This Holy Week, like many of you, I am trying to remain present. My heart's deepest desire is to travel this week with Jesus, not just to stand on the side of the road and bear witness. Bearing witness has its place and its time, but this year I hear Jesus' invitation to follow not just with my eyes, but with my whole self. I hear the invitation to once again find my life in his, and his in mine.
Read More"Stay with me," is the cry of a suffering soul. These words, Jesus' three words to his disciples as he entered the Garden of Gethsemane, arrived and transformed me one afternoon as I stood in a raspberry patch with my friend Brook. Brook, daughter of God, survivor of human-trafficking and so much more, and one of the most profound spiritual guides ever sent to me.
Read More You have been created in the image of the Father, or Sophia. You are a temple of Sacred Wisdom, graced to live with an Open Mind. This is FAITH.
You have been created in the image of the Son. You are a Sanctuary of Sacred Love, graced to live with an Open Heart. This is LOVE.
You have been created in the image of the Spirit, an Instrument of Sacred Instinct, graced to live with an Open Will. This is HOPE.
I wonder, what is your relationship to curiosity? How practiced are you in looking, listening or exploring beyond what you already know?
If curiosity is the handle that cracks the door into Open Mind, then the willingness to hold paradox is the flickering flame (like that burning bush) that draws us further in.
Read MoreWhatever else happens today, I want you to remember this. The very first truth about you is that, like the bread of communion, you have been seen and chosen, gathered and formed, and you are BLESSED.
Read MoreCan you recall a time when you, like Joseph, have been betrayed? Thrown under the bus, dis-owned by the very ones who were supposed to have your back? By the very ones you expected to offer you love and support and nurture?
Read More Let's begin at the beginning: From dust you came. . .
When the reality before me is not appealing, it is so easy to spin out into a frantic fantasy future or numb out. Just like you, I have my favorite patterns for losing contact with the present moment.
But before we let the Voice of Judgment pull us down the familiar shame tunnel, pause. We needn't despair of our patterns. An Everything Belongs (or contemplative) perspective reminds us that the experience of disorientation actually plays a role in our transformation. Artist, teacher and author Shaun McNiff writes, "Transformation occurs when we lose our way and find a new way to return."
I grew up in a theological landscape dominated by the doctrine of Original Sin. Maybe you did, too. For most of my life, I was taught some version of: At your center, there is a Jesus-shaped hole that only Jesus can fill.
This concept is so prevalent, it's not just limited to what we hear in our religious circles; it also shows up in the broader culture. My kids will confirm that pop culture is not my forte', but I do have a new hero in Lady Gaga (I'll save that for another post). In her Golden Globe award winning duet with Bradley Cooper, she sings, "Tell me something, boy, aren't you tired, tryin' to fill that void...."
I understand the appeal of this idea of a gaping void at our center. It seems to explain so much about humanity. Our insatiability. Our poor choices. Our seemingly unanchored floating.
And it may be that there is a lot of space or emptiness or darkness surrounding our core. But I reject this shame-based and fear-based theology of a void at our center. I don't think this is what the Christian scriptures or Jesus teach.
