embrace it.

It never fails that as soon as something is no longer available to me, I wonder if I want it.

For example: today I packed up all my books – 11 boxes of books, ready for transport. And now I’m sitting here listening to music and thinking “you know, maybe I wanted to have the Rilke book out” and, “I wonder which box Richard Foster is in.”

And surely I can go a week or a month or so without these things. And before I put the tape on all those boxes, I hadn’t needed those things.

It is only now that I wonder.

But life is like that. We make decisions. We close doors and move on. It would be unusual for us not to continue to wonder, to ask “what if?”

The problem is when the wondering keeps us from living the life we have chosen.

So the tape will stay on the boxes. I’ll see Richard Foster again soon enough. In the meantime, I will continue to move forward…because this current uncertainty is not about the doors that have closed – it is about the world that has been opened before me.

time for something new.

[ganked from Liz, David, and Beth]

Describe yourself using ONE BAND/SINGER and only SONG TITLES from that band/singer.

Band :: Indigo Girls
Male or Female? :: Sister
How some people feel about you :: The Girl With the Weight of the World in Her Hands
How you feel about yourself :: You’ve Got to Show
Describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend :: Pushing the Needle Too Far
Describe your current boyfriend/girlfriend :: Free In You
Where you want to be :: Get Out the Map
What you want to be :: Let It Be Me
How you live :: All That We Let In
How you love :: I Believe in Love
Words of wisdom :: Everything In Its Own Time

“creating a world inspired”

Bad religion has always favored escape, passivity, irresponsibility. By dint of fixing one’s eyes on heaven above, one does not see what takes place on earth here below.

The upward-looking must come to an understanding with the forward-looking.

We believe that our God (up above) calls us to go forward. Our faith in absolute does not immobilize us in contemplation, but hinvites us to discover him according to our means of creating a world inspired by his love: a world where justice dwells and where people love one another.

-Louis Everly

thoughts on courage. and calling.

Though there will be different chapters and different calls, there will be a theme or undercurrent that brings unity to who we are and what we are called to be. We may not see what unifies our life until we are older and we begin to look back over where we have been and what we have done. But the underlying theme of our life is there nonetheless, and each chapter will be but one expression of it. Vocational development should not be construed as the single rising curve of misconceived careerism. We are not climbing ladders, we are not doing things to make our C.V. more impressive. Rather we are working out the story of our life. Our story will include setback and failures as well as surprises and responses to opportunities we never could have forseen.

We embrace the opportunities that come today, often with little idea of the implications down the road. We are not building a career, we are responding, at this time, in this place, to a call – to a sense of vocation that is congruent with who we are and that ultimately comes from God.

-Gordon T. Smith, Courage and Calling

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“We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us” -Romans 12

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PROPHETS see the profound need for people to live in the truth they already know.

SERVANTS are particularly sensitive to what needs to be done; they think there is too much thought and not enough action.

TEACHERS believe that if people could just understand, they would know and live the truth.

ENCOURAGERS have a deep conviction that encouragement is what is required if the world is going to experience peace, justice, and transformation.

CONTRIBUTERS know how to make money and how to give it generously.

LEADERS bring together the gifts and contributions of others so that together we can bring about our common vision

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“I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God that is within you…For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of self-discipline.” -2 Timothy 1

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We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

-Archbishop Oscar Romero

how will you find fulfillment?

In calling you, God does not dictate what you have to do. His call is first and foremost a personal encounter. Let Christ welcome you, and you will discover what road to take.

God calls you to freedom. He does not turn you into someone who is passive. By his Holy Spirit God dwells within you, yet does not take your place. On the contrary, God awakens unsuspected energies.

When you are young, you may be afraid and be tempted not to choose, in order to keep all your options open. But how will you find fulfillment if you remain at the crossroads?

Letter to those who want to follow Christ, fr. Alois