Jesus as Mystic

"Jesus was a mystic in the sense that he lived in conscious awareness of the transcendent reality of God. Everything we admire about the life of Jesus – his compassion, wise teaching, mighty acts, and sacrifice – were funded by the private disciplines of his inner life – how he learned to be tuned into the presence and power of God’s song.  He demonstrated that the transforming power of God’s kingdom is accessed through receptivity, mindful surrender, study, simplicity, silence, and solitude. Through the example of his life, we are invited to follow a path of a mystic."

'Soul Graffitti: Making a Life in the Way of Jesus' by Mark Scandrette

do you connect with any of these images of Christ?

pay attention

"…And when Jesus comes along saying that the greatest command of all is

to love God and to love our neighbor, he too is asking us to pay attention.

If we are to love God, we must first stop, look, and listen for him

 in what is happening around us and inside us.

If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else

we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes,

that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces

but the life behind and within their faces.

Here it is love that is the frame we see them in."

-Frederick Buechner, Whistling in the Dark

That I Might...

"Oh, that I might ever know

Your Presence in every face,

Your Pulse in every heart;

That I might ever feel

Your Breath in every breeze,

Your Touch in every raindrop;

That I might ever see

Your Smile in every bloom

Your might in each sunrise.

And, oh, please grant

That I might view

Life's beauty through

Your Eyes.

- Lynn L. Salata

Rita and Taco playing on beach @ Lake Crescent

people's stories

"If there's anything worth calling theology,

it is listening to people's stories,

listening to them and cherishing them."

- Mary Pellaur

what we have in common

"Compassion - which means, literally, "to suffer with" - is the way to the truth

that we are most ourselves, not when we differ from others,

but when we are the same. Indeed, the main spiritual question is not,

"What difference do you make?" but

"What do you have in common?"

It is not "excelling" but "serving" that makes us most human.

It is not proving ourselves to be better than others

but confessing to be just like others

that is the way to healing and reconciliation.

Compassion, to be with others when and where they suffer

and to willingly enter into a fellowship of the weak,

is God's way to justice and peace among people.

Is this possible? Yes, it is,

but only when we dare to live the radical faith

that we do not have to compete for love,

but that love is freely given to us

by the One who calls us to compassion."

- Henri Nouwen

quoted in the wonderful book

'Befriending Death: Henri Nouwen and a Spirituality of Dying'

by Michelle O'Rourke

p. 112

Artwork from here:

Flow of Compassion

2006 Finalist

Jessica Escobedo, Age 13

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

where's God in this?

It was easy to love God in all that

was beautiful.

The lessons of deeper knowledge, though, instructed me

to embrace God in all

things.

St. Francis of Assisi

(for those who cannot find hope

 in whatever this day has brought)

Bechdel Test

My friend Karen sent me a youtube video today that I encourage you to watch.

It explains the Bechdel test which considers the presence of women in movies...
or lack thereof.

Here are the rules:

1) are there 2 or more women in the movie with names?

2) do they talk to one another?

3) do they talk to one another about something other than men?

Now think back over the movies you've watched this month....which of them passed this test? Realize that this test is not saying that the movies that don't pass the test aren't good movies, just that "half the sky" is not represented in our entertainment choices...should that matter? At 51% of the population I think it does.

Years ago Karen told me that her top rule for video viewing in her home was the 10-in-10 rule: Ten die in the first 10 minutes, turn movie off. Being the only female in the household they had a few arguments regarding said rule. Her husband and sons would claim that some characters looked only maimed and might be revived at the hospital:) Do you have rules for what movies you watch or don't watch?

extra credit: name the movie that passes the Bechdel test from the photo above.