WEEK 4

We are facing a prelude or overture this week to the Spiritual Exercises. Usually this opening section of a musical play gets us familiar and comfortable with the score which will be developed later in the work.
The difficulty with what we hear as openers this week can make us a bit uncomfortable and questioning about whether we want to continue. Here near the beginning of the Exercises, Ignatius displays what he means by "freedom". I know that each of us wants a long life, health, a good name and sufficient wealth. It may appear that right here after such gentle prayer, the "other shoe" has finally dropped. In order to continue making these exercises you must already have this complete detachment from such natural desires and life, health and wealth.
In truth, Ignatius points to the universal human inclinations, which if not tended to, can drive, dominate, imprison and destroy our experience of life. We are invited in this overture simply to look at the areas which most commonly take us out of harmony. For the first time in the Exercises we are asked to check whether we are free enough to face our unfreedoms. It is only when we do this that the rest of the symphony of the Exercises will make any sense.
We must be very clear about this then; Ignatius assumes that as human beings we will experience disordering tendencies. Can I be honest and gentle with the uncovering of what plays such a loud part in my personal orchestra, that there is disorder in my life's symphony? Later in the Exercises, Ignatius will be inviting us to watch Jesus as the conductor of our own, and the world's, musical play. When Ignatius uses the term "indifference", he does not mean "not caring". He is literally up front about where we are all going, by making the Exercises. He here indicates the areas of "over-caring" which will take us away from trusting in the "God-caring" which is true freedom. Will we in time, be freed to watch, listen to, and follow the divine conductor?
This week we are guided towards a freedom that will be the result of honest reflection and prayerful surrender, but that takes time and God's good grace. The basic freedom of this week is the simple recognition of our human tendencies which when softened by our contact with Jesus and God's ways, become elements of harmony and balance. "Be not afraid;" the God Who calls is faithful and that God is constantly inviting us into the symphony of life.

Beliefnet: Belief-O-Matic, Religion Beliefs, What Religion Am I Quiz -- Beliefnet.com


This quiz is in no way accurate, but is interesting to take!

Here is how it labeled me in comparison with others beliefs:

1.
Orthodox Quaker (100%)
2.
Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (93%)
3.
Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (80%)
4.
Liberal Quakers (75%)
5.
Seventh Day Adventist (75%)
6.
Eastern Orthodox (71%)
7.
Roman Catholic (71%)
8.
Unitarian Universalism (65%)
9.
Reform Judaism (56%)
10.
New Age (45%)
11.
Bahá'í Faith (44%)
12.
Neo-Pagan (43%)
13.
Orthodox Judaism (43%)
14.
Secular Humanism (43%)
15.
Islam (39%)
16.
Hinduism (38%)
17.
Mahayana Buddhism (38%)
18.
Theravada Buddhism (37%)
19.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (36%)
20.
Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (33%)
21.
Taoism (33%)
22.
Sikhism (33%)
23.
New Thought (31%)
24.
Scientology (30%)
25.
Jainism (29%)
26.
Jehovah's Witness (28%)
27.
Nontheist (24%)

THE INTERVIEW WITH GOD

I dreamed I had an interview with God.

“So you would like to interview me?” God asked.

“If you have the time” I said.

God smiled. “My time is eternity.”
“What questions do you have in mind for me?”

“What surprises you most about humankind?”

God answered...“That they get bored with childhood,
they rush to grow up, and then long to be children again.”

“That they lose their health to make money...
and then lose their money to restore their health.”

“That by thinking anxiously about the future,
they forget the present,
such that they live in neither the present nor the future.”

"That they live as if they will never die,
and die as though they had never lived.”

God’s hand took mine and we were silent for a while.

And then I asked...“As a parent,
what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to learn?”

“To learn they cannot make anyone love them.
All they can do is let themselves be loved.”

“To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others.”

“To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.”

“To learn that it only takes a few seconds
to open profound wounds in those they love,
and it can take many years to heal them.”

