Real Transformation

 An excerpt from this book - which I haven't yet read but found on the Spirituality and Practice Newsletter.

"Bernard McGinn says that mysticism is 'a consciousness of the presence of God that by definition exceeds description and . . . deeply transforms the subject who has experienced it.' If it does not deeply change the lifestyle of the person — world view, economics, politics, and ability to form community — you have no reason to believe it is genuine mystical experience. It is often just people with an addiction to religion itself, which is not that uncommon.

Mysticism is not just a change in some religious ideas or affirmations, but it is an encounter of such immensity that everything else shifts in position. Mystics have no need to exclude or eliminate others precisely because they have experienced radical inclusivity of themselves into something much bigger. They do not need to define themselves as enlightened or superior, whereas a mere transfer of religious assertions often makes people even more elitist and more exclusionary.

True mystics are glad to be common, ordinary, servants of all, and just like everybody else, because any need for specialness has been met once and for all."

Compassion

Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human. 
~Henri Nouwen.

I came across this quote in a newsletter from the Charter for Compassion. You can access the whole newsletter here.

The newsletter includes links and many great resources in areas of  Education, Business, Healthcare, Spirituality, Peace and Non-violence - and one that intrigued me - 

I love the logo and the by-line: Survival of the Kindest! 

Kite Surfing, Wind, Breath, Spirit

This morning I walked in the bracing wind on Long Bay beach. On the way back I stopped to watch as a kite surfer spread out his kite and prepared to fly!

It took about 15minutes of preparation - laying it all out in the right direction, letting the wind "blow up" the kite sail, making sure the cords attaching the kite to the harness were not tangled... Finally he picked up the board, attached himself to the harness and lifted the kite into wind. In an instant he was dragged sideways across the sand. Up again and with more control he trotted towards the water. Getting his feet into the foot straps without being dragged by the kite required patience and two more falls. But finally he was up, skimming the surf and rising above it in what I'm sure felt a jubilant sense of freedom. It was exhilarating to watch and I admired his tenacity - and no doubt the many hours of practice that had gone before.

It particularly struck me because before my walk I had been reading a book about deepening the practice of Centering Prayer (which has been my daily practice for some time). In it David Frenette writes about using awareness of breath/breathing as a way to stay centered in openness to God. (Most often in Centering Prayer a sacred word is used as the anchor point.) Though attending to your breath is not a new thought in many forms of meditation one of the things Frenette said particularly struck me: "Your breath, like God, is always with you in this life, from the moment of your birth until the instant of your death." This makes attending to breath is not just a "meditation technique" but a way to connect with the Spirit of God who is ever present - just like our breathing - whether we are aware or not. Of course the practice of being aware is where the joy and freedom lies.

Like the kite surfer, there is preparation, patience and faithful practice involved. But wonderfully, the only equipment necessary is our own breathing and the location is anywhere we may be!

WIND    BREATH    SPIRIT

"The Lord God took a handful of dust and formed a man. God breathed life into the man, and the man started breathing." Genesis 2:7 (CEV)

"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear the sound of it but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." John 3:8 (NIV)

"Jesus said: 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.' And with that he breathed on them and said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit'." John 20:21-22 (NIV)

Operation Cover Up

No, this title is not about spy agencies - newsworthy as that may be!

Operation Cover Up is about making sure children in orphanages in the Ukraine have warm blankets and clothes in the freezing winter temperatures.

For many years I have been knitting blankets for this excellent project. This week I delivered a couple of recently knitted ones to the local co-ordinator. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the blankets  I knitted or of her house packed with mounds of blankets, clothes and educational equipment ready for shipping! But these photos (more on website) will give you an idea:

If you are interested in being part of this project the website gives plenty of information - or you can contact me directly.

Silence: The Mystery of Wholeness

I'm reading this excellent book - recommended by Cynthia Bourgeault and Richard Rohr who are two trusted guides!

It is probably a book for those who are already familiar with a journey into deep silence. It is written in a beautifully poetic style of prose and comes at the topic from a place of deep experience on the part of the author. Robert Sardello PhD is co-founder with Cheryl Sanders-Sardello of the School of Spiritual Psychology which began in 1992. Chapter headings include: Entering the Silence, Relating within Silence, The Healing Power of Silence, Silence in Daily Living... Cheryl Sanders-Sardello writes one page "reflections" between the chapters. One that I found very moving is this one prior to the chapter The Healing Power of Silence:

"Entering your room I know that I am not alone with you. A holy silence attends you, too, close to your head just there by the window. It seems to have a proprietary attitude, as if you belong more to the silence than to me. Your eyes quiver open for a moment then close again, but there is a hint of a smile on your pain-wracked face, and your hand moves a centimeter towards me. Sitting, holding your hand, watching you struggle between planes of existence in this room full of silence, I know you are getting to know this other presence. As a baby turns in the womb, preparing for the long journey into sound, your heart is turning in your soul, preparing for the long journey into silence. And all I can do is hold your hand and smile when your eyes flicker open for a moment and try to fill the silence with all my love, so you will know it is there, too, on your arrival into silence."

