to experience old friends

I had just shared my intention to creatively keep the hours to the group that had gathered for spiritual direction, when a question was posed.

Why?

I spoke about being closer to God and things like that, but by the time we gathered with the remnants of the other group and.... the man brought up the question a second time... I had another thought... these are old friends.

Lectio, Imaginative prayer, Intercessory prayer, Meditation, Examen.  They are prayers that were taught to me and prayers I had taught to others.  Then neglected, some more than others.  But are they not old friends I would love to be close to, yes they are.

So why keep the hours, to visit God by visiting old friends.  And this is why I go to group spiritual direction, where old friends ask me why.

Mystical Mondays: Rumi's Hope for Us

Translations by Daniel Ladinsky

What do you need to remove for yourself?  sit back and imagine God saying this to you...

I Guess You Won't Mind

Great lions can find peace in a cage.
but we should only do that
as a last
resort.

So those bars I see that restrain your wings,
I guess you won’t mind

if I pry them

open. 

Rumi

purpose, parodox, companions, sin

As we ended the final minutes of the weekend training at the school, negative predictions enter my mind. So I share some hopes....., "I am hoping that I can rid my mind of negative predictions that have been loud and clear. 'This coming week will be have to be awful because I will be tired and behind in life.' (when we are called to be present, is there such a thing as being behind in life?) I also hope that this training helps me to be a better teacher."

I am told that I am a good teacher by supervisors, peers, and students. I am told that students love my classes. But I am imperfect. I am not like the one at the training who said "we do this everyday at this school." I see teachers nod their heads in agreement. I wonder why I don't see myself in this light.

Tonight I lead a group of three at my church in our hope to become more spiritual. Paradoxes we face as humans. I talk about how I know what it takes to be a better teacher, but I lack the passion. My friend with the open porch policy races across the room to give me a high five. She is where I am and so needed to hear me speak of my struggles, my desires. The non-teacher speaks about her declining passion for engineering.

We turn to Romans chapter 7. Paul knows the law is from God and still goes against it. We talk about our struggles. I tell them about my examination of sin which I have started. I ask for their thoughts. I need to talk to people about this journey. At work today, I asked a friend to be a companion. Well, I told her she was a part of it.

We turn to Psalm 8. The engineer who knows the Bible says again that I have taken her to a text she had thought of when I talked about paradoxes. Who are humans to even be considered by God? Yet, are we not created in God's image? The psalmist stares at the the night sky and ponders. I think of the night I returned from clearing out my dorm room after three semesters of failing. A cold winter evening. Standing on my front porch. Staring at a street lamp. Knowing something in my life needed to change for I was destroying myself.

What if I had died? Would I have accepted a God who I now believe searches for me in life and death? I am reflecting on my sins.