The Contemplative Corner

In this podcast I refence Michael Leunig’s book of prayers: When I talk to you (Harper Collins, 2014).

In this talk I referred to Thomas Merton, Thoughts in solitude; Anothony DeMello, Awareness; and the Sevenhill Retreat Centre in Clare Valley, South Australia.

It is so easy to forget our identity, that we are God’s children, truly known and loved by Him. In this podcast I speak about how God reminded me of His love and care for me and others through witnessing two beautiful interactions with birds.

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr’s letter from the Birmingham Jail provokes us to consider a spirituality of action and contemplation. He calls for a spirituality that opposes injustice, refuses pacifism and challenges the church out of the fate of becoming an 'irrelevant social club’.

Making new friends is often an unfolding journey of being known and knowing another...

I would like  to invite you to meet my new best friend ….I just Love her ! I think you will too!!

Resources:

I encourage you to listen to Casey Taggert’s Podcast ‘otherWISE’ episode 308, 3 questions for your soul. Casey is a pastor, write, podcaster and spiritual director with a passion for WISDOM. Check him out.

Jesus said …My paraphrase ….( Mark 12:29-31 tpt )

“ The most important of the invitations is this ‘The Lord Yahweh, our God, is one ! You are invited  to love the Lord Yahweh, your God , with every passion of your heart , will all  the energy of your being , with every thought that is within you , and with all your strength . This is the great and supreme invitation . And the second is this : ‘ You are invited to love your neighbour , in the same way as you love yourself . You will never find a greater invitation than these”.

Our poetic meditation  ‘For a New Beginning’  from John O’Donohue is taken from his book ‘To bless the space between us’.

What if the point of experiencing God was not a matter of seeking and striving to find the divine but of awakening to an enchantment in which we ‘live and move and have our being’(Acts 17:28a)?

Find out more about Thomas Merton at the Thomas Merton Institute

Karl Rahner’s book, Prayers for a lifetime, captures some of his accessible, prayerful language. It is a small book and easy to read. Small, prayerful books such as this are the best way to access Rahner’s spirituality as his denser, more formal theological writings are virtually impenetrable. I particularly recommend Encounters with silence. Find out more about Karl Rahner here: https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-voices/20th-century-ignatian-voices/karl-rahner-sj/

Our lives are often marked by a sense of busyness, rushing and hurry. Jesus offers us a different way - a better one - where we learn to discern what truly matters and to live a life that is healing to our soul.

In this podcast I mention the beautiful work of potter, Dominika Yindi. You can find out more about her and view images of her pottery here: https://dominikayindi.com I also refer to a number of scriptures from the Bible:  Isaiah 30;15, Luke 8:42-48 and Ecclesiastes 3;1-11. The other reference is from a book entitled The way through the woods; of mushrooms and mourning by Long Litt Woon, an anthropologist and mycologist, who was born in Malaysia but has lived most of her life in Norway. Her book chronicles her discovery of the therapeutic benefits of foraging for mushrooms in forests as a way of coping her with enormous grief after the sudden death of her husband. You can find out more about the book and her story here: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/grief-paralyses-for-woon-the-answer-was-mushrooms/11636202

One of the symptoms of modernisation and urbanisation is a loss of connection with nature. The Christian mystics found great comfort in connecting and learning from animals and the environment. This episode focusses on a 16th Century poem by the St John of the Cross in which he find great comfort during a time of trial from a fuzzy little friend.

We all need hope because we all have those times, you know the ones I mean the tricky seasons times of confinement, stuckness and transition. What if there was a lens, we could wear to reframe the way we see these seasons? Would you want to be fitted with like a divine prescription of heavenly perspective created just for you ? Well lets ‘see' then shall we…..

Isaiah 40 :31 TPT  says but those who wait for Yahweh’s grace will experience divine strength.

Hebrew word for WAIT – qavah - KAH-VAH

To wait for, expect, look for with expectancy, expressing the idea of a hopeful waiting.

Our lives are often marked by a sense of busyness, rushing and hurry. Jesus offers us a different way - a better one - where we learn to discern what truly matters and to live a life that is healing to our soul.

In this podcast I mention the beautiful work of potter, Dominika Yindi. You can find out more about her and view images of her pottery here: https://dominikayindi.com I also refer to a number of scriptures from the Bible:  Isaiah 30;15, Luke 8:42-48 and Ecclesiastes 3;1-11. The other reference is from a book entitled The way through the woods; of mushrooms and mourning by Long Litt Woon, an anthropologist and mycologist, who was born in Malaysia but has lived most of her life in Norway. Her book chronicles her discovery of the therapeutic benefits of foraging for mushrooms in forests as a way of coping her with enormous grief after the sudden death of her husband. You can find out more about the book and her story here: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/grief-paralyses-for-woon-the-answer-was-mushrooms/11636202