St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians is a bold declaration of love. We were in the ruminations of Abba before the stardust formed into galaxies and the earth coalesced into its present shape. Indeed, Abba’s dream for his people already existed in those primordial days. Today we have the opportunity to wake up and embrace his dream with enthusiasm and intentionality. As members of his church, individually and collectively, we want to embrace God’s desire for a dynamic people infused with his passionate love. The church as the bride of Christ is a powerful metaphor engaging the apostle as he writes his letter. Paul’s passion becomes ours as we meditate on his words, which evoke spiritual desire. It is in this relationship of love that the central purpose of our lives is found. As we gratefully receive Christ’s amity, and as his bride returns it, so the entire earth is enflamed with the fires of his love. At the same time, we recognize it is a mystery—this love between Abba and his church. When we receive and reflect Christ’s overtures of love as a community of faith, a synergy is created and released through the interconnectedness of our gifts, talents, and zeal. The church contains the spiritual energy of a nuclear explosion, and when it detonates, it releases a fallout of love, mercy, and compassion, bringing healing to the world and drawing others to the divine presence.
There is a longstanding tradition that God whispers in our ears. He does not shout. It is in "the holy whisper," writes the Quaker mystic, that we hear Abba's voice, not in the noise of clamoring crowds or the incessant barrage of social media. To hear the voice of God is an awesome thing--to know his thoughts, to intuit his love, to participate in his good pleasure. It is both a gift to be received and art to be cultivated. It can call to us when we least expect; but we can train ourselves to become receptive listeners. We need help to separate the cacophony of voices calling to us from the quiet whisper of Abba--barely audible. Since our wordy world masks the quiet, respectful voice of God, we need to recognize the primary ways that Abba communicates with his creation. We must embrace practices that move us out of lives of distraction and exchange old patterns of living with new ways of seeing and hearing. From our deep Christian past we hear the voice of St. Augustine murmur, "Whisper in my heart, I am here to save you. I shall hear your voice and make haste to clasp you to myself.
Margaret Avison, one of Canada's premier poets, is a highly sophisticated and self-conscious writer, both charming and intimidating at the same time. She calls to mind her more famous predecessors--the religious poets George Herbert, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and T. S. Eliot--as she vigorously engages both heart and intellect. "She has forged a way to write against the grain, some of the most humane, sweet and profound poetry of our time," write the judges of the 2003 Griffin Poetry Prize. Becoming a Christian in her mid-forties, her life and her vocation were transformed and her lyrics record that shift. In "Muse of Danger," she writes to Christian college students, "But in His strange and marvelous mercy, God nonetheless lets the believer take a necessary place as a living witness in behavior with family and classmate and stranger, in conversation, or in a poem." How she blends her twin passions of poetry and Christian faith becomes a story of a kind of perseverance. Readers who respond with understanding and empathy recognize both the distinctive mystery of poetic witness and the mystery inherent in Christ's saving work to which it points. Her enduring witness becomes an implicit call for us to persevere in what Avison identifies as the "mix of resurrection life and marred everyday living.
This is a guide for spiritual mountain climbers. In the Scriptures, connecting with Abba often leads to a mountain. Modern spiritual writers have long recognized this scriptural metaphor and explored the nature of this journey of ascent. Drawing on the text of the Bible, works of literature, and the writings of mystics both old and new, Climbing the Spiritual Mountain speaks of the desires and intentions, discipline, and effort involved in developing our intimacy with Christ. In Jesus' dealings with people in the Gospels, he draws them up the spiritual mountain through dialogue and questions. Like Socrates of old, his teaching method probes our thinking, knowledge, and motives. In the process, he stimulates our longing and desire to reach the summit. There are challenges, hurdles, and difficult choices to make as we climb the spiritual mountain. But the reward--approaching the beautiful One who is our Abba--far outshines any sacrifice we may make on the climb.
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A Southern girl embraces the 60s and 70s, only to become mentally ill when the era is over. In the end, she regains her sanity and achieves her dream of becoming a writer. Elizabeth Wells: If I had to say what inspired this story I would say that I have lived an uncommon life, met unforgettable characters, and done things most people wouldnt do. The idea was to get it into a book that recorded much of my own personal history. Since the beginning of man, such inspiration is always necessary to the persons who create stories of their own. William Faulkner said, Listen to the voices. I do.
A Southern girl embraces the 60s and 70s, only to become mentally ill when the era is over. In the end, she regains her sanity and achieves her dream of becoming a writer. Elizabeth Wells: If I had to say what inspired this story I would say that I have lived an uncommon life, met unforgettable characters, and done things most people wouldnt do. The idea was to get it into a book that recorded much of my own personal history. Since the beginning of man, such inspiration is always necessary to the persons who create stories of their own. William Faulkner said, Listen to the voices. I do.
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