Category: Contemplative Life
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portable silence: tethering to goodness
“…silence is above all a quality of the heart that can stay with us even in our conversations with others. It is a portable cell that we carry with us wherever we go. From it we speak to those in need and to it we return after our words have borne fruit.”—The Way of the…
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contemplative book recommendations
Over and over, people I meet with in spiritual direction have said how much they love the readings I share in our sessions. The words of these gifted writers and prophets help us begin with a centering moment as we transition to a more contemplative space. They give me words of blessing to speak over…
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how to sustain work rooted in love
For our work in the world to be grounded, sustainable, & rooted in love, we must continually attend to our inner work. Inner work includes healing from white supremacy, patriarchy, ableism, homophobia, etc (systems of oppression harm oppressed & oppressors in different ways). Examples of inner work:
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savior complex
O God, Be to my loved one what I have been trying to be but cannot. This is the prayer that surfaced while I had a precious 30 minutes alone for a walk this morning. Particularly for those of us who have more porous boundaries (empaths, HSPs, Enneagram numbers in the dependent stance, folks who…
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Advent Resources
Sunday is the first day of Advent! These are some Advent books my family and/or I have enjoyed, are reading, or are TBR. We tend to cycle through and return to ones we love. Adults: Family:
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feast: a promise full, filled.
feast: a promise full, filledby Lindsay L. O’ConnorYou put this hunger in my belly,then promised me a feast.Sometimes the hunger gnawsas though it might consume meand I wonder if I will ever be satisfied.Then, I have these moments when time slows downand suddenly I see the banquet table set before me.I hear You say,“Take. Eat.…
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unedited
What would you say if you stopped editing yourself? Not in a public forum, but just alone with your Self, and maybe even with God. Part of my deconstruction has been finding the safety to stop editing myself in what I share with God. I used to be so bound up in behaving correctly and…
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wind chimes
Wind ChimesThere’s a place where the sidewalkleading up to our houseslopes in a gentle curvedown to the street.On not-too-hot sunny days,I am drawn to sit here and feel the breeze lift the ends of my hairas I get lost in the soundof the wind chimeshanging over the porch.They betray a physical manifestationof the wind—that mysterious…
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a most beautiful thing
Today I saw the most beautiful thing.I walked back to the creekwhere I had seen the turtles and ducksjust the other day—the turtles and ducks that saved usat the beginning of the pandemic,when the whole worldturned upside down.I stood on the bridge,peering over the railing.No turtles.No ducks.Perhaps it has gotten too cold,I thought,which sent my…
Lindsay L. O'Connor 