I?ve mentioned before that I love reading letters of spiritual direction from godly men and women of the past. The quotation below comes from a collection of letters by Jacques-Benigne Bossuet (1627-1704). He was a contemporary of Francois Fenelon (1651-1715) and Madame Guyon (1648-1717), two writers whose works have helped me. Bossuet opposed them because […]
Living a Life of Delight
Ps 37:3-4 NRSV, ?Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security. Take delight in the Lord,?and he will give you the desires of your heart.? Trust in the Lord. Do good. It?s not an ?either/or? but both. A trusting heart and hands that do good work […]
Secure Your Oxygen Mask First
?The emphasis upon inner development, when fully considered, turns out to be the most unselfish of enterprises, because, as we live for one another, the best we can give is ourselves. A man has made a step toward a genuine maturity when he realizes that, though he ought to perform kind and just acts, the […]
Suffering: Does it Lead to Wisdom?
?I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness, and the willingness to remain vulnerable.? (Anne Morrow Lindbergh) Such truth. The process about which Lindbergh speaks takes time. Each word she uses (mourning, […]
Prayer Is Not Something I Do
If you?ve read this blog long, you know that we believe a strategic spiritual and leadership practice is setting aside a day (or at least part of a day) per month to be alone with God. This is a core value of ours. Recently, one of the leaders in our training raised this question: I […]
Do Small Things with Great Love
A while back, I read the Come Be My Light, the story of Mother Teresa?s life and spiritual journey. Many know that she spent most of the last decades of her life with little or no conscious sense of God?s presence, though remained a woman of deep and faithful prayer. Here are a couple of […]
How Can You Become Vibrantly Attentive?
?One of the finest of interior disciplines, practiced by those whom we have most reason to admire, is that of a period of deliberate receptivity at or near the beginning of the conscious day. Some who have gone deeply into the life of the Spirit report that they begin the day by saying ?Lord, I […]
