Pause to Reflect
A Poem
the mechanic
by Steve Garnaas-Holmes
I knew his life had dealt him much suffering,
and that more than once he had shattered.
Yet his eyes shone with a deep peace.
Even through his latest crisis he showed
little sense of shame or disappointment.
I asked him about it. He took me to his garage.
There sat an old classic car, surrounded
by a mess of parts and pieces.
“This old thing,” he said, “in order to restore it,
I have to take it apart. It’s a lot of work.
But me, I don’t have to work so hard at that.
I just fall apart real natural.
And just as natural, I guess I trust
somebody’s working on me.”
Listen to the poem, and learn about Steve‘s recently released book of poetry.
You may choose to reflect on encounters with suffering, experiences with suffering, compassion, trust, peace, doing one’s “inner work”, ….
Join us on Zoom for our next
Recalibration LIVE!
Even So, Be Not Afraid
with Marilyn McEntyre
Saturday, November 9
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Eastern
12 noon – 3:00 pm Central
11:00 am – 2:00 pm Mountain
10:00 am – 1:00 pm Pacific
A hotly contested election against a backdrop of international wars and climate anxieties gives us plenty of occasion to come face to face with our fears. Fear is not a sin, but it is an impediment to the deep peace that comes with practiced trust and shared experiences of amazing grace. We all have to dig deeper for hope these days, but we know where to find it. In our hours together we’ll reflect on how “Be not afraid” comes to us not as admonition but as invitation, and how even in the midst of disturbing events in both public and personal lives we can help each other find our way back to the heart of God in whom we can find both our own peace and the courage to be peacemakers.
This online retreat will be led by Marilyn McEntyre, author of over 20 books, including Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies (2021) and Speaking Peace in a Climate of Conflict (2020). Her book, What’s in a Phrase? Pausing Where Scripture Gives You Pause, won the Christianity Today book award in spirituality. A former professor, now writer, writing coach, speaker, and retreat leader, her deepest interests lie in connections between spirituality, language, healing earth and each other. She teaches regularly for Western Seminary, New College Berkeley.
When the new window opens, click the register button on that screen.
This will take you to a page where you can select 1 ticket. (No need to print a ticket or save one. Registering puts you on the list of participants so you will receive the zoom link – on Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9 – and any handouts or helpful information that are shared prior to or following the zoom.)
Click continue at the lower right. This will take you to the payment page where you can complete your registration.
A Word from Our President: Linda Holbrook
A few weeks ago, I went to a District meeting (United Methodist district) and one of the workshops was on AI. I went and immediately showed my ignorance. When the question was asked if there was anyone who had never used AI, please raise your hand, my hand went up. The presenter said anyone who had used a cell phone had used AI. That is how little I knew.
The presenter showed several applications and how to use the applications. One of the applications was Chat GPT (the application is free). It was a Saturday, and I had a draft of my sermon for the next day. There was one place in my sermon that I knew needed a little work for a transition from one paragraph to the next. I decided to download my draft sermon into Chat GPT and just see what kind of feedback I would get. Well, I was amazed!
I received a page and a half single spaced comments. AI picked up on the place that needed a transition. AI told me how the logic was good and how I was appealing to the congregation. I chuckled because I had used a couple of stories from the Bible, and a suggestion was to include stories. Evidently, this application didn’t think stories from the Bible counted as stories.
I was talking to a friend who said she uses an AI application professionally for all her emails. And I know that college professors are on the look out for students using AI to generate papers. I won’t try to write a sermon with AI, but I probably will upload my draft again to get some feedback.
The whole experience got me thinking about technology in general, specifically AI, and spiritual direction. While Zoom (or other conferencing software) has been a big help for spiritual direction (especially since COVID), I don’t think AI is little or any help. My belief is that the primary focus in spiritual direction is listening. As spiritual directors we listen non judgmentally, and we listen deeply to hear what is going on below the surface. Maybe I am just a novice at AI, but I don’t see how AI can help with listening.
