Religion and Spirituality – Sacred Pilgrim Spiritual Direction

On Perspective and Feeling Stuck

laurakcav Blog September 8, 2013May 7, 2015astronaut, Christianity, Earth, God, overview effect, Religion and Spirituality, space, Spiritual direction

I came across this video this morning about the Overview Effect and was struck by how greatly our beliefs, values, and opinions are affected by our perspective. The way we see things matters. It affects who we are and who we become, the way we interact with others, the choices we make.

One of the valuable things about spiritual direction is the way the director can function as a mirror, reflecting back to the directee, offering a new perspective.

Sometimes we can get so focused on that one goal we have to achieve, that one problem we have to fix, that one person we have to deal with. We get sucked in. We get stuck. And sometimes, the way we get unstuck is as simple as turning the camera around for a moment and focusing on something else, recognizing the value and beauty of where we have been, reflecting on the whole, taking it all in.

Sometimes we just need a little shift in perspective.

What are you feeling stuck about these days?

Sacred Reading of Jeremiah 17:5-8

laurakcav Blog June 16, 2013May 7, 2015Christianity, God, Lectio Divina, Meditation and Contemplation, Prayer, Religion and Spirituality, Religious text

One of my favorite contemplative prayer practices is lectio divina, or sacred reading. While it is an easy practice to do on our own, sometimes it’s nice to have a guided practice to follow so we can relax and just receive.

To that end, I have created a 16-minute video below that will guide you through a sacred reading of a passage that has been very meaningful to me: Jeremiah 17:5-8.

(Hint: Allow the video to load before playing to avoid interrupted play.)

Goals for 2012

laurakcav Blog December 31, 2011May 7, 2015Goal, Health, Holidays, Mental health, New Year, Religion and Spirituality, Spiritual direction

After some thought, here are my goals for the new year:

Writing goals
Start a new journal
Blog twice a week
Make a dent in my reading list

Spiritual health goals
Try a new spiritual exercise each month
Practice the examine every day
Find a church community
Find a new spiritual director

Physical health goals
Ride my bike more than 5 miles
Use my new sleeping bag
Use my pilates videos at least once a week

Emotional health goals
Make a new friend in the SB area to have tea with
Watch at least 3 sunsets a week

Revisiting Contemplation

laurakcav Blog December 10, 2011February 20, 2015Catholicism, Contemplation, God, Health, New Seeds of Contemplation, Religion and Spirituality, Thomas Merton

In honor of the anniversary of Thomas Merton‘s death (December 10th, 1968), I have decided to re-read New Seeds of Contemplation. It’s been a while, and I forgot how much I enjoy his writing. Here’s a bit from the first paragraph of the book:

Contemplation is the highest expression of [one’s] intellectual and spiritual life. It is that life itself, fully awake, fully active, fully aware that it is alive. It is spiritual wonder. It is spontaneous awe at the sacredness of life, of being. It is gratitude for life, for awareness and for being. It is a vivid realization of the fact that life and being in us proceed from an invisible, transcendent and infinitely abundant Source. Contemplation is, above all, awareness of the reality of that Source. It knows the Source, obscurely, inexplicably, but with a certitude that goes both beyond reason and beyond simple faith. For contemplation is a kind of spiritual vision to which both reason and faith aspire, by their very nature, because without it they must always remain incomplete.

I like that idea that contemplation is the completion of reason and faith. It helps me to understand why God has been leading me the past several years out of my left-brained intellectual self and toward a more right-brained, mystical experience of who God is and who I am in God and because of God’s presence in my life. My college years were very much defined by St. Anselm‘s concept of faith seeking understanding. I expected my graduate years to be much the same, yet I found myself drawn to fringe classes like Power Encounter and Theology and Popular Culture. I discovered PIHOP and began an unexpected journey into the tangible experience of God. Instead of lining my bookshelves with academic volumes and commentaries, I filled a whole bookshelf with new and used titles from the Prayer & Spirituality section at the bookstore where I worked. Now, I’m excited to revisit New Seeds of Contemplation in light of my spiritual journey and see what new truths God has in store.