Archive | October 2011

The Proof in the Pudding

Oct31

I have been of the contention that it is only through sound spiritual formation (not to be confused with religious formation) that people can be empowered to become spiritually mature and through which we can bear witness to the effortlessness of authentic discipleship.  Now I have proof that it works.

 

Discipleship by Accident (but not really)

My first “official” role at the Newman Center (Catholic Campus Ministry) and my first “official” foray into lay ministry was as the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) Coordinator.  My job was to provide the process through which interested adults could become formal members of the Catholic Church.  From the beginning….I accomplished this task in a non-traditional way (go figure!).  Instead of providing a program grounded in religious formation (doctrine, dogma, catechism), I provided a program firmly rooted in spiritual formation.  My reasoning was that if you didn’t know God and you didn’t know yourself, what good was a bunch of knowledge about rules?  As such, the focus of this process was the rich tradition of spiritual practices that were part of the Christian tradition – Lectio Divina, Imagination/Contemplation, Mantra prayer, etc. etc. etc.  What we ended up with at the end of the 9 month process was a group of empowered individuals, excited and enthusiastically ready to use their gifts in service to God and to the world.   They had come to know God intimately and personally, in coming to know God they had come to know themselves, and in doing so, had come to identify their own unique gifts and how they were being called to share them in the world.  In a process that nationally has an abysmal retention rate of only 30%, the Newman Center’s 70% retention rate showed me that the approach we had chosen worked.  Today I thank my experience with the RCIA (and Fr. Jeff VandenHeuvel for assigning me to this ministry) for being the foundation upon which I have established my post-Institutional ministry work, and I am continually awed by the results.

The Ministry Team has Already been Formed

So, as I stand on the brink of accepting more fully my call to be “priest/ess” and to acknowledging that what I have been doing (since leaving professional employment in the Catholic Church) is and always has been “church” and wondering exactly what that might mean and what that might look like, I find that the “ministry team” has already been formed.  Standing ready and right in front of my eyes is a group of men and women who have courageously followed the path of sound spiritual formation, and who are apparently chomping at the bit to put their formation to work.  (who knew?!)  When I first dared to share this discernment in the world, my email inbox was full of inquiries, “How can I help?  You will need children’s programs and that is my gift.  We would like to offer relationship classes. Can I help with presiding?”   YIKES!  I hadn’t even mentioned the word “church” and I have a mob of people who have been fully formed ( in my opinion) and are ready to step into their own unique giftedness to help others find the peaceful contentment, joy, compassion and personal empowerment that they have all found through a 3-4 year process of sound spiritual formation.  Ha…..I knew it….this stuff works!

What tools have you discovered to help you know God, to know yourself and to empower you to share your gifts in service to love for the betterman of humankind?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Coming Out of the Closet

Oct28

In today’s blog, I come out of the closet in regards to the “secret” I have been discerning and where it seems God’s is calling me.  In the end, God has a sick sense of humor and is telling me it is time to GROW UP already!

Will God be the Death of Me?

On October 1st, I penned a blog entitled, God will be the Death of me, in which I shared a vision that had come to me and the journey that I was embarking upon to determine if this vision was authentically from God and therefore to be obeyed, or something out of my ego to be ignored and set aside.  Well, today, I am coming out of the closet as to the nature of that vision and what it seems to be saying to me.  The funny thing is that after posting that blog, I got a text message from one of my friends who had apparently already figured out the nature of the vision – without me offering any details.  Her text said it all, “When are you starting the new church?”  ARGH!

The Vision

In the middle of yoga practice, after stating my intention for direction and clarity and while chanting scripture in my mind (“Lord, I’m not worthy to receive you” …… and  “Let it be done to me according to your word”), I was interrupted by the following vision:  I saw an image of myself, dressed in a white robe, with a wide, red mantle hanging over my shoulders (like a stole, only wider).  I was standing behind an altar, presumably presiding over mass and before me sat a multitude of people also dressed in white, participating in this ritual.  NO NO NO I shouted at God as this vision presented itself.  “Been there (discerning priestood), Done that (participated in an off-shoot eucharistic community along with several other “alternative” projects)  NOPE NOPE NOPE  not doing it!  God, you will be the death of me. “

And God Laughed

Now here I am, several weeks into this discernment and God is laughing at me.  “Silly girl, it is time for you to GROW UP!”  (these words came to me from God via my Spiritual Director).  And I recognize that this is true.  And….I realize that what God is calling me to is what I have already been doing.  I have been priest/ess and what I have been doing for the past 20 years is church!  God isn’t calling me to something I don’t already know or to something I haven’t already been doing.  And, God is not calling me to leave the home of my childhood(Catholicism) in search of ordination elsewhere.  In a sense, I have already been ordained and now it just might be time to actually name, claim and own who I am and what I have been doing all along.

