25. Book Lust by Nancy Pearl

Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason by Nancy Pearl
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fascinating A-Z journey through some of this famous librarian's favorite books. I decided to just enjoy her take and not furiously make another list to get through!

l View all my reviews

Tuesday Freewrite

Yesterday was my birthday...

and it was lovely. 

I like no expectations in my life. I decided it needed to be low-key. I didn't want any parties or lights. I had my chai in the morning and meditated on the baptism of Jesus and my own belovedness before God. I also had such sweet memories about my family growing up. I was truly blessed with a dad in whom I had no doubt as to his love for me. I knew I was beloved in his eyes. 

The question in Finding Christ in the World was "When I say yes to God's insisting, "You are my beloved child," I feel ...

Happy...blessed...joyful!

(I was the beloved youngest child and only daughter of Charles William Wardrop who changed my name to Carol because the name Karen just did not fit the 10 lb 15 oz baby girl that popped out of my mom at 9 (am or pm - no one to ask for sure). I was not "pure one" but SONG OF JOY! That fits me so much better!

After this good time in God's word, (and a word about power and authority which I don't like to take but realize I must sometimes) I went for a 90-minute walk in the cool of the morning. It got up to 96 yesterday. So I just kept walking and walking until I got my 10,000 steps and 600 calorie move goal in! It was lovely. :)  I also listened to Angela's Ashes (see the post from yesterday). What a fascinating and funny read. 

I came back to send my first email to my small group that has finally been assigned to me through Jesuits in Boston! We are eight weeks in, and they just got to me on my BIRTHDAY. So that was a gift. 

Another gift was my heather orange BLESSED T-Shirt that came in the mail.

After this, I listened to my book some more, talked to Jean S on the phone, answered Facebook and text well-wishers, and had tea with Kim for three glorious hours of connection. I love that girl.

She left at 5:30, and Teala came at 6 for a steak, baked potato, salad, and fruit dinner. She stayed for four hours. I had a lot of connections yesterday! I love that.

So here I sit. I think we are done with the vacation getaway, having gone on our 30th wedding anniversary to the coast for three days. It was so great. I am not sure I wrote about it here, but George is the easiest person to be with. We walked and talked and read a lot. We also went to Tidal Raves in Depoe Bay for lunch on our big day. It was cheaper that day, and the 30-minute wait was so worth it. I had the "Pasta Rave" which is lovely seafood linguine with all sorts of different kinds of seafood. 

What was great is that for both my anniversary getaway and my birthday yesterday, I did not go over my points. So I have a 23 day streak of a "Blue Dot." I have lost 6.7 pounds! WOOHOO. I LOVE Weight Watchers. It is so EASY, and I love seeing all these people who have lost an incredible amount of weight and kept it off by eating healthier. The psychology behind all the "free" points is that you will reach for those healthy fruits, vegetables, and lean meats instead of the higher point, lower nutrient foods. It is working for me, and I have eaten so much fruit but still lost weight. 

I am on schedule. At this rate, I will be at my best weight by the day school starts. I should mention I am not overweight. I am at the upper end of my weight range through and in a healthy BMI, but I want to be at the healthiest and best weight for me, and that is at at 22-23 BMI.

I start weight lifting again today. YIKES! I am a little nervous about going to a class with the mask and procedures. We will see how I like it. I might just lift at home or at the club. 

I think my time is just about out. I like to freewrite, and it has been a very long time! 

TTFN. 10 seconds to go! 

24. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

Wow! This might be my favorite book of the year. I could not put it down. What an engaging memoir. What an amazing early life this man had. 

I had begun reading it when it was on the bookshelf of a vacation home we were renting. I did not have enough time to get very far into the book, but I put the audiobook on hold, and I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook read by the author that includes him singing the songs! It made me want to take a trip to Limerick!

It is humorous and heartbreaking all in one breath, told from the perspective of a young boy coming of age in poverty-stricken Ireland. 

HIGHLY RECOMMEND. 

23. Bleak House by Dickens

There is nothing like Dickens. After the long slog through Atlas Shrugged, this was so refreshing and well-written. I love Dickens and the characters he creates. This one was a bit different from others I have read in that the main characters are women! It is also interesting in that it becomes a murder mystery about 2/3rds of the way through the book. 

What a great read! I think this might be one of my favorites. 

