SPIRIT Blog
Very clearly,
we are firmly now
well within
the new time.
The ancient paradigm
Is now ready to return.
Death you have no sting.
Aslan is back in Narnia.
-Mary Smail
Dear Reader:
When was the last time you updated your status? Not your facebook status, but you spiritual status. If you are anything like me, it can become all too easy to fall into the habit of expressing my spiritual life as a collection of personal well-worn phrases and recollections. But if we are open to it, life is continually offering us fresh experiences and metaphors. I once had a ministry student who expressed his current journey with Spirit as being like watching a dolphin – She surfaces time and again, takes his breath away, and he’s never quite sure where he will see Her next.
I have another friend who has been updating her facebook status daily with fresh language, much like poetry. That is one of her posts above, shared with her permission with you. She is reaching to find words and images as current as Spirit Herself to track their daily journey together. She is a psychotherapist and leans into the power of the imaginal intuitive mind to engage life. And for my money, I think she is right on target with what the founders of our spiritual traditions once did. When I think of Buddha, I think of his powerful image of earthworms writhing in agony as they suffered the plow, intuitively leading to his first noble truth: The truth of dukkha, (or “All beings suffer.”) Or I see Jesus of Nazareth traveling around Palestine, revealing great truths about his beautiful Way through imaginal, intuitive use of everyday things (wells, wine skins, seeds, lanterns, salt.)
In progressive spiritual communities, we may choose to free one another to think for ourselves and sail out into the uncharted waters of today. By using the gift of our intuitive imaginal self, we can remain alive and updated as Spirit surfaces anew. And maybe, just maybe, that is what living faith is all about in the first place.
Glad you’re there,
Rev. Pressley
Very clearly,
we are firmly now
well within
the new time.
The ancient paradigm
Is now ready to return.
Death you have no sting.
Aslan is back in Narnia.
-Mary Smail
Dear Reader:
When was the last time you updated your status? Not your facebook status, but you spiritual status. If you are anything like me, it can become all too easy to fall into the habit of expressing my spiritual life as a collection of personal well-worn phrases and recollections. But if we are open to it, life is continually offering us fresh experiences and metaphors. I once had a ministry student who expressed his current journey with Spirit as being like watching a dolphin – She surfaces time and again, takes his breath away, and he’s never quite sure where he will see Her next.
I have another friend who has been updating her facebook status daily with fresh language, much like poetry. That is one of her posts above, shared with her permission with you. She is reaching to find words and images as current as Spirit Herself to track their daily journey together. She is a psychotherapist and leans into the power of the imaginal intuitive mind to engage life. And for my money, I think she is right on target with what the founders of our spiritual traditions once did. When I think of Buddha, I think of his powerful image of earthworms writhing in agony as they suffered the plow, intuitively leading to his first noble truth: The truth of dukkha, (or “All beings suffer.”) Or I see Jesus of Nazareth traveling around Palestine, revealing great truths about his beautiful Way through imaginal, intuitive use of everyday things (wells, wine skins, seeds, lanterns, salt.)
In progressive spiritual communities, we may choose to free one another to think for ourselves and sail out into the uncharted waters of today. By using the gift of our intuitive imaginal self, we can remain alive and updated as Spirit surfaces anew. And maybe, just maybe, that is what living faith is all about in the first place.
Glad you’re there,
Rev. Pressley