URBANarmy

Since our church retreat, I have been able to reflect upon another tree of life @suttonsachurch and how 'love unites all'. A simple art activity that caught something beautiful in us all. The idea that as community we allow our stories to be woven together takes a simple art activity and makes it powerful. It's a journey towards genuine social love, a journey that is not always easy because it involves transparency and vulnerability.  A community that gathers in genuine love demonstrates what Willard calls four marks of Good Community. 1) They see themselves as God sees them 2) No need for defensiveness 3) Pretence is laughable 4) There is a constant commitment to being realigned to God's purposes.  Good community is released from self, and knows what it is to be devoted in the service of others, our stories woven together for others!  "Love unites all, whether created or uncreated.  The heart of God, the heart of all creation, and our own hearts...

Love these words since I found them prepping for last Sunday  http://youtu.be/F9QeTmRCpW4 1. My soul cries out with a joyful shout that the God of my heart is great, And my spirit sings of the wondrous things that you bring to the ones who wait. You fixed your sight on your servant's plight, and my weakness you did not spurn, So from east to west shall my name be blest. Could the world be about to turn? Refrain My heart shall sing of the day you bring. Let the fires of your justice burn. Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near, and the world is about to turn! 2. Though I am small, my God, my all, you work great things in me, And your mercy will last from the depths of the past to the end of the age to be. Your very name puts the proud to shame, and to those who would for you yearn, You will show your might, put the strong to flight, for the world is about to turn. 3. From the halls of power to the fortress tower, not a stone will be left on stone. Let the king beware for your ...

Since reading Larry Warner's book on Ignatian Sprituality I have appreciated his monthly musings http://www.b-ing.org. Here are the highlights from October! "This month I present you with a simple spiritual formation tool that will allow you to  take your spiritual pulse , and if needed (and desired) provide you with the opportunity to re-orient your life so that you are more likely to live into and out of who God created you to be. The remarkable tool I am referring to incorporates a particular understanding of  consolation and desolation .  A simple way to remember the difference between consolation and desolation is this: consolation means that God is on the screen of my life, while desolation means God is not on that screen. When we talk about  consolation and desolation the best way to think about them is in terms of the  inner orientation of an individual . The  key question  is not what do I feel, but rather which direction is my current li...

Richard Rohr's take on paradox! " A paradox is seeming contradiction which is not really contradictory at all if looked at from another angle or through a larger frame...Understanding a paradox is to look at something long enough so as to overcome the contradiction and see things at a different level of consciousness"