“Everything that is in the heavens, on earth, and under the earth
is penetrated with connectedness, penetrated with relatedness.”
-Hildegard of Bingen
John Sanford was an Episcopal priest, Jungian analyst, and author. His father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great great-grandfather were all ministers. I found all of this in An Almanac For The Soul by Marv and Nancy Hiles. These words of wisdom are from Healing and Wholeness by John Sanford. I invite you to read them slowly and aloud to yourself. Notice what comes up for you and whether these challenging words express a spiritual truth that you know to be true in your own experience of individuation.
“Individual is a work, a life opus, a task that calls upon us not to avoid life’s difficulties and dangers, but to perceive the meaning in the pattern of events that form our lives. Life’s supreme achievement may be to see the thread that connects together the events, dreams, and relationships that have made up the fabric of our existence. Individuation is a search for and discovery of meaning, not a meaning we consciously devise, but the meaning embedded in life itself. It will confront us with many demands, for the unconscious, as Jung once wrote: ‘Always tries to produce an impossible situation in order to force the individual to bring out his very best.'”
Our process of individuation is ongoing in life as we continue to grow, to unfold the mystery of Life/God that is within us all. New every day are the visions and insights and blessings that come to us. May our hearts be open that we may see aright. Two minutes of wise reflection by Cynthia Bourgeault.
“The outward work will never be puny if the inward work is great.” -Meister Eckhart
You are a daughter/son of God – May you walk the earth in gladness awakening to that of God in everyone and everything.
Early Sunday morning, I wrote my Lutheran Minister and golfing buddy, Craig Endicott. I was asking him on what was he preaching on that day. His reply got my attention: “I’m preaching on ‘what if we had a ‘check soul’ light like how our cars have a ‘check engine’ light?”
This brings up the subject – What if we DID have a ‘check soul’ light? I think it might help me – make me more mindful of things that really matter. How much attention do you give to your soul now? To your inner life? To the journey inward? Your deep inner spaces? These words from St. Augustine come to mind:
“People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge wages of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering.”
Do we live in a culture that is so extroverted, so “yang”, so external, that we are oblivious, blind to the real “treasure in our earthen vessels?” [2 Cor 4:7]
Do we “pass by ourselves without wondering”?
I think this is what it is meant by living on the flatlands, occupying one’s self with the culture’s entertainments, diversions, past times.
I appreciate Craig’s thought about a light for “check soul”. Here is a blessing for you from John O’Donohue (1956-2008). I invite you to read his words soulfully – slowly and aloud to yourself.
“A Blessing: May the light of your soul guide you; May the light of your soul bless the work you do with the secret love and warmth of your heart; May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul; May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light and renewal to those who work with you and to those who see and receive your work; May your work never weary you; May it release within you wellsprings of refreshment, inspiration and excitement; May you be present in what you do. May you never become lost in the bland absences; May the day never burden; May dawn find you awake and alert, approaching your new day with dreams, possibilities and promises; May evening find you gracious and fulfilled; May you go into the night blessed, sheltered, and protected; May your soul calm, console, and renew you.”
Please! Gift yourself with this music for your morning prayer time.
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
-Howard Thurman
May you live passionately with compassion, with soul force.
With you in awe – wakening.
Coming Home: A Fall Contemplative Retreat
In the tradition of the Iona Retreats founded by Marv and Nancy Hiles.
“The path of real life moves from one shelter to another. We are not drifters or homeless, but seekers, pilgrims, itinerants of a hidden impulse”
–All the Days of My Life by Marv and Nancy Hiles
Robert and Nina Close announce a very special contemplative retreat at the Santa Sabine Retreat Center where they have attended for many years. Inspired by the retreats led by Marv and Nancy Hiles, quoted often in the Soul Nuggets. This retreat will blend quiet time in a perfect location, deep community, chapel gatherings, art process with Debbie Ryon, and more – all centered around the theme of “Coming Home.” Throughout our lives, that longing to be at home – with ourselves, with others – manifests in many different ways, and has much to teach us. And amidst change and transition, a sense of “homeground” is vital and can show up in many ways.
