OPreach
Dominican Preaching through Word and Image
The Blessing Found in a Curse
What is the sharpest fact in your life right now? Take a moment to consider your most haunting terror, your most persistent aggravation or relentless criticism of yourself, or a deep shame you have taken upon yourself. Feel it in your body. That terror, aggravation, shame, or sadness is your dearest enemy. Never trust a teacher who would devise ways for you to avoid meeting with such potential, for all of your creative power for the Way is found right there. It is tied up in that, usually tied up in defending the self against that. So, turning that way is turning toward your true freedom, and your most fertile condition at every moment. Such is the blessing found in a curse.
That painful and difficult matter can be a Dharma gate into a richer maturity. Practice is not just a matter of breaking through the fact of suffering, but of realizing suffering as a Dharma gate. And when a Dharma gate opens to you, it opens to great freedom, nothing holy. There’s nothing pious here.
– Susan Murphy, Upside Down Zen
This month Santa Sabina Center’s online retreat is “Grounding Ourselves When There is No Ground: A Buddhist-Christian Perspective on Living in Interesting Times.” So this month’s quotes will be related to groundlessness and how we meet the unexpected in our lives.
To learn more about our retreat and/or register, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page
The Ground Has Always Been Shaky
Fear is a very timely topic now, because fear these days seems so palpable, so atmospheric. You can almost smell the fear around you. The polarization, fundamentalism, aggression, violence, and unkindness that are happening everywhere on the planet – these bring out our fear and nervousness and make us feel that we are on shaky ground.
The truth is that the ground has always been shaky, forever. But in times when fear is prevalent, that truth is more obvious. All this fear surrounding us may sound like the bad news, but in fact it’s the good news. Fear is like a dot that emerges in the space in front of us and captures our attention. It is like a doorway we could go through, but where that doorway leads is not predetermined. It is up to us. Usually when we’re afraid, it sets off a chain reaction. We go inward and start to armor ourselves, trying to protect ourselves from whatever we think is going to hurt us. But our attempts to protect ourselves do not lessen the fear. Quite the opposite – the rear is actually escalating. Rather than becoming free from fear, we become hardened. As our fear spreads within, it makes us harder and more set in our ways.
…Becoming more in touch with ourselves gives birth to enormous appreciation for the world and for other people. It can sound corny, but you feel grateful for the beauty of the world. It’s a very special way to live. Your heart is filled with gratitude, appreciation, compassion, and caring for other people. And it all comes from touching that shakiness within and being willing to be present with it.
– Pema Chodron, “Smile at Fear,” Shambhala Sun, March 2011
This month Santa Sabina Center’s online retreat is “Grounding Ourselves When There is No Ground: A Buddhist-Christian Perspective on Living in Interesting Times.” So this month’s quotes will be related to groundlessness and how we meet the unexpected in our lives.
To learn more about our retreat and/or register, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page
The Gift of Chaos
I have a great belief in the fact that whenever there is chaos, it creates wonderful thinking. I consider chaos a gift.
– Septima Poinsette Clark
This month Santa Sabina Center’s online retreat is “Grounding Ourselves When There is No Ground: A Buddhist-Christian Perspective on Living in Interesting Times.” So this month’s quotes will be related to groundlessness and how we meet the unexpected in our lives.
To learn more about our retreat and/or register, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page
Wakening to Oneness – Be Willing to Experience Aloneness
Willing to experience aloneness,
I discover connection everywhere;
Turning to face my fear,
I meet the warrior who lives within.
-Jennifer Welwood
This month Santa Sabina Center’s online retreat is “Grounding Ourselves When There is No Ground: A Buddhist-Christian Perspective on Living in Interesting Times.” So this month’s quotes will be related to groundlessness and how we meet the unexpected in our lives.
To learn more about our retreat and/or register, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page
Entering through the Mess
There was no mess anywhere and mess always provides an entry point.
– Ann Belford Ulanov
This month Santa Sabina Center’s online retreat is “Grounding Ourselves When There is No Ground: A Buddhist-Christian Perspective on Living in Interesting Times.” So this month’s quotes will be related to groundlessness and how we meet the unexpected in our lives.
To learn more about our retreat and/or register, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page
Wednesday of Hope – When Hope is Born
Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
– J.R.R. Tolkien
This month Santa Sabina Center’s online retreat is “Grounding Ourselves When There is No Ground: A Buddhist-Christian Perspective on Living in Interesting Times.” So this month’s quotes will be related to groundlessness and how we meet the unexpected in our lives.
To learn more about our retreat and/or register, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page
A Prayer when the Way Is Not Clear
MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen.
– Thomas Merton
This month Santa Sabina Center’s online retreat is “Grounding Ourselves When There is No Ground: A Buddhist-Christian Perspective on Living in Interesting Times.” So this month’s quotes will be related to groundlessness and how we meet the unexpected in our lives.
To learn more about our retreat and/or register, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page
How Do We Find Our True Journey?
It may be that when we no longer know which way to go that we have come to our real journey . . .
– Wendell Berry
This month Santa Sabina Center’s online retreat is “Grounding Ourselves When There is No Ground: A Buddhist-Christian Perspective on Living in Interesting Times.” So this month’s quotes will be related to groundlessness and how we meet the unexpected in our lives.
To learn more about our retreat and/or register, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page
Radical Uncertainty
It’s walking the razor’s edge of the sacred moment where you don’t know, you can’t count on, and comfort yourself with any sure hope. All you can know is your allegiance to life and your intention to serve it in this moment that we are given. In the that sense, this radical uncertainty liberates your creativity and courage.
– Joanna Macy
This month Santa Sabina Center’s online retreat is “Grounding Ourselves When There is No Ground: A Buddhist-Christian Perspective on Living in Interesting Times.” So this month’s quotes will be related to groundlessness and how we meet the unexpected in our lives.
To learn more about our retreat and/or register, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page
We Cannot Avoid Uncertainty
We can try to control the uncontrollable by looking for security and predictability, always hoping to be comfortable and safe. But the truth is that we can never avoid uncertainty. This not knowing is part of the adventure, and it’s also what makes us afraid.
– Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You
This month Santa Sabina Center’s online retreat is “Grounding Ourselves When There is No Ground: A Buddhist-Christian Perspective on Living in Interesting Times.” So this month’s quotes will be related to groundlessness and how we meet the unexpected in our lives.
To learn more about our retreat and/or register, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page
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