Tag: spiritual

Quiz/Survey: Can your soul fit into a mailbox?

mailboxWelcome to the most popular survey at this blog!

Can your soul fit into a mailbox? Take this Survey to Find Out!

(Is this is silly question? Yes. Try to have some fun, okay?)

Directions: Answer these simple questions, True or False, add up your score, and I’ll give you some instructions at the end.

1. T or F On cold, windy days, sometimes it feels like the wind goes “right through you”.

2. T or F Cats and dogs bother you when you don’t want them to.

3. T or F The wrong mail has been delivered to your home.

4. T or F This wrong mail to your home stuff has happened more than once.

5. T or F Sometimes you feel lighter in the morning time.

6. T or F After a hair cut, sometimes you miss your hair.

7. T or F You feel like you’d like to “go home” sometimes, even though you might be at your own house when you think that.

8. T or F Babies and crazy people sometimes stare at you…knowingly.

9. T or F Your fear of heights has gotten worse over the years.

10. T or F You don’t wear out shoes like you did ten years ago.

Now, give yourself 5 points for every T, and 10 points for every F. Add them up.

If you scored 50-100, your soul is pretty hard to define, size and shape-wise, but I won’t lie to you, you have one. It might fit into a mailbox.

If you scored over 100, you have a soul, and a mailbox is no place to put it. Use your mailbox for letters, and small packages. Take larger packages directly to the post office, and take your soul and spirit with you.

We may not think about our spirits and souls in an everyday way, but if we hold our breath for 20 minutes, a lot of questions get answered. The life breath goes right out of us. The Greek word for spirit is literally “breath of life.” It seems there are a lot of things that aren’t incredibly easy to define. If we think we can use the Bible as a glossary, we’ll find out, there isn’t a definition of the word “soul,” “spirit,” like there would be in a glossary, which would clean up the confusion, nice and tidy-like. But, most of us realize our life experience isn’t just surface level. Are we simply machines that live a few decades, and then die? That’s the harder thing to believe, especially when we take in Beauty that is all around us.

Things like Beauty, Hope, Love, Innocence, and such, are *Ideals* that point deeper, or further out, than we can clearly perceive, or could ever accurately measure. Knowing God (who is infinite and personal) works the same way. So does a life that includes an acknowledgment of soul and spirit, and a journey toward the heart of God who is “Other,” the Source of Good, and the best of the ideals written on our hearts.

Thanks for playing.

I hope you stay, read some posts or try the other self-tests, and leave comments where you’d like to.

-Lisa

My favorite cathedral- St. Vitus, Praha

I traveled around 11 countries backpacking in Europe, and I saw scores of beautiful and inspiring cathedrals. As I would enter them, I appreciated the art, the architecture, and their magnificence. It wasn’t something I was used to. Typical buildings of worship I was used to didn’t involve such grander. Spiritually for me, it helped to sharpen the import of my overall faith tradition of Christianity that extends more than 2,000 years. The efforts to build such amazing places to bring glory to God, and reflect his splendor, put me into a state of awe and reverence. But it wasn’t so much for the religious habits of the people involved in those efforts, but because of the character, nature, and vitality of the Creator God we worship and love.

Even though I got to see St Peter’s cathedral at the Vatican, and various places of worship in Florance, and even St. Paul’s in London, my favorite cathedral was, surprisingly, in Praha (Prague). The St. Vitus cathedral was breath-taking. Here are images I found at prague.net.  

Where have you traveled, near or far, grand or simple, that has had a spiritual impact on you, and why? Share a response here. Please enjoy these photos of St Vitus, too, and try to visit one day, you won’t regret it. (click to enlarge)

Free Coffee to spiritual adventurer…

 

coffee 

A little while back, I responded to a reader asking if drinking coffee, (and other such things) were actually spiritual. You can look that up if you want to, if you want to read the post in full. But, in the post I talk about a truly interesting spiritual practice monks have used with coffee.

It gives me pause to realize how I may incorporate what I usually think of as “secular,” or everyday/common things, into the realm of sacred. This way, all of life is both a physical and spiritual experience, and a way to revere, love, and acknowledge our Creator. It is doing all of life as prayer.

