How much could our souls expand if we abandoned our pursuit of the enemy image? What if we worked on liberating the shadow, the unknown artist who paints the enemy image for us?
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I have been averting my eyes and ears from the news and television dramas for a few years now. The tragic news always makes its way to me and I sit with it in meditation. I have practiced Tonglen meditation which is a Buddhist practice of deep empathy with self and others. Another strategy for relating to the news that I've tried is honoring the needs of others. A third way is
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I think the Key to Peace is compassion and it is deepens by practicing;
paying attention in the moment, to be present and open to what truly is.
regulating our emotions and connecting with our feelings.
identifying the needs we are longing for and
recognizing and honoring that everyone else has those same needs and that they are doing the best they can with their unique experience, exposure, and resources they currently have.
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This morning as I was readying to leave for my 8:30a class, I noticed that I was running late and yet not stressed out about it. My husband asked me to get something out of his car. Our four yr old and I said our goodbyes with our usual kiss on the cheek. I went out to the car and came back in. As soon as I opened the door, our daughter said, "oh mom, did you forget your phone?" I replied, "No, I'm bringing Dada something from the car." I went back out to the car and searched for my phone.
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It is an old and ironic habit of human beings to run faster when we have lost our way. ~Rollo May
In the study of Spiritual Direction, we cover the history of Christian Spirituality as well as the nuts and bolts of psychology, sociology, psychotherapy, covering our development as human and spiritual beings as groups and individually. One of the most fascinating aspects of the human species is the relationship between doing and being. I believe that our reactions are not predetermined, but are highly influenced by our capacity to learn and adjust to years of past experience and the unique combination, sequence, and interpretation of raw data we've collected since before we were born.
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Friday, on my way to The Spiritual Direction Institute class, I made my weekly call to my grandmother. During our call she struggled to hear me. She normally needs to take out her hearing aids because the buzz when she's on the phone. She really enjoys hearing about our kids and stories of our daily lives. I really enjoy her witty sense of humor as I usually arrive to my next destination with all my eye makeup cried away from intense laughter. On this week's call she was asking to repeat the stories and was answering with generic responses. By the end of our call, she started
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