My Integrity

“Are you who you claim to be?

“If this has been an ongoing question and dilemma for you, as it is for most of us–for all of us at one time or another–then do this: commit to being sensitive and responsive to any conviction the Spirit may be impressing on your heart right now in regard to a particular pursuit, decision, or activity.  Listen to His promptings.  Don’t ignore His leadings.  Be willing to change your temporary wants for His much better alternatives as He directs you that way through His personal knowledge of you and what He wants to accomplish in you.  His goal is not to steal your fun but to position you as a clean, pure, available recipient of His best, most fulfilling blessings.”  (Shirer 151)

“I don’t know how to thank God enough for friends who don’t make me feel embarrassed for being spiritually sensitive, who provide me a place where my resolution to live pure before Him is never under pressure, never a point of ridicule, never ganged up against.  Our willingness to support one another helps us remain strong in our promises.”  (Shirer 156)

Reflection on Calm My Anxious Heart

My reflection on Calm My Anxious Heart begins with gratitude. Thank you to the young woman who started the group. She knew who God was calling her to include, and I feel honored to be part of the selection. Also, thank you to the young woman who volunteered her home to house group meetings. She was able to attend and lead every meeting and she remained balanced and faithful throughout all the meetings. And thanks to all the other ladies who came in and out of meetings.

How has my heart been calmed? I have been reminded at every turn in this book that God does not intend for my heart to feel cluttered. God wants my heart to be free to accept his love.

The following quotations were included in this blog, via images. I want all the verses to appear here. They are not in order of appearance. They are in order of difficulty. The quick short quotes come first, then the more involved longer quotes are next. At the end I have included non-Biblical quotes and lists that I enjoyed reading.

Bible Quotes: Short

⇒ Be anxious about nothing. But in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, Phil 4:6

⇒ The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, Phil 4:7

⇒ Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think on such things, Phil 4:8

⇒ You created me and I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, Psalm 139:14

⇒ Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many, Matt 20:28

⇒ I will never fail you…, Heb 13:5

⇒ I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches, Psalm 119:14

⇒ Be careful then how you live not as unwise, but as wise–making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the Lord’s will is, Eph 5:15-17

⇒ Humble yourself, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you, 1 Peter 5:6-7

⇒ You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes within, the unfailing beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God, 1 Peter 3:4

⇒ Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths, Proverbs 3:5-6

⇒ Blessed is the man who trusts in God and whose trust God is and he will be like a tree transplanted beside water, which sends out its roots by a stream, and will not be afraid when heat comes; for its leaves remain flourishing, and it will not be anxious in the year of drought and will not cease to bear fruit, Jeremiah 17:7-8

Bible Quotes: Long

 Philippians 4:11-13

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who strengthens me.

Colossians 3:12-14

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

Psalm 77:11-14

I shall remember the deeds of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds. Your way, O God, is holy; What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples.

1 Timothy 6:11-16, Exhortations to Timothy.

But you, man of God, avoid all this. Instead, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate for the noble confession, to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ that the blessed and only ruler will make manifest at the proper time, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, and whom no human being has seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal power. Amen.

Proverbs 31:10-31, Woman

When one finds a worthy wife, her value is far beyond pearls. Her husband, entrusting his heart to her, has an unfailing prize. She brings him good, and not evil, all the days of her life. She obtains wool and flax and makes cloth with skillful hands. Like merchant ships, she secures her provisions from afar. She rises while it is still night, and distributes food to her household. She picks out a field to purchase; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She is girt about with strength, and sturdy are her arms. She enjoys the success of her dealings; at night her lamp is undimmed. She puts her hands to the staff, and her fingers ply the spindle. She reaches out her hands to the poor, and extends her arms to the needy. She fears not the snow for her household; all her charges are doubly clothed. She makes her own coverlets; fine linen and purple are her clothing. Her husband is prominent at the city gates as he sits with the elders of the land. She makes garments and sells them, and stocks the merchants with belts. She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs at the days to come. She opens her mouth in wisdom and on her tongue is kindly counsel. She watches the conduct of her household, and eats not her food in idleness. Her children rise up and praise her; her husband, too, extols her: “Many are the women of proven worth, but you have excelled them all.” Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting; the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her a reward of her labors, and let her works praise her at the city gates.

Secular Quotes

From Mary W. Tileston, Daily Strength for Daily Needs (London: Messrs. Samson, Lowe and Co,. 1928), p. 144.

1. Never allow yourself to complain about anything—not even the weather.
2. Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.
3. Never compare your lot with another’s.
4. Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.
5. Never dwell on tomorrow—remember that tomorrow is God’s, not ours.

”I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God’s thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest, and most precious thing in all thinking.” –George MacDonald

Theology of the Body Introduction

I’ve started Theology of the Body as a prayer group for young adults/ teenagers. The curriculum is Theology of the Body for Teens, published by Ascension Press. It can be purchased: http://www.amazon.com/Theology-Body-Teens-Student-Workbook/dp/1932927867.

