on accompaniment, attentiveness, and contribution
No life is free of constraints. Time is limited. Environment is limiting.
It is not a worthwhile use of this limited time to fixate passively on these limitations and blame our problems on them… because someone with our same constraints is thriving despite them.
Getting curious about what is working for that person or group just may get us unstuck and back on the road where we want to go.
Our sons love this sunflower (below) that has sprung up just outside the fence of a community garden near our home.
Each day, they ask to check up on this flower (both to and from school) so they can see if it has changed.
I bored quickly of this game, until I realized that, once again, they were teaching me how to love.
They are ready, every day, to see this flower with fresh eyes.
Similarly, we simply cannot love (a partner, a child, a plant) if we do not approach them with the same openness and freedom. We are able to love only that which we can constantly discover anew.
The Examen Book is turning one! It’s a wonder how fast these kids grow up. And what a way to celebrate the year… … a Loyola press webinar roundtable this week on the Examen prayer with three formidable interlocutors – Becky Eldridge, Jim Manney, and Fr. Mark Thibodeaux, SJ. Here is the recording. If youContinue reading “The Examen Book Turns One”
While riding home on our bike after dropping his brother off at school, our younger son turned to me and asked: “Can we take a different way home?”
I am programmed to optimize for efficiency (“Must find quickest route possible!”), often to the detriment of my quality of life. Our son was opting for something else, a new adventure.
Productive routines and healthy habits are great, as far as they go. But routines also limit what we experience and see. It can be enlightening to take a different way home.
The adventure our son eventually chose was to go give his mama a hug at work. Not a bad choice considering our true home is in the heart of a God who is love.
Paul's Blog