Christ embodies the mystery of God’s strength, showing us the power and the love that have been planted at the heart of our beings.
–John Philip Newell
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Do you know that within you is power and love?
Within each one of us are powerful strengths, abilities and skills. Some of us are blessed with gifts of writing, teaching, listening, drawing, painting. Others are blessed with gifts of speaking, leading, analyzing, organizing, patience.
Within each one of us is God. At our deepest core is God. This is the essence of who we are. God is our inner love that yearns for compassionate action in our outer world. This is who we are.
Once you discover your sometimes hidden gifts, you must place them in action! However, you must temper the power of your actions with love.
The two must work together. Power without love is selfish. Our power is best used when the root of it is love. Our actions when rooted in love are powerful!
How do we root our actions in love? Contemplative practices can assist us with this process. My contemplative practice is centering prayer. It slows me down and connects me to God. I let go and let God act in me. God’s actions are always rooted in love.
I encourage you to find the contemplative practice that will slow you down and let you connect to God. I encourage you to find a practice that will allow you to let God work in you. It might be centering prayer, Christian Meditation, or Mindfulness. It might be taking a walk, painting, writing, taking pictures or listening to music.
Slow down! Connect with the Divine. Let the Divine Love act in you. Let the Divine Love flow out of you as powerful and compassionate actions in this world.
Go Further:
Echo of the Soul: The Sacredness of the Human Body by John Philip Newell
The Rebirthing of God: Christianity’s Struggle for New Beginnings by John Philip Newell
A New Harmony: The Spirit, the Earth, and the Human Soul by John Philip Newell
Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donohue
Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks – This is a great way to listen to books with your cell phone while you drive, walk or relax at home. I frequently listen in my car during my commute to and from work. I’m a proud affiliate.
Silence and the Spiritual Journey by Contemplative Outreach: The purpose of our historical lifetime is to provide us with space for the upward journey of evolution into vertical time and our assimilation of the eternal values that Christ brought into the world. This journey consists of everything from great touches of God (consolations) to the Dark Nights.
Lectio Divina Heart to Heart – Listening and Living with God by Contemplative Outreach: The ancient practice of praying the Scriptures is being rediscovered and renewed in our time. Known as Lectio Divina (Divine Reading), it is one of the great treasures of the Christian tradition of prayer.
The Gift of Life by Thomas Keating, Mary Anne Best, Susan Rush: This course will explore the gift of life in all its phases, even those of diminishment and death, as phrases of evolution and transformation in and through Christ. It is based on the recent DVD series with Fr. Thomas Keating, The Gift of Life: Death & Dying, Life & Living.
Themes in the Gospel of John by N. T. Wright: The course approaches the Gospel of John in a way that looks at seven key themes. These themes bind the Fourth Gospel together in a manner that allows us to see this ‘new way of living’ as possible for followers of King Jesus. In so doing, we then apply these themes to the current era in order to ask ourselves questions about how we are putting them into practice. In a way, this is the story of how to live out being the presence of God on earth through the indwelling of God’s spirit.
Prepare to be immersed in the 1st Century A.D. context of the life, work, teachings, and actions of Jesus. Check out Simply Jesus by N. T. Wright. It is based on his book Simply Jesus. Enjoy an article I wrote about one of the lectures on the Beatitudes.
This course is a short course based on Prof. N.T. Wright’s latest book, Simply Good News. Tom Wright will guide you through the chapters of his book through videos that suggest what some of the main points are. You will instantly get into the heart of the idea of ‘good news’ as it was understood by the 1st Century writers of the New Testament. You will be brought into their world in order to make more sense of what ‘good news’ means in our world.
Christian Prayer Methods: Prayer is a core Christian practice, but for many, this means “saying prayers” or asking God for various favors. In this course, we will review a variety of methods of prayer that have been used for centuries in Christianity. Whether you’re a beginner who is just learning how to pray, or a more mature Christian who has been at it awhile, this course will offer specific guidance, encouragement and support for practicing several time-tested methods of prayer.