When My Goals Make You Expendable

When the vision, the goal, the dream.... is the problem.

"On May 16, 2006, David Sharp lay with his life in danger at twenty-nine thousand feet in the infamous “Zone of Death”on Mount Everest. It isn’t clear what ailed Sharp. Some say he had used all his oxygen, while others say he was suffering from standard altitude sickness. As Sharp lay fighting for his life it is said that no less than forty-two people passed by him. Many of those forty-two passed by twice—on the way up and down. What was their response? In most cases they did nothing. One of those who passed by Sharp was Mark Inglis, a forty-sevenyear-old New Zealander. Inglis had already lost both legs to frostbite on Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest peak. Now he was gaining national attention for his attempt to summit Mount Everest with two prostheses. Interviewed about the episode, Inglis said, “We talked for quite a while and it was a very hard decision.”They radioed down to their expedition leader who said the situation sounded hopeless. With that, they did what everybody else did. They left Sharp to die. This incident stirred an international debate about outdoor and mountaineering ethics. Edmund Hilary, the legendary New Zealander who was the first person ever to summit Mount Everest was outraged. “The people just want to get to the top,”Hilary fumed. “They don’t give a damn about anybody else. I think it was the responsibility of every human on that mountain to try to save his life, even if that means they don’t get to the top of the mountain.”

( Skywalker : Close Encounters On The Appalachian Trail. Bill Walker)

Boring Speed

"But the great irony is that speed has made travel not more interesting, but more boring. Just compare the palpably buoyant mood of someone who has completed a long day’s hike with the nauseous mood of a jet-lagged traveler."

(Skywalker: Close Encounters On The Appalachian Trail. Bill Walker)

Not Permitted To Question

"When you begin to question two thousand years of [church] tradition, you can expect others to be threatened and try to discourage you. They will misinterpret your frustration as bitterness and accuse you of being selfish. They will discount your hungers by saying that we can’t expect the church to be perfect when it is filled with broken humanity."

- Wayne Jacobsen

Squinty Faced Religion

"Merton once told me to quit trying so hard in prayer. He said: "How does an apple ripen? It just sits in the Sun."
A small green apple cannot ripen in one night by typing all its muscles, squinting its eyes and tightening its jaw in order to find itself the next morning miraculously the large, red, ripe, and juicy decided small green counterparts. Like the birth of a baby or the opening of a rose, the birth of the true self takes place in God's time. We must wait for God, we must be awake; we must trust in his hidden action within us."

(Merson's Palace of Nowhere.  by James Finley)

Stop Spiritually Monitoring Yourself.

Cease striving and know that I am God (PS. 46:10 NASB)
After reading Brodie, I’ve decided that if I had my life to live over again, I would not only climb more mountains, swim more rivers, and watch more sunsets; I wouldn’t only jettison my hot water bottle, raincoat, umbrella, parachute, and raft; I would not only go barefoot earlier in the spring and stay out later in the fall; but I would devote not one more minute to monitoring my spiritual growth.
No, not one."

( Brennan Manning. The Furious Longing Of God )

God is Not Into Reinforcing Our Stereotypes

“Mackenzie, I am neither male nor female, even though both genders are derived from my nature. If I choose to appear to you as a man or a woman, it’s because I love you. For me to appear to you as a woman and suggest that you call me Papa is simply to mix metaphors, to help you keep from falling so easily back into your religious conditioning.”She leaned forward as if to share a secret. “To reveal myself to you as a very large, white grandfather figure with flowing beard, like Gandalf, would simply reinforce your religious stereotypes, and this weekend is not about reinforcing your religious stereotypes.”

( William P. Young. The Shack )

God’s Not Afraid of Piss and Vinegar

"You don’t have to be lookin’ out for me. I listen to everything—and not just to the music itself, but the hearts behind it. Don’t you remember your seminary classes? These kids ain’t saying anything I haven’t heard before; they’re just full of vinegar and fizz. Lots of anger and, I must say, with some good reason too. They’re just some of my kids, showin’ and spoutin’ off. I am especially fond of those boys, you know. Yup, I’ll be keeping my eye on ’em.”

(William P. Young. The Shack )

Using People Helps

"We are taught to grab all the gusto you can get, and have a vision for your life, and we don't  realise how much we use people in that whole philosophy of life."

Wayne Jacobsen. The God Journey. Podcast #516, Jan 22, 2016)

I'm Drawn To Your Obnoxiousness

"I remember saying to people,

'Why do you think that increasing levels of obnoxiousness will endear someone to your point of view.?'"

