An administrator at work saw my stained glass and asked me to make two panels, which would be mirror images. I put it off for this and that, but finally I got set to cut glass...
a rainy weekend and some dedication led to this...
since then nice weather and gardening has delayed the process.
At church I have been given a ministry of talking to parents on their way to the baptism of their child. Last night it happened again. The last time it turned out the woman had grown up two houses away from where I grew up. Life is interesting that way.
This time I had found a new article that talked of how the path to baptism in the early church took as big of a commitment as one does now to become ordained. It was not child's play. It was for adults who were being transformed in Christ. I want the parents to see this as a moment for their own spiritual journey as well as the beginning of their child's.
I sat in my church last night trying to imagine a community where all were ministers to Christ while two friends, who also showed up, talked logistics to the parents. I felt a craving to do what was done 1700 years ago and wished the spiritual exercises had not ended.
Then I thought of that post I wrote about how I had changed over the last ten years since I returned to church.
Like I implied several posts ago, I am unsettled. The exercises have ended, but I crave more.
My soul is thirsting for the God of my life...
ReplyDeleteHave you read any Karl Rahner? Not the theology, but his reflections?
There is a marvelous one called "The God of My Life" which this post made me think of...
Have not read anything by the man, but his name is familiar. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteJust left my own site and will simply say to you here that the naustalgea over family members is no doubt common to us all. What is no less a connecting thread between believers is that thirst we possess to know Him more. I used to question what Christ meant when he told the woman at the well that drinking from His fountain would make us "thirst no more", but have come to see that phrase as a reference to an inner source of His Spirit always available unto us.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful artwork with the glass, my friend...
That is a stunning piece of stained glass.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if the answer is to demand a rigorous commitment from the start. But I do wish we did more to help Christians grow along the way.
Jim-- interesting connection to the woman at the well. it is a story that pulls me in... again and again.
ReplyDeleteRuth-- welcome. I see it as planting seeds and caring for the children so they remain fertile ground. You never know when those seeds will sprout. My parents threw down some seed and then when I hit my mid-thirties... Can't force it, but rigorous care (as in roses) can lead to more fruit.
I think I know some of what you are feeling since I underwent The Spiritual Exercises myself and since, have craved to continue seeking to know God in a deeper way than I previously had known Him.
ReplyDeleteFor myself, that journey has taken me to read The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, which was given to me by my spiritual director upon completion of the Exercises. I started with The Living Flame of Love even before I received the gift and now am reading The Spiritual Canticle, which I am using in my daily devotional time. After The Spiritual Exercises, while devotionals like Our Daily Bread and others are good, I just feel like I needed something more (Addendum: not that there's anything wrong with Our Daily Bread if that's where God is leading, or has led, you.)
While it might not be what God has planned for you, just like it may or may not be Karl Rahner, it may or may not be worth at least considering the works of St. John of the Cross.
I will keep you in my prayers that God guide you in the way you should go.
spiritual exercises-- thanks for the reminder that my director handed me a book and which got buried.
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