Category: Sister Judy (Page 218 of 271)

Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality

Genuine Hospitality has great potential to enrich relationships. The Rule of St. Benedict Order is “ that all guests who arrive should be received as Christ.”  When we welcome others and treat them as sacred it helps both them and us to flourish. They have their own story to tell and it has the power to transform how we see things and inspire us to new ways of living.  When we enter into true dialogue with others we may be changed. As we share how we experience the world and seek to understand how others do so, both of us are touched in new ways. What we have to give to others is in direct proportion to the depth we know ourselves. If we don’t know ourselves, what we have to offer will be our false self.  But when we are genuinely and deeply our true selves, others who we meet can also be their true selves. We must relinquish our need for control too as it inhibits true dialogue and intimacy with others. As we honor others, let us remember that they bear the image of God. When we show hospitality to others, it becomes a gift to see greater realities beyond the comfortable place in which we make our home.

Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality

“When we open our heart’s experience to each other in trust, we are entering on holy ground where there is no place for comment, criticism, or correction, but only for a response of loving acceptance. On this holy ground God-in-you  is listening to the God-in-the-other.” It is so important to honor the otherness we see in people, rather than seeing them as extensions of ourselves. Each one is a unique individual and as we honor their individuality we may feel challenged in our own way of being. It is good to see how others approach the world from another vantage point, and as we are open to them it has the potential to expand our horizons, de-center our ego, and bring benefit to our soul and spirit. We may find fresh ways of living our life more authentically. Each one of us is a person with our own unique identity and no one can ever know another person fully. This is both a mystery and the loneliness of our individuality. Intimacy comes as we welcome and embrace the other’s difference from us.  When we don’t want to own the undesirable parts of our own selves we often project them on someone else. Instead we need to accept the good and the bad, and not make someone else the scapegoat. The author suggests reflecting on the person closest to us and affirm the parts of them that are different from us.

Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality

“The gift of wonder begins with the awakening of awareness. Our part is then simply being open to seeing the ordinary in a new light-through childlike eyes of wonder.” When we wonder about anything it is like holding the object of our attention gently without having to solve it or figure it out. Mary, the mother of Jesus, pondered the angel’s message in her heart. ( Luke 2) Wonder is like heart-pondering, more than mind-thinking. It leaves space for mystery and questions. When we wonder we stand in awe and pause to see what may come from being still and open. We receive it without having to do anything to it. Wonder however does things to us. It expands our spirit and deepens our soul. It tunes us into the sacred. It softens our ego and creates space within us for surprise and awe.  It is the natural source of prayer. But this kind of prayer has few words.  This sense of wonder can also help us appreciate the mystery of our own being and we may discover new aspects of our lives. It opens us up to the world and we begin noticing something in a fresh way. Let us take time to pay attention and to be still enough to see the sacred in the ordinary.

Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality

There are two ways of knowing and responding to the world: the way of reason and the way of wonder.  The way of reason eliminates mystery and tries to control. The way of wonder accepts mysteries of life and responds with awe. When we pay attention and see things through the eyes of wonder, we see the world charged with the grandeur of God. Have you noticed when you watch the star-studded sky there are no words, just awe and reverence. A cynic tries to minimize simple wonders and doesn’t see life as sacred. In many ways we are all blind to the wonder that lies hidden in the ordinary events of our daily lives. Wonder gives us new eyes to see the world and keeps us fresh and open and curious. We don’t have to make an effort or do anything other to be open and welcome it. We might take a prayer walk and look at everything with fresh attention. We can walk slower and allow ourselves to respond and to listen. I like doing this and may not say much to God but just to think about Him and enjoy Him. Try it!

Devotions based on David Benner’s book,  Soulful Spirituality

Often we need to be reminded to get off autopilot and actually live our lives rather than just unconsciously flowing down the stream of life. Mindfulness is being aware and awake in the present moment. For most of us, we get lost in our thoughts and feelings and miss what is happening in and around us. Our inner mental and emotional experiences keep us self-preoccupied and block us from awareness. Mindfulness isn’t eliminating thoughts and feelings but being ware of our experiences. We need to be reminded often throughout the day to wake up to what is happening around us. We can only be mindful of something that is in the present. Like walking in the park…. Our body may be walking but there is a good chance our mind is somewhere else-either in the past or future. I know that is true of me. To be attentive is to live in the present moment and embrace the now. We can’t control life but we can accept life for what is, as it is. As we become more mindful it also enhances our attentiveness to other people. We are most open to others when we are open to our own self.  Learning to live with increased awareness is allowing ourselves to awaken and begin to unfold. Let us live with openness and presence.

Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality

Being aware and awake are very important aspects of our spiritual journey. We go through most of life as sleepwalkers and need to awaken and become aware, lest we live shallow lives. The Bible encourages us to rise from our sleep, listen to what the Spirit is saying and pay attention. Inattentiveness deprives our souls and we end up living soullessly. Paying attention is not scrunching up our willpower but opening ourselves to what we encounter. We need to allow ourselves to be absorbed by our present experience. “Contemplation is an apprehension of existence that is wide awake and uncluttered by thought.”   Instead of thinking about what we are experiencing and trying to analyze or understand it, we just simply allow ourselves to be captivated by it. Rather than us trying to GET IT, we allow IT to Get us!  Children are better at being absorbed by a single thing, which seems to be more difficult for me. When we pay attention to the details of experience it has potential to enrich our spiritual journey. Let us take a few moments each day to pay attention to what is happening in and around us. “Paying attention is the foundation to living spiritually and mindfully.”

Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality

Our body plays a vital role in our life-enhancing spirituality. Until we feel at home in our bodies, we can never truly be home any where. Our body, the senses, and the emotions, all have a crucial role to play in spirituality. Sexuality is connected to spirituality because it involves our deepest sources of vitality, and can help in the integration of our personhood. Sex is spiritual as it can lead us out of self-centered isolation toward togetherness and community. Through the sharing and mutuality, it can open us up to our depths and connect us to all that transcends our individual self.  “Human sexual longing is the expression of spirit, not just the body. It is our reaching out to touch and to be held by the Infinite. … We are all yearning to surrender body, soul, and spirit not just to an other but to the Wholly Other.”  No person can fill the yearning that is part of our sexuality. Part of the pain of love is that no person can complete our desire for love. There is always a remainder because love goes beyond human flesh and puts us in touch with the ultimate object of desire.  Sexuality is more than specific behaviors for it is a sacred energy flowing through our bodies that calls us out of isolation and loneliness into communion. Song of Solomon is full of sexual language but points us beyond human intimacy to ultimate fulfillment that we have in union with God. Let us live with passion and find fulfillment in Him.

Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality

As Christians we sometimes feel stuck in our spiritual journey and think we must practice more spiritual disciplines. But sometimes what we need to do is to step back and focus on the foundational spiritual practices with attentiveness. One pastor had a life changing experience by practicing contemplative seeing the world through the eyes of wonder and being awakened in his senses to creation etc. He thought he needed a rest but what he really needed was to awaken. Benner mentions 3 criteria to distinguish healthy spirituality and unhealthy expressions of it. 1.Loving relationships. A healthy spirituality nurtures a love of life. As we choose life we are choosing love and this spreads to others. We are not to live in isolation and as we love life, we will value the lives of others as well. 2. Faith and belonging.  Our spirituality should provide us with a deep awareness and belonging which is grounded in safety and trust. Faith begins with trust and emotional trust is the foundation of spiritual faith. Belonging to those who love us affects our physical well-being too. People who are connected with others get sick less and live longer. 3. Transcendent meaning. We need meaning in life and to be able to fit our new experiences within our evolving life story. We need a meaning that is strong enough that we can embrace suffering, rather than ask, “Why me?”  Suffering gives us a chance to deepen our spiritual journey and befriend it.  A healthy spirituality can’t be just adopted from our family but comes from our personal response to our deepest longings and helps us make sense of our life experiences. It will always be evolving and changing.

Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality

Our journey to full personhood takes a lifetime and is not completed until death. Death is an important part of our journey and the last stage of our lives.  Spirituality is essential to our whole life. In the first stage of our lives from childhood to midlife our focus is on the external.  In the second stage, we turn more inward and find meaning that is based not so much on what we can do but who we are. The first stage has to do with the development of our ego and the second stage with transcending it. Like Paul says in Gal .2:20 his life doesn’t revolve around his ego any more but around the larger center within himself that he describes as “Christ who lives in me.” Our ego moves from the star role to that of supporting actor. We must die to our egocentric life if we are to truly live! As we dethrown our ego, we find our place in the larger whole. Our life is not our own but flows from a source greater than ourselves. Let us submit our egos to God’s will and be governed by the Spirit.

Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality

We are soul and we are spirit and both call us on a journey. Spirit is dynamic, energizing, and enriching. It gives us energy to live life to the full. Without Spirit we have no life. Spirit sustains us and gives us purpose and direction to life. It drives us towards fullness, wholeness, and integration. We might think of spirit as fire in our bellies and soul is like the container for this fire. Soul helps us contain our passions in a way that we can use their energy productively. It helps us hold our experiences of joys, disappointments, hopes, fears, suffering, etc in awareness and to integrate them. The call of the spirit is up and beyond ourselves to transcendence, and the call of the soul is to a place of groundedness  and belonging. These two should complement each other.  Soulful living is one of authenticity, love, and awareness of being anchored in reality. Our soul withers when we live in illusion or denial. An authentic life is a simple life that is integrated…what you see is what you get…no pretence but simple truth. Our authentic self will always be unique and is what we are. “Soulful living calls us to remember who we are and where we have come from.” It is a way of living out of the depth of our being.