Understanding Spirituality and Culture through Christ
Hacking slowness is not about slowing down just to speed up again. Sometimes we think we will slow down on vacation and then come back to the real world to speed up. Hacking slowness is about slowing down for the sake of slowing down. Hacking slowness is about creating the inner capacity to notice more. Chronic speed will reduce our inner capacity to notice. If we are not careful we could break things.
Read MoreWhen life seems overwhelming and you feel stuck in a state of frustration, to get unstuck, start with empathy follow up with meaningful response by celebrating your agency to choose and you would be following on Frodo’s footsteps, bravely matching to Mordor!
Read MoreThe comedian, author and TV host Ben Stein says, "I cannot tell you anything that, in a few minutes, will tell you how to be rich. But I can tell you how to feel rich, which is far better, let me tell you firsthand, than being rich. Be grateful. . . . It's the only totally reliable get-rich-quick scheme." We live in a culture where developing gratitude as an attitude is seen as being key to success.
Read MoreAugustine says in his confessions, "vast are you O Lord, we are restless until we find our rest in thee." Big Bend this vast meeting space in which I am no longer restless. I am home. I am rested because I am purged of the frenzy of the city. My perception is attuned to enjoying God's cosmos, permeating the glory of His presence. Only then do I truly live!
Read MoreDo you want to see change in your life? Are your external rules based strategy failing you? Then Identify the dysfunctional belief which is driving your behavior. Then change the dysfunctional belief with redemptive belief, and let that drive your motivation to change your behavior. Change your belief and your behavior will change!
Read MoreHow do we find our happiness? According to Seligman it is Positive Emotions, Flow and transcendent meaning. He says positive emotions aren't lasting, Flow lasts more, transcendent meaning is the highest point. From a Christian standpoint as in Matt 6:33, getting the order right is key - seek our highest meaning (satisfaction) in the love of God, then engage (purposefully) in the work of God's kingdom building, then positive emotions will follow. But if we attempt to reverse the order, if we try to chase after positive emotions, then we will end up someone frantically adjust the grill in the air conditioning vents in the car to get cold air when the engine is not working.
Read MoreAnger does not have to be destructive. Ps 37 is not just about managing anger, it is about making something constructive our of our anger. Anger can be transformational if we can channel our anger into trust filled action, be still before God surrendering our agendas, delight in the Lord by enjoying the gifts of beauty.
Read MoreThe first step in avoiding the trap of comparison games, to live into the freedom that Jesus offers is to make Jesus our reference point by keeping our eyes on Jesus. St. Teresa of Avila said prayer is us looking at God gazing lovingly at us. If we are able to behold the love of God in Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will not be tempted to look for validation from other centered reference points.
Read MoreDo not let your fears distract you into escapist behavior or let your fears define you. We too are called to struggle with God in prayer, fueling our prayers with our fears. This deepens our identity in Christ, giving us peace which "guards our heart and mind," as Paul says in verse 7 of chapter 4 of Philippians. Let your fears become your prayers, then your prayers will make you strong.
Read MoreWhen we obey our own selfish desires, we end up creating a world of competition and violence, red in tooth and claw. On the other hand, Obedience to the way of self-less love of Christ is a great thing if we value our friendship with Jesus and we want to transcend our selfish desires and participation in creating a kingdom of love and peace through Christlike selfgiving way of love.
Read MoreAs we all have lots of down time with cancelled events, to deal with anxiety one of the ways to take time as a time of Sabbath rest trusting that God is in control of things. Use the disciple of remembrance of death to create clarity of intention about what you value. Speak and connect with people you love, people who you have not had a chance to talk to for a while, above all approach this crisis from a place of hope that our eternal citizenship is secure and care for the other.
Read MoreWe live in a world filled with so many distractions, ranging from facebook feeds to giant billboards advertising junk food. We suffering from a sense of scatter-brainedness, and inability to focus on important priorities. For Christians, remembrance of death is a spiritual discipline that helps create an urgency of intention to prioritize our spiritual life with God and our neighbor all else.
Read MoreThe question this lays in front of Christians is this - do we wanted to be shaped by a consumerist style of beauty of the world or by God's Wabi-sabi style of purging beauty? To appreciate this sparse spiritual beauty one has to step away from one's frenzied narcissistic time into deep time which is the realm that God operates in slowly, patiently, Wabi-sabi style, removing all that is non-essential, charging us with a new Christ-like character, created through purging beauty!
Read MoreFor people living in culture of compulsive productivity, solitude is so difficult because it is as unproductive as is Sabbath. The way of out of such compulsivity is to treat the practice of solitude as Sabbath. Sabbath rest is where we learn to rest in God's presence. Augustine said, "we are restless until we find our rest in Thee(God)." We come to experience true freedom in resting in the presence of Christ instead of being addicted to our compulsion to productivity. Spiritual practice of silent solitude helps us to learn to trust in the God's provision and rest Christ's love instead of being addicted to our need for productivity.
Read MoreThe Examen prayer is done at the end of each day, as a way of reviewing the day to see how our spirit and desires were moved through the day. It is a way of prayerfully asking a series of questions that help us be attuned to the presence of Christ's spirit and discover our deep desires.
Read MoreRenunciation of the the desire for compulsive control is going to be a long process of accepting the grace of God. The control monster, deep in my psyche, pulling me into frenzied time zone. Killing the control minotaur is about giving up the compulsive pursuit of immediate happiness in the frenzied time zone to live in the deep time in appreciation of God's grace, no matter what life throws my way.
Read MoreJust like Pink Floyd has concept albums. Mine is going to be a concept road trip. The theme for my trip is going to be experiences of deep time, I will keep posting anything I am moved to write about as a result of contemplative excursions into Deep Time!
Read MoreTrees are spiritual because they have deep roots, roots that are unseen but their strength comes from their deep roots. Just like the trees, the deep roots of my own spirituality are not seen outside but it is those deep roots that strengthen me. The trees are also a place where many living things find their abode. . Christ is the one in whom I find my adobe and rest in. If I am deeply rooted in Christ, and grow out of Christ, then I will become an extension of Christ’s love that points people to the rest in Christ. The tree is a deeply mysterious being which reflects God’s nurturing and life giving side. So being among big trees in the evening was to be mystic presence of God.
Read MoreThe one who is tuned to this deep presence of Christ in the subconscious self is the Christian mystic. The mystic does not have to be cloistered within the halls of the monastery. For the mystic the whole world is a monastery. For the Christian mystic the whole world is sacramentally held together by the Word of God (Heb 1:3) and God's presence is manifest through it.
Read MoreI did not quite understand the answer to this question until I was walking down the Jamaica beach in Galveston at 2:00 am on a Saturday morning. I realized that to love God with my soul is to be deeply moved by a sheer display of His brilliant majesty in a way that bypasses my heart and mind and reaches deep into my unconscious, my soul, to lift it up into an ecstasy (in the truest sense of that word) to a posture of absolute submission and worship of God.
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