Tag Archives: wholeness

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Do You Really Want to be Well?


In my reading and research today for my “Unhurried” book project, I came across this good word in Joan Chittister’s Wisdom Distilled From the Daily, which is a thematic commentary on the Rule of Benedict.

“The ancients tell the story of the distressed person who came to the Holy One for help. ‘Do you really want a cure?’ the Holy One asked. ‘If I did not, would I bother to come to you?’ the disciple answered. ‘Oh, yes,’ the master said. ‘Most people do.’ And the disciple said, incredulously, ‘But what for then?’ And the Holy One answered, ‘Well, not for a cure. That’s painful. They come for relief.’” (Joan Chittister, OSB. Wisdom Distilled from the Daily. New York: HarperCollins, 1990, p. 128.)

Ouch! How often am I coming to Jesus, settling for mere relief, when I could actually be healed. Relief is good, but usually temporary. Being well is longer lasting and more deeply rooted.

Do you want to be well?

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Ministering From Solitude


“Solitude spiritualizes the whole [person], transforms [them], body and soul, from a carnal to a spiritual being. It can only do so in the Spirit of Christ Who elevates our whole being in God, and does not divide [a person’s] personality against itself like those false asceticisms which St. Paul knew to be enemies of the Cross of Christ.” (Thomas Merton. Disputed Questions. New York: Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, 1953, 1959, 1960, p. 172.)

True Christian spirituality unites our inner life and outer life. False ascetisms dis-integrate us, body from soul and spirit. We look down on the body and idealize our false vision of the inner life. Spirituality is embodied. Spiritual practices involve our body, some more obviously than others.

Solitude makes us holy as a being alone with God, not as personally directed privacy. Isolation is not solitude. Me alone with myself isn’t sanctifying. Alone and apart from God is not a place of life. Alone with God is.

Reflection Questions:

  • Think about recent times when you’ve been alone. At what points did you feel alone for yourself (privacy)? At what points did you feel alone with God (solitude)?
  • How would you describe the difference between these two ways of being alone?
  • How is God inviting you to moment alone with Him day-to-day? What would energize, encourage and refresh you alone in His presence?

(Repost from April 2010)

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Ministering From Solitude


“Solitude spiritualizes the whole [person], transforms [them], body and soul, from a carnal to a spiritual being. It can only do so in the Spirit of Christ Who elevates our whole being in God, and does not divide [a person’s] personality against itself like those false asceticisms which St. Paul knew to be enemies of the Cross of Christ.” (Thomas Merton. Disputed Questions. New York: Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, 1953, 1959, 1960, p. 172.)

True Christian spirituality unites our inner life and outer life. False ascetisms dis-integrate us, body from soul and spirit. We look down on the body and idealize our false vision of the inner life. Spirituality is embodied. Spiritual practices involve our body, some more obviously than others.

Solitude makes us holy as a being alone with God, not as personally directed privacy. Isolation is not solitude. Me alone with myself isn’t sanctifying. Alone and apart from God is not a place of life. Alone with God is.

Reflection Questions:

  • Think about recent times when you’ve been alone. At what points did you feel alone for yourself (privacy)? At what points did you feel alone with God (solitude)?
  • How would you describe the difference between these two ways of being alone?
  • How is God inviting you to moment alone with Him day-to-day? What would energize, encourage and refresh you alone in His presence?

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A Good Word: What is Intimacy?


I pulled a couple of excerpts on the theme of intimacy from Hands & Fehr’s Spiritual Wholeness for Clergy. I’d enjoy hearing your responses and thoughts. Make a comment, would you?

“Eric Berne calls [intimacy] a candid and honest emotional exchange (Berne, 1964). He maintains that there are only three possible human transactions: pastimes, games, or intimacy. Pastimes are routine, superficial remarks. “How are you?” Games are the many dishonest manipulations and hidden agendas among people. The only emotionally honest and candid interchanges are called intimacy.” (Donald R. Hands and Wayne L. Fehr. Spiritual Wholeness for Clergy. Herndon: The Alban Institute, 1993, p. 37.)

Think about recent conversations and interactions. How much time has been spent in “pastimes”? In games? In emotionally honest and candid interchanges?

“Etymologically. the word [intimacy] itself comes from the Latin word intus, meaning “inside”; its comparative is interior, meaning “more inside”; the superlative is intimus, meaning the “most inside.” The Latin word intimus, therefore, can also mean “best friend.” The whole series denotes depth and interiority, a sharing of one’s insides with another.” (p. 37.)