Transformation-Journey

Week 4 – September 22, 2014

TRANFORMATION - JOURNEY  (Chapter 4)

“It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.” --Ursule K. LeGuin

Above is one of my favorite quotes and a reminder that transformation requires a journey and often (in not always) change.  I've always felt we (humanity) gets too focused on ‘destinations’ rather than realizing that life is about the journey.  The journey involves relationships – any type of destination, whether literal or figurative, is basically something static, otherwise it wouldn't be a destination!  Beware of the journey instead of just thinking there is a destination you can arrive at—more than likely, when you get to ‘that destination’, you will be ready to go somewhere else!  Think about it! 

Now, some reflections, quotes and prayers this week to help us reflect upon transformation and the journey and those thinks which might be in our way.

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What was most significant

for Jesus

as he prepared to leave

this earth?

As Jesus spoke to followers,

and listened,

love became the need.

As Jesus prayed to God,

and listened,

love became the answer.

As we live our lives in Spirit,

in gratitude for the mercy and message

of God's love,

may we see with Christ's eyes,

listen with his ears,

and love one another

with Christ's healing heart

of love.

~~Roberta Porter

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                "As human awareness changes in different cultures and times, religious symbols come to the fore and recede.  A symbol that speaks vividly to the concerns of one time and place may convey little meaning to another.  Human effort has a real but limited role to play in this process.  Interpreters can enhance , hinder or distort the power of symbol, but ultimately, as Paul Tillich stressed, true religious symbols are not in our power to create or dismiss.  Participating in the divine reality to which they point, the symbols grasp us more than we grasp them."     (The Wisdom of God: Sophia and Christian Theology  by Leo D. Lefebure -- Christian Century, Oct. 19, 1994, p. 951 {Vol 111, No. 29})

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On Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous.

Actually, who are you not to be.  You are a child of God (universe).  Your playing small doesn't serve the world.  There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are born to manifest the glory of God (universe) that is within us.  It’s not in some of us, it’s in everyone, and as we let our own light shine we consciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Walk gently, breathe peacefully, and laugh hysterically.              

            --Nelson Mandela  ~~1994 Inaugural Speech

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A PRAYER OF GRATITUDE FOR THE GIFT OF SIGHT

            (by Edward Hays from “Pray All Ways”)

Creator God, Holy Parent, I give You thanks for all of Your so often unnoticed natural gifts.

I rejoice especially, now, in my eyes, these two tiny but marvelous gifts that add so much to the fullness of my life.

This gift of sight enlarges the world of my enjoyment and magnifies my appreciation of nature, of great works of art, of the gifts of books and print, of those persons I love--and for this I am grateful.

I thank You also for the gift of insight by which my spirit sees and understands.  For the gift of the third eye, the eye of  the heart, by which I may stand-under the meaning of life, I am indeed grateful.

I am especially thankful for Your son, Jesus, star-born prophet, whose very coming was a healing light to the world, who opened the eyes of the blind and gave to a weary world new sight.

Blessed be all those who have taught me to see:  prophets, poets, writers and movie-makers, friends and lovers, all teachers of vision.

May my eyes bless You this day; may they be opened-prayers of gratitude, as I attempt to overcome any blindness of heart and any dullness of appreciation of the wonder of sight.

In the fullness of my being, I bless You, Incomprehensible Lord, who foresees a heaven of such splendor, that ear has not heard nor eye seen such beauty as You have prepared.

Blessed are You, Lord my God, for the wondrous gift of sight.

 Amen+

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Some books to help on the journey:

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by Edward Hays

            Pray All Ways

            A Pilgrims Almanac: Reflections for each day of the year

            Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim:  A personal manual for prayer and ritual

            (any [and all] book[s] by him)

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The God We Never Knew:  Beyond Dogmatic Religion To A More Authentic Contemporary Faith

            by Marcus Borg

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by Parker Palmer

            The Active Life: A Spirituality of Work, Creativity and Caring