A dear friend made very helpful comments in response to Where to start?. He deserves a reply, and I need to express myself more clearly. Here is the second of a set of pieces in which I reflect on what he says. One way in which I feel you may be going a wee bit … Continue reading Sensation: the key to the art of living
Category: Prayer
Sit!
A dear friend made very helpful comments in response to Where to start?. He deserves a reply, and I am going to devote a few pieces to this. Here's how he opens: As a person who finds it hard to sit still finds it hard to be quiet is suspicious of the notion of a … Continue reading Sit!
Soft heart, trusting heart
Lift your heart up to the Lord, with a gentle stirring of love desiring God for his own sake and not for his gifts. Cloud of Unknowing, Ch.3 (tr. William Johnston) I wake up anxious, feeling layers of loss, the mess I call my life, a failure, ashamed to be me. I am sure some … Continue reading Soft heart, trusting heart
Starting at the bottom (part 2)
I can't emphasis enough the value and importance of staying in this body. What I am writing about are not only ideas. They are primarily practices: practices in being alive, being animal, being human, being present, being (in) God. Lying in bed in the night, I notice how tense my legs are. I guess it … Continue reading Starting at the bottom (part 2)
Starting at the bottom
Sitting here today I am distracted. My head is all over the place. I didn't pray first thing and I have been walking, writing, talking, reading, cooking and eating breakfast. I'm feeling a bit sleepy. It is difficult to settle into stillness and silence. I am elsewhere. I have forgotten how to pray and instead … Continue reading Starting at the bottom
11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety:
9. Identifying fallacious reasoning
Anxiety, holding Magnifying Glass. Studio Shot This is the ninth instalment of 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety, an ongoing experiment in meeting yourself with kindness. Identifying fallacious reasoning … it is the way of the evil spirit to bite, sadden and put obstacles, disquieting with false reasons, that one may not go on … … Continue reading 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety:
9. Identifying fallacious reasoning
11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety:
8. Doing the dishes
Anxiety, holding Magnifying Glass. Studio Shot A servant with this clause Makes drudgerie divine: Who sweeps a room, as for thy laws, Makes that and th’ action fine. George Herbert: The Elixir This is the eighth instalment of 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety, an ongoing experiment in ordinary life. Doing the dishes Our lives … Continue reading 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety:
8. Doing the dishes
11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety:
7. Walking and Nature
Anxiety, holding Magnifying Glass. Studio Shot This is the seventh instalment of 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety, an ongoing experiment in seeing. Walking and Nature …to walk by a stream, watching the pebbles darken in the running water, is enough; to sit under the apricots is enough; to sit in a circle of great … Continue reading 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety:
7. Walking and Nature
11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety:
6. Writing
Anxiety, holding Magnifying Glass. Studio Shot This is the sixth instalment of 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety, an ongoing experiment in listening. Writing I'm a great fan of 750words.com. It has helped me through some hard times and gotten me out of some scrapes. I am often surprised to find out what I honestly … Continue reading 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety:
6. Writing
11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety: [pause]
Anxiety, holding Magnifying Glass. Studio Shot This is part of a series, 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety, an ongoing experiment in being. I am taking a little pause to regroup. The first four instalments of this exploration into meeting anxiety hang together: breathe, feel into this body, meet with stillness, pray. They form a … Continue reading 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety: [pause]