Books Archives - Page 99 of 101 - Lisa Colón DeLay

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

Welcome 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

Life As Prayer Learning Group-coming in Oct. (INTERESTED?)

learning exchange invitation to YOU!

(The guy on the street corner who sold me this photo said it was a picture of an actual piece of knowledge coming down from “on high”. Apparently, it’s never been captured on film before. He either said that, or he took this when he was high, and he’s never been captured on film before. I’m not completely sure. He also owned a bridge, which I thought was PRETTY FLIPPIN’ COOL, but I could only afford this photo.)

This post is an announcement to introduce a learning group I will launch in October. It’s experimental, since I haven’t tried an online version before, but I hope this first group of us can test the waters for more types of group learning online.

What is it: A group of 10 of us, (max. or at a time) will all read the same material, and have a few reflection questions given out beforehand which go along with the reading. Then we will meet-up (online, perhaps using Skype, which is free-check it out) to discuss some of our insights and responses.

I will also send along related materials for your use, enjoyment, and implementation on a manageable “project,” that you come up with. It will bring the topics at hand into focus and application in a real way. This will help you, on a personal level, and be applicable in community, as well. This is the part that can really incite growth. It’s where the kind of “book club” feel to it, emerges forward into something vivacious and real–

even life-changing.

Then, a week or two later, our small group will meet-up one more time (online) to discuss our unique uses of our learning, and share our insights. We’ll exchange our ideas, lessons learn, and also brief project summaries in file form, so later it may be possible, (if we choose) to incorporate new practices into our lives out of our new learning experiences–

applications others have thought of, and already applied.

When is it: Some time in October. I will try to pick a good time so as many of us as possible will be able to interact in real time, at least twice. Probably in the evening, and perhaps on a weekend, in mid or late October for 1- 2 hours each time. (For this, I would like lots of feedback to hear what may work best. International learning gets be tricky with all the various time zones!) The rest of the time, learners will be reading, reflecting, or relating to God, self, and others at times that work best for them. There will be a place online (possibly a closed group on Facebook) where we can bounce ideas back and forth, learn, discuss reading items (not in real-time), share discoveries, etc.

Who is it: This learning group is for people who are committed to growing and searching for deeper intimacy and richer relationships with God, and others. They are curious, open-minded/optimistic, willing-to-learn and contribute, and want to apply insights from various sources including insights gained through prayer and the Holy Spirit. I will host and facilitate the group. To learn about me, click the “bio” tab, or go to my website.

What are the texts assigned: This has not been completely decided. There will be Biblical passages, and most likely, for this first learning group, the fairly brief text The Practice of the Presence of God: Conversations and Letters of Brother Lawrence. (The link above offers a free version, to print out oneself, but used copies sell for only a few dollars.) Some reading items will be sent directly to learners as PDFs, and other items could be added as I work out the specifics. Reading will be manageable, but will require a proper investment of time to be profitable for everyone involved. Expect to read 150-225 pages in total. Approx. 3-4 hrs

What the cost will be: 0$

(I always accept your generosity anytime with a cheerful, toothy grin. A link to help me is on the home page. Hopefully, learners will find the class will be worthy of a gift toward continuing this work, but one is not necessary.)

I’ll make more details available as I work out specifics. If there is a lot of interest, I’ll start a waiting list-after ten people ask to join in. But if something like what I am trying to describe appeals to you, in general, please let me know in a comment below.

ALSO- if you have suggestions for what may make this work better or more smoothly, please include that in your comment, or at any time!

This WILL be FUN!

thanks.

-Lisa

Free Book- "Embracing Soul Care: Making Space for What Matters Most" by Stephen W. Smith

Book excerpt from page 129: “[A walk with God]…is an encounter and experience when we become aware of his presence, and this experience reminds us that we are not alone, that “God is with us.” The movement from being alone to be being with God is a life-giving step in soul care.”

This goodie this month is a book give-away available to visitors from now until the end of September. To be eligible, simply leave a comment below stating your interest. One recipient will be picked at random. (Detailed book information below.)

