Many things can distract us from really connecting with others. We may be tempted to have many, and different experiences, yet remain shallow in our human connections. If we give ourselves too much choice, wanting to have it all, we will lose discernment for what we really are here for. We need to become aware of what we bring to our interactive spaces, of how present we really are, for if we are not giving life to another, we actually are taking it from them. Do we nourish and satisfy others through our connections? We need to develop relational intuition where we stop judging people by externals and develop a sense for invisible things – to be aware of when there are facades between us, of when we are not being real. Continue reading Life happens as we truly connect with others
Tag Archives: God
Singing the same old tune?
Though our relationships affect us all profoundly few of us are aware of how much they do. We easily turn to a consumer mindset, a more functional side of life and our face to face connections get given very little of our time. We may say our relationships are important, but in reality, if we realise where our priorities are, we soon see what we really believe.
Continue reading Singing the same old tune?
Beauty, Our hearts’ yearning
The most important aspect of our being is our relationships. Like a fish in water, we can take them for granted and hardly notice their importance. However, relationships don’t just happen. As we’ve all experienced, without our nurture and work, they can wither and die. It’s up to us to be aware and to take responsibility for those we have in our lives.
Why do we stop engaging with others, with what is so important? We can easily miss out on a precious relationship through being over-stressed, over-busy, or too hurt.
It may help us to look at our relationship with something like beauty, which is the ‘water we all swim in’, and yet something we can also so easily miss. Continue reading Beauty, Our hearts’ yearning
Unconditional Acceptance
Can we, with God, learn to love the less-than-lovely parts?
As we come to see ourselves more and more clearly, we choose either to accept or reject that self. The big question is whether we are able to find increasing acceptance for what might not be acceptable in our society’s eyes. Since few of us experienced truly unconditional love, many don’t know what this actually looks like. We have been taught to turn away from ourselves or others when the less-than-attractive becomes visible. We’ve also been habituated into always trying to show what is nice about ourselves to others and of not feeling at all comfortable with their seeing our less-than-lovely parts. Thus, we have imprisoned ourselves and others in this well-known societal game as we continually judge those negative parts and inwardly criticise our ambivalence. Continue reading Unconditional Acceptance
A Sample of Life
Looking at just one day will show us what we truly value
Even though our dreams are often beyond our awareness, we all have guiding images which lead us. These are with us all our lives, shaping and directing us, and giving our everyday life substance. These are very necessary, as with no defining images our lives will become more and more fragmented. Since we can so easily fool ourselves, it is useful to imagine being an observer of one day of our lives. By doing this we will soon see what we are investing the bulk of our time on. Through what we do we can understand what we value the most, what we are giving ourselves up for. Through looking at one small sample of our existence, we can realise what’s guiding us through it and causing us to make the choices we do.
Continue reading A Sample of Life
3 June – First Saturday Retreat
Please join us for a quiet retreat in the Sans Pareil gardens at the start of the new month. From 2-5pm we’ll have times for input and sharing, as well as an open time for reflection in this beautiful outdoor space in the Hout Bay valley.
Date: 3 June 2017. These retreats take place on the first Saturday of most months.
Times: From 2 to 5 pm.
Address: Sans Pareil, 1 Welbevind Way, Hout Bay, Cape Town.
Cost: R100 per person, paid at the door. Discounts are available if needed. No booking is required.
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6 May – First Saturday Retreat: God’s Dream for Us
We were formed in the womb with God’s dream and desire. This blueprint can draw us through life to a fulfillment or get lost along the way. Join us at Sans Pareil as we explore these deeper longings in quiet reflection and times in the garden.
Date: 6 May 2017. These retreats take place on the first Saturday of most months.
Times: From 2 to 5 pm.
Address: Sans Pareil, 1 Welbevind Way, Hout Bay, Cape Town.
Cost: R100 per person, paid at the door. Discounts are available if needed. No booking is required.
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The Quality of Our Connections
All of us have been taught how to be skilled in our profession, yet for the most part we haven’t perfected the most important art – the one for which we were all created – that is how to really connect in love with others. In essence we are all creatures of relationship and we need to be and to assert our real selves with conviction. Continue reading The Quality of Our Connections
Why do we do what we do?
Just like when snow blankets the world and hides the reality beneath it until it melts, so too with us.
Many times we make decisions unaware of what’s causing us to on the inside. Just like when snow blankets the world and hides the reality beneath it until it melts, so too with us. Our inner agendas, often made from unchecked out assumptions, become visible in our daily choices and behaviours. If reflected on, we come to understand even more what repetitive patterns are operating in us. Continue reading Why do we do what we do?
Shame
Shame is a punch to stomach; it blinds us to the truth, it seeks to isolate us. As we walk with God and others who love us, we receive His healing.
It is our ongoing life work to become aware of the different beliefs we carry in each part of ourselves – in our mind, body, heart, soul and spirit – because it is from out of our beliefs that our behaviour comes.
Shame, something we are all so familiar with, distorts what we believe to be the truth about ourselves. As a very powerful social manipulator, it is often used to get people to comply, to put others in their place and to adjust their behaviour. But shaming casts a shadow across our feelings of self-worth and leaves us feeling less, with doubt that we are enough. Continue reading Shame