Finding Christ in the World - Week Seven: The Word Was Made Flesh

Notes from my time through the 18th Annotation of the Exercises:

Grace for the week: I ask to appreciate how God has saved us by sending the Son of God in our flesh.

We are "capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession, and of freely giving ourselves and entering into communion with other persons" (Cathechism, 357). For God is all of that and we will be reflecting His image eternally. (p. 122)

What could "likeness to God mean to us in our bodies?... Jesus of Nazareth is what it means. "In Him, in bodily form,  lives the divinity, and in Him too you find your own fulfillment" (Col. 2:9,10). [The Amplified Bible says, "For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead), continues to dwell in bodily form -- giving complete expression of the divine nature. And you are in Him, made full and have come to fullness of life -- in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and reach full spiritual stature."] Jesus shows how a human acts who is perfectly "in the likeness" of God. (p. 122)

Day 1: Jn 1:1-18

My Thought for the Day: The Light shines in the darkness. Testify to the light! From fullness we receive grace upon grace.

Day 2: Lk 1:26-38

In your presence, I am safe and still. 

My Thought for the Day: Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God.

Willingness to cooperate with God. "Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." 

Applying your prayer thoughts:

You are not a God who created us and left us to fend for ourselves. You are intimately involved in all our ways and have a global plan. You have been preparing me for Body and Soul Companion. I am ready. (Gene said, "You are competent but lack confidence.") How can I walk alongside (one of my directees)?

Day 3: Lk 1:26-38 Repetition

Gabriel was sent by God. "For nothing will be impossible with God." 

My Thought for the Day: The Lord is with you. 

Day 4: Lk 2:8-20

The word "glory" really stuck with me. "And the glory of the Lord shone around them...Glory to God in the highest heaven...The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them." 

My Thought for the Day: Glory of the Lord shine through me. 

What about my life? Applying your prayer.

About the 365 instances of the Lord or his prophets or angels inviting the people, "Do not be afraid." One fear I want to be free of just now has ...  

Putting myself out there as a spiritual director, having a website. I fear rejection big-time. I want to be free of that. 

I am in awe that God would send the Son to earth to save us. I feel awe, delight, joy, love, peace. 

I ponder the glory of God. 

I ask the Lord about ... How I might live with the remembrance of his glory? I pray for ____. That she would glorify you and not be deceived. 

Day 5: Lk 2:8-20 Repetition

"The glory of the Lord shone around then...good news of great joy..glory to God..."Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place...So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger...all who heard it were amazed...Mary treasured words and pondered them in her heart...The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God."

My Thought for the Day: Glory of the Lord shone around them. Shine around me, Lord. 

Day 6: Lk 2:39-40, 51-52

"The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him...Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor."

My Thought for the Day: Continue to pray Lk 2:52 for my boys. 

Day 7: Lk 2:39-40; 51-52 Repetition

My Thought for the Day: Help me grow, become strong, and fill me with wisdom. 

22. Friday Night Lights

This was a timely read with what is happening in race relations right now. It is about high school football in Odessa, Texas. It follows the life of the key players and has a follow-up chapter 25 years since the book was published. 

The author really gave his all to this book, moving his family to Odessa, Texas for two years. His liberal bias comes in when he covers the Bush family (who lived in Odessa for a year), assuming what is in people's hearts and implying that all conservatives are idiots. This was 1988. That bias has been taken to a whole new level in today's climate.

The thing that was so surprising to me was that this town did not integrate until 1980, many years after Brown vs. Board of Education! 

I can totally understand why this book is on the 1000 Books to Read Before You Die list! 

21. Into the Deep: An Unlikely Catholic Conversion

This is an honest and transparent life story of a woman who has recently converted to Catholicism from an evangelical background. She tends to paint ALL evangelicals with a very broad brush that I found not accurate of the evangelicals that I know. Her foray into feminism was fascinating, and it helped me to understand the thought processes that I have never quite understood.

She also gives a very good explanation of the underpinnings of Catholic practices like male priests, the Eucharist (transubstantiation), and praying to Mary and the Saints. 

It was a worthwhile read. 

Sunday Examen Prayer of Saturday

The little message by James Martin was about Faith sharing - Gather four to five friends and see how God has been at work in your life. What has been going on in their prayer? Minimal response. Just simply listen and be present to what is going on in that person's spiritual life. You can see the different ways the Spirit is working in other people's lives. 