Tonight (8/29) I had the first meeting with the youth.

Some key content I want to be attentive of:

(1) Opening w Jubilee year quote

Yet again, the young have shown themselves to be for Rome and for the Church a special gift of the Spirit of God. Sometimes when we look at the young, with the problems and weaknesses that characterize them in contemporary society, we tend to be pessimistic. The Jubilee of Young People however changed that, telling us that young people, whatever their possible ambiguities, have a profound longing for those genuine values which find their fullness in Christ. Is not Christ the secret of true freedom and profound joy of heart? Is not Christ the supreme friend and the teacher of all genuine friendship? If Christ is presented to young people as he really is, they experience him as an answer that is convincing and they can accept his message, even when it is demanding and bears the mark of the Cross. For this reason, in response to their enthusiasm, I did not hesitate to ask them to make a radical choice of faith and life and present them with a stupendous task: to become “morning watchmen” (cf. Is 21:11-12) at the dawn of the new millennium. (p. xi)

(2) Saying the following words without definition and asking youth what it brings to mind to them was especially helpful. Here, I’ve included the book’s definitions.

• Lust–A “disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure” (CCC 2351). It is sexual desire apart from God’s love–a selfish desire that seeks one’s own pleasure at the expense of another.
• Love–A decision to “will the good of another” person (St. Thomas Aquinas, as quoted in CCC 1766). John Paul II echoes this same definition in much of his writing on love, ad adds that love involves a sincere gift of oneself to others.
• Dignity–The inherent and unchanging value of all persons as a direct result of their being created by God in His image and likeness.
• Theology–The study of God, or “faith seeking understanding” (St. Anslem). The word comes from the Greek words Theos (God) and logos (word). Theology is its own science of faithful study, seeking to understand God and His word.

(3) What is Theology of the Body?

Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) dedicated 129 of his “Wednesday audiences” during the first six years of his papacy (1979 to 1984) to a series of talks about the human body and sexuality. These addresses were later compiled into book form, creating the first major teaching of John Paul II. This teaching is called the Theology of the Body , and an international surge of interest has followed its proclamation.

The Theology of the Body explores the meaning of our bodies and of sexual desire as it relates to the purpose of our existence. Philosophers have asked questions about the meaning of life for thousands of years. If you’ve ever wondered, “Who am I? What is my purpose in life? What is love all about?”, you are asking very good questions. Answering these questions was a major goal of John Paul II through his teaching of the Theology of the Body. After all, he was not just a great pope but also a great philosopher.

So, what is theology ? Theology may be understood as the study of God. St. Anselm, an eleventh-century philosopher, theologian, and archbishop, called it “faith seeking understanding.” The word theology can be broken down like this: In Greek theos means “God” and logos means “word.” Logos was also defined by the ancient Greeks in other ways that relate to “science” and “study.” (Notice that our modern words which have “-ology” at the end of them refer to some type of study: biology, archaeology, radiology, psychology, etc.) So, the Theology of the Body is the study of God as revealed through our bodies. (P. 10, Ascension Press)

The Spiritual Roller Coaster: Kundalini and Other Side Effects

This is Chapter 9 of the Kornfield book.

The sections in this chapter are:

(1)  Atitudes Toward Altered States–Certain spiritual paths insist that we need to attain profoundly altered states of consciousness in order to discovery a “transcendent” vision of life, to open beyond our body and mind and realize the divine taste of liberation. [Other schools]’s teachings say that liberation and transcendence must be discovered here and now, for if not here in the present, where else can it be found?  Instead of seeking to transcend, the perspective of the “immanent” school teaches reality, enlightenment, or the divine must shine through every moment or it is not genuine. (p. 120)

(2)  Some Common Altered States–When we begin a spiritual practice, we struggle with the pains of our body and the armoring we have forged for it over the years, we face emotional storms, and we encounter a procession of five common hinderances.  But as we continue spiritual practice, and become more familiar and compassionate with our deepest difficulties, even the most ingrained pattens of holding and fear will gradually lose their power over us.  We develop a spirit of calm and steadiness, whatever our means of practice. (p. 122)

(a)  Raptures–rapture is a broad term used to cover the many kinds of chills, movements, lights, floating, vibrations, delight, and more that open with deep concentration, as well as the enormous pleasure they can bring to meditation.  (p. 122)…Deep concentration can lead to all kinds of visions and visionary experiences.  Floods of memories, images of past lives, scenes of foreign lands, pictures of heavens and hells, the energies of all the great archetypes, can open before our eyes.  (p. 125)…(this has happened to me:  “…we can experience a release of the strongest kinds of emotions, from sorrow and despair to delight and ecstasy.  Meditation may feel like an emotional roller coaster as we allow ourselves to be plunged into unconscious emotions.” p. 126)

