Category: Spirituality

Some movies have a way of lingering with you. I saw such a movie recently called “Paterson”. There was no plot. Paterson is an introverted poet with an externally boring Life as a bus driver. He Lives in a town of the same name, Paterson NJ. On the surface his life is inconsequential, boring and painfully routine. He writes poems that are Zen like and reflect a deep mindfulness. He is detached and yet very porous, taking everything in with an artists sensitivity and connectivity. He refuses to get a smart phone and does not mind being trapped in a mind numbing blue collar job. He has the inner freedom and solitude of an urban monk. Every little detail seems alive with depth and curiosity. The feel of paper turning in a notebook, the click of a pen, are magnified by the director. This is how I feel and see the world at times, but only at times when I slow down, and allow life to expand, can this mindfulness arise. It’s about getting underneath ideas into “this ness” and being.

Jun 10, 2017

How does one balance becoming a responsible leader and provider and yet remain a child at heart, a child before God that is free to play, trust, and change as the spirit leads?

Jesus says we can not enter the Kingdom unless we become like a child. Not a very powerful image of the virtuous man. A child is one who is totally dependent and surrendered into the care of another.

Yet we are still called to “grow up” and take our place in the community so that others can rely on us for support, to be a rock for others, and ultimately, to become like Christ in the world. That’s a high calling and we should aspire to it, but not confuse it with losing our spiritual childhood. Our fundamental identity remains as that of child, playing before the Father, taken up in his arms, and surrendered into his hands without a care beyond the present moment.

Jun 3, 2017

I recently attended a U2 concert and while they played all the oldies from the Joshua Tree album, they ended with a new song called “The little things that give you away”.

The phase has been haunting me the past week. It’s a very cleaver play on words. And a profoundly simple truth.

To those we love and those closest to us, it really is the little things that seem to define us the most. The kind word, the cleaning up, the remembering of a detail. It reveals that we are fully present for the other.

We may try to express ourselves in big concepts, or ideals, but it’s only in the little acts of love, that we give our self away.

May 24, 2017

Excerpt from Into Your Hands, Father, by Wilfred Stinissen

“The infinity of God comes to us through a funnel. It become so little and so narrow that it is difficult for us to recognize it. It comes only drop by drop through the small opening. The funnel is the present moment. When I put my mouth to the funnel I am nourished by infinity. Even this is something we can experience. The more concentrated we are and the more we live from moment to moment, The more space opens up to us and we feel we are living in a kind of boundlessness. The present moment is the incarnation of Gods eternity”.

Ice Hockey, like business, is fiercely competitive, fast paced, and requires intense effort to achieve desired outcomes under conditions that are often outside your control.

In a Hockey game men physically slam into each other, and sprint after a little puck for 60 minutes while trying to force that puck into a small goal guarded by a large man. A great goal tender can defeat a better team on some nights, and a bad goal tender can loose a game for superior team. It seems unfair that so much physical effort is required when the slightest mistake or unlucky deflection of the puck can determine the final outcome.

Hockey players put out 100% effort regardless. They know they must focus on continuous, high output effort with no let ups. When there not able to give 100%, their either taken out or they take themselves out. They know that energy level, intensity, and work ethic are the things they can control and they don’t get distracted by what’s outside their control. They don’t worry about the luck part of the game, they just never let up on the gas peddle. They love the competition and the physicality of the game and their energy feeds off that.

The hardest working team and the team that works together the most, tends to tip the odds in their favor, be it Hockey  or business. There are no guarantees, and just when it seems like a waste of energy to keep at it, is when the lucky breaks tend to come. Was it luck or hard work or skill that landed the big contract? Not the right question. It was all these, but the hard work that preceded the opportunity is the most essential in the long run. It inspires the team and tips the luck balance in your favor.

Hard work and competitive passion is also contagious. Hockey players know this and they motivate each other by this principle. There is a humble work ethic of honor in Hockey. The Grinders and the big hitters are as highly respected and the super skilled players. They raise the game level and they tip the scales, they create opportunity. It’s an intangible asset, as they say, but it’s very real.

The Hockey principle is good for sales professionals who often get tempted to let off the gas peddle, or give up trying when they realize that factors outside their control are influencing their results. They say, “whats the use”. “Does my extra effort really make a difference?” They start to blame business conditions, bosses, lack of resources, or product quality.

Never give up, work hard, and keep skating to where you think the puck will be, and you will tend to get luckier than your competition over the long haul.

 

“Great souls pay much attention to little things” Escriva.

“How you do anything is how you do everything” Rohr

“The little things are the big things” unknown

If these maxims are supposed to hold for all types of temperaments and personalities then it must be about more than being a detail oriented person. I think the underlying virtue here is having the humility to surrender oneself fully to the present moment and not skip over the details. It is also a kind of reverence before the Divine presence that leads one to truly care for the little things and not to try and control the whole agenda, or to be the judge. It comes down to 1Cor13 and what is love.

Love is patient, kind, ….and does not cut corners!

This seems to be a root question when confronted with the gospel command to give to the poor. How much do I really need to live?

If I am too busy chasing wealth and building my nest egg, then I have no time for the needy, and in some cases I can’t even see the needs. Wealth can separate us from exposure to the poor. And the pursuit of wealth can separate us from ourselves and the real pursuit of happiness.
How do I break free of the fear that what I have will run out? When am I just being prudent and when have I crossed over into building bigger barns and false prudence?
The parable of the rich man and Poor Lazarus is perhaps the most challenging of the whole gospel. What is the hell that this rich man cannot return from?

The isolation he created by his life choices and his use of wealth was not reversible. By stepping over the poor man each day, he effectively declined his invitation to heaven, and locked himself out through this habit of not seeing, not being aware.
The poor are Gods gift to the rich. They are an invitation to step through our isolation, our fear, and our desire to protect ourselves.  To just donate money from a distance may not be enough, we must embrace and engage with the poor or how else can we discern that question: How much do I really need?

As M. Teresa used to say,  poor are all around us. But can we see them? Can we see our own spiritual poverty? This may be the first is the first step to solidarity with the poor.

As long as we want to decide for ourselves where we will find God…we will only find a touched up version of ourselves. Genuine spirituality begins when we are prepared to die. Could there be a quicker way to die than to let God form our lives from moment to moment as we continually consent to his actions?”
(Into Your Hands Father, by Wilfred Stinissen)

The Crosses we embrace, even the little ones that arise out of the banality and ordinary service we perform, keep us from creating a God in our own image, or a spirituality of self absorption. God will decide the place of encounter, and we just need to surrender to that moment.