Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality As we journey to become fully alive, it is a journey to become all that we can be. As we consent to the Spirit and are attentive to our own personal journey of becoming, we will find ourselves being transformed. This journey moves us from isolation to…
For devotions today I would like to share about our Bible School reunion over the weekend. What a rich time together with about 30 others that graduated from CLBS. Although we didn’t receive college credit at the time, I think our 2 years of Bible school had a profound influence on the rest of our lives,…
Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality Welcoming Prayer is a way to respond to emotional upsets with a spirit of surrender. It involves the process of: focus, welcome, and letting go. We can’t welcome an emotion until we first acknowledge it and bring it to the center of our consciousness. Like the emotion…
Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality “Surrender is the dispensable gateway to life, genuine freedom, and deep humanity.” It does not come easy as for men it usually feels like defeat and failure. For women it implies powerlessness that could leave them vulnerable to mistreatment. We usually react to unwelcome events over which…
Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality Meditation can help us be more present to ourselves and to others. It can lead us into a place of inner stillness, solitude, and silence. Meditation can help us focus our mind and help us settle into a mode of open receptivity to God. And in prayer…
Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality We all long for someone that can be fully with us- present, open, attentive, and available to receive us and our experience. Being fully present is much harder than it may sound because it takes stillness that is nurtured by silence and solitude. We are so full…
Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality We need to listen to our life and recognize the many parts of our story over which we had no control…like the family we were born into, skin color, body type, temperament etc. We all have an ideal of what we want our life to be like…
Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality Reality is the place where spirit and soul meet. Apart from a grounding in reality, both our soul and spirit wither and our spirituality is just pretense and posturing. We generally want truth on our own distorted terms so we can make ourselves more acceptable and comfortable.…
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…
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…