The Tr Tran e Sp Spiritual Cor ansfor sformation of of tion - PDF document

Irene Alexander PACFA 2016 The Tr Tran e Sp Spiritual Cor ansfor sformation of of tion ore e http://wonderfulengineering.com/35-hd-galaxy-wallpapers-for-free-download/

http://wonderfulengineering.com/35-hd-galaxy-wallpapers-for-free-download/ What d t do w we e mea mean n by by Sp Spiritu tuality ty? So Some me res esearch - th the s e shift ft in n awarene ness How is spiritu tuality ty tr trans nsformati tive? How d does es it t fi fit t with th w worldview ew? How can I n I be a be auth thent ntic i in n my my s spiritu tuality ty?

Rogers (1980) identified a fourth https://www.amazon.com/Carl-Rogers-Quiet-Revolutionary-History/dp/1883955319/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472089511&sr=8- facilitative quality called “presence.” Being in touch with the “transcendental core” of himself. “It seems that my inner spirit has reached out and touched the inner spirit of the other. Our relationship transcends itself and becomes a part of something larger.” p129. 1&keywords=rogers+quiet+revolutionary Rogers, C. R. (1980). A way of being. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

• The spiritual life is part of the human essence. • It is a defining characteristic of human nature, without which human nature is not fully human. http://www.positive-parenting-ally.com/abraham-maslow.html

Spirit rituality – conne nnecti tion, on, l longi ging, ng, d desir sire “The great homesickness we could never http://orig05.deviantart.net/87b6/f/2014/094/a/4/starry_night_sky_by_nini1965-d7d0szn.jpg shake off.” - Rainer Maria Rilke in Barrows and Macy p70 That longing deep within that seeks something greater than ourselves, that seeks meaning beyond our everyday lives, that transforms our struggles and suffering into diamonds.

Spiri ritu tuality – conne nnection - a commitment to choose, as the primary context for https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/be/d4/2c/bed42cbe51a423992294dd1da3928aa1.jpg understanding & acting, one’s relatedness with all that is. With this commitment, one attempts to stay focused on relationships between oneself and other people, the physical environment, one’s heritage and traditions, one’s body, one’s ancestors, saints, Higher Power, or God. It places relationships at the center of awareness, whether they be interpersonal relationships with the world or other people, or intrapersonal relationships with God or other nonmaterial beings . Griffith and Griffith p15-16

Many religions speak of oneness, compassion or love, as being central to the flourishing of humankind, so the focus on connection, on relationality is a recognition that humans are part of the great web of life, and that healing and wholeness depend on this ability to connect.

Spirituality – longing, desire “Whatever the expression, everyone is ultimately talking about the same thing – an unquenchable fire, a restlessness, a longing, a disquiet, an appetitiveness, a loneliness, a gnawing nostalgia, a wildness that cannot be tamed, a congenital all- embracing ache that lies at the centre of human experience and is the ultimate force that drives everything else…” Rolheiser p4. http://cliparts.co/flame

Spirituality – longing, desire “What we do with our longings, both in terms of handling the pain and the hope they bring us, is our spirituality. Thus, when Plato says that we are on fire because our souls come from beyond and that beyond is, through the longing and hope that its fire creates in us, trying to draw us back towards itself, he is laying out the broad outlines for a spirituality. …” Rolheiser p4-7.