(b)  Chakras–This section describes the chakras and the openings of the energy body and the experience as our inner energy tries to move and free itself in the body

(3)  Skillful Means of Working with the Energetic and Emotional Openings–we need a teacher who has personally encountered and understood these dimensions of the psyche

(a)  All Experiences are Side Effects–In the Buddhist tradition, the Buddha often reminded students that the purpose of his teaching was not the accumulation of special good deeds and good karma or rapture or insight or bliss, but only the sure heart’s release–a true liberation of our being in every realm.  This freedom and awakening, and this alone, is the purpose of any genuine spiritual path. (p. 129)

(b)  Finding the Brake—very cool and interesting section!  The most important thing, however, is:  it is necessary to find a guide, someone who has touched their own madness, grief, and loss of boundaries, who can gradually and fearlessly direct us back to the ground of our own true nature.  (p. 132)

(c)  Awareness of the Dance–the practitioner’s primary responsibility is to open to the experience with a full awareness, observing and sensing it as a part of the dance of our human life. (p. 133)

(4)  Meditation:  Reflecting on Your Attitude Toward Altered States

The Spirit and the Body Carry Different Loads

From this website (and p. 77 of Kornfield): http://anandalifecoach.weebly.com/quotes.html

“The spirit and the body carry different loads and require different attentions. Too often we put saddlebags on Jesus and let the donkey run loose in the pasture.”

Turning Straw into Gold

This is Chapter 6 of the Kornfield book.

Where does this chapter get its title?  “Like the young maiden in the fairy tale ‘Rumplestiltskin’ who is locked in a room full of straw, we often do not realize that the straw all around us is gold in disguise.  The basic principle of spiritual life is that our problems become the very place to discover wisdom and love.”  (Kornfield 71)

What hit me the hardest?  “Every life has periods and situations of great difficulty that call on our spirit.  Sometimes we are faced with the pain or illness of a child or a parent we love dearly.  Sometimes it is a loss we face in career, family, or business. Sometimes it is just our own loneliness or confusion or addiction or fear.  Sometimes we are forced to live with painful circumstances or difficult people.”  (Kornfield 75)

I wish I could print the story about the graduate student on p. 75–she was so callous but knew she should meditate.  Then she let herself fall apart a little bit around her family.  When she went back to meditation, she cried, and then was able to properly meditate.

I also wish I could print all of page 76.  It begins with the Dalai Lama treating the occupiers and destroyers of his country as “my friends, the enemy.”  Then the ocean salt quote:

Then Kornfield turns to discuss freedom–we cultivate freedom day by day as we live.  The next paragraph is we must see the difficulties in our life as a place of practice.  Then he suggests there are two choices: to deny feelings or to freely vent feelings.  Both are problems, so the best alternative is a “wakeful and attentive heart.”

This is just such a good chapter it needs to be read in its entirety.  I wish I could distill the purpose, meaning, and fullness of the writings and the meditation provided.  A few more good quotes below:

• Often from our seeming weaknesses we can learn a new way.  The things we do well, where we have developed our greatest self-confidence, can become habitual, bringing a sense of false security.  They are ton where our spiritual life will best open. (p. 79)
• When we work with anger, it can be changed into a valuable medicine.  Transformed, our anger and judgment give us clarity to see what is skillful, what needs to be done, what limits to be set.  They are the seeds of discriminating wisdom, and knowing of order and harmony.  (p. 80)
• The seeds of wisdom, peace, and wholeness are within each of our difficulties.  Our awakening is possible in every activity.  At first we may sense this truth only tentatively.  With practice it becomes living reality.  (p. 80)

Did I Love Well?

“Did I Love Well?” is the title of Chapter 1 of the Kornfield book.

A Meditation on Loving-Kindness:

The quality of loving-kindness is the fertile soil out of which an integrated spiritual life can grow.  With a loving heart as the background, all that we attempt, all that we encounter, will open and flow more easily.  while loving-kindness can arise naturally to us in many circumstances, it can also be cultivated.

…

It is best to begin by repeating it over and over for fifteen or twenty minutes once or twice daily in a quiet place for several months.  At first this meditation may feel mechanical or awkward or even bring up its opposite, feelings of irritation and anger.  If this happens, it is especially important to be patient and kind toward yourself, allowing whatever arises to be received in a spirit of friendliness and kind affection.

…

Sit in a comfortable fashion, and begin to recite inwardly the following phrases directed to yourself.  You begin with yourself because without loving yourself it is almost impossible to love others.

May I be filled with loving-kindness.

May I be well.

May I be peaceful and at ease.

May I be happy.

Practice this meditation repeatedly for a number of weeks until the sense of loving-kindness for yourself grows.

When you feel ready, in the same meditation period you can gradually expand the focus of your loving-kindness to include others, such as a benefactor, someone in your life who has truly cared for you.

Please also see:  http://www.jackkornfield.com/2011/02/meditation-on-lovingkindness/