thanks--and--praise

[thanks--and--praise]

Backpacking with the saints

Speechless before a mystery that’s beyond my understanding, but not beyond my love:

"become a lover. As long as you see yourself as learned and intellectual, you’ll lodge with the idiots; moreover, if you can stop seeing yourself at all, you will be free” —Hafez

My God was too big to be confined- too ravishing, too rough-edged, too passionate in seeking relationship

God: “A remarkably deep and vast wilderness… an immense, unbounded desert, the more delightful, savorous, and loving, the deeper, vaster, and more solitary it is

“All wildness is finer than tameness. In God’s wilderness lies the hope of the world” -John Muir

“I flame above the beauty of the fields, I shine in the waters; in the sun, the moon and the stars, I burn. I, the fiery power, lie hidden in these things and they blaze from me” -Hildegaard von Bingen

One keeps me grounded in nature and the other in a wisdom tradition, a skilled habit of seeing.

Without the large text of creation we miss the vastness of the message and without the small text of the Gospels we miss its intimacy

“The one who seeks for God, has already found Him” —Bernard of Clairvaux

It is out of this longing, endemic to the Holy Trinity, that the created world emerges. God wanted hawksbill turtles and humpback whales, columbines and Queen Anne’s lace, angels and human beings, splendors and companions of every sort. All are incurably creatures of desire, wanted into being by the restless ardor of God’s own heart

Amid all the reasons not to leap, not to risk yourself to desire and its anguish — in spite of all the chances of being hurt yet again— you leap! You do it because God leaps first. God risks failure in love over and over again, on the cross and throughout the universe. The clutching and releasing of desire is the pattern of love everywhere. “Remember, it is by failures that lovers stay aware of how they’re loved. Failure is the key to the kingdom within” — Rumi

The Desert Christians knew that taking time to be alone allows things to surface that wouldn’t otherwise be available to su. Only then do “we become aware that our worth is not the same as our usefulness” —Henri Nouwen. Only in the deliberate choice of the cells o we discern the difference between the spaciousness of solitude and the isolation of loneliness, the glory of the one and the pain of the other

Poustinia: “a desert, a lonely place, a silent place” retreat for prayer

Yours is the task of blessing white oak trees and swallowtail butterflies, reindeer moss lichen and box turtles. You have to take it all in, make love to all of it, celebrate every blessed thing

Distribute gratefulness everywhere

Solitude has to bring us back at last to community, back to a connection with everything else

The most important “mountain” in one’s life offers no pride of accomplishment, only the unwelcome gifts of inadequacy and incompletion/ You learn over time that it isn’t the end. Every failure is an invitation to growth. Mistakes are occasions for grace, opportunities to choose a different path. They make forgiveness possible. Only in the absence of success can you know yourself to be loved without cause.

An utter simplicity is required of those who enter the presence of Mystery. You approach God in the vulnerability of your naked self, standing before a reality you cannot know, or even name. You “lift up your sick self, as you are, to the gracious God, as he is, iwhtout any speculation or special probing into any of the qualities that belong to your own being or to God;s”. Yet, by embracing this emptiness, he says, you’re surprised by an inexplicable love.

Nature’s stark indifference is as healing as it is distressing. Standing in the shadow of an old-growth forest, I don’t dwell on what “God” is or what “I” am or what the short-leaf pine tree is (in all the intricacies of its being). I’m simply present to the fact that Mystery is, that I am, that the pine tree stands there in its naked, nameless presence. That alone is enough. More than enough.It’s what continues to draw me to all things wild.

The presence of God isn’t something to attain anyway. You already are totally within it… just by living, by breathing. You don’t achieve it, you only consent to it

"The world, this palpable world, which we are won’t to treat with boredom and disrespect, is in truth a holy place, and we did not know it. Venice, adoremus"

“Never say ‘Matter is accursed, matter is evil’; for there has come one who said “this is my body””

“Love Christ passionately… in the very act of loving the universe”

“God is poured forth in all things and God is Himself everywhere, wholly”

“Activism is my rent for living on this planet” —Alice Walker

Righteous anger is an appropriate response to the environmental degradation caused by chemical, mineral, agribusiness operations in this area of the Midwest.

