Tag Archives: busy life

The 4 Minute Soul Spa

Feeling STRESSED?  We live in a highly pressurized world.  Finances, work, health, parenting, relationships, and trying to juggle a multiplicity different things that are all screaming for our attention.  Add to this how we are bombarded by many constant more subtle stresses reported in the media; wars, economic crunches, accidents, natural disasters war and so much more.…
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Games we play to Avoid Dealing with Emotional Pain

I’m a little Tea Pot... when I get all steamed -up hear me shout!  A familiar nursery rhyme but what an interesting allegory when we are talking about heart-wounds, stress and emotional pain.  Picture yourself as a tea-pot (or kettle). Add some water, some heat, and when water boils, steam (energy) is released through the…
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The Art of Reason-Seasoned Passion

The phone rang the other day. "Hi guys!" the caller started. "We are on our way but have to get pulled out of the ditch first" the voice said in as a good humor as one could muster in that situation.  It turns out that the gravel road from their house to the highway was glare…
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Used by God – Revisited

The great poet T.S. Eliot once wrote: We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.

 A profound turn of phrase and very true if we live even slightly awake. It is most certainly true with…
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We ARE Chosen

How many of us remember the ad-hoc choosing of teams in the school yard? "I'll take Jimmy."  "I'll take Jane" and so forth until there is a lone person left and chosen by default.  There were times when I was growing up that I found myself the last to be chosen.  It is an awkward feeling to not…
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Inspiring Motivation

Many of the folks I speak with on a daily basis are struggling to find the motivation to do the things they have to, start something new and to see it through!  I confess I have seasons like this in my life and have to be deliberate about tending to my heart and mind to…
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Blind Faith – Merton’s Prayer

The following is a prayer by Thomas Merton found in his book entitled Thoughts in Solitude.  Thomas Merton was an influential 20th-century Catholic author, popular spiritual writer, poet, author and social activist.  A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, in Kentucky, Merton was a prolific writer penning over 60 books and many essays.…
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Resting Busyness – Grace to Sabbath

School is out for summer and for many, summer is the season for family vacations, and slowing the pace of life down.  As a kid, I loved my annual two month sabbatical.  My summers were filled with epic bike rides, camping, exploring the forests and orchard, building forts and pear fights with my buddies.  Days…
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Prayer for Busy People

It's a no-brainer to say life can be incredibly fast-paced and busy for many people! There are more demands for our time than time in a day, yet we strive to do it all, aware that many things fall through the cracks. Time with God (prayer) can be one of those things that fall through…
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Outcast outside of Us Calls forth the Outcast within Us

Dean Brackley, SJ was an American Jesuit who started his career in education, a community organizer working for social justice in El Salvador. Brackley volunteered to go to the University of Central America in 1989, shortly after the murder of six Jesuits, their housekeeper and her daughter.  In addition to his academic responsibilities, he also did pastoral work in a poor…
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