Pause to Reflect
A poem by David Whyte
Loaves and Fishes
This is not
the age of information.
This is not
the age of information.
Forget the news,
and the radio,
and the blurred screen.
This is the time
of loaves
and fishes.
People are hungry,
and one good word is bread
for a thousand.
from the book The House of Belonging. p. 88
Upcoming Retreat ~
Save the Date!
July 14-17, 2025
with Dwight Judy as our leader!
Being a Compassionate Presence:
Revisiting “perfection of love” for our digital age
@Transfiguration Spirituality Center
(Glendale, OH – just outside Cincinnati)
Recalibration LIVE!
(on zoom)
Our July zoom had a record high attendance! We received great feedback on the topic (aging) and the presenter (Rev. Jane Vennard).
Our next zoom will be held:
Saturday, September 21, 2024
1:00 – 4:00 pm Eastern
12 noon – 3:00 pm Central
11:00 am – 2:00 pm Mountain
10:00 am – 1:00 pm Pacific
The topic will be:
Restoring Trauma’s Destroyed Attachments
Our leader will be Karen A. McClintock, retired psychologist and university faculty member (Southern Oregon University), and author of six books on clergy and congregational care. Her book, Trauma-Informed Pastoral Care: How to Respond When Things Fall Apart, was previously reviewed for one of our newsletters.
Watch for more information and registration coming soon.
A Word from Our President
The Hearts On Fire board met in Cincinnati at the Transfiguration Spirituality Center where our retreat will be held next year. (There is more about the retreat elsewhere in the newsletter.) We spent less than 48 hours together, and yet, it was significant.
I was reminded of several things. We are called to be Jesus’ disciples. Wherever we are and whatever stage in our life, the call to discipleship doesn’t end. Sometimes we think about resting and wanting to get away from the chaos that surrounds us, and maybe that is the time when it is most important to ask ourselves, “what am I called to be doing right now.”
Another thing I was reminded of was that zoom can’t take the place of being in person. Don’t get me wrong. Zoom is amazing. We can see faces and make connections that are important to our relationships. Having time in person allows time to talk about everything or nothing, it allows time for giving or receiving a hug, and sharing a meal is an extension of the Holy Communion meal of Jesus. Being in person helps relationships go deeper and become stronger.
We had a centering time at the beginning of each session. Many meetings we have in person (even in church) have a short time to read something or say a prayer. Centering time allowed each of us to look into our souls and see what was going on spiritually. On my first day home, I have remembered a few of the phrases that resonated with me in those centering times.
I was reminded that being in a Retreat Center is different than traveling to a hotel. The quiet with no TV allows your mind and heart to slow down and avoid the distractions of what is happening in the rest of the world. And every retreat center I have been to has beautiful grounds so going outside connects us again with God’s creation.
Finally, I found out that a dear friend had died the day before I arrived, and the people on the board helped me through those first few days of grieving. I found some comfort and peace by being with wonderful trusted friends.
I hope you will come next July to experience an in person retreat at the Transfiguration Spirituality Center and find your own gifts of being in person.
Linda Holbrook
President, Hearts On Fire
God’s Nature
by Thomas Aquinas
Sometimes we think what we are saying about God
is true when in fact
it is not.
It would seem of value to differentiate between what is
God’s nature and what is false about Love.
I have come to learn that the truth never harms
or frightens.
I have come to learn that
God’s compassion and light can never be limited;
thus any God who could condemn is
not a god at all
but some disturbing image in the
mind of a
child
we best ignore, until we
can cure the
dark.
… from the book Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices
from the East and West by Daniel Ladinsky
Book Review
Loneliness – Don’t Hate It or Waste It, Redeem It
By Steve DeWitt
2024, Moody Publishers
Who hasn’t felt a loneliness at some point in their life? I don’t think any of us – whether single, married, in a relationship, or surrounded by numerous loving friends and family – are immune to feeling lonely. In our various ministries, we’ve also probably had others share their struggles with loneliness.
That’s what drew me to this book. Steve DeWitt has served as a senior pastor of a megachurch in Indiana for nearly three decades. What piqued my interest, besides the title of the book, was DeWitt’s personal story.
He writes, “My journey through loneliness involved a couple of decades of pondering loneliness from the perspective of a single adult. I am now in my second decade of marriage. Many people mistakenly think, Steve hasn’t been lonely since he married. Wrong, dead wrong. This has nothing to do with the quality of my marriage and has everything to do with understanding loneliness properly.”
DeWitt’s goal is to reorient our thinking about the ache of loneliness, to turn it from a pain to be avoided into a kind of friend. “Loneliness is like hunger or thirst. The ache and pain can be a friend if we take the energy it provides and leverage it to invest ourselves in others. This is how we avoid wasting it; indeed, we can use it in profoundly joy-giving ways.”
“Learning the distinctions between loneliness, aloneness, and solitude is essential to understanding what is undesirable (loneliness), and good (solitude). Loneliness can spur us toward God and people. Solitude is habitual aloneness for self-care and soul-care.
“Loneliness acts as our relational conscience. As our moral conscience tells us when something is morally broken in us, loneliness tells us when something is relationally disordered. The ache indicates the absence of what could fulfill us.”
There’s even a chapter on Loneliness and Leadership. “Gospel ministry is intensely people-oriented yet is often lonely. What the gospel, by the Spirit, provides to Christian leaders are character qualities that can offset the causes of loneliness. We must apply the gospel to ourselves. The gospel humbles sinners, and pastors are merely enlightened sinners.”
I admit that early in the book, I was skeptical that I was going to learn something new or that I would feel better about my own (at times) loneliness. I was going to be disappointed if the solution was simply to take all my burdens to the Lord. Of course, I know that is something we should always do, but I now believe, with Spirit’s help, that I can reorient my thinking about loneliness. I especially liked how each chapter ends with three reflective questions to help the reader do just that.
So, thank you, Steve DeWitt, for sharing your story and insights. As with any struggle in life, I hope I can reflect on it as the author has by saying: “One thing is sure: God has used it (loneliness) to humble and change me. The pain has been for my profit. For this, I am thankful.”
Reviewed by Cindy Henderson, HOF member, spiritual director and retreat leader, living in the greater Houston (TX) area.
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 the 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 in the newsletter?
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How Did the Rose?
by Hafiz
How
did the rose
ever open its heart
and give all of its beauty?
If felt the encouragement of light against its being,
otherwise we all remain too
frightened.
… from the book Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices
from the East and West by Daniel Ladinsky