Anita Lustrea

I’m Anita Lustrea and I’m privileged to be a spiritual director. Each time I begin a session, I use a quote or poem or prayer.  As I share one of these with you, see what might catch your attention. Maybe there’s something here for you today.

The post Poem/Prayer 7 – Kaitlin Curtice appeared first on Anita Lustrea.

This is an audio version of Mike Murphy‘s Friday rumblings. This is a regular post on Facebook that I’ve turned into a podcast. I decided Mike’s words needed a wider audience. You may agree or disagree with what he says, but there is certainly much food for thought contained here. You can friend Mike on Facebook for the printed version or read it below

Rumblings. 7.14.23

1 . “Hold fast to dreams 

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird 

That  cannot fly. 

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field 

Frozen with snow.” ~  Langston Hughes

Dream well. Cheer on the dreamers. 

2. “It’s rather obvious that Jesus spends most of his ministry standing with the ones accused of unworthiness, the so-called bad people, the demonized. It is actually rather scandalous how the only way he tries to change them is by loving and healing them, never accusing anybody but the accusers themselves. His social program is solidarity. As Jesuit Greg Boyle, the street priest in Los Angeles, says, “Jesus stands with the demonized until the demonizing stops.” Father Greg insists this is Jesus’ primary form of justice work, which is why Jesus’ “strategy” is always so hard to pinpoint and name. His justice strategy is solidarity—even more than working or fighting for justice per se, which disappoints many activists…

God calls us to lives of communion with the world’s suffering. This is so much harder than merely trying to fix it, understand it, control it, or even localize it. Only love can do this, and really only God’s love.” ~ Richard Rohr

“Jesus stands with the demonized until the demonizing stops.” Whoa. 

3. “You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I’ll rise…

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries? …

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise. …

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.” ~ Still I Rise, Maya  Angelou 

When the oppressed rise up, they’re telling us that they are no longer in the mood (as if they ever were) to keep playing the oppression game under the old rules of engagement.Courage has emboldened them and the breath of heaven has lifted them up.  

Oppressors really don’t like that opposition. It scares them. It throws them off their game. That’s a good thing. But they won’t go down easily. They’ll puff themselves up and bellow and rage and do any manner of scary things. They’ll even say they are the ones rising up against injustice. They’re not. It’s their feeble attempt to justify the harm they inflict  and the hate they carry in their heart. 

4. “Don’t settle for a small life.” ~ Pope Francis

5. The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community.” ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Don’t be surprised if that community looks like a band of misfits and ragamuffins. If it doesn’t, start over.

6. “Don’t tell someone you love them and then vote for someone who will hurt them.” I don’t know the origin of this but it sure makes sense. Integrity demands that we walk our talk and it  compels us to not ‘suffer fools’ who do nothing but yak, yak, yak and use their words to marginalize others.   

7. “One day a harassed and busy executive was on his way to the office when he spotted a Bedouin from the desert sitting and resting under a tree in the city. The executive asked the Bedouin “What are you doing here?” The Bedouin replied that he had made a decision to stop for a while.

“You know you could be earning money if you were working,” said the executive. 

“”What would I do with it”

“If you earned some money you could open an office”

“And then?”

“Then you could earn more money and build a factory.”

“”And then?”

“Then you could have your own villa at some fancy resort?

“Good, and then?”

“Then you would still have some money to put in the bank.”

“Yes, and then?”

“Well, then you could stop, sit down and rest.”

“But that’s what I’m doing at the moment.” ~ Trevor Hudson, Discovering Your Spiritual Identity.

We sometimes pester people to make our desires their desires or to put their desires in a package different from the one they prefer. There are moments when our suggestions are both unneeded and unwanted. 

I do wish this story had been expanded a wee bit because I wonder what the takeaway was for that businessman?

8. A ship, sailing past a desert island, spots a man who has been stranded there for several years. The captain goes ashore to rescue the man and notices three huts. “What’s the first hut for?” he asks. “That’s my house,” says the castaway. “What’s the second hut for?” “That’s my church.” “And the third hut?” “That’s the church I used to go to.” ~ author unknown 

Signs of the times.

9. In last week’s episode of the far right ‘theater of the absurd’ Marjorie Taylor Greene got kicked out of the House Freedom Caucus. My mouth dropped open and I just started chuckling, wondering how long it’s going to be before they build a coliseum and start throwing each other to the lions. 

