Solitude, The Place of Transformation, Charles R. Ringma

Coming to faith in the God of all goodness and grace is the beginning of a long journey of growth and transformation. And there are many contours on this road. There are setbacks and doubts as well. But there are also the points of renewal and hope.

One of the elements in the moment of  season of renewal is the practice of the discipline of solitude. At its most basic level this is a growing awareness of the need to be still and to become attentive to the voice of God and the movement of the spirirt within us.

This is the opposite of how we most frequently function. We are active. We are busy. We know what we should do and so we live life in full stride. And we pray that God will bless all our endeavours.

But there are times when this all becomes very uncertain. We are no longer sure that what we are doing is worthwhile. And we are no longer sure that God is blessing us.

Since newfound hope and purpose can’t simply be grasped out of thin air, the only way forward in times of doubt and uncertainty is to stop and to wait. And this can become the starting point for entering into a season of the careful practice of solitude.

While the practice of solitude should be part of the normal rhythm of our lives, it becomes particularly important and pressing in times of difficulty and need.

Entering into solitude is making a break with our more normal existence. It comes from a recognition that not all is well and we need to find new bread for the journey of faith.

Moving from activity to stillness and from stillness to solitude is a move towards a new attentiveness to God and a new openness to God’s spirit.

The outcome of this new attentiveness, while it may be to affirm the familiar, is often transformational. God encounters us and speaks to us in ways we have not anticipated.

Henri Nouwen suggested that “solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusion of the false self.”

The reason the practice of solitude can be so transformational is that solitude distances us from our own activities and preoccupations and brings us close to the seeking and renewing heart of God.

The God who speaks in the silence of our hearts is the God who seeks to make us whole and to guide us in the paths of righteousness.

God draws near to those who seek, wait and pray. And God’s closeness is always one of embrace and empowerment. In that embrace we may see ourselves and the world very differently. As the beloved of God our insecurities may fall away. And as those guided in the ways of God we  may see life’s circumstances and our world in the light of God’s presence.

Solitude is the framework for the gift of comtemplation, and a radical reorientation is so frequently the gift that God gives. No longer do the old ways define and shape us, but God’s gracious presence opens the way for newfound hope, love and direction.

Transformation is not the gift of those who grasp but the blessing of those who wait for God to move the waters.

 

P. 26-27 Hear the heart Beat with Henri Nouwen, by Charles R. Ringma, published 2006 in Great Britain, by Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, bought in St. John’s Cathedral bookshop, Garden Road, Hong Kong

The Fisherman and The Investment Banker

The Fisherman and The Investment Banker
Anonymous

The American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.The fisherman replied, only a little while.The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.

The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life.”

The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15-20 years.” “But what then?”

The American laughed and said that’s the best part. “When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”

“Millions.. Then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

 

 

減壓祕笈2

減壓祕笈1

Between Stimulus and Response

Reading from

 

The Seven Habits of the Highly Effective People

 

Stephen R. Covey P.66 – 73

 

 

I know of no more encouraging fact

Than the unquestionable ability of man

To elevate his life by conscious endeavor.

 

Henry David Thoreau

 

The Story of Viktor Frankl:

 

A Psychiatrist, a Jew imprisoned in the death camps of the Nazi Germany

 

“One day, naked and alone in a small room, he began to become aware of what he later called “the last of the human freedoms” – the freedom his Nazi captors could not take away. They could control his entire environments, they could do that they wanted to his body, but Viktor Frankl himself was a self-aware being who could look as an observer at his very involvement. His basic identity was intact. He could decide within himself how all of this was going to affect him. Between what happened to him, or the stimulus, and his response to it, was his freedom or power to choose that response.

 

Within the freedom to choose are those endowments that make us uniquely human. In addition to self-awareness, we have imagination – the ability to create in our minds beyong our present reality. We have conscience – a deep inner awareness of right and wrong, of the principles that govern our behaviour, and a sense of the degree to which our thoughts and actions are in harmony with them. And we have independent will – the ability to act based on our self-awareness, free of all other influences.

Look at the word responsibility – “response-ability” – the ability to choose your response. Highly proactive people recognize that responsibility. They do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behaviour. Their behaviour is a product of their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions, based on feelings…..

 

The ability to subordinate an impulse to a value is the essence of the proactive person. Reactive people are driven by feelings, by circumstances, by conditions, by their environment. Proactive people are driven by values – carefully thought about, selected and internalized values….

 

It is not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that hurts us. Of course, things hurt us physically or economically and can cause sorrow. But our character, our basic identity, does not have to be hurt at all. In fact, our most difficult experiences become the crucibles that forge our character and develop the internal powers, the freedom to handle difficult circumstances in the future and to inspire others to do so as well….

 

 

 

Faith

Faith

 

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see….(Hebrews 11 v1)

 

…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God…. (Hebrew 12 v 1-2.)

