Oct. 8-Sunday-Ps.19 is a great hymn on creation. What does creation tell you about God? How does silent creation speak (v.2-4)? Why do you think the psalm then moves to looking at God’s teaching/torah?
Monday-God is the living flame within each of us. We each contain a spark of the divine, a holy fire that leads us to greater love. Sometimes our inner fires seem to die, to fizzle out. At these times we are often overworked, overcommitted, or undernourished by the things that bring our soul alive."--- Christine Valters Paintner, PhD
Tuesday-"All traditions went out of their way to emphasize that any idea we had of God bore no absolute relationship to the reality itself, which went beyond it. Our notion of a personal God is one symbolic way of speaking about the divine, but it cannot contain the far more elusive reality. Most would agree with the Greek Orthodox that any statement about God had to have two characteristics. It must be paradoxical, to remind us that God cannot be contained in a neat, coherent system of thought; and it must be apophatic, that is, it should lead us to a moment of silent awe or wonder, because when we are speaking of the reality of God we are at the end of what words or thoughts can usefully do." (Spiral Staircase, p. 292)
Wednesday-We experience the viriditas in our souls, which Hildegard counseled. In that safe space of being met by other pilgrims who also have a love of contemplative practice and creative expression, we are able to start to drop down to a deeper place and let a part of ourselves come alive that we may keep hidden in daily life. We can welcome in the moistening of our souls. This is the greening power of God at work. We find ourselves vital, fertile, alive and saying yes in new ways, affirmed by our fellow companions. Abbey of the Arts
Thursday-Practice simplicity first. When we find this simplicity, they believed, we find true life.”
--- Christine Valters Paintner, PhD
Friday We can only keep it together when we believe that God holds us together. We can only win our lives when we remain faithful to the truth that every little part of us, yes, every hair, is completely safe in the divine embrace of our Lord. To say it differently: when we keep living a spiritual life, we have nothing to be afraid of. Source: Bread for the Journey
Saturday-Philip Britts-In the face of the strain of tasks beyond our strength, we must turn inwards to the source of strength. If we measure our human strength against the work we see immediately ahead, we shall feel hopeless, and if we tackle it in that strength we shall be frustrated…and fall either into torpor or exasperation. There is no healthier lesson we can learn than our own limitations, provided this is accompanied by the resignation of our own strength, and reliance on the strength of God.
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