Running in the Shadows
Children on Their Own
This is the first of two articles on the growing number of young runaways in the United States, exploring how they survive and efforts by the authorities to help them.
Please click on the title for the link
New York Times; The Lede: Ian Urbina
Monday, October 26, 2009
Catholic Beliefs Might Give Anglicans Pause
October 22, 2009, 7:46 pm
Catholic Beliefs Might Give Anglicans Pause
By Robert Mackey
When the Catholic Church announced this week that the Vatican would make it easier for Anglicans to convert to Catholicism, much was made of the many similarities between the two faiths. And there are a few Catholic beliefs that might strike Anglicans as foreign, and one or two that could be deal-breakers for potential defectors.
From The LEDE, the New York Times news blog ( click on text to link to the original post)
Catholic Beliefs Might Give Anglicans Pause
By Robert Mackey
When the Catholic Church announced this week that the Vatican would make it easier for Anglicans to convert to Catholicism, much was made of the many similarities between the two faiths. And there are a few Catholic beliefs that might strike Anglicans as foreign, and one or two that could be deal-breakers for potential defectors.
From The LEDE, the New York Times news blog ( click on text to link to the original post)
Just to Be is a Blessing, Just to Live is Holy
“Just to Be is a Blessing, Just To Live is Holy.” These are the words my Spiritual Director spoke to me this morning. I am in a place where Deepak Chopra’s words (from a meditation CD) echo in my head; “slow down, slow down, slow down.” Those of you, who know me, know that while I talk about the importance of simply “being” and slowing down, I personally, have difficulty taking my own advice. I have always been one who is busy, fluttering around, trying to complete my checklist, 7 days a week; or, more succinctly put, “doing”. Adding the job of Senior Warden to my plate offered even more opportunity to “do” and this past year offered a challenge greater than I had imagined.
As Americans we are schooled, from an early age, to “do” and as adults, we are judged by how much we get done and by how much we don’t “do.” Common knowledge holds that just sitting and “being” are not productive. The part we forget is that “being” invites God to connect with our heart to mold and shape us into the gift we can become for the world. Somehow we think that, as an adult, God is finished with us (I mean isn’t it too late once we’re beyond a certain age?) I guess if we look at the age of some of those characters in the Old Testament, who had encounters with God (Elijah and Job for example) we get a clear picture that God works on us well into our old age and beyond.
It has been a rough time for me over the last few years, financial issues, challenges and harsh words at Nativity, a family situation, and now, a wearying illness, which was probably brought on by stress from these problems. It has been very easy for me to cry to God, “Why me?” I, like Job, have uttered those exact words. I guess that’s why you gotta love Job. He’s so easy to identify with. Eugene Peterson, in his commentary on Job (The Message, page 631) says “Job gives voice to his sufferings so well, so accurately and honestly, that anyone who has ever suffered…can recognize his or her personal pain in the voice of Job.”
I marvel at Job’s ability to remain humble and reject his wife’s encouragement to curse God by saying, “We take the good days from God – why not also the bad days?” (The Message, page 636) So, that is what I am doing, accepting what God is giving me at any given moment. I am also realizing the opportunity I have to commune with God, to rest in the Holy Spirit, and to know the peace of Jesus.
It is my time to “be” to allow God to work on me from the inside out; to enter into the mystery of “being-ness” and trust that I can put one foot in front of the other, moving forward, without knowing the answer to where the path may lead; confident that I’ll know when I am ready for the next era in my life-story. For now, I’ll just wait and “be;” comforted in the repetition of my knitting and projects that allow me to rest while God does her work on me.
When is the last time you gave yourself an extended period of time to allow yourself to rest in the Mystery that is God? When is the last time you allowed the silence to wrap you in God’s love? Perhaps you might want to repeat the words, ‘Just to Be is Enough, Just to Live is Holy” during those times when you’re going too fast through your life. It might help you to stop and smell the flowers and truly live.
Mary Lou Johnstone
As Americans we are schooled, from an early age, to “do” and as adults, we are judged by how much we get done and by how much we don’t “do.” Common knowledge holds that just sitting and “being” are not productive. The part we forget is that “being” invites God to connect with our heart to mold and shape us into the gift we can become for the world. Somehow we think that, as an adult, God is finished with us (I mean isn’t it too late once we’re beyond a certain age?) I guess if we look at the age of some of those characters in the Old Testament, who had encounters with God (Elijah and Job for example) we get a clear picture that God works on us well into our old age and beyond.
It has been a rough time for me over the last few years, financial issues, challenges and harsh words at Nativity, a family situation, and now, a wearying illness, which was probably brought on by stress from these problems. It has been very easy for me to cry to God, “Why me?” I, like Job, have uttered those exact words. I guess that’s why you gotta love Job. He’s so easy to identify with. Eugene Peterson, in his commentary on Job (The Message, page 631) says “Job gives voice to his sufferings so well, so accurately and honestly, that anyone who has ever suffered…can recognize his or her personal pain in the voice of Job.”
I marvel at Job’s ability to remain humble and reject his wife’s encouragement to curse God by saying, “We take the good days from God – why not also the bad days?” (The Message, page 636) So, that is what I am doing, accepting what God is giving me at any given moment. I am also realizing the opportunity I have to commune with God, to rest in the Holy Spirit, and to know the peace of Jesus.
It is my time to “be” to allow God to work on me from the inside out; to enter into the mystery of “being-ness” and trust that I can put one foot in front of the other, moving forward, without knowing the answer to where the path may lead; confident that I’ll know when I am ready for the next era in my life-story. For now, I’ll just wait and “be;” comforted in the repetition of my knitting and projects that allow me to rest while God does her work on me.
When is the last time you gave yourself an extended period of time to allow yourself to rest in the Mystery that is God? When is the last time you allowed the silence to wrap you in God’s love? Perhaps you might want to repeat the words, ‘Just to Be is Enough, Just to Live is Holy” during those times when you’re going too fast through your life. It might help you to stop and smell the flowers and truly live.
Mary Lou Johnstone
Friday, October 9, 2009
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