The root of joy is gratefulness.
It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.
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We have thousands of opportunities every day to be grateful: for having good weather, to have slept well last night, to be able to get up, to be healthy, to have enough to eat. ... There's opportunity upon opportunity to be grateful; that's what life is.
- David Steindl-Rast (Gratitude in this sense is more than a feeling. It is a discipline that can be put into practice. Give it a try and see what you notice.) |
Christianity and Spirituality monthly forum
August 3, 2023: 7:30 - 8:30 CDT
"God, Creation, and Spirituality"
Our focus will be the unique approach taken in Christian theism to explain the origin of creation, its connection with God, and implications for spirituality. We will contrast this with atheism, pantheism, and
deism.
More info and sign-up
YouTube archive of July 6 presentation: The Uniqueness of Christ.
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Ex 40:16-21, 34-38; Ps 84:3, 4, 5-6a and 8a, 11 Mt 13:47-53 Jesus said to the disciples:
"The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth." "Do you understand all these things?"
They answered, "Yes."
And he replied,
"Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom
both the new and the old."
When Jesus finished these parables, he
went away from there.
Reflection on the Scriptures
We experience physical, emotional, or spiritual exhaustion during our journey.
Stepping away from our hectic paces, we can gift ourselves the opportunity to spend time with God. With God as our companion, we can mourn what or who we have lost, notice the aching places within us, and recall our stories. God longs for us to stop, rest, and reintegrate our experiences through the lens of faith. Is God telling me this is a time to rest in God? . . . If we are attentive to the present
moments of our life, we notice the clues that it is time to proceed. Perhaps it is the Daily Readings, during a time of prayer, something a person we trust says, or something else. We might feel that a cloud of doubt or hesitancy has lifted. Perhaps we feel lighter, or there is greater clarity about what to leave behind and what we need to go forward. How is God nudging me forward, and what do I need to leave behind?
Today’s reading (from Exodus) ends by telling us the Cloud and Dwelling stayed with the Israelites in all stages of their journey. The physical presence of God these symbols represent is what they need for their faith journey. The Dwelling place that guides us is not a physical tent with the Ark and commandments or a cloud, but it is what God knows we need. It
is the space deep within our hearts and souls where God dwells through all stages of our journey. We only need to ask; this space then opens up, drawing us nearer to God. Have I asked God to help me find my Dwelling place?
Proverbs for Perspective and Spiritual Living by Philip St. Romain, M.S., D. Min. From Pathways to Serenity, 1989, Liguori Publications; reprinted by Contemplative Ministries, Inc., 2013 (Minor editing applied.)
- https://shalomplace.com/view/pathview.html Included in Light for the Christian Journey, 2020: Contemplative Ministries, Inc.
https://shalomplace.com/view/light-journey.html
VI. Prayer
9. Anything can be prayer if done in loving presence. You can be fed all day long! But this possibility is only for those who have become open
through surrender in “formal” prayer.
10. Are you confused and afraid? Does everything seem so superficial? On your knees, then; and don’t get up until you know who you are!
11. It is true that prayer helps you to love, but such a pragmatic view is not the main justification for prayer. You pray because it is good that creatures commune with their Creator and find themselves in their Creator.
12. Place no constraints on what God wants to do through you
and in you. In God, all things are possible.
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