09.10.09
Chinese Proverb
A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. ~Chinese proverb
Permalink Comments off
09.06.09
Enough Already!
FINISH each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
Permalink Comments off
09.04.09
What is Spiritual Direction?
YouTube Interview with Kristen Hobby - What is Spiritual Direction?
09.03.09
Ah, Children…
The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.
-
—Albert Einstein
Permalink Comments off
Pace of Change
Good stuff on Time and our culture to ponder!
The Ten Year Century (from WSJ on-line Aug 10, 2009)
08.09.09
Resurrection!
“The mystics are gathering in the street. Come out!”
“Leave me alone; I’m sick.”
“I don’t care if you’re dead! Jesus is here, and he wants to resurrect somebody!”
-Rumi
Permalink Comments off
08.08.09
Community
We have all been uniquely gifted. These gifts are not to be hoarded, but meant to be shared. The Holy Spirit is the master conductor and directs the sharing! The one with the need is brought into contact with the one with the gift - and thus the sharing can commence. I pray that I walk through my days with open hands - ready to both give and receive - a holy conduit.
Loving God, may I truly be a conduit for you in the world. Amen.
Wisdom
The wisdom from heaven waits to drop on us like rain in spring. When we want our souls to be drenched in that wisdom, we need only be quiet and observant to each moment that is before us. Those who practice awareness in the moment find that giving a word in season and even hearing a word in season is natural and effortless. Wrestling with the past or fantasizing about the future stops our powers of observation, and the words from heaven often go unnoticed.
So, stop right now. Be still. Let the drops from heaven fall gently on you.
— Renee Miller
07.31.09
Psalms - Just can’t get enough
Psalter - more fun facts:
from Qumran: The earliest extra-biblical evidence of interpreting the Psalms comes from Qumran, where 4 fragmentary commentaries were discovered. Only the book of Isaiah, w/5, surpasses the Psalms in this regard. The number of copies of the Psalter, 31, exceeds all other biblical books (the Book of Duet is 2nd w/25, and Isaiah is 3rd w/ 18).
Book of Psalms most quoted OT book in the NT.
Not surprisingly, the Psalter is the 1st book to appear in print (1477)
In British North America, the first book printed was the Bay Psalm Book in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Psalms - More!
Bourgeault: “We are dealing with a group of poems that have been made hallowed by usage! Made holy b/c so many people, in our tradition, have used them, loved them and processed their own spiritual growth with them. As we walk on this path, we are walking on a well tread path.”
Bellinger: “At the center of the Bible and the center of our spiritual lives.”
Luther: “If you want to see the holy Christian Church painted in glowing colors and in a form which is really alive, and if you want this to be done in a miniature, you must get hold of the Psalter, and there you will have in your possession a fine, clear, pure mirror which will show you what Christianity really is.”
Athanasius: “It is my view that in the words of this book encompass the whole human life, its basic spiritual conduct and as well its occasional movements and thoughts, is comprehended and contained. Nothing to be found in Human life is omitted.”
Luther: “[The Psalter] might well be called a little Bible. In it is comprehended most beautifully and briefly everything that is in the entire Bible.”
Bonheoffer: “The Psalter occupies a unique place in the Holy Scriptures. It is God’s Word and, with a few exceptions, the prayer of men as well.”
Brueggemann: “In the last analysis, the Psalms have what power they have for us because we know life to be like that. In a society that engages in great denial and grows numb by avoidance and denial, it is important to recover and use these Psalms that speak the truth about us.”
Bellinger: “The psalm is a verbal icon.”