Coming out of the Closet

So, growing up for me apparently means no longer hiding in the closet.  It seems God is calling to own my vocation as priest and my call to be church.  (NOTICE – “small c” church!!!!!).  What the details of that will mean I’m not quite sure….but there are some things about this call of which I can be sure:

  •  It will be founded upon the compassion teachings of Jesus of Nazareth
  • It will provide contemplative worship and tools for sound spiritual formation and spiritual healing
  • It will recognize that all paths lead to the same destination – recollection of the Source of compassion, contentment and joy – that which some call “God.”
  • It will be open to people of all spiritual or religious beliefs
  • It will empower people to name,claim and freely share their own unique giftedness in service to love and for the betterment of our world

Ok God, I’m listening and as I have been praying all along, “Let it be done to me according to your word.” and “I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.”  Time to grow up Lauri!

 

What closet is God calling you out of?

How have you resisted that call?

What tools do you need to step more fully into the person God has made you to be?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

We Are All Priest

Oct27

I want to thank one of my readers for providing the content for today’s blog.  This post is written by Sylvia Gunter at http://www.thefathersbusiness.com, and inspirational newsletter of non-denominational Christian beliefs.  While the language might be a little more “he and him” than I might use, the point is well made – we are all called and blessed to be priest to one another. Thank you Lynn for sharing this! 

You Are A Priest  -  Isaiah 61:6

The Bible says you are a priest. The basic functions of priests were to represent God to man and man to God. One of the duties was to bless the people. Our culture doesn’t understand blessing as it was practiced in the Bible. The Bible was written in and to a culture that was steeped in blessing: the blessing of shalom, blessing the child with his name, the patriarchal blessing to sons, the blessing of God for his people, the blessing of Jesus, of the disciples, of the early church, of Peter, Paul, and James.
In the New Testament the priestly functions are transferred to all believers, and we are a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). We have authority and privileges as priests. Through Jesus our High Priest we have the right to come into the holiest place in worship. We are called to offer spiritual sacrifices of praise and prayer (1 Peter 2:5), abiding in his presence, drawing near to him and dwelling in him, and he in us.

In the Bible, blessing flows three ways: from God to people, from people to God, and from person to person. Because Jesus is in us, we can pass on to his people the blessings of his heart for acceptance, identity, meaning, affirmation, legitimization, and God’s good purposes.

Here’s a blessing for your spirit in your identity as priest.

Isaiah 61:6 promises,
“You will be called priests of the LORD and ministers of your
God.” And in Revelation 1:6. “[Jesus] has made us to be a kingdom and
priests to serve his God and Father. To him be glory and power for ever and
ever! Amen.”

When Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the holy of holies was torn from top to bottom. Now the awesome privilege of access to the inner court belongs to all believers. You may boldly come to praise, worship, adore, and glorify your Father. Be blessed with knowing your free access to him. Receive the words of 1 Peter 2:5 and 9. You are a priest and minister to God. That is your duty and your privilege as a member of the royal priesthood. Be blessed in drawing near to him, abiding in his presence, and dwelling in him, and he in you, as you offer spiritual sacrifices of praise and prayer.

Be blessed as you minister to God in the secret place where he releases his heart to you. Be blessed as you seek him intimately and experience all of who he is. Worship and adore him, being joyfully, willingly submitted to the One you love. Meet him in complete surrender of all you are. Draw near as the Spirit of the Lord abides in you, indwells you, rests on you, and anoints you.

Be blessed as you represent God to others by releasing his heart of blessing to your world. By standing in the gap in prayer, faith, intercessory living, and blessing, you open the door for restoration for yourself, your family, and others. You are an instrument of renewal and rebuilding of generations of desolation and ruin. As God moves you, you can bless and minister to others, so that God can convict, woo, love, and reconcile them. He will make all things new and glorify himself as he ministers through you, and the glory of the throneroom puts its stamp on all you are and do in his name.

You are blessed to be a blessing. Be blessed to speak deeply personal words of acceptance, identity, meaning, affirmation, and legitimacy. Be blessed to envision God’s special future for others as they come into the fullness of all he made them to be. Let God’s presence and blessing flow through you to his glory and praise. As you sow to the Spirit, and you will reap the things of the Spirit, for the one who sows to the Spirit reaps life. Be blessed in the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2).