(Wayne Jacobsen. Podcast #516, Jan 22, 2016)

Hope and Fear

"Hope prevents us from clinging to what we have and frees us to move away from the safe place and enter unknown and fearful territory."
(The Wounded Healer. Henri Nouwen)

Safe Places

"... 'leaving the safe place' night turn out to be a very difficult act of leadership."

(The Wounded Healer. Henri Nouwen)

Surrounded by "Not Like Me"

A subtle but substantial difference that changed how I moved forward.

"Instead of looking for like minded  people, look for people to love."
~ Wayne Jacobsen

I Was No Coward

Heaven, at that moment, is to be able to say: "I made some mistakes, but I was not a coward: I lived my life, and did what I had to do."
( Paulo Coelho : Warrior Of The Light vol 2)

We Love Routines

"Deep down, people complain, but they love routines - I said. - Of course, and the reason is very simple: routines give them the false sensation of being safe. Thus, today will be exactly like yesterday, and tomorrow will bring no surprises. When night falls, part of the soul complains that nothing different was experienced, but another part is content - paradoxically, it is for the same reason. "Evidently this safety is completely false; no one can control anything, and a change always appears at the moment one least expects it, taking us surprise and with no chance to react or fight."

(Paulo Coelho: Warrior Of The Light - Vol 2)

Lazy Shepherds

"Shepherd Billy is in a peck of trouble about the sheep; he declares that they are possessed with more of the evil one than any other flock from the beginning of the invention of mutton and wool to the last batch of it. No matter how many are missing, he will not, he says, go a step to seek them, because, as he reasons, while getting back one wanderer he would probably lose ten. Therefore runaway hunting must be Carlo's and mine."

( John Muir. My First Summer In The Sierras )

Hospitality The Cure To Sectarianism

"Hospitality is the virtue which allows us to break through the narrowness of our own fears and open our houses to the stranger, with the intuition that salvation comes to us in the form of a tired traveler. Hospitality makes anxious disciples into powerful witnesses, makes suspicious owners into generous givers, and makes close-minded sectarians into interested recipients of new ideas and insights.

(The wounded Healer. Henry Nouwen)

Do You Even Hear Or Heed His Voice.

"Instead of asking yourself whether you believe or not, ask yourself whether you have this day done one thing because he said, do it, or once abstained because he said, do not do it.

It is simply absurd to say you believe, or even want to believe in him, if you do not anything he tells you. If you can think of nothing he ever said as having had an atom of influence on your doing or not doing, you have too good ground to consider yourself no disciple of his."

(George MacDonald Creation to Christ)

Healing Waters .... Tears.

"He had already been perched precariously on the precipice of emotion, and now the flooding scent and attendant memories staggered him. He could feel the warmth of tears beginning to gather behind his eyes, as if they were knocking on the door of his heart. It seemed that she saw them too. “It’s okay honey, you can let it all out. . . . I know you’ve been hurt, and I know you’re angry and confused. So, go ahead and let it out. It does a soul good to let the waters run once in a while—the healing waters.”

( William P. Young. The Shack)

Afraid Of Freedom.

"Having escaped restraint, they were, like some people we know of, afraid of their freedom, did not know what to do with it, and seemed glad to get back into the old familiar bondage."

(John Muir. My First Summer In The Sierras)

When I Die.....

"When I die, please tell stories, wild ones, crazy ones, stories that embarrass me to death about my shortcomings.
Please, do not talk about what you think I've accomplished. Ponder what might have moved me, gave me hope, and then maybe, if you can, miss me."

(Andy Rayner )

Good Enough

Often we want to be somewhere other than where we are, or even to be someone other than who we are. We tend to compare ourselves constantly with others and wonder why we are not as rich, as intelligent, as simple, as generous, or as saintly as they are. Such comparisons make us feel guilty, ashamed, or jealous. It is very important to realize that our vocation is hidden in where we are and who we are. We are unique human beings, each with a call to realize in life what nobody else can, and to realize it in the concrete context of the here and now.

We will never find our vocations by trying to figure out whether we are better or worse than others. We are good enough to do what we are called to do. Be yourself!

-- Henri Nouwen

Love Increased

"Here I could stay tethered forever with just bread and water, nor would I be lonely; loved friends and neighbors, as love for everything increased, would seem all the nearer however many the miles and  between us."

(John Muir. My First Summer In The Sierras)

Rarely Understood

"Rarely do we realize that we are in the midst of the extraordinary."

(Paulo Coelho: By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept)

Gods Mother Tongue

"And he promptly asked God’s forgiveness for failing to recognize that He speaks all languages."

