Finding Time for the Timeless , livre ebook

Turner Publishing Company - John Mcquiston

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78 pages

English

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Description

Practice spirituality in a culture where work has become a religion.

This collection of real-life examples offers refreshing stories of everyday spiritual practices people use to free themselves from the work and worry mindset of our culture.

Drawing from the experiences of others, it shows you how you too can refocus and enrich your daily life with spiritual practice, including:

Finding a haven for inspiring reading at a coffeehouse
Singing during the morning commute to work
Prayerful walking at home and on business trips
Mindful eating and other deliberate experiences of God's goodness

Full of insight and inspiration, Finding Time for the Timeless will help empower you to see how even your busiest workweek can include spiritual habits and routine.

Preface xi

Phillip: Wondering What Could Change 1
Jason: Wakefulness to God 3
Karen: Life as a Prayer 6
Joe: A Way of Living Every Day 8
Ana: Music as Prayer 12
Payne: Breathing into Spirit 15
Helen: Friendship as Prayer 18
Murray: Discovering What You're Looking For 21
Anna Mae: Finding Spiritual Strength 24
Mohammed Jamil: Unbroken Communication with God 26
Lisa: Deepening the Experience of Life 28
A Monday Morning in January 31
Dan: Connecting with Something Greater 34
Bhaskar: Prayer as a Constant in Life 36
Jennie: Opening Up the World 38
Ted: A Happy Routine 41
Alice: Walking toward God 45
Sam: Dogs, Fish, Stress, and Prayer 47
Rada: Reaching Out to Others 49
Bill: Starting the Day with Quiet 52
Margaret: A Daily Life of Service 56
Paul: The Character of a Life 58
Harriette: Attention That Is Joyfully Engaged 61
A Sunday Morning in March 63
Nabil: Creating a Patient Heart 66
Jim: The Gift of Talents 71
Herbert: Recognizing the Opportunity 74
Nastha: The Kingdom of Love on Earth 78
David: Help, Forgive Me, and Thank You 80
Katherine: The Spiritual Commute 86
Ray: Inspired by the Psalms 88
A Monday in June on a Train in France 90
Jack: Just Being a Friend 93
Elise: Beyond Time and Money 96
A July Morning in Maine 99
Harry: The Energetic Presence of God 103
Esther: A Pattern for Comfort and Support 106
A Sunday in September 108
Luke: Fast Food, Slow Contemplation 112
Rebecca: Wordless Prayer 114
Ben: Thankfulness as Healing Prayer 117
P.K.: Alone with God, Nature, and City 119
Andi: Perceiving the Cries of the World 122
Zach: Co-worker with God 127
Edgar: Offering Compassion 129
James: Reminders in the Real World 131
Charles: Making the Mundane into the Holy 133
A Monday Evening in December 135
A Note about Finding Time 139
Suggestions for Practice 142

Spiritual Practice of Reading 142
Spiritual Practice of Writing 145
Spiritual Practice of Prayer 146
Spiritual Practice of Meditation 148
Spiritual Practice of Physical Space 150
Spiritual Practice of Music 152
Spiritual Practice of Community 153

About the Reading List 158
A Reading List 163
Notes 175
About SkyLight Paths 182

Sujets

personal Growth

motivation

Inspiration

Informations

Publié par	Turner Publishing Company
Date de parution	01 avril 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781594734373
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0500€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Contents

Preface
Phillip: Wondering What Could Change
Jason: Wakefulness to God
Karen: Life as a Prayer
Joe: A Way of Living Every Day
Ana: Music as Prayer
Payne: Breathing into Spirit
Helen : Friendship as Prayer
Murray: Discovering What You re Looking For
Anna Mae: Finding Spiritual Strength
Mohammed Jamil: Unbroken Communication with God
Lisa: Deepening the Experience of Life
A Monday Morning in January
Dan: Connecting with Something Greater
Bhaskar: Prayer as a Constant in Life
Jennie: Opening Up the World
Ted: A Happy Routine
Alice: Walking toward God
Sam: Dogs, Fish, Stress, and Prayer
Rada: Reaching Out to Others
Bill: Starting the Day with Quiet
Margaret: A Daily Life of Service
Paul: The Character of a Life
Harriette: Attention That Is Joyfully Engaged
A Sunday Morning in March
Nabil: Creating a Patient Heart
Jim: The Gift of Talents
Herbert: Recognizing the Opportunity
Nastha: The Kingdom of Love on Earth
David: Help, Forgive Me, and Thank You
Katherine: The Spiritual Commute
Ray: Inspired by the Psalms
A Monday in June on a Train in France
Jack: Just Being a Friend
Elise: Beyond Time and Money
A July Morning in Maine
Harry: The Energetic Presence of God
Esther: A Pattern for Comfort and Support
A Sunday in September
Luke: Fast Food, Slow Contemplation
Rebecca: Wordless Prayer
Ben: Thankfulness as Healing Prayer
P.K.: Alone with God, Nature, and City
Andi: Perceiving the Cries of the World
Zach: Co-worker with God
Edgar: Offering Compassion
James: Reminders in the Real World
Charles: Making the Mundane into the Holy
A Monday Evening in December
A Note about Finding Time
Suggestions for Practice
Spiritual Practice of Reading
Spiritual Practice of Writing
Spiritual Practice of Prayer
Spiritual Practice of Meditation
Spiritual Practice of Physical Space
Spiritual Practice of Music
Spiritual Practice of Community
About the Reading List
A Reading List
Notes
About the Author
Copyright
Also Available
About SkyLight Paths