Examen of Saturday, July 18

Two or Three Things You are Grateful for:

1) See the Garbers in Avery Park after them moving 21 years ago to Virginia! What a treat to see such a wonderful family.

2) Having Sue to cheer me on as I subbed for Pilates at TAC for the first time in six months.

3) Walking to Iona's "Walking with God" recording. 

4) Listening to Dickens after the long slough through Atlas Shrugged. 

Whole Day: Noticing where God has been. Where did I accept the invitation to be loving grateful and to be myself? And where did I turn away from it?

Getting Up: I was calm, drank tea, and meditated on the Prodigal God in Luke 18. The oldest son's problem was lack of gratitude. He saw what he did not have rather than what he already had. That was a good word CONSOLATION.

Rest of the Morning: I noticed God in my loop walk with Pray as You Go's "Walking with God." It was so lovely to notice the colors and flowers and the sky and trees. To hear the wind rustling through the leaves. To pray for the people I passed. To smell the smells. To totally experience. I was nervous about TAC teaching, but this calmed me. Taught Pilates to four people, and Sue was there to cheer me on. YAY! I think one woman did not like it, but that is OK! 

Noon: My back was a little wonky after not doing Pilates for about two weeks (a full routine in a month). I took some medication and rested. That was wise and good. 

Afternoon: We rode our bikes to Avery Park to meet with the Garbers. That was so nice! They are such a great family, and it was fun to chat after 21 years. Rode back from 3-3:30, and I love to ride my bike! I need to do more prayer biking for the rest of the summer. I also listened to Bleak House by Charles Dickens, and I love him! 

Evening: George made Masak Merah ("Red Meat" in Malay). I stuck well to my eating plan (even though the scale did not reflect it this morning - I took ibuprofen, and that often makes me retain water). I watched Zac Ephron's Down to Earth show. WOW! I love it! It was recommended by more than one on Netflix. So life-giving to see things around the world from geothermal energy in Iceland to clean water in France. 

Fell fast asleep.

Regrets: Cannot think of one thing that I regret from the day.

Thing from the Day that was Especially Meaningful: Probably being at Avery Park and visiting with the Garbers! They are such a great family! 

Amen! 

20. Atlas Shrugged

This was so hard to get through, but it was a worthwhile read, and I totally can understand why Mustich has it on the 1000 Books to Read Before You Die List. I have to admit that I got the movies and watched them again to motivate myself to finish the book. The movies are not very good, but sometimes it helps me to have a visual picture to get through books. 

There are no heroes in this book. There are the hard-core capitalists who live only for themselves, and there are the socialists who are not really humanitarians but use that as a ruse to gain power. Rand was a hard-core atheist, and she thought philosophers should run the world. She is an idealist. Her capitalist utopia would never fly, but the communist utopias have never flown either. Man is sinful. She didn't believe that. So she wrote a dystopian/utopian novel. I still thought it was a fascinating read. 

Here is an interview with the author. It is a great 1967 interview with Johnny Carson. So worth watching. She is a hard-core atheist. 

19. Silence by Endo

This is an important book to read. It is beautifully written. It is a fictional portrayal of real-life Jesuit priests who brought the gospel to Japan in the 1500s. Religious persecution was terrible at that point in history. 

It is a hard but great story. 

Here are a couple of articles that are helpful as you read this great book: 

https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2017/01/18/fr-james-martin-answers-5-common-questions-about-silence (This is by Father James Martin who consulted on the film version.) 

file:///C:/Users/gcwea/Downloads/fulltext_stamped%20(2).pdf

Friday Freewrite and Prayerful Examen

First of all. My website is live:

https://bodyandsoulcompanion.com/

I'm having a focus issue this morning. I woke up at 3:55 am, and I have the whole day free. I did that on purpose. I think I am going to do my best to keep Fridays as my "totally free" day. 

Thursday was nice. I got up and had time in Lk 12. Verse three was a source of conversation with the Lord, "Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops." I felt convicted about saying something I shouldn't have said to two of my besties. 

After this, I took to the NE part of town for a two hour Corvallis "Purple Pavement to Prepare for the Prince of Peace" Prayer walk. So nice to do this so early in the morning that I can cross 99 unhindered and before the heat came. It was lovely. 