 

Endure hardship as discipline…. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. (Hebrew 12 v 7, v 11-13)

 

The New Testament

Fate, not God, sends us the problem

“Fate, not God, sends us the problem. When we try to deal with it, we find out that we are not strong. We are weak; we get tired; we get angry, overwhelmed. We begin to wonder how we will ever make it through all the years. But when we reach the limits of our own strength and courage, something unexpected happens. We find reinforcement coming from a source outside of ourselves. And in the knowledge that we are not alone, that God is on our side, we manage to go on….”

 

“Like Jacob in the scary situation, prayed for help, and found out that you were a lot stronger, and a lot better able to handle it, than you ever would have thought you were. In your desperation, you opened your heart in prayer, and what happened? You didn’t get a miracle to avert a tragedy. But you discovered people around you, and God beside you, and strength within you to help you survive the tragedy. I offer that as an example of a prayer being answered.”

 

When Bad Things Happened to Good People

Harold S. Kushner

Published by Quill 2001

Unattachment

 

“Perhap the hardest lesson to learn is not to be attached to the results of your actions.”

 

Joan Borysenko

 

Unattachment is the release of need or expectation associated with a specific outcome. For most people, this is one of the most difficult lessons to learn. We become attached to the way we envision something working out, and struggle to make circumstances bend to our desires. Life, however, often has its own agenda, and we are destined to suffer unless we give up our attachment to things working out exactly as we would like. We learn unattachment when we are able to release our belief that “there” is any better than “here”.

 

Unattachment is one of the cornerstones of Buddhism. For centuries, Buddhists have taught that one of the major causes of unhappiness is desire – desire for a person, for material things, for money or status. These desires create our attachments. We become attached to a person, attached to money, our new car, or our status as a senior vice president. Ultimately, these attachments are fleeting, we spend a lot of our time and energy in pursuit of them, and they prevent us from paying attention to the really important things in life. Feeling desire assumes a sense of dissatisfaction an brings about suffering. The way to happiness is to eliminate desire and the way to eliminate desire is to eliminate attachments.

 

Being unattached does not mean being disinterested or removed; rather, it means remaining neutral in your judgments of circumstances and in your desire for a specific outcome. In other words, if your goal is to amass a million dollars, it is natural and right for you to pursue that goal. The key to serenity, however, lies in your ability to hold lightly to the image of yourself reaching that goal. In doing so, you will feel peaceful in your situation regardless of the outcome. Unattachment means you are not bound by your expectations of how things should turn out, and that you are willing to let go.

 

In order to learn how to dissolve attachments, you will need to take the following steps:

 

1.      Notice that you want and acknowledge that outcome you are attached to.

 

2.      Imagine the ideal outcome of your situation, and then imagine the worst-case

scenario. Doing this brings any hidden fears to light and makes it acceptable

for the outcome to go either way.

 

3.      Make a clear statement to the universe by writing out your desire clearly or

saying it out loud.

 

4.      In your mind, create the image of you holding the intention lightly in the palm of your hand, with your fingers held loosely open.

 

5.      Mentally release the desire out into the universe, trusting that whatever outcome you receive will be the right one. You can use the visualization

of placing your wish in a helium balloon and allowing the balloon to drift up and away. Actually see yourself letting go of the attachment.

 

If your desire is for financial prosperity, your first step would be to notice your desire and acknowledge any attachments you have to achieving such prosperity. Perhaps you envision in your mind’s eye an easier life, filled with abundant luxuries and many hours of free time, and you believer that financial prosperity will afford you that life. Become very clear in your mind about the outcome you believe you will experience if you realize your desire.

 

Run your mind through the worst-case scenario. What would happen if you did not achiever financial prosperity? Take this to the furthest extreme you can imagine, even it sounds far-fetched and irrational. Doing this will bring your deepest fears and beliefs to light and give them less of a hold over you.

 

Next, put your intention of achieving financial prosperity out into the universe, through mental images, thoughts, word— perhaps even in writing. Be specific and clear about what you want.

 

Third, conjure up the picture in your mind of you holding financial prosperity lightly in the palm of your hand, with your fingers outstretched.

 

Then release your desire out into the universe, mentally envisioning it encased in a helium balloon, floating away. Remain anchored in the knowledge that whatever outcome you receive will ultimately be for the best.

 

If Life is a Game, These are the Rules P.84-87

 

Cherie Carter-Scott

 

Jesus’ prayer at Gethsemane

Mark 14 v32 – 36

 

Just before Jesus was arrested and put to the cross

 

“They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples,” Sit here while I pray,” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

 

Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said,” everything is possible for your. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

 

1 Thessalonian 5 v 16-18

 

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

 

Mary’s obedience to God

Luke 1 v 35-38

 

“The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.’

 

‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May it be to me as you have said,” Then the angel left her.’”

 

Luke 1 v 45 – 55

 

(When Mary visited Elizabeth, the latter said):”Blessed is she who has believed that what God has said to her will be accomplished!”