Julia “Butterfly” Hill preferred to love and befriend the trees themselves. In the late 1990s she lived for 738 days in a thousand-year-old California redwood named Luna

For justice to be sustainable, it has to be grounded in a fierce caring that affirms the dignity of everyone involved. The goal of restorative justice is the maintenance of a well-knit, cooperating circle of life. As a rule, even in the natural world, animals don’t seek vengeance. Nor do they take more than they need. Lions and gazelle know that they share a world where, ultimately, everything belongs.

There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread. Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.  — Gandhi

Restorative justice: A profound appreciation for all living beings, a community’s need to bring suffering to consciousness, risking oneself in the work of restoring community, the need for a spiritual discipline in sustaining community

Thomas Merton: In prayer we discover what we already have. You start where you are and you depend what you already have, and you realize that you are already there. We already have everything, but we don’t know it and we don’t experience it. Everything has been given to us in Christ. All we need is to experience what we already possess.

There’s an infinite metaphysical gulf between the “I” of the Almighty and our own inner “I”. Yet, paradoxically, our inmost “I” exists in God and God dwells in it

The most important truth one learns from the wilderness is the that the holy in “utterly within you and utterly beyond you at the very same time”

Something terrifyingly holy whispers inside, calling you back to a truth you’ve held back from claiming

You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. You are the dwelling place of the most High God. You are loved beyond measure by what you can’t even begin to understand. The wilderness you’ve sought throughout your journey has been with you from the start

Isaac son of Yekel, Krakow Poland

“Isn’t it interesting: The treasure was at home, but the knowledge of it was in Prague” This is the ultimate twist of folly: to realize that what you have sought everywhere else in your life has been at home all along. From the beginning, the mystery was yours, bearing you along on its restless energy. What you sought out there- on steep wilderness paths, in the feverish lives of the saints, under a bridge in the far-off city of Praugue- had been closer the you ever imagined. Having longed for a God of wild beauty, you discover the Lover to have been there all the while… in the longing itself”

You were here all along and I never knew it. How awesome is this place (Genesis 28:16-17)

You welcome the little disasters of the trail because they give you hope in facing the bigger ones in your life. They teach you through the trial and error of your inherent foolishness

You realize that if you can do it there you can do it at home as well… knowing that when you’ve run out of everything you have, what is left is enough. More than enough.

An undemanding presence may be the finest gift we ever give or receive

Discipleship can be deeply disturbing, fundamentally unsafe. They invite us not to contemplate but to follow. We will not understand them if we do not admit the category of danger into our theology. Few places in this world are more dangerous than home. Fear not, therefore, to try the mountain passes. They will kill care, save you from deadly apathy, set you free, and call forth every faculty into vigorous, enthusiastic action

Besides, that’s where the magic happens- out where trails become hard to follow

We may not be able to put into words what we’ve come to love. But as we lean against the white bark pine, our eyes follow the flight of the eagle above the ridge and we count ourselves happy to be alive. We recognize the wounds we carry as gifts. We acknowledge the wilderness we walk through as home. We honor the world we share with others as filled with magic.

Wonder is the wellspring of love… and love, in the end, is what drives us to a passion for all things wild and at risk — Abraham Heschel

[thanks--and--praise]

“We would be very lonely without God” he says, “but I think that God would also be quite lonely without man. Writers need readers. Musicians need listeners. God needs human beings to be admirers of His creation. The universe too, I think, would be a lonely place without spectators.” 

[thanks--and--praise]

I don’t want my kids safe and comfortable. I want them BRAVE. I don’t want to teach them to see danger under every rock, avoiding anything hard or not guaranteed or risky. They are going to encounter a very broken world soon, and if they aren’t prepared to wade into difficult territory and contend for the kingdom against obstacles and tragedies and hardships, they are going to be terrible disciples. I don’t want to be the reason my kids choose safety over courage. I hope I never hear them say, “Mom will freak out,” or “My parents will never agree to this.” May my fear not bind their purpose here. Scared moms raise scared kids. Brave moms raise brave kids. Real disciples raise real disciples.