After a good stretching time, I listened to Atlas Shrugged and worked on the closet and files in my spiritual direction room. I also worked on some corrections on my new website because the web designer gave me the direct link to make corrections. (They did not proofread it very well. I mistakes are not in the copy I gave them, but they are on the website.) I also set up a direction time with a possible new directee who wants to learn about the Enneagram. I will have five new directees. I think I still have four from last year too. 

At 12:30, I had a Centering Prayer time with people from the Bay Area. Then, they discussed the book Open Heart, Open Home. I just listened in because I have not read the book. 

In the afternoon, I talk to a friend of a friend. I wanted to hear how she was doing, her perspective as a black woman in a predominantly white town, and her thoughts being a Christian with all that is happening in our country. I did not really get to ask questions. I felt like she just needed someone to listen to her. She is a very solid believer with a wonderful family. I was shocked by some of the things that have happened to her. I shouldn't be surprised by some people's actions and attitudes in this town. Some of my questions were answered in the process. I wanted to ask how she was really doing inside with all the stuff that was going on, but I did not really have that opportunity.

Then, I rushed home to get to the Book Babes discussion on Silence.  Then, I relaxed and watched a little TV and fell fast asleep. 

Grateful: for a lovely morning prayer walk, beans and rice, losing four pounds, centering prayer, Book Babes' discussion on Silence. 

Consolations of the Day: God's presence was very real to me during my time in Luke 12, walk, centering prayer.

Desolations: I will keep that one private. But I just typed a whole paragraph, but it is best that I not share. 

Most Meaningful Part of the Day: I could have said all the things I was grateful for, but the thing I am most grateful for is God telling me to just listen when I was disappointed over not having a dialogue in the afternoon. 

Love for Today: It is "love your neighbor" Friday. I may bake some bread or I may just have a self-care day. I am a bit tired from the week. 

Open Mind, Open Heart

"Centering prayer is not so much the absence of thoughts as detachment from them. It is the opening of mind and heart, body and emotions―our whole being―to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond words, thoughts, and motions―beyond, in other words, the psychological content of the present moment. In centering prayer we do not deny or repress what is in our consciousness.  We simply accept the fact of whatever is there and go beyond it, not by effort, but by letting go of whatever is there."   

Chapter 1, Open Mind Open Heart

I am going to be discussing this book with a Zoom Group of Benedictines in California. I have not read it yet, but I keep on reading quotes from it. So, I am going to get it from the library and read it with these nice people. 

Monday Examen

Examen of Yesterday, July 12

Two or three things I am grateful for:

1) LOOONG prayer walk down Highland/10th to Harrison and back up 11th. SO good to be out early and walking. 

2) Controlled eating! Thankful for this new Weight Watchers journey.

3) As always, my lovely family. 

PRAYERFUL REVIEW OF THE DAY

Beginning:

Weighed in for the first time in 300 days: I was too "afraid to weigh" before that. At first, it was a desolation, but then I prayed and realized that I had only gained four pounds in that 300 days which is the same amount of overeating per day that my BMR has reduced this year due to age. Rather than upset, I was encouraged that the only things I really have to do is 1) adjust my eating for my BMR that goes down every year (and build up muscle weight to combat that), and 2) get rid of my broken leg weight that was inevitable with being sedentary for 8 weeks (I probably overate about 950 calories a day with all the meals brought to me)! 

Chai tea and prayer of John 5:2-9: "Stand up, take your mat and walk" in Week 5 of Finding Christ in the World. CONSOLATION from God in that he really has healed me of the hurt from December 23, true freedom and walking forward. I still need to complete my review of Week 5 because I start Week 6 today. SO GOOD!

Rest of the morning:

Prayerwalk - Such focused time for the houses I passed. Praying the Lord's Prayer. Each time I repeated a block due to circling down side streets, I listened to my book. That was satisfying.

Shower and stretch after. 

Lunchtime:

Good eating - CONSOLATION! That was the biggest DESOLATION last year. My accountability on LoseIt! was just not working for me anymore, and it became more of a weight than a wing. I needed a change, and WW is it. (Thank you for suggesting it Heather, even though you didn't realize that you did).

Afternoon:

Encouragement - I love WW CONNECT! I posted an intro video, and there is so much encouragement! It is so much less clunky than LoseIt!