10. Frequently, I have  a conversion experience. I sin. I’m good at it. But I know how to confess. When I do, I look with fresh eyes for the footsteps of Jesus and when I see them again, I resume my journey. 

The post Mike’s Rumblings – 07-14-23 appeared first on Anita Lustrea.

This is a weekly release of the spiritual practice Lectio Divina. I hope you’ll listen and ponder the scripture passage offered and let me know your thoughts. My email address is [email protected]. Also, feel free to share this podcast on your social media or tell a friend about it. 

If you’d like to support this podcast you can do so through a gift to PayPal using the email address [email protected].

If you enjoy the beautiful guitar music, you can learn more about Steve Wick and how to purchase his music on his website.

The post Lectio Divina 60 – Romans 8:1-8 appeared first on Anita Lustrea.

I’m Anita Lustrea and I’m privileged to be a spiritual director. Each time I begin a session, I use a quote or poem or prayer.  As I share one of these with you, see what might catch your attention. Maybe there’s something here for you today.

Today’s prayer is by Teresa of Avila, May Today There Be Peace Within.

The post Poem/Prayer 6 – Teresa of Avila appeared first on Anita Lustrea.

This is an audio version of Mike Murphy‘s Friday rumblings. This is a regular post on Facebook that I’ve turned into a podcast. I decided Mike’s words needed a wider audience. You may agree or disagree with what he says, but there is certainly much food for thought contained here. You can friend Mike on Facebook for the printed version or read it below.

Rumblings. 7.7.23 

1. “If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there’s an arrow in your heart.” ~ Pema Chödrön

First things first, huh? 

2. The NY Times and other sources report that “SCOTUS’s decision in favor of a Colorado web designer, Lorie Smith, had an unusual feature: It was based on conjecture and speculation. Ms. Smith, who objects to providing wedding-related services for same-sex marriages, never turned down a gay couple. She had certainly never been punished for violating a state law that forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation.”

Hmmm. So, why was this case even on the docket of the Supreme Court?

Decisions (personal and collectively) by the justices are proving  to be problematic as is their refusal to do any self-policing. Their resistance to submitting to any kind of check and balance rubric is discomforting. 

Looking at their most recent work one gets the impression that the conservative justices appear to have a culture war legislative agenda they’re advancing. That’s not in their job description. 

3. “Back in college, I was one of the few Black students on my campus, and I was proud of getting into such a respected school. I knew I’d worked hard for it. But still, I sometimes wondered if people thought I got there because of affirmative action. It was a shadow that students like me couldn’t shake, whether those doubts came from the outside or inside our own minds.

But the fact is this: I belonged. And semester after semester, decade after decade, for more than half a century, countless students like me showed they belonged, too. It wasn’t just the kids of color who benefitted, either. Every student who heard a perspective they might not have encountered, who had an assumption challenged, who had their minds and their hearts opened gained a lot as well.

It wasn’t perfect, but there’s no doubt that it helped offer new ladders of opportunity for those who, throughout our history, have too often been denied a chance to show how fast they can climb.” ~ Michelle Obama, responding to SCOTUS’s ruling to end affirmative action.

4. Random thoughts about approaching the Bible:

I learned a long time ago that you can make the Bible say what you want it to say. I know. I’ve committed that sin. I’ve done my darndest at times to fit a square piece of scripture into a round hole. Why? God only knows but I was wrong to do it.

I see God at work through the biblical narrative. But the Bible is not God. 

Some think the Bible is God’s final answer to everything. I don’t. I believe God still speaks. 

Scripture needs to be argued and wrestled with. Let’s be honest. The  Bible is troubling to read in certain spots. It contradicts itself at times. It keeps revealing deep truths that require deep thinking. It both soothes the soul and troubles it. It builds us up and it can humble us. To read and study the scripture is a magnificent spiritual discipline. To do it together (in community) can be a blessing but only if people are willing to be honest enough to stand against ‘group think’ and courageously ask questions of the text that others might label as problematic. 

Scripture reminds me that I am part of a very remarkable ongoing story and that the role I get to play is not insignificant.

5. Hayes Brown writing on the MSNBC website asserts that one of our political parties is basically involved with “spouting incendiary nonsense.” He’s being kind. 

Every day, after I read and mull over the political headlines, one question always comes to mind. “Maturity, where hast thou gone?”

