I woke up in the middle of the night with this psalm verse running through my head. This is not one of my “favorite” psalms and this sort of thing does not typically happen to me, so how and why did this particular psalm end up in my sleepy subconscious. When I got up I Goggled the verse because I honestly had no idea where it came from in Scripture, but I was intrigued that it decided to show up for me. Now I find myself pondering what I’m supposed to take from it. (And turning it into the graphic you see here.)

For me it is a reminder that I am called (and I think we are all called) to find “the house of the Lord” right where we are. It is not somewhere out in the distance of space and time. It is now, here. If we look at life through the eyes of wonder and with the heart of gratitude, we find God’s house right in front of us at all times, around us, within us. I think that verse came to me in my sleep because I need to do a better job of being present in my own life and aware of God’s abiding present there with me. What does this verse say to you?

The post Dwelling in the ‘House of the Lord’ appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

The post Fear or trust? Which will you choose? appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

The post My Merton Fourth-and-Walnut Moment appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

“Read why @MaryDTP is one of our top 25 blogs on #spiritual wellness.”

And I was like, wait, what? So I clicked on the link that took me to a list of the “top 25 spiritual wellness bloggers,” and there I was, slipped in among some of the most wonderful and inspiring contemporary spiritual wellness/wholeness writers and thinkers: Louise Hay, Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Danielle LaPorte, Krista Tippett. And me?!? How did that happen? I’m still not sure. I just know I am beyond overwhelmed and grateful that anyone, anywhere would include me and my blog — this blog! — on that list. I’m not worthy. And I’m especially honored to be the Catholic writer representing on that list. Preach.

Thank you again to the folks at The Clearing. I am so grateful. And, now, here’s the full list. You’ll find me in the #6 slot:

Spiritual Wellness Bloggers We Love and Respect

Here’s our list of the top 25 spiritual wellness bloggers, in no particular order, to inspire and encourage you in your spiritual path.

1. Louise Hay

Louise Hay is an internationally-lauded author and speaker who focuses on how positive philosophies and affirmations can help people to heal their lives. She began her healing work by speaking in church, and later chronicled how she healed her physical body from cancer through emotional work, nutritional support, and therapy.

2. Lori Deschene

Lori Deschene is the founder of Tiny Buddha, a popular online community devoted to “reflecting on simple wisdom and learning new ways to apply it to our complex lives”. The site features guest posts from individuals all across the world to help readers cultivate happiness in their own lives.

3. Leo Babauta

Leo Babauta of Zen Habits was among the first personal development bloggers on the web. He writes about minimalism and the concrete, real-world habits that promote happiness; recent posts include essays on mindful walking and eating. He emphasizes clearing the clutter to allow for a greater focus on what matters most.

4. Ilchi Lee

Ilchi Lee of Change Your Energy writes about unleashing positive transformations for the mind, body, and soul. He offers various courses, videos, and products designed to increase your energy and thus improve your quality of life.

5. Marianne Williamson

Marianne Williamson is an acclaimed, bestselling author and speaker who penned the much-beloved, oft-quoted paragraph that begins: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure…” She writes about the spiritual journey from suffering to enlightenment.

6. Mary DeTurris Poust

Mary DeTurris Poust of Not Strictly Spiritual is a Catholic writer, speaker, blogger, and communications consultant who writes about finding the Divine in the everyday, healing from grief, developing spiritual friendships, and more.

See the rest HERE.

The post Honored, grateful to make top-25 list of bloggers appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

The truth is that humility is something we’re all meant to work toward, the virtue above all virtues, a characteristic you can sense when you meet someone who embodies it. The Spirit is obviously swirling around a person like that, giving off the clear vibe that he or she has thrown off the shackles of typical human existence and put on something better, transcendent. And usually when you catch a whiff of someone like that, you think: “I want that kind of peace.”

So how do the rest of us get there? For me, it’s a daily battle. I wake up every morning and think: “Today will be different. Today I will get it right.” But usually before lunch I’ve gotten it wrong, and I’m left shaking my head and wondering what I could have done differently.

“Humility can only get into the heart via humiliation,” Pope Francis says. “There is no humility without humiliation, and if you are not able to put up with some humiliations in your life, you are not humble.”

Why does God’s way always have to be so difficult?