(Paulo Coelho: By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept)

There He Is....Kissing Children....

"Brothers, have you found our king? There he is, kissing little children..... There he is at table with the head of a fisherman lying on his bosom....."

(George MacDonald. Creation in Chris)

Girls

"I never wanted a boy. l only wanted you from the first day. Don't ever change. I love my little girl. I'm so proud of my little girl.”- Matthew Cuthbert

(Lucy Maude Montgomery, Anne Of Green Gables)

You Only Bury Bones

"And oh, there is no power on Earth or below
That could ever break our hearts or shake our souls
And when you lay me down, you'll only bury bones
'cause oh, my heart and soul are going home"

-The Oh Hellos... a band

The Bible Is The Frontier Of The Spirit

"The Bible is the frontier of the spirit where we must move and live in order to discover and to explore."

(Abraham Joshua Heschel. God in Search Of Man)

Fake Emotion

"But he was so carried away by his simulated emotion, that he was for one moment almost believing it himself. He was so touched he was almost weeping."

(Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov. About Fyodor Pavlovitch)

Unity or Division?

"The Church exists not to divide those who come together, but to bring together those who are divided; that is what 'assembly' means." 

St. John Chrysostom (349-407), in his homily on 1 Corinthians, #27

God Isn't Here Let's Go Find Him?

"Why is it that I think I must get somewhere, assume some position, be gathered together, or separated apart in the quiet of my study to pray?
Why is it that I feel that I have to go somewhere to do some particular act to find you, reach you, and talk to you?
Your presence is here....."

( Robert Wood. A Third-Day Experiment in Prayer)

In No Way The Right Man For The Place.

"I judged, however, that I was in no way the right man for the place, and freely explained my shortcomings, confessing that I was wholly unacquainted with the topography of the upper mountains, the streams that would have to be crossed, and the wild sheep-eating animals..."

(John Muir. My First Summer In The Sierras.)

God is Forever Aware.

"But God is present in the reality no matter what unreality our practices and our ponderings imply. He is forever trying to establish communication;  forever aware of the wrong directions we are taking and wishing to warn us; forever standing at the door of our loneliness, eager to bring us such comradeship as the most intelligent living mortal could not supply; forever clinging to our indifferences in the hope that someday our needs; or at least our tragedies will waken us to respond to his advances."

(Albert Edward Day. The Captivating Presence)

Our Foolish Talk....

"But God is present in reality no matter what unreality our practices and our ponderings imply." 

(Albert Edward Day. Captivating Presence)

Don't Show Me What You Managed In His Name.

I want to find God

The man arrived at the monastery exhausted:
- I have been looking for God for so long - he said. - Perhaps you can teach me the right way of finding Him.
- Enter and see our convent - said the priest, taking him by the hand and leading him to the chapel. - Here are some fine works of art of the 16th century, which portray the life of the Lord, and His glory among men.
The man waited, while the priest explained each one of the beautiful paintings and sculptures which adorned the chapel. Afterwards, he repeated the question:
- Everything you showed me is very beautiful. But I’d like to learn the best way to find God.
- God! - replied the priest. - You said exactly that: God!
And he took the man to the refectory, where supper was being prepared for the monks.
- Look around: soon supper will be served, and your are invited to dine with us. You will be able to listen to the Scriptures, while you satisfy your hunger.
- I am not hungry, and I have already read the entire Scriptures - insisted the man.
- I wish to learn. I have come here to find God.

Again the priest took the stranger by the hand and they began walking around the cloisters which encircled a lovely garden.
- I ask my monks to always keep the grass cut, and to remove the dry leaves from the fountain you see over there in the middle. I think this must be the best kept monastery in the whole region.

The stranger walked with the priest a short way, then excused himself, saying he must be leaving.
- Won’t you stay for supper? asked the priest.
As he mounted his horse, the stranger spoke:
- Congratulations on your fine church, your welcoming refectory and the perfectly clean courtyard. But I have journeyed many leagues just in order to learn to find God, and not to marvel at efficiency, comfort and discipline.

A flash of lightening struck, the horse reared up and the earth shook. Suddenly, the strange man removed his disguise, and the priest saw that it was Jesus. -

God is wherever He is invited in - said Jesus. - But you have closed the doors of this monastery to Him, with rules, pride, wealth, ostentation. The next time a stranger comes asking to find God, do not show him what you have managed in His name: listen to the question, and try to answer with love, charity and simplicity. And so saying, He disappeared."

(Paulo Coelho : Warrior Of The Light. Vol 1)