Jeannette Walls – Jackson Community Church

Reflections on mindfulness, walking on water, rescuing others or being rescued —themes from Matthew 14

By jacksonnhccPosted on August 21, 2018Posted in Home, Justice & Activism, Weekly MeditationsTagged Beyonce, Christine Caine, Desmond Tutu, Ekapol Chanthawong, elie wiesel, George W. Bush, Henry David Thoreau, Hildegard of Bingen, James York, Jeannette Walls, Joan Didion, John Newton, John Shuck, Kahlil Gibran, Kate Braestrup, Leo Tolstoy, Margaret Atwood, maya angelou, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Nancy Mairs, Ramakrishna, Rebecca Solnit, Robert A. Heinlein, rumi, Thich Nhat Hanh, Viktor E. Frankl

There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in. ― Desmond Tutu

Alone — Maya Angelou

Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don’t believe I’m wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

There are some millionaires
With money they can’t use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They’ve got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Now if you listen closely
I’ll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan,
‘Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

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Reflections from Jonah and Mark 1: Being Called

By jacksonnhccPosted on January 16, 2018Posted in Home, Weekly MeditationsTagged Annie Dillard, calling fisherfolk, Daily Examen, discernment, Dr Seuss, Emilie Zola, Fady Joudah, Ignatian practice, Jeannette Walls, Jonah, Kathleen Norris, Mahmoud Darwish, Margaret Walker, Mark, My Utmost for His Highest, Oprah Winfrey, Oswald Chambers, Plum Village, ralph waldo emerson, rumi, Sister Chân Hài Nghiêm, Stephern King, The Quotidian Mysteries, Vincent van Gogh

For My People (excerpt) — Margaret Walker

For my people standing staring trying to fashion a better way

from confusion, from hypocrisy and misunderstanding,

trying to fashion a world that will hold all the people,

all the faces, all the adams and eves and their countless generations;

Let a new earth rise. Let another world be born. Let a

bloody peace be written in the sky. Let a second

generation full of courage issue forth; let a people

loving freedom come to growth. Let a beauty full of

healing and a strength of final clenching be the pulsing

in our spirits and our blood. Let the martial songs

be written, let the dirges disappear. Let a race of men now

rise and take control.

Oh the Places You’ll Go (excerpt) — Dr. Seuss

You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting, So… get on your way!

Do you wonder what you are called to do? Whom you are called to be? Are you reflecting on a decision? The Ignatian discernment process may be helpful. Here is a link to an article that outlines this spiritual process briefly, or you can go to the original website for a more in-depth approach.

Or are you looking for a simple way to pray each day, and reflect and be mindful each day? Try the Daily Examen, another Ignatian practice.

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