Sunday June 16: Modest Shrubs of Love

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  • Sunday June 16: Modest Shrubs of Love
    • Posted by pbegeman on June 14, 2024 at 4:25 pm #145422

      To Practice

      • Prayerfully re-read these passages again in the manner of Lectio Divina, reading them aloud to engage more of your senses and feel the vibrations in your body. What do you hear for your journey now?
      • Thomas Keating offers us a beautiful image of Divine Grace being like a seed sown in us, gently growing in us and transforming us . Reflect on how, through your practice of Centering Prayer, you have become aware of the seed of Grace making modest changes in your life: your attitudes, your behaviours, and other ways.
      • View this short video by Thomas Keating (less than two minutes) on the importance of the parables for study and deep listening.

      If you would like to re-read the full email reflection, you may do so here: https://mailchi.mp/coutreach/2024-word-of-the-week-june16

       

    • Posted by smalleymarc on June 17, 2024 at 5:31 am #145512

      I have  much appreciated today’s parable reflexions and particularly the mustard seed poem. Simply and beautifully expressed. Love from a brother in France.

    • Posted by Adeline Behm on June 19, 2024 at 3:38 pm #145563

      One look at Latimor’s image a joy so profound was unleashed in me. I hadn’t prayed with this week”s WoW, so the surprise was great but the reality of this profound joy so deep. Initial reading  morphed into I am finally so at home with the mustard seed image of the Kingdom; at last!; at last!

      “Grace is like a mustard seed in us the smallest of seeds. It is growing. But it is not going turn us into the Cedar of Lebanon.” At age 18 I set out to be somebody, and I embraced this competitively! Growing up those of my ethnic origins were nobodies. My egoic self got really tired out, till this morning I embrace the blessing of being “nobody”! It has been slowly happening, but today, I consciously consent to embracing  “this true self that I am.  To accept spontaneously the joy of this past Sunday, I’ve had to be willing to plumb the depths of despair. And so my week continues: thankful/grateful/blessed.

    • Posted by linda rhead on June 22, 2024 at 9:08 pm #145662

      “In the mundane, the divine we greet…” Pray, then do the next practical thing. Changing attitudes around daily tasks and household chores nurtures the growth of my inner mustard seed. It becomes a modest shrub when fertilized with chores performed without resentment, perhaps with joy. Dishes, laundry, commode swishing…and all else done with an attitude of “as unto the Lord”. Kudos to our anonymous poet! <3 linda

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