6. Turning to Galatian 5 in the Message, I reminded myself of what I truly desire in my life and what I want no part of but am sorely tempted to accommodate.  

The spirit of the anti-christ promotes and extols damaging attitudes and behaviors – “… a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage, frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness, trinket gods, magic-show religion, paranoid loneliness, cutthroat competition, all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants, a brutal temper, an impotence to love or be loved, divided homes and divided lives, small-minded and lopsided pursuits, the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival, uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community….” 

Paul implores us to yield to the movement of the Holy Spirit. He’s convinced that the fruit of the Spirit will be  made manifest in our lives and things such as “affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity,  a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people…” will be evident. May it be so.

7. “It’s easy to be judgmental about crime when you live in a world wealthy enough to be removed from it…” ~ Trevor Noah  

Acting all ‘holier than thou’  when one has the resources to distance him/herself from all kinds of hard things is a bad look. When we make judgments about people based on what we don’t know and avoid experiencing, we just make the problem bigger for those who have no choice but to experience it. 

8. “I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one heck of a good time. Sometimes, this makes planning my day difficult.” ~ E.B. White

9. Celebrating the 4th of July this week reminded me that our country is in a ‘fragile’ place. We are at war with ourselves. A democracy only works when citizens commit to  self-sacrifice, truth telling, and the advancement of the common good. 

10. “It’s not the battles we lose that bother me, it’s the ones we don’t suit up for.” – Toby Ziegler, The West Wing

Have you ever read the New Testament Book of James? It’s my favorite. In essence, it says ‘Put up or shut up.  There’s a good fight going on that you’re being invited to be part of. Show off your faith by showing up.’

The post Mike’s Rumblings – 07-07-23 appeared first on Anita Lustrea.

This is a weekly release of the spiritual practice Lectio Divina. I hope you’ll listen and ponder the scripture passage offered and let me know your thoughts. My email address is [email protected]. Also, feel free to share this podcast on your social media or tell a friend about it. 

If you’d like to support this podcast you can do so through a gift to PayPal using the email address [email protected].

If you enjoy the beautiful guitar music, you can learn more about Steve Wick and how to purchase his music on his website.

The post Lectio Divina 59 – I Samuel 17:31-37 appeared first on Anita Lustrea.

Hi, I’m Anita Lustrea and I’m privileged to be a spiritual director. Each time I begin a session, I use a quote or poem or prayer.  As I share one of these with you, see what might catch your attention. Maybe there’s something here for you today.

Todays poem is by Alla Renee Bozarth titled I Am Changing.

The post Poem/Prayer 5 – Alla Bozarth appeared first on Anita Lustrea.

This is an audio version of Mike Murphy‘s Friday rumblings. This is a regular post on Facebook that I’ve turned into a podcast. I decided Mike’s words needed a wider audience. You may agree or disagree with what he says, but there is certainly much food for thought contained here. You can friend Mike on Facebook for the printed version or read it below

Rumblings. 6.30.23 

1. “the truth is that things

don’t really get solved.

they come together

and fall apart.

they come together again

and fall apart again.

it’s just like that.

the healing comes from

letting there be room for

all of this to happen:

room for grief,

for relief,

for misery,

for joy.” ~ Pema Chödrön

2. Many of you are still on an interesting and sometimes difficult quest to make sense of your spiritual lives – past, present and future. And I applaud you. I love interacting with you. Your journey is sacred and filled with meaning.  For sure, it has been hard. There’s healing that needs to be done. Trust has been broken by individuals and institutions. Friends and family question your motives. Sometimes you do too. But you’re working through it all because you believe this particular  journey is important.

This much I know. God sees you and isn’t afraid of the journey you’re on. 

3. “Trump doesn’t just cross moral lines; he doesn’t appear capable of understanding moral categories. Morality is for Trump what colors are to a person who is color-blind.” ~ Peter Wehner, The Atlantic

I believe this to be true. How do we respond? 

C.S. Lewis once said that “one of the most cowardly things ordinary people do is to shut their eyes to facts.” 

How many people do you know who live within an echo chamber, never really hearing anything contrary to what they believe?  They wade into every argument with eyes and ears closed and a malfunctioning crap detector. It is indeed an act of cowardice to not care about the truth and to not search for it.