You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. ........ Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -- over and over announcing your place in the family of things. Mary Oliver

Wh When was was the l last ast t time y you ou ask asked y yourse ourself wh what at y you ou re real ally wan want? ? And h how l ow lon ong did you ou al allow ow y yourse ourself t to o enter ent ertain t n that lo long nging ng? Th Thirty se seconds, a a coupl ouple of of minutes? What i inner nner or outer er voices es s sugges ested ed t that wh what atever r it was, was, you oug ou ought not ot t to b o be so so fool oolish as t as to t o think i it c coul ould be sat satisfied? http://hdimagesnew.com/abstract-art-images/ At som some poi point did y you ou jud udge y yours ourself wi wilful or self elfish? (Ruffing 2000, p 13)

Our desiring already originates in God desiring us…[The mystics] strongly assert that our Our desiring already originates in God desiring us…[The desires, our wants, our longings, our outward and mystics] strongly assert that our desires, our wants, our longings, our outward and inward searching – when inward searching – when uncovered, expressed uncovered, expressed and recognised – all lead to the and recognised – all lead to the Divine Beloved at Divine Beloved at the core. the core. As Augustine so tellingly phrased it in the As Augustine so tellingly phrased it in the Confessions , Confessions , “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O God” “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O God” Ruffing 2000, p 11 Ruffing 2000, p 11

Th Throw row aw away ay All your beg begging ng bo bowls a at G t God’s door, For or I have ave heard ard the Belov oved Pref efers swee eet th threa eateni ning ng shouts ts, So Some mething ng in n th the e order er of: f: https://www.lds.org/children/resources/topics/prodigal-son?lang=en g “Hey, Belov oved, My h heart art is s a a rag raging vol volca cano Of l f love e fo for y you! You bett better sta tart ki kissing ng me me – Or e Or else se!” Hafiz 1325 325-13 1389 89 (i (in Lad Ladinsky) Ladinsky, D. (1996). I heard God laughing: Renderings of Hafiz. Walnut Creek, CA: Sufism Reoriented.

Suffering Deepening of our being

• Faith is not assent to doctrines or http://images.randomhouse.com/cover/9781573229746?alt=cover_coming_soon.jpg surrounding ourselves with props and propositions. It is trust that God – as Christ shows us – has been there before us, goes within us, waits to find us beyond the edges of utter dark. And, found by Oh guiding night! God, we become aware that God is closer O night more lovely than the dawn! to our being than we are” (Ross 1988, p. O night that has united 135 The Lover with His beloved, Transforming the beloved in her Lover.

Sensitivity. Be sensitive in every way possible about http://www.nbcnews.com/id/36942679/ns/politics-white_house/t/obama-elie-wiesel-share-good-kosher-lunch/ everything in life. Be sensitive. Insensitivity brings indifference and nothing is worse than indifference. Indifference makes that person dead before the person dies. Indifference means there is a kind of apathy that sets in and you no longer Elie Wiesel appreciate beauty, friendship, goodness, or anything. So, therefore, do not be insensitive. Be sensitive, only sensitive. Of course it hurts. Sensitivity is painful.

Don’t surrender your Loneliness so quickly. Let it cut more deep. Let it ferment you As few human Or even divine ingredients can. Something missing in your heart tonight Has made your eyes so soft Your voice so tender Your need of God absolutely clear. Hafiz (in Ladinsky The Gift)

What is your understanding of spirituality? – Take a few minutes to reflect. What do we mean by “God”?

To speak of “God” properly, then – to use the word in a sense consonant with the teachings of orthodox Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism, Bahai, a great deal of antique paganism, and so forth – is to speak of the one infinite source of all that is: eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, uncreated, uncaused, perfectly transcendent of all things and for that very reason absolutely immanent to all things. God so understood is not something posed over against the universe, in addition to it, nor is [God] the universe itself. [God] is not a “being”...Rather all things that exist receive their being continuously from [God], who is the infinite wellspring of all that is, in whom .. all things live and move and have their being.” • David Bentley Hart. (2013). The experience of God: Being, consciousness, bliss. London: Yale University Press, 2013, p.30.

Not that, at the moment, there is any real public debate about belief in God worth speaking of. There is scarcely even a public conversation in any meaningful sense. At present, the best we seem to be able to manage is a war of assertions and recriminations, and for the most part each side is merely talking past the other. • David Bentley Hart. (2013). The experience of God: Being, consciousness, bliss. London: Yale University Press, 2013, p.23.