Watched another documentary on Diana. Cried through the whole thing. Listened to Atlas Shrugged. Felt a little lazy, but I accepted it.

Plotted my prayer walking/biking over the last week. 

Watched News. I am trying to reduce this because it can be very desolating. 

Evening: George fixed a yummy meal. I was happy. 

End of the day: Fell asleep at probably 9:30? I am watching American Gospel. I am not sure I like it. 

Regrets: At first I felt guilty for having such a lazy day! I wish we would have watched the sermon for the week, but we all forgot! 

Overall: CONSOLATION and nearness of God all day. Walking in the healing he has given me. Maybe that is why it seems like mindful eating has become easier now. I am cleared from the heartache that took so long. It was going to Jeff's cabin really. That "Walking with God." 

One thing that was really meaningful: Prayer Walk. So good for my body and for my soul! Loved lifting up my precious city. 

LOVE for today: On my directee who is coming at 10am. 

Saturday Morning Freewrite

Today, we have Eunice over. I have not talked to her in a couple of years. She has been home from Nepal because of COVID, but we just connected last week at the Refreshing at the Ropps. So, we are having her over for breakfast this morning. We got Apple Turkey sausage. I hope it is as good as what Debbie would make for me when I would go to Boise. 

George wanted to make a Dutch Baby, but I had a feeling it would be too many SmartPoints for me. Yes, SmartPoints. I am doing Weight Watchers (maybe I mentioned that in the last Freewrite - I cannot remember). I don't have a lot to lose, but I have enough that was gained as a result of my tibial plateau fracture that was not coming off by my normal methods. I think I was just tired of weighing/measuring and recording on Lose It. I have been doing (or trying to do) this for ten years, and even longer before that when I had the BodyBugg. I had a record of 190 days or so the last time I had to "course correct." But this time, I could not be consistent for more than 10 days at a time, and I wanted to see if I could find a better way.

Oh my, Weight Watchers (now WW) has changed! I am impressed. The last time I tried it was just buying a "pouch" with a points book and an erasable card. I never actually joined because back then it involved going to meetings which just would not be my thing. I bought the pouch used. (I think off of eBay, but I cannot remember.).

This time, there was a 55% off and no starter fee. I bought the six-month plan because, really, maintenance is my issue, not losing. I was pretty good at maintaining in my weird way of letting it fluctuate 10-15 pounds, but I don't want to do that big of a fluctuation anymore. What is interesting is that my basal metabolic rate has decreased by about 67 calories a day in the last 10 years, and if you eat the same, you are going to slowly gain over time, and that is what I did. Add to that decreased activity due to three broken toes and fractured my tibia over the last four years (my repeating students marvel at my clumsiness). So it slowly creeps up! 

So, the app is super easy. I am on the "Blue" plan that gives me lean meats, eggs, fruits, and vegetables as "Zero" points. It is based on science that is trying to form a foundation for healthy eating. I love it. It is so much less to keep track of. My "SmartPoint" value goes up on a portion of food that is high in sugar and lower in protein. It goes down if it does have calories but is higher protein and low fat. 

All that said, I am on Day 6, and it has been so easy.

Also, they have a lovely integration with my Apple Watch. So I don't have to record any of my activity on there. I didn't have to on Lose It either, but Apple Watch tends to give a ridiculous award of points for things like Pilates [not walking though] that overestimates how many calories I can add to my daily calorie burn (thus allowing me to eat more - but I usually don't.) With WW, they don't assign it a calorie value but a point value, and they don't add it to my SmartPoint allowance automatically. 

I have not "Connected" on the connecting part, but if I do, you can post pictures and videos similar to Instagram. LoseIt has no pictures, and the posting feature is the same as when I first joined in 2010. I have a lot of friends on Lose It, but I have chosen not to start following people, but I get attached to them, and then the relationships connect me to being online too much. That is something that I do not want since so much of my life and ministry requires me being online. 

I have my first "weigh-in" tomorrow, and we will see if it works to not keep track of my Zero Points. I do like fruit. So instead of reaching for the ice cream, I have reached for the watermelon, but watermelon is still calories, but they allow for that in reducing the number of my SmartPoints. We will see. I am happy. 

What I will really be happy about will be maintenance. It will only take me about 6-8 weeks to lose this, and then I will have the rest of the six months I joined to see how their maintenance tools help. 