"Embracing Soul Care" book image

(info from Barnes & Nobles dot com)

Synopsis

We live in a high-maintenance world; cars, homes, computers, and even relationships need continual attention. But what about our souls, the center of our selves where our passions, gifts, and individuality unite? Do we ever consider what it means to care for our souls? In a world where the quick fix and instant gratifications are many people’s most immediate focus, author Steve Smith invites the reader to focus on what truly matters most; the lifelong process of nurturing our souls by focusing on relationships, spiritual and personal growth and healing, and living out God’s purpose for our lives. Step off the hamster wheel of endless activity and purposeless action to find a deeper sense of self and spiritual transformation. Foreword by Dr. Gary Chapman.

Publishers Weekly

Smith, a confessed former workaholic, introduces readers to the unique joy of caring for the soul, which he says “contains the deepest part of who we are.” This founder of the Potter’s Inn Ministry, which helps people experience soul transformation, shares his wealth of knowledge about the soul in 92 brief chapters presented in 13 sections that address issues such as soul identity, soul formation and threats to the soul. Each chapter includes several questions to help readers address their own soul struggles. Smith certainly covers all the bases of the soul, but one wishes for more depth. Staccato chapters whet the appetite for deeper exploration, but Smith moves on quickly to new topics. The book, however, does bring important issues to light. He speaks often of the need for those who believe in God to slow down; he urges readers to use their senses to nurture the soul and highlights the importance of companionship on the soul journey. Studying the soul, he says, “is an incomparable journey to explore the depths and heights of the soul, for we travel the contours of a holy land.” (June) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Biography

The founder of The Potter’s Inn, Stephen W. Smith has been involved in Christian ministry for more than twenty-five years. He and his wife, Gwen, are frequent speakers and retreat leaders who focus on the spiritual growth and transformation of individuals, couples, churches, and organizations.

Does Prayer Make a Difference?

Have you ever wondered what prayer is all about? Not just that it’s important, but why it is, or how it changes us? Why might God wish us to do it? Why did Jesus do it? I have.

In my Christian education class at church on Sunday, we’ve been going through the book by Philip Yancey, Prayer: Does it Make a Difference. I recommend it highly. It discusses the questions many of us have wrestled with regarding prayer. Such as, “If God knows everything, what is the purpose of asking him?” or “What is happening when it seems like God is silent, and my prayers seem to just be hitting the ceiling?” or “What should I pray to God? What is off limits? Is it for him that I pray, for me, or both of us?” Yancey goes through plenty of tough prayer-related subjects honestly, without pat answers.

If you’ve read this book, what did you like, or what didn’t you like?

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What have been the most helpful thing or things you’ve learned about prayer? What books have helped you? Please, leave a comment or lesson you’ve learned here.

How can life become prayer

One big reason I set out to try to spend time on this message (with a book proposal and a blog) is to show that God is usually different than we make him out to be. This comes out in the Bible. He’s full of surprises. He sews leather outfits for the couple who betrayed him. He gives clemency to the first murderer. Jacob the devious trickster is father to a great nation. “Jacob have I loved, Easu have I hated.” In a better translation of the Hebrew, God says: “I am favoring Jacob, but not Easu.” God points this out much in a twist of the plot, and our normal assumptions, much to our surprise. It’s all to show his wild grace, which none of us deserve. The running narrative in the Bible isn’t much of a “how to do right living” book. The characters featured are usually full of flaws. It is rather a collection of stories where God’s power and grace shines through and saves the day.

This is a God we can love and trust. It is often a God we weren’t taught about too much in church or Sunday school. Perhaps Jesus was taught to us this way-a lamb draped on his shoulders, and such. But, God is often taught as something of a splintered off honcho, a petulant Being who has had a habit of smiting people.

The idea of understanding God’s character anew, through informed context, is that it leads us to understand the Reality of “him,” and the omnipresence of this Being, God Almighty, always in the regular moments of life. Every moment may be a chance for greater awareness and communion with the lover of our nefesh (soul-whole being). It doesn’t boil down to a set of rules or rituals. It is a relationship, a prayer between us and the Supreme Other. Our life becomes prayer.