“To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most,
but is one who needs the least.”

“To learn that there are people who love them dearly,
but simply have not yet learned how to express or show their feelings.”

“To learn that two people can look at the same thing
and see it differently.”

“To learn that it is not enough that they forgive one another,
but they must also forgive themselves.”

"Thank you for your time," I said humbly.
"Is there anything else you would like your children to know?

"God smiled and said,“Just know that I am here... always.”

-author unknown

Canticle of Brother Sun

Praised be You, my Lord, with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, Who is the day and through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor; and bears a likeness of You, Most high One.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars, in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.

Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather through which You give sustenance to Your creatures.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom You light the night and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

-- Francis of Assisi

Telling Secrets

I have called this book Telling Secrets because I have come to believe that by and large the human family all has the same secrets, which are both very telling and very important to tell. They are telling in the sense that they tell what is perhaps the central paradox of our condition--that what we hunger for perhaps more than anything else is to be known in our full humanness, and yet that is often just what we also fear more than anything else. It is important to tell at least from time to time the secret of who we truly and fully are--even if we tell it only to ourselves--because otherwise we run the risk of losing track of who we truly and fully are and little by little come to accept instead the highly edited version which we put forth in hope that the world will find it more acceptable than the real thing. It is important to tell our secrets too because it makes it easier that way to see where we have been in our lives and where we are going. It also makes it easier for other people to tell us a secret or two of their own, and exchanges like that have a lot to do with what being a family is all about and what being human is all about. Finally, I suspect that it is by entering that deep place inside us where our secrets are kept that we come perhaps closer than we do anywhere else to the One who, whether we realize it or not, is of all our secrets the most telling and the most precious we have to tell.
Buechner, Frederick Telling Secrets (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1991) p.2-3.

Tell me the story again
Tell me the story again, Grandfather. Tell me who I am.
I have told you many times, Boy. You know the story by heart.
But it sounds better when you tell it, Grandfather.
Then listen carefully. This may be the last telling.
No, no, Grandfather. There will never be a last time. Promise me that. Promise me.
I promise you nothing, Boy. I love you. That is better than a promise.
And I love you, Grandfather, but tell me the story again. Please.
Knots on a Counting Rope Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault Henry Holt and Company New York, 1966 and 1987

Affirmation: I make this day a beginning.:

"BEGINNINGS

I make this day a beginning.

This is a time of beginning again. I will not waste my energy by looking back and longing for other days and other times. Today I have the courage to go forward in life, expecting good to unfold.

There are times when circumstances change, when relationships change, when things I have taken for granted are no longer the same. These times are times that can be extremely difficult unless I have trust in the unchanging care and guidance of my Higher Power.

Today I am ready to release every thought that binds me to the limited beliefs of yesterday. I am no longer held in bondage to the past. Today I see myself in the world, free from limitations."

Affirmation: I remove my mask today and I reveal my genuine self.

I remove my masks today

I remove my masks today and I reveal my genuine self

I have appeared safely incognito before others--in many safe disguises. And I now see the danger in this, the risk that I will become disguised to myself, that I will camouflage myself with thin, pleasant smiles and superficial chatter. In doing this, I counterfeit my life, disguised both to others and to myself.

I remove my masks today, for the masquerade saps me, consumes my energy, keeps me tense, guarded and apprehensive. I take a deep breath and take the plunge. I can be me, the real me, spontaneous without disguise, intimate without masks.

I accept who I am: not a fixed, rigid, cardboard entity, but a person of many moods and emotions, a person of will and talent and energy, a person of integrity and flexibility.

I can be myself today, freely, authentically and without pretense.

Lerner, Rokelle Daily Affirmations, (Health Communications, Inc 1985) July 30 entry

Affirmation: I remove my mask today and I reveal my genuine self.

Stonehenge, A Temple Restor'd to the British Druids Index

Spirituality & Health: Spirituality and Well-Being

Spirituality & Health: Spirituality and Well-Being

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