“The great secret of the spiritual life is that you already know the little steps, even if you don’t know the big ones. You don’t need to know the big steps to take the little steps. You only have to take one step at a time…. If we look … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: “The great secret of the spiritual life. . .”
Contemplation Corner: “life becomes simplified. . .”
“…life becomes simplified when dominated by faithfulness to a few concerns. Too many of us have too many irons in the fire. We get distracted by the intellectual claim to our interest in a thousand and one good things, and before we know it … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: “life becomes simplified. . .”
Contemplation Corner: “Waiting patiently . . .”
“Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life.” -Simone Weil by Pastor Donnie BrooksMarcellus United Methodist Churchpastordonnieb@outlook.com Waiting. I can’t think of anyone that I know, … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: “Waiting patiently . . .”
Contemplation Corner: The power of the story. . .
“The power of the story of Jesus’ suffering and death is that it is both an account of the greatest political tragedy in history, the death of the son of God, and a display of the most profound and intimate personal and interpersonal … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: The power of the story. . .
Contemplation Corner: ‘Before the clock, time was natural’
“Before [the clock, 1370], time was natural. It was linked to the rotation of the earth on its axis and the four seasons. You went to bed with the moon and got up with the sun. Days were long and busy in the summer, short and slow in the … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: ‘Before the clock, time was natural’
Contemplation Corner: faith and hope and love for all things are engendered in the soul
“For the religious [person] is forever bringing all affairs of the first level down into the Light, holding them there in the Presence, reseeing them and the whole of the world of men and things in a new and overturning way, and responding … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: faith and hope and love for all things are engendered in the soul
Contemplation Corner: “Training for service. . .”
“Training for service is not a training to become rich but to become voluntarily poor; not to fulfill ourselves but to empty ourselves; not to conquer God but to surrender to his saving power. All this is very hard to accept in our … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: “Training for service. . .”
Contemplation Corner: “As long as we are lonely . . . “
“As long as we are lonely, we cannot be hospitable because as lonely people we cannot create free space. Our own need to still our inner cravings of loneliness makes us cling to others instead of creating space for them.” -Henri Nouwen … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: “As long as we are lonely . . . “
Contemplation Corner: The road of conversion. . .
“The difficult road is the road of conversion, the conversion from loneliness into solitude. Instead of running away from our loneliness and trying to forget or deny it, we have to protect it and turn it into a fruitful solitude. To live a … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: The road of conversion. . .
Contemplation Corner: Listening is an art . . .
“But listening is an art that must be developed, not a technique that can be applied as a monkey wrench to nuts and bolts. It needs the full and real presence of people to each other. It is indeed one of the highest forms of hospitality.” … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: Listening is an art . . .
Contemplation Corner: The Lord showed me. . .
“The Lord showed me, so that I did see clearly, that he did not dwell in these temples which men had commanded and set up, but in people’s hearts…his people were his temple, and he dwelt in them.” -George Fox by Pastor Donnie … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: The Lord showed me. . .
Contemplation Corner: “Our society seems to be increasingly full of fearful, defensive, aggressive people. . .”
“Our society seems to be increasingly full of fearful, defensive, aggressive people anxiously clinging to their property and inclined to look at their surrounding world with suspicion, always expecting an enemy to suddenly appear, intrude … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: “Our society seems to be increasingly full of fearful, defensive, aggressive people. . .”