My So-Called Life

Thursday, April 26, 2007

I found this article very interesting

Study: Religion is Good for Kids

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Books, Food, Etc.

“Souls begin to enter this dark night when God proceeds to lead them from the
state of beginners, proper to those who meditate on the spiritual road, and
begins to set them in that of the progressives, which is, at length, that of
the contemplatives, to the end, that passing through this state, they may
reach that of the perfect, which is the Divine union of the Soul with God.”
~ Dark Night of the Soul, St. John of the Cross


Interesting things have been happening with and in my small group. I’m still getting my head around all of it, but I think I’ve just started out on a wild ride that has, effectively, ended my “Dark Night of the Soul.” As I start to learn more about it, I’ll try to put it in words that make some sort of sense. Now when people start sentences with “God told me”, I believe that God really did tell them something, and my ears perk up.

I am also being made increasingly aware of the power of the spoken word. I mean, God called worlds into being with words. Jesus used words to heal people of their diseases, drive out demons and to calm storms. What power our own words must have! This makes the practice of “claiming” things much more understandable.

I also never realized that in the first 2 chapters of Matthew, there are 5 instances of people being instructed by God (or God’s angel) through dreams. Who knew?

For Christmas, my brother and sister-in-law gave me a book off my wish list called Armchair Mystic, Easing Into Contemplative Prayer by Mark Thibodeaux. At the time, I placed it in my “books to read” pile, but I pulled it out a few days ago and have found it very useful and timely, especially as I’m sitting in airports. I think it will fill the gap until I find a mentor in some of this new “spiritual stuff.”

And speaking of airports, every time I have been in the San Antonio airport for the past few months, I have been lusting after a cookbook called The Pastry Queen. It’s a collection of recipes from a woman who owns/operates a bakery and café in Fredericksburg. This week while waiting for a flight, my coworkers and I stopped to browse in the bookstore and I broke down and bought it. (I figured it would save me shipping costs from ordering it online, anyway.) My coworkers wanted to know if I could bring some treats to work the next day, but I told them that with the way my calendar looks for the next month or so, it would be a while.

I’m still really excited about the cookbook, though! I’ve starting reading through it, and I really enjoy the way she tells a story about where each recipe came from. As soon as I can get out to the country to buy some fresh peaches, I’m going to get cooking!

Is there anything more spiritual than using common, everyday ingredients to create something spectacular? (And then experiencing the joy of tasting and relishing something spectacular?)

Thursday, April 12, 2007

More Fun With Email!

So one of my friends is sort of dating this new guy, and is a little worried about the amount of time they will be spending together in the coming days. (Like me, unfortunately, she wants a neon sign from the very beginning.) So another friend and I were trying to talk her out of worrying so much via email today. Here's what that other friend had to say:

Don't whine about the overflowing attention from what sounds like a pretty decent guy. : ) You deserve to have a good guy....don't be scared of him or you will regret it later. Just let it play out the way it is supposed to. You never know, if you reject it, God might punish you and give you one of the guys that are always falling in love with [A.Lo]. : )

Monday, April 02, 2007

Sicko

I think I’m really starting to understand the positives and negatives about marriage.

If you’re married, then there’s someone to take care of your commitments for small group so you can keep napping on the couch in short, 30-minute increments between coughing spells. There is also someone around who will go to the store to buy you cough drops and fudgesicles so you don’t have to do it yourself.

On the other hand, there’s also someone around to wake up when you get out of bed every hour to get a drink or engage in some more coughing or to watch you drool all over your pillow. And there’s also someone around to make fun of how your voice suddenly sounds a whole lot like Darth Vader’s. (Luuuuuuke. . .)