LENT: COMPASSIONATE LEADING - CONTEMPLATIVE MEDITATION 12.4.13

Impacted by Henri Nouwen's meditation for today
and wanting to share it with you. . . Lovely revelation and increased understanding
on this much misunderstood topic...  be Blessed!

Saturday April 12, 2014 Mostly we think of people with great authority as higher up, far away, hard to reach.  But spiritual authority comes from compassion and emerges from deep inner solidarity with those who are "subject" to authority.   The one who is fully like us, who deeply understands our joys and pains or hopes and desires, and who is willing and able to walk with us, that is the one to whom we gladly give authority and whose "subjects" we are willing to be. It is the compassionate authority that empowers, encourages, calls forth hidden gifts, and enables great things to happen.  True spiritual authorities are located in the point of an upside-down triangle, supporting and holding into the light everyone they offer their leadership to. If someone is serving me, let him follow me; wherever I am, my servant will be there too. My Father will honour anyone who serves me. John 12.26 Spiritual leadership is the leadership of the Good Shepherd.  As Jesus says, good shepherds know their sheep, and their sheep know them (see John 10:14).   * There must be a true mutuality between shepherds and their sheep.  Good leaders know their own, and their own know them.  Between them is mutual trust, mutual openness, mutual care, and mutual love.  To follow our leaders we cannot be afraid of them, and to lead our followers we need their encouragement and support. Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd to show the great intimacy that must exist between leaders and those entrusted to them.  Without such intimacy, leadership easily becomes oppressive.

* Lenten Thoughts in Response ...
What kind of response do I want to result from my life? Do I want to be a person who "empowers, encourages, calls forth hidden gifts  and enables great things to happen"? To live with mutual connection.  Mutual trust, care, respect. To know and be known. Who is that?  Who does that? The compassionate One. The One Who supports and holds us into The Light. It is "The One Who is 'fully like us, Who deeply understands our joys and pains, hopes and desires,
and Who is willing and able to walk with us" That is The One I want- I need to be like. The One to Whom I gladly give authority - Whose 'subject' I am willing to be. and Whose Life-giving ways, Whose Light I want to reflect.
*
“The Spirit of Adonai spoke through me,
his word was on my tongue.
 The God of Isra’el spoke;
the Rock of Isra’el said to me,
‘A ruler over people must be upright,
ruling in the fear of God;
 like the morning light at sunrise
on a cloudless day
that makes the grass on the earth
sparkle after a rain.’

2 Samuel 23:2-4

Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

* Find and friend FHC online:

@_eHope - Goodreads - Facebook - Pinterest

Google+  - GFC bottom of page

*
Tweet WEEKEND SHARING ~
* Faith Filled Friday with Giveaway * *Still Saturday * Sunday Community *

Eyes of the Heart: Discovering God Through a Camera Lens

"...to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time."
-Georgia O'Keefe
I loved this quote and its impact regarding the material of Eyes of the Heart. 

It's a book of process. Process takes time...

The first 2 chapters introduce the reader to the idea and practice of 

receiving images from the world around us, 

as gifts to us for inner exploration. 

Next chapter introduced shadow and light as spiritual dimensions 

we can view through the lens as well as our personal interior. 

By chapter 4 we were exploring framing and reframing 

ourselves and our self-stories 

just as we frame and reframe our photo subjects. 

Colour, our inspiration for chapter 5.
Creative sources of reflections of the holy in our world for chapter 6. 

Self-portraits, our chapter 7 topic. 

Chapter 8 ties it all together; God is in our seeing. 

Open the eyes of our heart to see the Divine Presence everywhere. 

To live in awe and wonder.

Supporting quotes open each chapter, 

in depth instructional material plus each chapter provides multiple activities 

for interaction to deepen the learning opportunities; 

to enrich the inner growth available through intentional practice. 

eg. Go walking. 

What images evoke/reflect your deepest dreams/longings/wishes/hopes...? 

or scripture passages to contemplate, journal and apply.

“..every photo we make is in some way a self-portrait,
b/c it reveals something about how we see the world.”
What are our photos saying about us?
“In a sense your photographs are your autobiography.” –Dorothea Lange.
Everyday objects can symbolically represent the self.
For me, the teacup icons I use are a self portrait.
Stacks of books another.  In fact,
more representational of me than a single dimension photo visage.

