Community
Community is an antidote to the poisonous American consumerist “me” and “I want” life that leads to isolation and unhappiness.
— Frank Schaeffer, Crazy for God, p. 389
Month: November 2008
10 Posts
Reading the Bible in Community
Reading the Bible with others does not mean only that we read together in a small group, or that we read commentaries to benefit from the wisdom of great teachers, or that we listen to the Bible read and reflected on in worship or other gatherings. It also means reading the Bible through the lens of others’ experiences, in the knowledge of others’ stories, in the midst of immersion in others’ lives. For all this is in the service of loving God and loving one another. It is not to make us more knowledgeable about the Bible’s text, although that is helpful. It is not to make us more culturally sophisticated, although that is a benefit. It is to plunge us deeper into life with God, and therefore deeper into life with one another, that we might take one more step toward the beloved, all-inclusive community centered in Christ.
— Richard J. Foster, Life with God, p. 105-106
Changing Your Story
Although we may be beginning to understand that our Story is just a Story and not the Truth, it still can feel a little risky to be tampering with it. Adaptive beings that we are, we’ve figured out how to tolerate the limiting story. We know our way around that territory, and we know what to expect from it. When we open ourselves up to a new possibility, a new Story, we often fear we’re opening ourselves up to false hope. What if nothing changes? Then we will have to face disappointment which we could have avoided by sticking with the old Story. I agree that it’s risky. It takes courage to move toward what you want, to come out of the cultural trance and wholeheartedly go after what matters to you. . . .
When we orient our lives around what we most care about, we see new ways of being that we were blind to when we were focused on eradicating the problem. I invite you to refrain from attending to something that needs to be fixed. Instead, try looking at what you care about and what you really want.
The bottom line: It’s All Story. Abundance is a Story. Scarcity is a Story. Yes, there are facts supporting both of them, but remember that it isn’t the facts that shape our lives — it’s our Stories.
— Victoria Castle, The Trance of Scarcity, p. 44-46
Transformation
If you meet with selfishness, joyfully call it a chance to be unselfish yourself. Practice the unselfish attitude which is so obviously lacking in some particular person or situation, and lovely, unselfish things will begin springing up all around you. Instead of saying in thought, “what irritating, thoughtless neighbors,” begin calling them to yourself “delightful, potential friends and companions.” Just as though you wave a magic wand over them, they will certainly become that if you persist long enough, or else they will move away and be replaced by delightful companions. For you are waving a magic wand over yourself, remember, changing yourself into the nature of the name you give, so that people of the same nature will gravitate to you.
That, of course, is the whole secret and key. What you think, you yourself become in spirit. Spirits are continually attracted to, and gravitating towards, other spirits that think, desire, and feel the same kind of things as themselves. To think only of good things continually attracts other good and loving spirits to you in the real world of spirit or thought as you strengthen and bless one another. The reverse happens if you think and feel unkind or unloving things.
— Hannah Hurnard, Eagles Wings to the Higher Places, p. 66-67
Story
Story is the closest we human beings can come to truth.
— Madeleine L’Engle, Sold into Egypt, quoted in Glimpses of Grace, compiled by Carole F. Chase, p. 295
A Life of Loving
Loving others will definitely improve your life right now. Take that passion that is God’s gift to you and lavish it on others. Think of yourself as being loved, because you are. God loves you, and probably many others do as well. Once you move from focusing on an absence of love to recognizing the abundance of love already within, you will stop postponing happiness. A life of loving is available now.
— Mary Manin Morrissey, No Less Than Greatness, p. 72
Healthy Selfishness
Some healthy selfishness now can rekindle the excitement and joy in your life — feelings that are nearer to the surface than you might imagine. Best of all it can help you realize some of your most private and most precious dreams — now, while there’s still time.
— Dr. Rachael Heller and Dr. Richard Heller, Healthy Selfishness: Getting the Life You Deserve Without the Guilt, p. 53
Finding Joy
Joy is of our making, and it is most easily made when we acknowledge God. I am inclined to say that acknowledging God is a necessary exercise. At least I have found it so. As I have said already, our minds can hold but a single thought. If God is in that thought, every experience has the capacity to instill joy in us. . . .
Joy is always available to us moment by moment. But we must keep our minds open and pay attention. A closed mind or a mind filled with fear or judgment will never know joy. A red rose beginning to open, a willow tree swaying in the breeze, the rainbow after a shower, the dew glistening on each blade of grass in the early morning, a baby taking her first steps — all of these moments hold the potential for joy. Every moment of every day we can see evidence of God everywhere. And we can feel overjoyed by this evidence if we want to. The decision is ours.
— Karen Casey, Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow, p. 30-31
Being Lavish
Stinginess sits at one end of the continuum. At the other end is the experience of being lavish. For many of us, that word produces an instant response: Oh, I couldn’t, I shouldn’t! But if you don’t give to yourself, how will your life become abundant? Lavish means stepping wholeheartedly into the big middle of life, rather than just tiptoeing partway in. Lavish means letting the flow of life move freely through you. Lavish isn’t busy trying to control everything (that’s stingy). Lavish is juicy, and yes, it’s messy. It’s alive.
— Victoria Castle, The Trance of Scarcity, p. 43
Responsibility is Power.
When I talk about responsibility, I am really talking about having power. Blame is about giving away one’s power. Responsibility gives us the power to make changes in our lives. If we play the victim role, then we are using our personal power to be helpless. If we decide to accept responsibility, then we don’t waste time blaming somebody or something out there. . . .
If we can use our problems and illnesses as opportunities to think about how we can change our lives, we have power.
Louise L. Hay, The Power Is Within You, p. 5