I just read a great quote from Parker Palmer's To Know As We Are Know: Education As a Spiritual Journey. I wanted to share.
On the one side, prayer is our capacity to enter into that vast community of life in which self and other, human and non\human, visible and invisible, are in-tricately intertwined. While my senses discriminate and my mind dissects, my prayer acknowledges and recreates the unity of life. In prayer, I no longer set myself apart fro others and the world, manipulating them to suit my needs. Instead, I reach for relationship, allow myself to feel the tuggings of mutuality and accountability, take my place in community by knowing the transcen-dent center that connects is all.
On the other side, prayer means opening myself to the fact that as I reach for that connecting center, the center is reaching for me. As I move toward the heart of reality, reality is moving toward my heart. As I recollect the unity of life, life is recollecting me in my original wholeness. In prayer, I not only address the love at the core of all things; I listen as that love addresses me, calling me out of isolation and self-centeredness into community and compassion. In prayer, I begin to realize that I not only know but am known. (p. 11)
This book is one of my personal fav's regarding the field of spiritual formation. I recommend it for anyone who leads small groups.
2 comments:
where you been, hoss?
Busy. I didn't realize that it had been over half a month since I posted. I can't wait to get internet at home, then all this lag time can go away.
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