There is a lot of controversy around AI; it’s use and possible misuse. And my limited experience certainly doesn’t qualify me to have much of an opinion of the benefits and possible misuses. I keep thinking that as disciples we are called to be in the world, and Paul tells us not to be conformed to this world. We live not as the world defines success, but as Jesus defines success. Spiritual Direction is one way we make the world a better place by helping one person at a time.
I would appreciate any thoughts you have about technology and specifically AI and its relationship to spiritual direction. If you have thoughts, you can post them on our Facebook page or send me an email. (Click here for our Facebook group.)
May you continue to have hope and continue with helping people connect with God and their community.
Linda
[email protected]
Book Review
Looking Inward, Living Outward: The Spiritual Practice
of Social Transformation. Upper Room Books: 2024
by Daniel Wolpert
Reviewed by Debra Dickerson
(Reverend Wolpert was our Hearts On Fire retreat leader in 2023.)
I sit in silent reflection as I just closed the back cover of this book. There is so much in these pages that resonates with me, to soak in, to live out. This book is an easy read, yet challenging. Just as the spiritual practices mentioned are simple, yet not easy, as the author admits readily in several places throughout the book.
Wolpert takes us into spiritual practices that lead to social transformation by looking at what Jesus said rather than what we have attempted to say that Jesus said over the years. By not listening deeply to God incarnate, we have perpetuated social injustice, a view of a heavenly only kingdom and other things that aren’t in the teachings of Jesus.
If the reader is willing to read this book with an open mind, there is much to see and learn. How do we start to attend to God’s presence? How can we listen in prayer rather than speak unnecessary words? How can we live in the here and now, in this kin-dom on earth, as we are called to do in the Lord’s Prayer?
These are some of the questions swirling around as I finish the book.
Format of the book: at the beginning of each chapter is a scriptural passage that relates to the practice in that chapter. The twelve practices are: willful attention, boundary creation, fearless humility, self-awareness, powerful presence, compassionate relationship, serving God, radical trust, letting go, discernment, loving your enemy, and prayer.
For me, this is a book that deserves at least a 2nd read, and likely a 3rd one. It will take time for the concepts, nuggets of truth, and practices to seep into my thinking and action. It’s a book that I would recommend using as a group study or a book club, as a way to discuss it with others.
If I were to include only one quote from the book, I think it would be this one: “One of the main reasons people find spiritual practices challenging is that it is hard and painful to encounter our own judgmentalism.” (67) I encourage anyone who desires to grow, to take the challenge of this book to look inward and to live outward. It will not be an easy process, but it will be transformational, if you allow it to be.
Make Plans to Attend Our Next Retreat
July 14-17, 2025
Presenter: Dwight Judy
Being a Compassionate Presence:
Revisiting “perfection of love” for our digital age
@Transfiguration Spirituality Center
(Glendale, OH – just outside Cincinnati)
More information and registration is coming soon.
Membership In Hearts On Fire
This organization is open to all who are interested in spiritual formation/spiritual direction/retreat leadership, regardless of denominational affiliation.
Enrichment/educational/networking/community zooms are being held at intervals throughout each year.
Additional resources including: daily prayer guide, book reviews, etc.
Please consider becoming a paid member if you are not already.
Have an event to share? Wondering what others are reading, or what practices they are finding helpful? Looking for a learning opportunity? Have questions about navigating the uncertainties of our times? Seeking support and encouragement? Want to discuss something you read in the newsletter with others?
Click here to check out our Facebook page to engage in the conversation and make connections with others.
Words of Wisdom
At our best, we become Sabbath for one another. We are the emptiness, the day of rest. We become space, that our loved one, the lost and the sorrowful, may find rest in us.
Wayne Muller, from Sabbath
To repent is to come to your senses. It is not so much something you do as something that happens. True repentance spends less time looking at the past and saying, “I’m sorry,” than to the future and saying, “Wow!”
Frederick Buechner
There are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talked about in the great outside world of wanting and achieving. The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people, and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day. That is real freedom.
David Foster Wallace
When we protect ourselves so we won’t feel pain, that protection becomes like armor, like armor that imprisons the softness of the heart.
Pema Chodron