Tag Archives: God

Good expressions of anger

Knowing when to assert and when to yield

The first word breathed into our being was God’s, “BE”. Each of us was made with so much love and intentionality. God now looks at each of us with joy and says, “Be fully your unique self”, “Step by step become more yourself” and, “Be not afraid”. We need to take His word in for it to become flesh in us. So when God says, “Be angry, but sin not” He’s aware of the enormous potential we carry. We more often see anger as a slippery slope but God sees that our authentic anger can be transformative. Continue reading Good expressions of anger

Loneliness or Aloneness

In order to become aware of the inner patterns and guiding images we all carry, we need to stop and look.  This will need times of being alone with ourselves in order to grow in wholeness.  This is essential so that we can also be there for others.  This aloneness is a transformative, ‘pregnant’ waiting.  It is not the same as loneliness, which carries with it feelings of lack, desperation and incompleteness.  We dare not postpone living, waiting for our dream to materialize and for our present life to pass.  This invitation to deepen intimacy with God and ourselves is done reverently, but not without fear.  Indeed, intimacy implies this as ‘in timor’ means ‘into fear.’ Continue reading Loneliness or Aloneness

Carriers of a Dream

Discovering God’s blueprint of who we bring to relationships

Each of us has been designed uniquely by our Creator. As the architect of a house creates a plan, so too, God the Master Architect has a blueprint in His heart for us. Whether we’re married or not, He invites us to trust His wisdom and love to guide us in the hard but worthwhile risk of becoming ourselves. Continue reading Carriers of a Dream

Our Quest to have Needs Met

Longing for unconditional love and acceptance

Our core need as humans is to love and be loved. Since we need this so much, we may find ourselves going about it in a roundabout way, manipulating relationships in order to get our needs met. We may, for example, give to another, simply because we hope to get back from them what we are longing for. We may try to have our hunger met in undercover ways by saying something obtuse, but often people don’t think to give it back to us. Continue reading Our Quest to have Needs Met

Needs Draw Us to Life

To be human is to have needs and the place where they’re nourished and restored is in relationships. However, if we’ve been hurt or disappointed, we may shut down and try the route of independence, saying, “I don’t need you.” Life and growth are always a risk and always involve an opening of ourselves to parts we might not yet be familiar with. But if we choose not to take this path, we will deaden and stagnate, our inner reality will shrink. Continue reading Needs Draw Us to Life

Light through the Cracks

“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.”

Lyrics from Leonard Cohen in his song, ‘Anthem

As children we let our curiosity take us into unknown places to discover more about our world. If we were given freedom to explore, we learnt to take risks, if punished, to stay within known parameters. We also watched our parents make life choices which gave us our own feelings of what was possible or not. These feelings and behaviour patterns remain deeply engrained in us and as adults we are still either more cautious or are risk takers. Continue reading Light through the Cracks

What Do We Deserve?

Choosing to see ourselves differently

As children, we constantly wanted to understand things at a deeper level. We’re all familiar with the never-ending ‘Why…?’ that emanates from young children’s lips. This constant flow of growth through reflection and openness to life needs to continue to characterize us as adults. Continue reading What Do We Deserve?

Finding Enough

Leaving ‘survival mode’ and celebrating who we are

Unless we’ve become free of it, each of us continues to measure ourselves every day. It’s almost as if we’ve swallowed an inner measuring tape by which we constantly check ourselves with questions like, “Have I done enough?”, “Am I clever enough?” or “Have I met their expectations?”.  This inner tyrant drives us to keep proving we’re enough. But constant judgement is waiting to fall! Continue reading Finding Enough

To Please or Not to Please, That is the Question

A reflection on our upbringing and God’s invitation to exuberant life

Our attraction to each other is fundamental to our common humanity. We are born with a natural curiosity. Our urge to explore helps us to keep deepening our knowledge of the other. This desire to discover is so important for our sexuality, which, when appropriate, gives us a deep sense of connection. Continue reading To Please or Not to Please, That is the Question

Reflection: ‘Prayer as Relationship’

The Consistency of Our Relating Skills

The way people have seen us has shaped us, and colours how we see ourselves now. Relationships are central to who we are. Most of us have hardly had any training in how to relate effectively. Like every aspect of our lives, relationships need to be managed and worked on- placed as a priority in order to give life and transform. Continue reading Reflection: ‘Prayer as Relationship’