Serenity

Are there ways for gauging one's spiritual strength?
Many
Give us one.
FInd out how often you become disturbed in the course of a single day.
-- Anthony DeMello

Kentucky - Sacred Places

Gray's Arch - a sacred place for me.

Landscapes of the Sacred

"To Have Been One with the Earth
"Nature in Contemporary Christian Mystical Experience, Janet Ruffing, PhD., RSM
. . .findings from a research project that explored individuals experiences in nature.

Repondents described both small and large epiphanies when they talked about their experiences of God in nature. . .Because for them nature is surch a profound and consistent sacrament of God's presence, they sometimes struggled for words in an effort to avoid the language of pantheism. They experienced themselves in ever deeper inter-communion with themselves, the natural world, the human community and the divine presence. God was clearly dwelling within and disclosing God's self through each of these realms of experience. They expressed gratitude both for the presence of God they enjoyed and for the places which had become their pariticular landscapes of the sacred.

Kentucky - Sacred Places

Kentucky is where I went to seminary. During those few short years in Kentucky. . .

I began to heal from the oppressive “religious” standards I placed on myself;
I began to understand my relationship with Jesus;
I began to learn what was community;
I learned to ask good questions (thank you Dr. Joy)
I was introduced to the concept of moving towards God vs the black/white concept of you’re in or out with God (thank you Darrell Whiteman, for laying the foundation to Ignatius spirituality) and
I fell in LOVE with the Red River Gorge region.

In the forest and on the trails of the Red River Gorge, the Spirit touched my soul. While in Kentucky I was frequently drawn to the Gorge, sometimes with friends and sometimes alone. I would write, draw, think and enjoy the deep silence of the forest.

It had been at least six years since I had last visited the Gorge and Jeff’s spring break was coming up. I felt that deep yearning to be in the woods, to hike, to smell the sandy soil and hear the wind whip across the ridges. So three years ago when Jeff was 6 years old, I took him to Kentucky and introduced him to some of my sacred places in the forest.

That’s where we are tonight, in Kentucky. We hiked to Gray’s Arch, Angels Windows and Natural Bridge, checked out Nada Tunnel and the suspension bridge. He was dirty and stinky: now he is clean, pooped out and asleep.

I placed some significant roots down during my brief time in Kentucky. Spiritual roots that have continued to deepen over the last 15 years.

It is good. It is well with my soul.