Merton’s Virginity

I wanted to make this post on Monday in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe, but I’m a little late. I’ve slowly been making my way through Thomas Merton’s The Monastic Journey, which I have loved. The pages overflow with wisdom and his words on the monastic life speak directly to my spirit. I just read a passage about virginity of spirit. What a weird phrase. I know I’ve never heard anyone else say it, but I do like what Merton said about spiritual virginity, the peaceful soul moving with the breaths of the Holy Spirit within us. Here is a bit of Merton’s wisdom on virginity of spirit.

Spiritual virginity is not arrived at by violence or strain. The first step is the total acceptance of our self, our whole being, as God has willed us to be - the acceptance of all the parts of our being - body and soul, mind and instinct, emotions and wills, in order to give all to God in the harmony of a balanced and spiritualized personality.

The passion of my teenage years opened me up to the reality of God in the world and in my life. Through my twenties I have been learning the truth of who I am, who I was created to be. I have been trying to accept myself and let my spirit breathe. The words of John Elredge, Anne Lamott, and others who don’t know me, plus those who know me very well have encouraged me to seek the reality of me. Discovering and accepting my true self will be the greatest thing I ever do. Sometimes, like tonight, it is the most complicated task I will ever have before me.

One more Merton Quote:

In order to be perfectly what God wants us to be we must be truly ourselves. But in order to be truly ourselves we must find ourselves in Christ - which can only be done if we lose ourselves in Him. This is our great vocation.

Tags: Life, Spirituality

Wine & Poetry Night

As you may have read on Dan’s blog, last night we had Wine & Poetry Night. We spent the night enjoying wine, poetry, and each other. It was such a good experience. We’ve both been feeling the stress of my employment situation (aka unemployment). The wine helped us to forget the stress and the poetry reminded us to appreciate life. By the end of the night we were openly and strongly expressing gratitude for how we are provided for and also, our eyes were opened to how much we are letting this stress affect us. I’m so grateful for last night, amazed at how God used the wine & poetry to communicate His love & provision for us. I look forward to many more wine & poetry nights.

Tags: Life, Spirituality

Advent Reminder

Just a reminder that we will be having a very simple Advent celebration tomorrow at 4:00. If you are interested email me (or Dan) for directions.

Tags: Spirituality

Next Wave

I don’t know exactly how Dan met Arlen, but since the beginning he has been very supportive of our journey. Anyway, Dan just told me that Arlen has an article in this issue of Next Wave. Be sure to check out “How then shall I live”.

Tags: Life, Spirituality

What do you hear?

When Jesus arrived, he saw this huge crowd. At the sight of them, his heart broke–like sheep with no shepherd they were. He went right to work teaching them.
When his disciples thought this had gone on long enough–it was now quite late in the day–they interrupted: “We are a long way out in the country, and it’s very late. Pronounce a benediction and send these folks off so they can get some supper.”
Jesus said, “You do it. Fix supper for them.”
They replied, “Are you serious? You want us to go spend a fortune on food for their supper?”
But he was quite serious. “How many loaves of bread do you have? Take an inventory.”
That didn’t take long. “Five,” they said, “plus two fish.”
Jesus got them all to sit down in groups of fifty or a hundred–they looked like a patchwork quilt of wildflowers spread out on the green grass! He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread to the disciples, and the disciples in turn gave it to the people. He did the same with the fish. They all ate their fill. The disciples gathered twelve baskets of leftovers. More than five thousand were at the supper.

Tags: Spirituality