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How to prevent spiritual erosion during the holidays
I’m spending the week on the coast of North Carolina with my family for Thanksgiving. I love being with friends and family, but it takes its toll on my spiritual life. It’s hard to maintain my normal rhythm of prayer and meditation. I hear many who meet with me for spiritual direction say the same. This week will be especially challenging. In our travels, I’ll be sleeping in three different locations. On my first walk down the beach, I saw sand fences. They are built to prevent erosion of the sand dunes. As I considered the week ahead, I realized that I might need some spiritual ‘sand fencing’ to avoid the…
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A lesson from the resurrection lily on the spiritual life
Dotting gardens and landscapes around Western North Carolina are resurrection lilies. They are so named because the leaves appear lush and green in February, resembling daffodils. Unlike daffodils and many other bulbs, the leaves of the resurrection lily die without blooming. It is not until September that a solitary shoot will emerge out of the barren ground and produce a spectacular bloom. Hence the name, ‘resurrection lily’. There are parallels between the life cycle of the resurrection lily and the cycle of consolations and desolations common in the spiritual life. The springtime comes. The leaves perk up filled with hope and promise after a long winter. But there is no…
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“What happened to the sun?” asked the two year old
Last week, I was at Emerald Isle with my family. In addition to my delight in being with my children and grandchildren and their spouses and partners, I received a neat lesson on the spiritual life. I was holding one of my grandsons, J.B., who is two and a half. On the first evening, I pointed to the horizon and said, “Look, the sun is setting.” We gazed off the balcony, from which we had a view of the sunset, the sunrise, and the ocean in between. As he saw the sun disappear, there was some separation anxiety. When he said, “Good night, Sun,” it felt ominous, like a…
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What is the difference between being cured and healed?
It is sometimes too easy to look for a cure, when instead we should be looking for healing.
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Fighting “Pre-Event Spiritual Desolation”
What is pre-event spiritual desolation? How can we fight it?
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When we cry out, “This is enough, Lord!”
“This is enough Lord. Take my life.” These were Elijah’s desperate words as he lay under a broom tree in the desert. There have been times in my life, and maybe in your life, when I cried out, “This is enough, Lord.” I can’t take it anymore. What can we do? Better question: What lifted Elijah from the pit of despair, and allowed him to continue his journey? He finally started listening to the Good Angel. Let’s take a closer look at Elijah’s story, and maybe it might help us when we want to lay down under the broom tree and say, “This is enough.” Elijah’s mission was to turn…
