the sensation of life
Where is God? “Where is God in all this?” I am running a training day for spiritual directors entitled, “Where is God in all this?” It is being hosted at the London Centre for Spiritual Direction, as part of their Developing Direction programme. Here is the blurb: “Where is God in all this?” is a … Continue reading Training day for spiritual directors
[See Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, inter-mission, & 5] Spiritual direction relocates authority from out there to in here. It’s about an authority that emerges from yielding not to an alien will but an affirming source … [We] are empowered, emancipated, to use the transforming energy we can exercise by acknowledging our dependence upon an unconditional source of affirmation.Rowan Williams: … Continue reading An affirming source (6): Empowered
[See Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, & inter-mission] Our human identity therefore becomes one in which we both acknowledge in prayer this dependence [upon God] and respond to the gift that sets up not only our being but our renewed being in Christ; and in acknowledging that dependence we are empowered to ‘do the work … Continue reading An affirming source (5): Relationship
[See Part 1] … yielding not to an alien will but an affirming source … The trouble with an alien will is that it is … alien, other. How can I know, respond to, and, in time, love something that is so far from and other than me? I will look outside myself, beyond this … Continue reading An affirming source (2): Emancipation
I was given a lesson the other night. I woke up after a few hours of sleep. I went to the toilet, and then lay in bed worried that I would not be able to go back to sleep, fearful of being awake in the empty dark. I don’t usually notice this feeling. I listen … Continue reading To care and not to care
“My job is not to solve people's problems or make them happy, but to help them see the grace operating in their lives. It’s hard to do because our whole culture is going in the other direction, saying that if you’re smart enough and get the right kind of help, you can solve all your … Continue reading Eugene Peterson: quotes from The Contemplative Pastor