[thanks--and--praise]

if I’m really needing a piece of humble pie or a restart button—I jump right in the ocean, because the ocean doesn’t give a shit about who you are, what you know, or what’s happened to you. Water always makes me feel good in my own body. A swim, a shower, even washing my face if I’m short on time. 

[thanks--and--praise]

lost notes on my phone so starting a new kid name list

girls:

sage - spice or wise one

ayla- moonlite, halo

sophie/sofie/sophi (fie)- wisdom 

leila- 

ella- “other”

lina

lena-  “tender” or “devoted”, and in Greek it means “sunlight” or “moonlight”.

brynne- hill in welsh

lakey

lani

maya/mia- “illusion” or “mine”

malia- “calm” in hawaiian

blake/blakely- “black” or “pale”

rosie/rosalie- “fame, kind, sort, type”

lily- purity

madeline

tess/tessa- summer or harvest

tara- elevated place, star

heidi- noble

nina- fire

elize - pledged to God

isabella (iz)

evi

noa

olive

sari marie

mari

nora

zara

boys:

asher- happy/blessed

finn/fynn - bright/fair

blake

theo- gift of god

lee- clearing

leo

louie

henri- home, power, ruler

jack- independent, man

liam- guardian, helmet of will

eli- ascension

ben

lukas

james (j)

levi

dog names:

aspen

theo 

jack

heidi

[thanks--and--praise]

“So we saunter toward the Holy Land, till one day the sun shall shine more brightly than ever he has done, shall perchance shine into our minds and hearts, and light up our whole lives with a great awakening light, as warm and serene and golden as on a bank-side in autumn”

[thanks--and--praise]

‘do a little more of that work which you had sometime confessed to be good, which you feel that society and your justest judge rightly demands of you. Do what you reprove yourself for not doing. Know that you are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with yourself without reason. Let me say to you and to myself in one breath, Cultivate the tree which you have found to bear fruit in your soil.’

‘In the long run men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though we should fail immediately, we had better aim at something high’

‘Be resolutely and faithfully what you are, be humbly what you aspire to be’

[thanks--and--praise]

“every man is the builder of a temple, called his body, to the God he worships, after a style purely his own, nor can he get off by hammering marble instead. We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones. Any nobleness begins at once to regime a man’s features, any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them.” -- Thoreau

[thanks--and--praise]

“these motions everywhere in nature must surely be the circulations of God. The flowing sail, the running stream, the waving tree, the roving wind -- whence else their infinite health and freedom. I can see nothing so proper and holy as unrelaxed play and frolic in this bower God has built for us. The suspicion of sin never comes to this thought. Oh, if men felt this they would never build temples even of marble or diamond, but it would be sacrilege and profane, but disport them forever in this paradise”

[thanks--and--praise]

what I want from you, life

1. a tree house. or tiny house. to build a home, with wood and with love

2. babies. to hug and to feed well and to raise up to experience the love of the Lord. To name colors of the sunset with, to listen to the sounds of a creature not stirring with.

3. to have my heart broken for what breaks Gods. to look suffering and sorrow in the eye and acknowledge the depth of hurt, but to declare Christ’s redemption victorious over them

4. to move. to move limbs and breathe fresh air. to move across countries and oceans and see all sorts of creation and cultures

5. to eat honey

6. to stand beside a man; to support him and be supported by him. to understand God’s desire for us in that way

7. to learn

[thanks--and--praise]

Lord - thank you

i feel you maturing me and strengthening me and unraveling me all at once. i feel surrendered. take surrender from emotion --> action --> the reality of your kingdom on display 

[thanks--and--praise]

http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/trips/long-weekend-adventures/?kwp_0=47446&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialAds&utm_content=link_fb20150921adv-longweekendsgallery&utm_campaign=Content&kwp_4=268707&kwp_1=194502#/adventure-town-weekend-climbing_89448_600x450.jpg

[thanks--and--praise]

if it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hell no

[thanks--and--praise]

It doesnt have to be fa la la la kind of fun. it can be contentedness with a good career choice

[thanks--and--praise]

Be loved. Be known. Love people and know people. Be so brave as to raise a hand for help when you need it. Make friends and make sure they know they matter. Be loyal to them and fight for them. Remind them what's true and invite them to do the same when you forget. If you do some losing or you walk with someone else in their defeat, live with dignity and grace. It is a middle finger to the darkness.