We hope that you might feel led to join us at Santa Sabina Retreat Center. Here is the information for taking the next step:
Dates: Thursday, November 13th to Sunday, November 16, 2014
Location: Santa Sabina Retreat Center, San Rafael, CA
Cost: $485 for a single room / $425 per person for a double room.
Meals: All meals are included in the total cost.
Space for the retreat is limited and is limited to a first come, first serve basis.
Contact: Are you ready to register? Do you want to have more information? Please contact Nina Frost at: nhfrost at aol dot com or call: 347-546-4029.
I am still in touch with the then Minister of the Ladue Chapel in St. Louis, Missouri, who assisted me in 1962-1963 in my decision making process about going to seminary. Talk about turning points! Wow! He recently sent me these wise words which he remembers finding at a YMCA in 1950.
Faith is not belief without doubt; it is trust without reservation.
Trust is the word for today.
Who do you trust? Trusting. Basic trust. Learning to trust the process. Trust is a must! To trust life. Learning to trust one’s self. And the importance of not holding back. I wonder how often it is the case in that it is we who are holding back on ourselves when the deep longing of the soul is for forward movement.
What do you think? What has been your experience? In your life now, what is the gate, the choice point, that is addressing you? What turning point is confronting you? Who do you trust?
This poem below got my attention. It, too, is about trust – so poetically and wondrously expressed.
Like a wild flower
in God’s care
I put my worries away
trusting the One who holds me.
-from The Song of the Seed by Marcina Wiederkehr
Many of you commented on yesterday’s Soul Nugget (Teach Us To Number Our Days) and on that theme along with today’s theme of trust – please listen to this with an open heart.
I live at the heart of a single
unique Element,
the Center of the Universe,
and present in each part of it:
personal Love and cosmic Power
-Teilhard de Chardin
With you in learning to trust the one who holds all of us.
Coming Home: A Fall Contemplative Retreat
In the tradition of the Iona Retreats founded by Marv and Nancy Hiles.
“The path of real life moves from one shelter to another. We are not drifters or homeless, but seekers, pilgrims, itinerants of a hidden impulse”
–All the Days of My Life by Marv and Nancy Hiles
Robert and Nina Close announce a very special contemplative retreat at the Santa Sabine Retreat Center where they have attended for many years. Inspired by the retreats led by Marv and Nancy Hiles, quoted often in the Soul Nuggets. This retreat will blend quiet time in a perfect location, deep community, chapel gatherings, art process with Debbie Ryon, and more – all centered around the theme of “Coming Home.” Throughout our lives, that longing to be at home – with ourselves, with others – manifests in many different ways, and has much to teach us. And amidst change and transition, a sense of “homeground” is vital and can show up in many ways.
We hope that you might feel led to join us at Santa Sabina Retreat Center. Here is the information for taking the next step:
Dates: Thursday, November 13th to Sunday, November 16, 2014
Location: Santa Sabina Retreat Center, San Rafael, CA
Cost: $485 for a single room / $425 per person for a double room.
Meals: All meals are included in the total cost.
Space for the retreat is limited and is limited to a first come, first serve basis.
Contact: Are you ready to register? Do you want to have more information? Please contact Nina Frost at: nhfrost at aol dot com or call: 347-546-4029.
My Spiritual Journey and in Loving Memory of my son, Alex. The lessons God asks us to learn as a result of tragedy such as how to accept a new vision of life.
An Occasional Blog of Devotionals Inspired by A Course in Miracles, A Course of Love, The Way of Mastery, Choose Only Love, The Way of the Marys, and The Age of the Heart. . .with Celia Hales - https://www.amazon.com/author/celiahales
Soul Nugget 