Becoming more fully the self God made you to be
Continued from a previous series of posts on the stages of spiritual growth . . . You’ve not reached some pinnacle of perfection; instead, you’ve become more fully the self God made you to be. You own who you are. You have nothing to prove to anyone else. You need nothing to make yourself feel successful or worthy or lovable. You don’t need a new car, a better house, another spouse. You accept what you look like. You embrace your idiosyncrasies. You receive life as it is and have learned to let go of the woulda, shoulda, coulda’s. Judging yourself and judging others is no longer a need. And you’re no longer bothered by the challenges that come your way or lured by opportunities you must take advantage of or lose out. You’re not attached to things, not even your life. There’s an equanimity and a magnanimity that possess you. You’re free from everything that once held you captive.
This doesn’t mean that you’re passive and don’t care about things like injustice, or for your family or work. It means that your life is lived from an entirely different source. You’re abiding in the love of God. And this means that you will more effectively right the world’s wrongs and battle injustice and care for others than you did when there was still a lot of you, too much of your unhealed ego involved, to mess up even your best intentions.
To be continued . . .
Nourish the spirit in beauty and nurture justice
To create beauty is to testify to God's restoration; living beautifully facilitates justice. Check out this testimony from an artist exploring the role of spirituality, art, and justice:
A video from workofthepeople.com
Abiding in love: entering the sixth and final stage
Continued from a previous series of posts on the stages of spiritual growth . . . These stages certainly can be thought of and experienced as an upward path. But there are dangers in viewing the spiritual life as an ascent. In our world, people tend to scratch and claw over each other to get the top of the corporate ladder, or look down with a sense of superiority over those below them. Spiritual growth does require disciple and courage, but exertion and effort and self-will nearly always end in spiritual disaster. Remember, the effort to reach the heavens with the Tower of Babel was a colossal mistake of human hubris (Genesis 11).
If Christ teaches us anything, it’s that the way up is down, the way to greatness is through humility, the way to possess All is to let go of everything.
Stage six, what I call, “abiding in love,” is the end point in the journey, the goal of the spiritual quest. When you arrive here, you realize that you’ve not been traveling up but in, to the depths of your being; you’ve been traveling down, into the fullness of your humanity. You’ve become a fully integrated person.
To be continued . . .
Central Valley Prayer of the Heart Conference, this weekend in Fresno!
"Moment by Moment: Contemplation for Active People" PRE-REGISTER NOW! Call 559.439.8807
Living an alert spiritual life is demanding, and we need helpful models to show us how to live it well. Contemplation is sometimes dismissed as escapist or elitist. But in fact, the opposite is true. Contemplation is about learning to live your life more fully aware of life around you: more productive, more focused, more spiritually alive, more happy. Our teaching this year will focus on four ordinary people from various walks of life who lived remarkably active and meaningful lives because of their contemplative practice: Elizabeth of Hungary, Dorothy Day, Teilhard de Cardin, and Howard Thurman. In addition to the taught sessions, the retreat will provide you with several intentional contemplative periods for prayer. Spiritual guides will be available during those times for those who may wish to speak with a spiritual guide for companioning and perspective.
Speakers: Dr. Karen Crozier, Fr. Robert Hale, Cindy Correia, Dr. Chris Neufeld-Erdman
Begins Friday evening February 10th, 7pm
Saturday morning through mid-afternoon the 11th
$35 includes lunch; please pre-register to help us plan for lunch ($45 fee at the door). Mail your check by February 1st to University Presbyterian Church, 1776 E. Roberts Ave. Fresno, CA 93710.
Contact the church office at 559.439.8807 for more information and to register.
PDF brochure available, click here. Please forward to friends!
Monastery Bookstore with books, candles, icons, and other handcrafts from around the world.
This conference is open to the community, so please invite a friend and spread the word.
University Presbyterian Church of Fresno 1776 E. Roberts Ave, Fresno, CA 93710