In reality the main purpose of life is to raise everything that is profane to the level of the holy.
-Martin Buber
Lord, hear my prayer. For my days drift away like smoke.
-Psalms 102:1, 3

Preface

One morning I received an e-mail from Maura Shaw, who told me she was an editor. She had read a New York Times article about men and women who managed to pray during the business day. Maura was looking for someone who would collect similar stories for a book. Phyllis Tickle, a mutual friend, had suggested me. Would I be interested?
I had been suggested because I had written a short book about attempting to incorporate some of the principles of monastic life into my own life as a lawyer. (Keyword: attempting. ) On paper I looked like a good candidate for her project. However, I explained to Maura, although I had written about incorporating prayer into my life, I had only had limited success in doing it. Maura kindly brushed aside this objection (perhaps she had no other candidates), and I agreed to try. I considered that collecting stories about contemporary spiritual practices, particularly those that occur during the workweek, could be a way to renew my own.
Relative to most people in the world, my life and the lives of the people who will read this book are lives of material prosperity. But, as we know, material well-being doesn t guarantee happiness. A recent Atlantic Monthly article reported on the results of a multi-cultural study on the relationship between wealth and happiness. The study, conducted by Dutch sociologist Ruut Veenhoven, concludes that an increase in material affluence does produce a substantial increase in happiness (whatever that is) for those at the bottom of the economic ladder. But once a fairly minimal level of security is attained, an increase in possessions produces no substantial enhancement in the enjoyment of life. 1 If possessions do not increase happiness, what does?
I believe that some of the things that actually can enhance life are being loved, performing meaningful work, and practicing certain spiritual disciplines. With this in mind, I revised the project Maura had given me. Instead of limiting my inquiry to prayer, at least not to prayer as commonly understood, I used Maura s project as a way to search for spiritual practices that appeared to produce a genuinely higher quality of life.
Perhaps all the practices described in this book can be considered forms of prayer, perhaps not. Maura s task raised a number of questions. What is prayer? Is it meditation? Is it closing our eyes and addressing some words to God? Can prayer be wordless? In order to pray, must we believe in a God who is conscious in the same way we are? Can action be a type of prayer? When we help a stranger, or give time or money, is that a kind of prayer? When we read something that speaks to our deepest longings, is that prayer? What is the purpose of prayer? Are some objectives of prayer legitimate and others improper? Prayers for forgiveness, for health, for friendship, for victory, for prosperity, and for love are all prayers seeking something for the person praying. Is that okay?
I am a lawyer. In law school we learned by studying cases. Business schools also use the case-study method. Cases are simply stories. Jesus used stories, such as the good Samaritan and the prodigal son, in his teachings. The tales of the Hasidim, and much of the Bible, are stories from which the reader can draw his or her own (frequently differing) conclusions. So instead of trying to answer these questions about prayer (which I couldn t answer anyway), I have collected these stories.
I have limited myself to recounting the experiences of ordinary people, if there is such a thing. By this I mean that I deliberately avoided interviewing anyone who is a priest, rabbi, pastor, or guru. In some cases, for various reasons, details and identities have been changed. Some reports were written without conducting an interview, because I already knew that friend or family member well enough to write about him or her. Thus a few people may be surprised to recognize themselves here. I offer my apologies to them. During the year that I collected these accounts, I also recorded some of my own life. The stories are interspersed with whatever was going on with me at the time.
When this collection of stories was almost finished, I received an e-mail from one of Maura s co-workers asking me to write a few sentences about why someone would read this book. My answer is that these accounts are evidence that it is possible, despite all the contrary pressures of contemporary society, to find the time to bring a more profound dimension into daily life, and to do so even during the workweek. These stories teach that the individuals who have accomplished this do not have to force themselves: Each has found a practice that he or she enjoys.
Paul Tillich, one of the most influential theologians of our time, observed that in our period of history, work has become the dominating destiny of all.… It has become a religion itself. 2 Although there is no common practice reflected here, every story illustrates a successful defeat, at least for a time, of the prevailing mindset of our culture-the mindset of work and worry.
In collecting these accounts I was not concerned with cataloging beliefs. My focus was on actions and practices. I am sure that the beliefs of the individuals portrayed in this book vary widely, but I am equally sure that each of them has an understanding, either intuitive or express, that in order to bring a spiritual dimension into life, regular actions are crucial, because such actions become habits, and habits (for good or ill) change the quality of one s life.
This book focuses on individuals and individual practices. But everyone described here is connected in some way with a faith community or tradition. Indeed, none of us is as isolated an individual as we may think we are. We think of ourselves as separate creatures, yet a moment s reflection shows that this is an illusion. We are always in relationships with other people, and if those relationships are impaired, so are we. Food, air, and water flow through our bodies, and without them, we die. We are the products of the infinite, impenetrable mystery from which we came; in which we live, move, and have our being; and to which we return. Whether by meditation, religious rituals, contemplative prayer, or acts of service, we acknowledge that we are a part of something greater than ourselves.
I thank each person who is described here for sharing something of his or her life with me. My sketches do not do them justice. In life, as in religion, words are only a suggestion of the reality they purport to describe.

Phillip Wondering What Could Change

It is early on a Monday morning. Phillip has been at work for two hours. He is the only person at his company s office. The daylight is just appearing. Phillip is reading the letters, e-mails, and memos that came while he was on a trip the previous week. In a few minutes his co-workers will fill the office.
Phillip is sixty years old. He has a wife and two grown children. His home is paid for. He finished educating his children a few years ago. They both went to graduate school. He is in reasonably good health: not perfect, but good. He is slightly overweight. He has a bad back and moderately high cholesterol. He attends church, but he does not consider himself to be religious.
Phillip has been