Here is a book intent on breaking down the perpetuation of our false self that wants
“to create only images beautiful in the eyes of others
or ‘marketable’ rather than truthful.”
We must discover our true self –
 ‘who I am beneath the accolades and achievements’.
What desires has God planted in my heart?
The exercises included are designed for just such discoveries.

Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice 

is a personable guide to a life of awareness lived centered in calm and stillness 

rather than knocked off course by reactive emotions. 

I highly recommend it for those who desire to live at a deeper than surface level. 

For those who pray, "Lord, open the eyes of my heart"...




*My appreciation to Ave Maria Press for providing an ebook copy for review without obligation. 

Tweet

Shared at Cym's

Your Transformative 'Word' for 2013 ?

Have you discovered your Word for 2013 ?

In ancient times, wise men and women fled out into the desert to find a place where they could be fully present to God and to their own inner struggles at work within them. The desert became a place to enter into the refiner's fire and be stripped down to one's holy essence. The desert was a threshold place where you emerged different than when you entered.

Many people followed these ammas and abbas, seeking their wisdom and guidance for a meaningful life. One tradition was to ask for a word –  this word or phrase would be something on which to ponder for many days, weeks, months, sometimes a whole lifetime. This practice is connected to lectio divina, where we approach the sacred texts with the same request – "give me a word" we ask – something to nourish me, challenge me, a word I can wrestle with and grow into.  The word which chooses us has the potential to transform us.

• What is your word for the year ahead? A word which contains within it a seed of invitation to cross a new threshold in your life?

A free 12-day online mini-retreat to help your word choose you. . .

This year  Christine of Abbey of the Arts is offering all Abbey newsletter subscribers a gift: a free 12-day online mini-retreat with a suggested practice for each day to help your word choose you and to deepen into your word once it has found you.

Sign up here and you can start your mini-retreat today. Once you subscribe you will receive a confirmation email with access to the mini-retreat content
(and you are free to unsubscribe at any time). 

Subscribe to the Abbey newsletter for your free gift.
Share the love with others ~ invite them to join us and participate... 

When you subscribe to regular Abbey soul nourishment, you join more than 5000 others and receive regular reflections on the integration of contemplative practice, creative expression, and the wisdom of the seasons straight to your in-box, as well as updates about new Abbey offerings.

When you subscribe to the newsletter you will have an opportunity to participate in a free 7 day e-course in transformative living through contemplative and expressive arts.  It is Christine's gift to you as a way of saying thank you for visiting the Abbey of the Arts. 

contemplative creative living ...

Abbey of the Arts
Transformative living through
contemplative & expressive arts

 
this invitation to intentional life choices from Christine [Abbey of the Arts], resonated with me and wondered if it would include you as well.  are these commitments you've already made?   or are they challenging you to it? 

Monk: from the Greek monachos meaning single or solitary, a monk in the world does not live apart but immersed in the everyday with a single-hearted and undivided presence, always striving for greater wholeness and integrity
 Manifesto: from the Latin for clear, means a public declaration of principles and intentions.
Monk Manifesto: A public expression of your commitment to live a compassionate, contemplative, and creative life.
1. I commit to finding moments each day for silence and solitude, to make space for another voice to be heard, and to resist a culture of noise and constant stimulation.
 2. I commit to radical acts of hospitality by welcoming the stranger both without and within. I recognize that when I make space inside my heart for the unclaimed parts of myself, I cultivate compassion and the ability to accept those places in others.
 3. I commit to cultivating community by finding kindred spirits along the path, soul friends with whom I can share my deepest longings, and mentors who can offer guidance and wisdom for the journey.
 4. I commit to cultivating awareness of my kinship with creation and a healthy asceticism by discerning my use of energy and things, letting go of what does not help nature to flourish.
 5. I commit to bringing myself fully present to the work I do, whether paid or unpaid, holding a heart of gratitude for the ability to express my gifts in the world in meaningful ways.
 6. I commit to rhythms of rest and renewal through the regular practice of Sabbath and resist a culture of busyness that measures my worth by what I do.
 7. I commit to a lifetime of ongoing conversion and transformation, recognizing that I am always on a journey with both gifts and limitations.

the second point is particularly reminiscent of Henri Nouwen's book, 'Reaching Out', which has deep insight regarding hospitality.  i'd love to hear your responses if you too were impacted by Henri's book and certainly your thoughts on the monk manifesto.  thanks!