As for me, I love coffee. I have since age 5. I would wait until my dad wasn’t looking, and I’d slurp down his milky sugary mixture, even if it had gone cold. Spiritually it does play a part in my life. It’s a way to sit back, and take in life, and to be more “in the moment.” I love to remember God is not apart from me, “over there,” or “in the sky,” but always with me. And, I enjoy realizing he delights in my enjoyment of things he has given me, even such things as simple as a good hot brew. So, I invite him into that experience fully, (when I have the right mind, and will to do so.)

I have a bag of delicious coffee to give to the visitor who best reveals, in the comment section below, how and why coffee (or tea, if you must) is, or has been, an enjoyment to them, or even a spiritual aid to their journey with God. Have at it.

If you know a coffee lover, point them in this direction. Hopefully, we can contribute to the dialogue on this topic.

Keep on brewin’! :)

The Dark Night of the Soul- Part II

The Dark Night of the Soul, says  Dr. Gerald May, sounds different in his patients when they speak. There may be (felt) discouragement, and silence from God. There may be a confusion, and a lack of spiritual “experience” or lack of sensation of the spiritual as there had been before. But, compared to his patients who have symptoms of depression, these folks do not have despair like those who are depressed do. They do not have the same cynicism, even though they may feel alone.

In the dark night times one knows transformation is underway. During times of depression, one hopes to return to normal.

Because God is not a “thing” but rather Spirit-all places at once-as we progress spiritually, invitations come to rebirth and journey closer to union with him as Spirit. What I speak of here is not a journey to a physical spot, but to an awareness of God, in a deeper, richer way. One that involves faith, not sight, or even the crutch of sensation, which may confused for God, but also cannot be God, in actuality.

We can leave behind the old methods of tapping into the spiritual that are like outgrown child’s clothing–too small for us. Ultimately, we move toward union with God in this way.

Some dark nights take years to move through. We must not fear them because they involve a greater revelation of God’s amazing grace and love. The end always results in greater insights of God’s love, and greater union with the Divine, in a brighter day.

In Part III, I will talk about the “Dawn” from the Dark Night.

Some information taken from my reading: Gerald G. May, M.D. The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth. Harper San Francisco, 2004.

 DID you read PART I ?

Dark Night of the Soul- Part 1

Q: Where did the term “dark night of the soul” come from?

R: The phrase first turned up in the poetry of Spanish Carmelite monk John of the Cross in the 16th Century. He composed many poems while in torment in prison.

Q: “Dark” seems awfully negative, is it?

R: In Spanish the term is closer to the word “obscure”. Though the process may be confusing and painful, “dark” is not implying a negative state. It is a description, especially once one is aware of the progression of growth involved, and knows how the dawn will approach.

Q: Is the “dark night of the soul” the same as depression?

R: No. It’s also not a “spiritual term” for the suffering of someone who needs help for trauma/abuse, medical treatment for illness (mental and otherwise), and/or therapy. Sometimes the two states are seen hand-in-hand, and many times they are not.

Q: Are there different kinds of “dark nights” of the soul?

R: Yes. John of the Cross spoke of a “dark night” involving the senses, and one involving the spirit. One may have numerous dark nights of the senses. (I will go into more detail in future posts.)

Q: What is a good way to recognize a “dark night”.

R: A dark night of the senses may “feel” as though modes of prayer, experiencing the spiritual, or spiritual practices don’t “work” or satisfy. God may “feel” out of reach, distant, unavailable, or gone. It may feel like a dry period, or a time of being in a spiritual dessert. (This is not cause for discouragement or alarm, but for stamina. It is a Divine invitation for growth, and greater spiritual depth beyond what one knows. I will elaborate on what is taking place more in future posts.)

Next time I will post about the “dark night and ‘union with God’,” the process of the “dark night,” any questions/responses that come in from this post, and more. Come back soon.

Information taken from my reading: Gerald G. May, M.D. The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth. Harper San Francisco, 2004.

My (upcoming) book Life as Prayer: A New Paradigm for contemporary Spirituality Inspired by Ancient Piety dedicates a whole chapter to this topic. I will update this blog with details as this work continues. Thanks for your interest. I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Now, Read PART II