So often I say I want real transformation. I map out elaborate plans to bring it about. Prayer schedules and exercise routines, eating habits and writing goals. Unfortunately, when I think about transformation, I do so on my own terms, which are not necessarily God’s terms. God’s version of transformation is usually a lot more complicated and difficult, sometimes even downright painful. Yet most of us can see with 20/20 hindsight that the best and strongest parts of us have not been forged by lukewarm shifts, but by the burning fire of challenge.

Real transformation requires real faith. Do I have it? For most of my life, the answer would have been a resounding yes. Now I’m not so sure. If I had the kind of faith that would mark me as a true follower of Jesus and the Gospel beyond a shadow of a doubt, humility would be my calling card and humiliation would have no sting. I am far from that place. Humiliation leaves me breathless, crying, angry, resentful. Just today, in fact, humiliation left me pulling a crucifix down off my wall because I wanted to be done with God. Then I apologized to Jesus, put him back over my desk, and considered why other people’s opinions (and opinions of me) have so much sway over my view of myself, my life and my trust in God.

“He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” (2Cor 12:9) Do I believe those words, or do I hear them and nod my head, all the while setting out to stake my claim, get what’s coming to me, avoid humiliation at all costs.

I think we reach points in our life when we are given a clear choice: humility or pride, quiet surrender or panicked grasping. I’m at one of those moments. This column almost wasn’t written because what could I give you from a place of panicked grasping? I can give you a reminder to begin again every day even when you think you can’t, to trust that God is there even when all you feel is absence, to sit in silence and ponder whether humility might not be the more peaceful path even if it is not the easiest path.

This Life Lines column originally appeared in Catholic New York.

The post Humility, humiliation, and quiet surrender appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

Alma Redemptoris Mater – Sweet Mother of the Redeemer

Loving Mother of the Redeemer, gate of heaven, star of the sea, assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again. To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator, yet remained a virgin after as before. You who received Gabriel’s joyful greeting, have pity on us poor sinners.

The vastness of God’s love can be hard to grasp on human terms. Yes, we know God’s love is boundless and eternal, but how can we possibly enter into that space and accept what is ours when it is so far beyond our comprehension? Where do we begin? To Jesus through Mary. We’ve heard those words again and again over the course of our spiritual lives. We’ve seen it marked in ink on letters and prayer cards, but have we made it our own? Do we look to our Blessed Mother as the point of entry into the endless and unconditional love that God pours out for us?

In Alma Redemptoris Mater, we call out to Mary, Star of the Sea, Gate of Heaven. Think of the imagery for a moment. Mary is the steady point of light that guides us across rough waters to a place of interior calm where God waits for us. Mary is the gate swung open wide, allowing us to pass from darkness as deep as a starless night sky to a place of endless sunrise that was won for us by her Son. In true motherly fashion, Mary draws us to her and pushes us along, even when we’re not sure where to go or whether we want to go at all.

Our Blessed Mother understands better than anyone what it means to look out into the unknown and accept a destiny beyond human comprehension. She must have felt trepidation and doubt when the angel came to her, even as she said yes to the Lord’s call. With her fiat, she refused to let fear win and went forward in trust. We can do the same with Mary as our model and guide. We can turn to her today, every day, when worries swirl like a raging sea and the heavens threaten with storm.

To Jesus through Mary—it is a path that breaks through the human constraints we put on our Creator and leads us into the vast and ineffable heart of God.

To subscribe to Give Us This Day, click HERE.

The post To Jesus through Mary, our star, our gate, our guide appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

Gratitude has that kind of power, not just in prayer, but in the most ordinary moments of our lives. When we are thankful, grateful and appreciative of what we have — even the things that don’t necessarily warrant a special thank-you prayer — we tend to be more generous, loving, patient and kind toward others. 

Gratitude shifts our focus away from our own complaints and problems. If we are busy noticing the blessings in our lives — even something as simple as a beautiful sunrise coming up over the highway as we drive to work, or our family gathered around the dinner table after a long day — we are less likely to wallow in self-pity.

But that doesn’t mean developing an attitude of gratitude is easy. It requires action and determination to look for those moments of grace, even when they are hidden among the thorns of disappointment.