 

    And Mary said:

 

“My soul glorifies the Lord

       and my spirit rejoices in God My Savior,

    for he has been mindful

      of the humble state of his servant.

    From now on all generations will call me blessed,

      For the Mighty One has done great things for me –

      Holy is his name.

    His mercy extends to those who fear him,

      From generation to generation.

   He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

     He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts,

   He has brought down rulers from their thrones,

     But has lifted up the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things

  But has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

  Remembering to be merciful

   To Abraham and his descendants forever,

     Even as he said to our fathers.

Mindfulness 靜觀

「靜觀」就是用心地以平常心如實觀察 活在當下

甚麼是「靜觀」(又譯「專注覺察」)

 (Mindfulness)？

城市急速的生活步伐，常令人迷失方向，容易跌入不快情緒的漩渦中。我們愈要達到心目中理想完美境界，愈企圖控制生活中種種不能確定的事物，就愈容易變得沮喪、無助、不安……

簡單來說，「靜觀」是有意識地，不加批判地將注意力置於此時此刻之上。這份注意力可以孕育出更大的覺察力和思考力，也能幫助我們接納當下的現實。在覺察力不足的情況下，我們很容易被潛藏的恐懼和不安驅使，引發出無意識的負面行為。有時即使我們發現自己處理事情的方法不很有效，慣性的機械式反應仍然會在壓力下反覆出現。若不正視和處理，久而久之，心境愈耒愈困擾，失去尋求滿足和快樂的力量，出現種種身心病癥。

「靜觀」提供了一條簡單而有力的路徑，協助我們解開困擾，重新與內在的智慧和活力連繫。「靜觀」能幫助我們再次掌管自己生命的方向和質素，以及人際關係。這種開放的態度，使我們不再被自己的喜惡、主見、偏見、投射與期望而困惱，助我們從過去狹窄的角度突破出來。

雖然「靜觀」的哲理與技巧源自佛法，但它的本質是關乎生活的智慧，是有系統的自我認識及反省的過程，不跟任何宗教信仰有衝突。更重要的是「靜觀」訓練經歷二十多年在學術界的研究和發展，已成為一門創新的科學及治療方法。

「靜觀減壓課程」由 Jon Kabat – Zinn教授於1979年在美國麻省大學醫學院靜觀中心創辦，為患心臟病，癌症，愛滋病，長期痛症，腸胃炎，頭痛，高血壓，睡眠失調，焦慮及驚恐症等病人，提供八星期的減壓課程。歷年來，

科學研究顯示此課程能有效地減輕身心疾病，促進健康。近年，靜觀訓練亦應用在心理治療上，對治療抑鬱、焦慮、邊緣個性異常都有一定的幫助。

「靜觀減壓課程」亦陸續推展至世界各地，現全球已有超過240所醫院、診所和醫學研究中心舉辦此課程。在香港，自1997年至今，在醫院、社區中心、大學等機構，亦有不少人參加「靜觀減壓課程」而受益。

 

http://www.mindfulness.hk//modules/tinyd0/index.php?id=2

 

From Wikipedia

 

Mindfulness is concentrated awareness of one’s thoughts, actions or motivations. Mindfulness (Pali: Sati; Sanskrit: smṛti स्मृति) plays a central role in the teaching of the Buddha where it is affirmed that ‘correct’ or ‘right’ mindfulness (Pali:sammā-sati; Sanskrit samyak-smṛti) is an essential factor in the path to enlightenment and liberation. It is the seventh element of the Noble Eightfold Path, the sadhana of which is held in the tradition to engender ‘insight‘ and ‘wisdom‘ (Sanskrit: prajñā). Its techniques are increasingly being employed in Western Psychology to help alleviate a variety of conditions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness

Time in a Bottle

Priorities

 

Our greatest danger in life is in permitting the urgent things to crowd out the important

 

Charles Hummel

 

Use or Lose Your Marbles

Nothing shapes our attitudes more than focusing on our priorities, because when we move toward our reason for being, the result usually is happiness and peace of mind.

 

I recently read an article about a man who know how to keep a good perspective on his priorities. He called it his “theory of a thousand marbles”.

 

At age 55, he began to realize his weeks and his years were flying by. He figured that the average person lived to be 75, which gave him another twenty years, so with fifty-two weeks in a year that gave him approximately one thousand precious weekends left to enjoy with the people he loved most.

 

So he bought one thousand marbles, put them in a clear plastic container, and placed the container on a credenza in his office. Every Monday, he would take out one marble and throw it away.

 

He discovered that as the marbles diminished, he focused more on the most important aspects of life, and he observed, ”There’s nothing like watching your time here on earth run out to help get your priorities straight.”

 From The Power of Attitude Founder of Successories, Marc Anderson P.93

 

 

 

 

Time in a Bottle

 

This one is for you 3K

Jim Croce – Time In A Bottle 1972

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILf-54Smv9M