Another adventure. 

Oh, by the way, I ran about 2/3 of the time I did Glen Eden yesterday. I tried to keep my BPM between 125-150 the whole time. I have not done that in years! YAY me! 

Thursday Morning Freewrite

I just set my timer for 15 minutes and then asked Alexa to "make my husband be quiet for 15 minutes." We both laughed. I just living with this man. He wakes up with warmth and generosity and a sense of humor. :) 

Well, this week's theme in Finding Christ in the World is "Sin in the World, Sin in Me." The grace I am praying for is "I ask God to reveal to me how He is grieved by what people are doing to one another and to ourselves." 

What a perfect theme for today's climate! Today's brief note is entitled, "Desire and the Influence of Others."  Some principles that I wrote down:

• We disciples want to be aware who is influencing our personal desires.
• Our desiring is naturally shaped by the influence of others.
• We just have to keep reflecting on what we actually want and what we authentically want. 
• We want to know about any pretty strong desire that is moving us - where is it coming from? And what is it leading to?
• Discernment is applying our principles and our beliefs to everyday life by prayer and reflection, and a good dose of learning and talk with mature and holy friends; the "influence of others" we aim for. 

So that was a really good and challenging time with God, and I am still mulling over it deeply and lovingly with God.

On another note, I have had a busy week of spiritual direction. It has been so lovely to reconnect with some from the past, and I also had a surprise inquiry from someone who wants to do the Exercises in the fall! I also heard from N who started them thinking he could go through them quickly. It did not work for him. So now he is mulling over them slowly, and it appears that he likes it.

My website will probably be done in the next week or so. I am excited about that. Now I have to determine how often I can meet with people. 

I also had a really nice time with the Imagine Meditation with the Jesuits in Britain yesterday. I realized that my feet were carrying some pain and tension, but thankfully that had not traveled up my body to my back like it has done in the past. So important to stay in touch with the body that God gave me! (I want that to be a part of my website too.)  One of the people in my small group for Imagine, a lady who lives in Wimbleton, has terrible back problems, and I just wanted to reach through the Zoom screen and help her! But, of course, that is not my job. I just hate to see people in unnecessary pain, and I want to show them the techniques I have learned to get me out of pain. 

So, what else? I am still slowly making my way through Atlas Shrugged. What a slow-going book. I hear the last third is the hardest to get through though. ACK!

One last thing, I joined Weight Watchers! I have that 10-15 I gained while laying in bed and eating food given to me by generous friends. I got about 5 of it off at the beginning of the spring, but then I got busy and distracted, and LoseIt! was more a weight to me than a wing. So, I am trying this, and it is SO MUCH EASIER! They had a 55% off sale, and it was really reasonable, and I love how so many foods are free to encourage me to eat more healthy things. I can already see a big difference, staying away from the low-nutrient but high-calorie foods. It has been great. 

Well, there is my 15 minute timer. BYE! 

You Have Called Me by Name by Tetlow

You Have Called Me by Name

Oh, Lord my God,
You have called from the sleep of nothingness
merely because in your tremendous love
you want to make good and beautiful beings.
You have called me by my name in my mother’s womb.
You have given me breath and light and movement
and walked with me every moment of my existence.
I am amazed, Lord God of the universe,
that you attend to me and, more, cherish me.
Create in me the faithfulness that moves you,
and I will trust you and yearn for you all my days.
Amen.

-Joseph Tetlow, SJ

From Hearts on Fire: Praying with Jesuits editor, Michael Harter, SJ

Go to the Limits of Your Longing

“Go to the Limits of Your Longing”

by Rainer Maria Rilke

God speaks to each of us as he makes us,

then walks with us silently out of the night.

These are the words we dimly hear:

You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.

Flare up like a flame
and make big shadows I can move in.

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.

Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.

Give me your hand.

Book of Hours, I 59

Sunday Freewrite

We enthrone you, Oh God.

Pray as You Go Meditation in Zechariah 9:9-10

A time of widespread rejoicing. YIPPEE is my first reaction.

What would God have to do to lead you to "rejoice greatly" in this way?

Not much. I feel like I am always having to contain my joy because it is too much for people sometimes. 


"His domination will be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth."

Ask God for what you need to meet the challenge of being a disciple:

Lord, that is not an easy question to answer. I need to pray and listen a little more about that one!