“To be grateful is a characteristic of humility, and that in itself opens the heart to grace, opens the heart to others, and allows you not to put yourself at the center of the conversation but others,” said Father Francis Hoffman, JCD, executive director of Relevant Radio, who is known as Father Rocky. “Gratitude naturally takes us away from ourselves and opens us to others and to God, and that always brings joy with it.”

Be intentional

Those who count their blessings in concrete ways — written in gratitude journals or on slips of paper collected in a gratitude jar or box, even on Facebook for all the world to see — do seem to give off a sense of joy, one that ripples outward, as if every blessing they name is a pebble tossed into our collective consciousness.

“I like that idea, writing down a list of things that you should be grateful for. I encourage people to begin with the things that you take for granted,” Father Rocky told Our Sunday Visitor, suggesting people start with simple blessings, such as being able to walk and talk, or having a warm home and running water, because too often we’re “out of touch” with the reality that many people in our world don’t have the most basic things.

A gratitude practice can be as simple as opening up a cheap spiral notebook and jotting down, on a daily basis, the things that bring a smile to your face, from the ridiculous (your cat batting a crumpled piece of paper around the house) to the sublime (a good diagnosis from the doctor).

Even the smallest nods toward gratitude remind us that the goodness we experience comes from somewhere outside ourselves, from “a benevolent source of life,” said Bishop Edward Scharfenberger of the Diocese of Albany, New York.

“It stimulates the hope that we are not alone, isolated or abandoned,” Bishop Scharfenberger told OSV. “At the same time, gratitude is a response that makes a demand on our own creativity. It challenges us to become more than what we are and, therefore, to grow out of any vicious cycle or stagnant state — such as worry, fear, helplessness or even victimization. It is both a gift and a call.”

Robert Emmons, a professor of psychology at the University of California Davis, conducted a scientific study that demonstrated how actively being grateful can positively affect both physical and emotional health.

According to his study results, participants who kept weekly gratitude journals “exercised more regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and were more optimistic about the upcoming weeks compared to those who recorded hassles or neutral life events.” He also found that those who kept gratitude journals were more likely to accomplish personal goals and to help others in need of support or assistance.

Elizabeth Figueroa, a clinical social worker based in Georgia, told OSV that humans are wired for connection, and gratitude is “a lens through which we can notice ordinary places of connection in our day-to-day lives.”

By practicing gratitude, we train ourselves to pay attention to small moments of grace found amid the mundane moments of life.

Figueroa said that gratitude is appealing because it’s universal.

“The practice of cultivating awareness is central to spiritual and psychological worldviews alike,” she said. “Over the past few decades, the field of psychology has become more open to spirituality, and popular spirituality has drawn upon the gifts of psychology.

“Gratitude, it seems, is a practice in which spirituality and psychology have found common ground,” Figueroa added. “Science is finally confirming a truth that spiritual people have known for centuries: cultivating gratitude makes us happier, less isolated and more connected to ourselves, to others and to God.”

Be prayerful

Father Rocky recommends people use vocal prayers, such as the Angelus, grace before meals and prayers of thanksgiving after Communion, as well as mental prayer to focus their gratitude, expressing thanks for everything from grace and mercy to the Blessed Mother and the Holy Spirit to music and sports.

When it comes to gratitude, nothing is out of bounds.

Father Rocky says people who manage to maintain an attitude of gratitude even during deep sorrows and struggles do so from a place of God-given grace.

“That takes faith, doesn’t it?” he said. “And faith itself is a gift. Every priest has come across people who are objectively in painful and difficult situations and discover that they have this marvelous peace and serenity and joy in the midst of the cross, and it’s not a natural experience; it’s a supernatural experience because they have this deep faith in God that is at work in all of this. The expression of gratitude in those circumstances is almost like a barometer of the faith we have.”

That’s not to say that if we get angry and upset we don’t have faith, because it is only natural to get angry and upset with God sometimes. In those cases, both Father Rocky and Bishop Scharfenberger recommend adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament, meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary and confession.

“You can really feel the grace working within you to change, to say, ‘I’m sorry, please forgive me, and I’d like to begin again.’ We can get caught in that downward spiral, and we break the spiral by God’s grace, which comes from contrition but also through the sacraments. They’re very helpful,” Father Rocky said. “Grace really affects us, really improves us.”

According to Figueroa, true gratitude doesn’t ignore life’s difficulties but, instead, locates God “precisely in the midst of the messy places.”

