the sensation of life
The God of the Bible is ever an elusive one. The only guarantee of divine availability is God's own promise to be present to those who empty themselves in perfect trust.Belden Lane The Solace of Fierce Landscapes p.63 God, I have been thinking about trusting You, and what trust means, for some months, if not … Continue reading Trust Me
… when we take up occupation of the site of our bodies in stillness before God. We are granted a place to be, simply in virtue of being there as material beings made by God: the physical act of drawing breath becomes an affirmation of my receiving of the gift of my place, an acknowledgement … Continue reading Occupation
Prayer is a subversive activity. It involves a more or less open act of defiance against any claim by the current regime. Eugene Peterson: The Contemplative Pastor, p.10 The 'claim of the current regime' is multiple and multiply overwhelming: improve: today's achievement is never good enough tomorrow (something I learnt from working in the NHS); … Continue reading Prayer in the intersticies
Anxiety, holding Magnifying Glass. Studio Shot Anxiety is excitement without breathing.Fritz Perls So here we are: 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety. It took a while! Here's where we have been: BreatheFeel into this bodyMeeting with stillnessPrayerPauseTalkingWritingWalking and NatureDoing the dishesIdentifying fallacious reasoningSuffer the childThe next step Here are some things I have learnt in … Continue reading 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety: Roundup
Anxiety, holding Magnifying Glass. Studio Shot This is the tenth instalment of 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety, an ongoing experiment in meeting yourself with tenderness. If something hurts me, the hurts I suffered back then come back to me, and when I feel guilty, the feelings of guilt return; if I yearn for something … Continue reading 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety:
10. Suffer the child
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
We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.Tao Te Ching, Ch.11 (tr Stephen Mitchell) Newberry Springs, CA This is difficult to remember and to practise. When I sit still, even for a few minutes, listening to the sounds coming in through the window, feeling the air, … Continue reading The Miracle of Being Nothing
Anxiety, holding Magnifying Glass. Studio Shot This is the fifth instalment of 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety, an ongoing experiment in being kind. Talking A problem shared is a problem halved. Statistics indicate that the majority of people are extravert. Extraverts may not know what they think until they speak. So, whilst talking may … Continue reading 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety:
5. Talking