Shining Light into the Darkness
When I was a child, my family would visit my father’s very loud, very raucous family. They were people who used coarse language at high volume and often their words seemed to me unkind. I seldom was anything more than an observer because interactions with them felt very threatening to me. Now I realize that …
The World Mirrors Me Great spiritual teachers have used metaphors of mirrors to describe how we encounter reality. One such metaphor is that the world reflects back to us what we project out to it. If we project love, compassion, and mercy we will see love, compassion, and mercy mirrored back to us. If we …
Death. Love. Peace. Today is the last day of a difficult yet graced filled year bookended on both sides by death. It is a good day to prepare again for a novena of peace. As 2018 began, my husband’s father fell ill with what seemed to be a terrible cold. By mid-January he had pneumonia …
Novena for Peace Prayers & Reflection Questions The ritual for any prayer discipline can be as elaborate or as simple as is comfortable for you. Below are suggestions for the Novena for Peace. STEP 1: In preparation for your time of meditation and prayer, find a quiet place where you can sit or recline comfortably. …
2017 Peace Novena Day 9 Let us pray for our nation, ourselves, and for our new leaders taking office today. May we practice compassionate listening, merciful justice, and a true embrace of unity of purpose. Divided We Fall Today we inaugurate the 45th President of the United States. And so let us pray for him …
As we enter day 2 of the 2017 Peace Novena, I pray that we all find ways to be kind and to listen with an open heart. (If you don’t have time for prayer and reading this post, choose prayer. Novena rituals and prayer) Suffering Is a Choice Many people are real pain as a …
Like most Americans, I’m grateful that the 2016 political cycle is over. What isn’t over is the anger, angst, and division that marked it. Yet I know that we collectively possess the power to change this discomforting and destructive reality. Compassion, true understanding, and peace are possible. This is not a naïve Pollyanna dream (as I’ve sometimes been …
After another enjoyable time on the Architect of Change radio show, Connie Whitman asked me to share Dr. Sauvage’s 4-Step Spiritual Action Plan and a version of St. Ignatius Examen. Both can help with the spiritual discipline needed to be an architect of change for yourself and the world. During the show (which I will post …
Rule 4: Manage Stress by Finding Balance and Inner Peace From Opening Hearts: Chapter 5 Five Cardinal Rules for Healthy Living Excessive, chronic stress can literally kill you. Our emotional, mental, and physical response to actual or perceived threats triggers the adrenal glands to release a flood of hormones including cortisol and adrenaline.42 [Footnote 42: …
Our Novena of Peace concludes with the realization that peace is the fruit of love. Love is expressed so many ways large and small. Love is mercy, gratitude, vulnerability, forgiveness, responsibility, awareness, and all the habits we consciously choose that reveal our belief in the sacredness of all life and of our world. It gives …