“Gratitude does not pretend that challenges do not exist; instead, the practice of gratitude can help us find God in these challenges. Not only does gratitude push us to discover places of abundance over scarcity, it also teaches us that God is present even amidst the scarcity,” Figueroa said, adding that it’s something she has to continually practice in her own life.

Once you begin to develop that attitude of gratitude, it grows and spreads.

“Then you can recognize God in people around you, and in nature, and in the seasons, and in everything,” Father Rocky said. “It allows in the presence of God and opens you to a situation of joy.”

Be humble

Bishop Scharfenberger stressed that frustration over the struggles we may encounter in daily life — and even the most grateful among us feels frustrated now and then — can be a sign that our growth and potential are being blocked.

So for those of us who often find ourselves stuck in a moment of sadness, anger or despair, there’s no reason to lose hope or think that we, too, can’t move ourselves back toward gratitude and joy. The key, however, is realizing that we can’t do it alone; rather, we need God’s help.

“Gratitude becomes a recognition and a confession that ‘I need a savior,’ that ‘I cannot save myself. The source of any hope lies outside myself,’” Bishop Scharfenberger said. “Gratitude is more than an attitude or a habit or a tendency; it is a relationship with my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. It goes beyond being grateful for the gift of life and all the good things of the world, even the gift of family and friendship.

“It is gratitude for being rescued from the pit of darkness by the Lord, who chose to save me even before I realized I needed to be saved,” he added. “It is in such darker moments that what gratitude really means becomes clearest and most real: gratitude is a relationship with that person who loves me with an unconditional love. The only just response to the call of that gift is gratitude.”

Of course, not everyone is inclined to see even dark moments as a gift, and that is why we need to nurture the practice of gratitude when times are good. If we lay a strong foundation of faith focused on our blessings, we will have something to shore us up when those storm clouds inevitably come rolling in.

“I’ve found that a gratitude practice helps us to notice what is already taking place in our ordinary, daily lives,” Figueroa said. “Gratitude opens up a new world to us, when we start to notice the gifts that are always available to us, always surrounding us, waiting to be seen. Gratitude can give us new eyes to see what has been there the whole time.”

It’s critical, too, to remember that God is always present.

“Even in the most desolate of circumstances, we are oftentimes surprised by the abundance of gifts that somehow, impossibly, seem to show up — a kind look from a stranger, a nurturing friend, a new insight or glimpse of hope,” she added. “God provides us with enough, and a practice of gratitude can help us notice this.”

The post 3 steps to a more grateful life appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

There are times in life when the world presents so many hard headlines, and so many complex issues, that it feels good to ask an easy question, and get an easy answer. Sometimes, though, even the easy questions become a little knotty, because multi-faceted human beings like to play with simple things. We asked an age-old question of a number of Catholic writers (and one monastic “jack-of-all-trades” who sometimes writes): Read more here.

The post Desert island books: What would you want with you? appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

When I was on retreat at St. Mary’s on the Lake earlier this month, my retreat leader, Paulist Father Tom Ryan, took a few of us on a hike across the beautiful property along stunning Lake George, including a long-abandoned outdoor Stations of the Cross path cut into the woods behind the chapel. I hadn’t even noticed it on my first two trips down to the lake, but there it was — overgrown, falling down, forgotten, sad. At least that’s how it seemed to me at first. And all I could see was potential.

This would make a great Eagle project for a Catholic Scout in the diocese, I announced, envisioning the path cleared and smoothed, fallen trees removed, wooden crosses refurbished. I could see it filled with local perennials and pretty statues and prayer benches. I made a mental note to find a contact person who could take up the cause when I got home, ever in search of something else to add to my To Do list.

Two days later, after lots of quiet reflection and prayer, journaling and silence, I wandered back to the pathway for some moving meditation. I had just started The Soul of  a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within by Christine Valters Paintner, and I was going to try an exercise she calls “Visio Divina,” sacred seeing. The challenge is to use a camera or iPhone to capture a scene that speaks to you in much the same way that Lectio Divina, sacred reading, attempts to illuminate a line or phrase from Scripture that carries a special message. And so I set out to see what might speak to me from the piles of branches and faded placards nailed to trees.

