Vocation

Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic selfhood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be. As we do so, we will not only find the joy that every human being seeks—we will also find our path of authentic service in the world. True vocation joins self and service, as Frederick Buechner asserts when he defines vocation as “the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.”

What a great and timely message from Parker Palmer via Richard Rohr this week!

Be a warrior in recovery

Just heard Darrin Donnelly on the radio talking about his book, Think Like a Warrior. It's written as an inspirational fable, and in it, the main character, Chris, is visited by five of history's greatest coaches: John Wooden, Buck O’Neil, Herb Brooks, Paul "Bear" Bryant, and Vince Lombardi, who help Chris figure out how to overcome obstacles and achieve his dreams. Their lessons:

• Focus on the things you have total control over – primarily, your effort and your attitude in the present moment. 
• Love what you do and attack each day with joy and enthusiasm. Find your purpose and live the life YOU were born to live. Don’t be afraid to dream big. 
• Follow the dreams in your heart and ignore the naysayers and cynics. Keep reminding yourself of all the reasons your dreams CAN come true. 
• Be relentless and never, EVER give up on your dreams. Expect problems, but know that you have what it takes to overcome each and every one of them. 
• Choose faith over fear. Most failures are a result of fear and worry. Be fearless and know that you have everything you need to become the person you were born to be. 

It's interesting how applicable these are to recovery. See more with Donnelly here.

Trying to pray is prayer

From Contemplative Day Book (emphasis mine):

Our part of prayer is to try to raise our minds and hearts to God, to spend time making the effort. “Trying to pray” is prayer, and it is very good prayer. The will to try is also his gift. -- Bishop Basil Hume

No mud no lotus

See also: the pearl of great price.

In the ocean

drift by demandaj

"You may feel that you have a long way to go before realizing the degree of habitual meditative awareness of oneness with God exemplified by the great mystics. But the intention of your heart ... bears witness that a transformative journey, not of your own making, is already under way. Imagine that you go to the ocean, take off your shoes and socks, and wade in ankle-deep. It’s true that you are in only ankle-deep, but it’s also true that you are in the ocean."

-- James Finley, Christian Meditation: Experiencing the Presence of God

Patient trust

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability — and
that it may take a very long time. 

And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.

    -- Teilhard de Chardin (HT IgnationSpirituality.com)