[thanks--and--praise]

I’ll find you. Don’t worry. Just be on your own and I’ll find you.

Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book (via awelltraveledwoman)

[thanks--and--praise]

Eat, Pray, Love 

God never slams a door in your face without opening a box of Girl Scout Cookies

Is there anything about this scene you can change? All i could think to do was stand up, while sobbing, and try to balance on one foot in the middle of my living room/ i was not yet totally out of control: at least I could cry hysterically while balanced on one foot

So be lonely. Learn your way around lonliness. Make a map of it. Sit with it, for once in your life. Welcome to the human experience. 

Parla come magni- say it like you eat it. keep your language simple and direct, just lay it on the table

you were given life- it is your duty and also your entitlemnt as a human being to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight

you bear God within you, poor wretch, and know it not

Our whole business therefore, in this life, is to restore to health the eye of the heart whereby God may be seen. st Augustine

someday youre gonna look back on this moment of your life as such a sweet time of grieving. youll see that you were in mourning and your heart was broken, but your life was changing and ou were in the best possible place in the world for it, in a beautiful place of worship, surrounded by grace. take this time, every minute of it. So you fell in love with someone. don’t you see what happened? this guy touched a place in your heart deeper than you thought you were capable of reaching, i mean you got zapped, kiddo. But that love you felt, that’s just the beginning. you just got a taste of love. thats just limited little rinky dink mortal love. wait till ou see how much more deeply you can love than that. heck, you have the capacity to someday love the whole world. it’s your destiny. Your problem is you don’t understnad what soulmate means. people think soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. but a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that’s holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. a true soul mate is probably the most important person you’ll ever meet, because they tear down walls and smack you awake. but to live with a soul mate forever? nah. too painful. soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. thank God for it. 

that was his job, and he did great, but now it’s over. send him some love and light every time you think about him, then drop it

you’re wishin too much, baby. you gotta stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone oughtta be.

everything (both uncomfortable and lovely) does eventually pass

devotion is diligence without assurance. faith is a way of saying “yes, i pre-accept the terms of the universe and i embrace in advance what I am presently incapable of understanding”. if faith were rational, it wouldn’t be- by definition- faith

faith is walking face first and full speed into the dark. if we truly knew all the answers in advance as to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humanity... it would just be a prudent insurance policy

lazy prayers- i’m sorry but that’s a little lame. you cn imagine God regarding that prayer with an arched eyebrow, and sending back this message “call me again when you decide to get serious about this”

prayer is a relationship, half the job is mine. half the benefit of prayer is in the asking itself, in the offering of a clearly posed and well-considered intention. 

devo farmi le ossa - i need to make my bones

a radical concept- maybe i can stop interrupting others when they are speaking. because no matter how creatively i try to look at that habit, i can’t find another way to see it than this “i believe that what i am saying is more important than what you are saying” and i cant find another way to see that than “I believe that i am more important than you” and that must end.

why they always look so serious in yoga? to meditate only you must smile. smile with face, smile with mind, and good energy will come to you and clean away dirty energy. even smile in your liver. not too hurry, not too hard

sometimes when she’s healing her patients she becomes an open pipeline for God’s love and she ceases even thinking about what needs to be done next- the intellect stop, the intuition rises and all she has to do is permit God to flow through her. it feels like a wind comes and takes my hands

i have a tendency not only to see the best in everyone, but to assume that everyone is emotionally capable of reaching his highest potential. 

fear- who cares?

if even one broken and limited human being could experience even one such episode of absolute forgveness and acceptance of her own self, then just image what God, in all His eternal compassion, can forgive and accept

yes! grow! change! evolve! come and meet me here, where i already exist in wholeness and maturity! i need you to grow into me!