The Thread

There's a thread you follow.It goes among

things that change. But it doesn't change.

People wonder about what you are pursuing.  

You have to explain about the thread.

But it is hard for others to see.

While you hold it you can't get lost.

Tragedies happen; people get hurt

or die and you suffer and get old.

Nothing you can do can stop time's unfolding.

You don't ever let go of the thread.

    - William Stafford

If you wonder what "the thread" might be - Richard Rohr says: "My words for the thread that Stafford speaks of are the True Self - the immortal diamond that we have been mining here. Your True Self is who you are, and always have been in God, and at its core, it is love itself. Love is both who you are and who you are still becoming, like a sunflower seed that becomes its own sunflower."
- Immortal Diamond p176

Labyrinth Experience

If you are interested in a Labyrinth "walk" without leaving your desk try this lovely experience from the Gratefulness website. It includes places to pause with a beautiful picture and some words to reflect on. Many other aspects of the Gratefulness website are well worth exploring too.

Below is a photo of a Labyrinth laid out in St Matthew's Church in Auckland over Easter one year.

It's not rocket science really...

I have to confess I've never been deeply into Augustine (that's 4th century St Augustine of Hippo  I'm talking about) apart from the usual general knowledge gained in theological study.  But in another blog I follow (Red Dress Theology) I was very interested to learn some of the things Augustine said about scripture. Here's an excerpt from Chelle's discussion of Augustine's On Christian Doctrine with a couple of bits underlined by me:

"Interestingly, he [Augustine] says that because true knowledge of God is held internally in the human person, the scripture is only a tool that God uses to stir up that truth within individual human beings and scripture is, therefore, theoretically unnecessary if God decides to reveal Godself directly to a person’s ‘heart’.

Book 3 suggests strategies for interpreting ambiguous passages in scripture: it’s not rocket science really, but it’s surprising how much we need to be reminded of these simple strategies when we encounter confusion in our understanding of the bible.  First and foremost, Augustine argues, we must work out what is figurative and what is literal.  Common sense says that if the text is nonsense when taken literally, then it must be figurative.  The rule of faith suggests that if all knowledge helps us to love God and our neighbour – if a text taken literally cannot lead us into love, then it must be figurative!  If the text still doesn’t make sense, then we look at context, including the immediate context of the passage within it’s text, the whole canonical context, and the context of ourselves as reader.  Ultimately, there is nothing in scripture which does not lead towards the double love of God and neighbour, so that is the ultimate standard by which all interpretations must abide, for love is the telos, the goal of scripture, just as love is the goal of everything God does, is and communicates to God’s creation!"

If you want to read the whole post click here. Thanks Chelle!

A 90 second video is worth an hour in therapy... (maybe!)

Watch this and see if you laugh, cry or ponder deeply - maybe all three!

Thanks to Paul at Prodigal Kiwi for putting me on to this.

Mistaken Identity

In his book The Immortal Diamond: The search for our true self, Richard Rohr re-tells a short story called Revelation written by Flannery O'Connor. Rohr says:

"In that short story her main character, Ruby Turpin, a good but righteous Christian, has a vision as she stands in a pigpen. Ruby is a classic Christian False Self, who finally looks out and beyond her self-made holiness (her "pigpen") to her first glimpse of her True Self. In the story she describes what she sees as a "vast horde of souls" rumbling toward heaven: poor whites, black people in white robes, and "battalions of freaks and lunatics shouting and clapping and leaping like frogs." Bringing up the rear, she says, is a "tribe of people like her" who "had always had a little of everything" and were marching "behind the others with great dignity, accountable as they always had been for good order and common sense and respectable behavior ... Yet she could see by their shocked and altered faces that even their virtues were being burned away." There it is, as only a master teacher can teach it. O'Connor presents the False Self in its final shattering moments. One only hopes that Ruby can surrender and begin to sing "off-key" like the rumbling hordes. She has suffered from a massive case of mistaken identity all her life, just as we all do, but hers was bolstered by a strong "Christian" False Self. Religion can significantly delay the emergence of our True Self. I have been a Priest for forty-two years and can say that from solid experience.

The True Self does not really "go to heaven" as much as live there already. It is indeed part of the "vast horde rumbling toward heaven". It lives in the big Body now, puts little trust in its private virtue, and feels no undue surprise at its personal weakness. Ruby is just opening up to heaven for the first time, and she is a little shocked and surely disappointed that so many "others" are there." end of Rohr quote.

And...

If you want another approach to "mistaken identity" from The Gospel of Thomas - with a wonderful personal reflection and photo by Blogger Diane Walker - click here. Hint - click on the reflection/photo for a larger, easier to read view.