feel free to unfollow.
I am planning to attend one of Cynthia Bourgeault’s beginning wisdom schools. Continue reading
Real flowers
The flowers I arranged for an altar last weekend are kind of a mess today because they are just about to go. The glads are exploding in bloom to their very tips but, lower on the stalks, which are finding it harder to stay upright, the first blooms have already shriveled and dropped. The sunflower petals, crisp and smooth a few days ago, are twisting and falling. The goldenrod is dusted with its own pollen and drooping at the tips. Continue reading
I don’t hate praise music after all
Global Anabaptists dance. Photo by Nina Lanctot
I’ve had an abiding revulsion toward the type of modern church music known as praise songs: the simple, repetitive lyrics projected on a big screen, congregation singing along inaudibly beneath the overamplified performance of the “worship team” but with much arm-waving in praise to God the majestic all-powerful one and Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
Can’t stand it. Continue reading
the practical mystic 