As I started onto the path, looking at it with the eyes of interior peace rather than exterior progress, I saw something very different. I was moved by how beautiful the path was in all its ramshackle glory. There was something so fitting about a Way of Sorrow feeling sorrowful, feeling broken and betrayed.

The faded signs and lonely chair, the crumbling stone stairs and fallen trees, the hollowed out trunks and tangled roots seemed to cry out: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Walk with me down the path now and see what speaks to you. If you can, go out into your own neighborhood one day this week and try to see it with new eyes. Maybe even bring your camera and capture what speaks to you. Leave a photo post in the comment section, if you like.

A leaf out of season greets me on the start of the path

Second station with Mary in the distance

Prayer chair in the wilderness

Sorrowful mother

Stairway to heaven

A dead tree that seems to cry out with sadness

Crucified

Nearing the end of the trail

The chapel awaits at the end of the path

The post Way of Sorrow: Seeing an old path with new eyes appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

Today’s Gospel reading reminded me of my fabulous five-day retreat and the Life Lines column I wrote about making sure you take time apart to recharge your spiritual life this summer. I’ll be back in the days ahead with some reflections — and photos — from my stay at St. Mary’s on the Lake in gorgeous Lake George, N.Y. So here’s my column, which is running in the current issue of Catholic New York. Let me know in the comment section what you’ll be doing this summer to recharge. (That photo to the left was taken from my favorite prayer/journaling spot on a cliff overlooking Lake George.)

By Mary DeTurris Poust

As I write this column, I’m preparing to go on a five-day retreat. It will be the longest retreat I’ve ever done since, in the past, I’ve been able to grab only a weekend here or there. But recently, as I plan for a change in my work life, I realize that my dream of a longer and more intense spiritual vacation might not be possible if I don’t make the time for it right now. Even as I type those words, I’m thinking about canceling for so many reasons—we could use the money for bills, I could use the time to finally get to some long-neglected house projects, I could do the writing jobs that are piling up, I could take the kids to the pool.

But, if you’re anything like me, you probably know that even if I don’t go on retreat, I most likely won’t get to all the “coulds” on that list. In the end the only thing that will be guaranteed is that I’ll miss out on a magnificent opportunity to give my soul some much-needed rest and attention. We tend to put our soul last on the list, or leave it off completely, when we make our summer bucket lists.

Most of us wait all year to take a week or even just a couple of vacation days to regain our mental and physical balance, reconnect with family, and escape the pressure of work responsibilities and household chores. It’s amazing what a little time apart can do for our outlook and energy. We may return to an in-basket full to overflowing at work and an equally overflowing laundry basket at home, but the benefits of a break are worth the catch-up we all have to do later. The same holds true for our spiritual lives.

My portable sacred space in my room with a view.

It’s critical to take a little time away every once in a while to restore our spiritual balance, reconnect with God, and break out of the routines that might be making our prayer lives less than fruitful and fulfilling. A retreat is the ideal way to refresh our souls and jumpstart our faith life, but if you don’t have the luxury of a weekend away, there are plenty of opportunities to create mini-retreats closer to home, or without leaving home at all.

So your challenge this summer is to look at your life, your schedule, the things you simply can’t ignore as well as the things that aren’t necessary but seem to bog you down anyway, and figure out how you can spend even a little time in more extended spiritual reflection and conversation with God.

Can you take one Saturday, for example, and make sure all your responsibilities are handled for that day so you have absolutely nothing on your “to do” list? If not, can you take half a Saturday or another day during the week? Once you’ve got your day nailed down, think about the things that refresh your soul: A hike through a quiet park or preserve while you say the Rosary? An afternoon sitting by a lake reading a spiritual book or writing in a spiritual journal or just silently listening for the whisper of the Spirit? A table in a busy café where you can disappear in the crowd and look inward even as you watch the world go by?

Feeding our soul doesn’t have to happen only in a structured retreat setting. It’s something we can do for ourselves whenever we start to feel fragmented, whenever the stresses of life seem to be getting the upper hand. That usually means we’ve let our connection to God slip a bit and it’s time for some quiet soul searching, which I have found with equal ease whether I’m maneuvering around Manhattan by myself for a day or paddling across a quiet lake in the Adirondack Mountains. It’s not about the exterior view but the interior attitude. Once you set your heart on prayer, retreat is possible anywhere.

The post Summer vacation for the soul appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.