4. “To my Republican colleagues who introduced this resolution [to censure me], I thank you. You honor me with your enmity. You flatter me with this falsehood. You, who are the authors of a big lie about the last election, must condemn the truth-tellers and I stand proudly before you. Your words tell me that I have been effective in the defense of our democracy and I am grateful.” ~ Congressman Adam Schiff 

Schiff is a little full of himself at times but that’s true of many of us, right? But censure? Nah. His rebuke of House Republicans is spot on. 

5.  Listening to this refrain of a worship song grabbed me. 

“On my best day, I am a child of God. 

On my worst day, I’m still a child of God.” 

True. Nothing can separate us from God’s love.

“God looks at us and is ecstatic. This God loves the sound of our voices and thinks that all of us are a magnificent work of art… God’s cheek resting on ours. God’s singular agenda item. ~ Gregory Boyle, SJ

6. “Religion is one of the safest places to hide from God.” Richard Rohr

I put my guard up when I’m with religious people but open myself up when I meet people of faith.

7. I read that a “Moms for Liberty” chapter in Hamilton County, Indiana quoted Hitler in a recent newsletter. There was a backlash. They said ‘oops’, tried to rationalize it, and then backpedaled away from it.  None of this surprises me. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled Moms for Liberty as an “anti-government extremist” group in its 2022 annual report. I’ve seen our local chapter at work and I don’t like what I see. Actually, they scare me. 

Anything that carries the smell of Christian Nationalism gives me the shivers. 

According to Christianity Today “Christian nationalism is the belief that the American nation is defined by Christianity, and that the government should take active steps to keep it that way. Popularly, Christian nationalists assert that America is and must remain a “Christian nation”—not merely as an observation about American history, but as a prescriptive program for what America must continue to be in the future.”

Christian nationalism is much more political than it is biblical. And when its adherents use the Bible, it’s often used crudely, and applied with venom. It is fundamentalism. It is toxic. Christian nationalists consider their rather severe and vengeful distortion  of Christianity to be the guiding norm for a society, different from and taking precedence, over any other belief system. It blurs and then decimates every distinction between church and state. 

8. “I’d rather live next door to someone who crossed a desert to become an American than an American who wouldn’t cross the street to help a foreigner.” ~ Source unknown

9. Carmelite nun Constance Fitzgerald writes for the Center for Action and Contemplation:

“There is not only the so-called dark night of the soul but [also] the dark night of the world. What if, by chance, our time in evolution is a dark-night time—a time of crisis and transition that must be understood if it is to be part of learning a new vision and harmony for the human species and the planet? …

It is only in the process of bringing the impasse to prayer, to the perspective of the God who loves us, that our society will be freed, healed, changed, brought to paradoxical new visions, and freed for nonviolent, selfless, liberating action, freed, therefore, for community on this planet earth. Death is involved here, a dying in order to see how to be and to act on behalf of God in the world. …Here God makes demands for conversion, healing, justice, love, compassion, solidarity, and communion…”

I think she’s saying something important when she speaks about a dark night of the world, where things look heavy and foreboding. I certainly sense that. The good news is that our good God is present, preparing us for our role in living in and through this present darkness.

10. “May God bless you with a discontent with easy answers, half-truths, superficial relationships, so that you will live from deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, abuse, and exploitation of people, so that you will work for justice, equality, and  peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you will reach out your hand to comfort  them and to change their pain to joy.

May God bless you with the foolishness to think you can make a difference in this world, so that you will do the things which others tell you cannot be done. . .” ~ Ruth Fox, OSB

The post Mike’s Rumblings – 06-30-23 appeared first on Anita Lustrea.

This is a weekly release of the spiritual practice Lectio Divina. I hope you’ll listen and ponder the scripture passage offered and let me know your thoughts. My email address is [email protected]. Also, feel free to share this podcast on your social media or tell a friend about it. 

If you’d like to support this podcast you can do so through a gift to PayPal using the email address [email protected].

If you enjoy the beautiful guitar music, you can learn more about Steve Wick and how to purchase his music on his website.

The post Lectio Divina 58 – Acts 5:12-16 appeared first on Anita Lustrea.

This is a short podcast featuring a poem or prayer. I’m privileged to be a spiritual director. Each time I begin a session, I use a quote or poem or prayer.  As I share one of these with you, see what might catch your attention. Maybe there’s something here for you today. The poem this week is titled Staying Home by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer.

The post Poem/Prayer 4 – Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer appeared first on Anita Lustrea.