Be blessed in the name of Jesus, your High Priest (Heb 3:1; 9:11).

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Giving Honor to the Magdalene

Oct25

In today’s blog, I give honor to the woman I believe BEST reflects the compassion-teachings of Christ.  Mary Magdalene….no longer prostitute or repentant sinner…but disciple, witness, apostle to the apostles, priestess, pope and beloved of Christ.  MM rocks! 

copyright Toni Carmine Salerno

I Could Not Have Said it Better!

How does one concisely describe the woman, Mary Magdalene, what she represents as a model of devotion  and what she has to teach us as we move into a new era of Christian witness?  I have written millions of words reflecting on this woman who I look to as model for my own journey.  Yesterday, I was presented with a resource that explained Mary Magdalene in a concise and direct manner, better than what I could come up with on my own.  So today, I share with you the beautiful words of artist and visionary, Toni Carmine Salerno: 

To me, Magdalene is not solely a bibilical figure; rather, she is a modern day Goddess who holds a most sacred and ancient wisdom: organic and tactile, and deeply connected to our beautiful planet.  Magdalene lives eternally through present day women and she will no doubt continue to be a source of inspiration for women in generations to come.

Her wisdom is beyond words, images or concepts.  She is an archetypal spirit, soft and gentle, yet strong and unswayable.  Magdalene stands firmly in her truth, representing strength and dignity.

She assists in elevating the status of women around the globe and helps to free both men and women from the closed mind sets that have kept the true beauty, wisdom and creative essence of the feminine spirit from fully emerging. 

The Magdalene stands proud regardless of what others think of her or how they choose to label her.  For centuries there have been many who have sought to diminish her worth through lies, intimidation and even physical and emotional abuse.  Yet, in spite of this, Magdalene’s presence and influence remains.

Magdalene is the dancing Dark Goddess of gentle strength and authority, bearer of infinite compassion.  She is the healer of the wounded feminine, healing the desolate places of the heart, where lie the issues of abaondonment and betrayal which all women (and men) carry.  She holds up to them the mirror of their true nature, in which they will see themselves reflected in all their beauty and power and thereby step into their wholeness.

In My Own Words

If (for those of Christian orientation), Jesus is “the Way,” then Mary Magdalene is the map.  She shows us the way to compassion and oneness through her attentive devotion to her Rabbouni (teacher), her generous and compassionate service and her brave and daring witness.  Against societal norms and in spite of the protestations of her fellow disciples, she stood boldly in the truths that were revealed to her and she stayed true to what Jesus had shown her and taught her.  In short….Mary Magdalene rocks!

What does Mary Magdalene represent to you?

How can you look to Mary Magdalene as a model of Christian witness?

How are you being invited to stand in your truth, in spite of the protests of those around you?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Finding What We Need Within

Oct24

As we grow spiritually, we are invited to turn our gaze from the outside world and draw it inward…letting go of our temptation to seek fulfillment, peace, love and joy outside of ourselves and remembering that the Source of all that we seek is within. 

 

Out there….out there…out there

In our human journey, we are continually looking outside of ourselves for the things we need:  direction, guidance, love, fulfillment, satisfaction, peace, joy, abundance, etc.  When we want to know what we should do with our lives, we ask our friends, co-workers, family members, trusted advisors, “What do you think?”  We consult the advise of professionals and experts and even so-called experts, “What do you think?”  We look for the sign along the road, the flashing lights, the lightening bolt, the symbolic animal or coincidence that tell us what we are supposed to be doing.  When we want love, we seek the person outside of us that we think will make us happy.  When we want fulfillment, we seek “the perfect” job.  When we want money, we look outside of us for the thing that will give us what we need.  While there is a time and a place for those things outside of us …. a time when the exterior conditions and experiences and people in our lives do act as a vehicle of Divine guidance, support, fulfillment, love, etc…..it is the relentless search outside of us that gets us into trouble.

Big Remedy for Big Trouble

What this relentless outside search does to us is create and solidify an inner terrain of fear, anxiety and worry.  When we are constantly looking outside of ourselves for the answers, direction, fulfillment, validation, etc. we are forgetting that the only true source of peace is our intimate connection with what some might call “God.”  Whether you think of it as “God”, “Higher Power”, “Higher Self”, “True Self”, or some other name, there is a Source of guidance and fulfillment that resides deep within us.  Connecting with this inner Source of peace is how we find contentment, joy, love, guidance and it is in connecting with this inner Source that our lives take on meaning, flow and a sense of effortlessness.  While our outside search may provide some information, it is the inner journey that gives us the truest, surest, most profound guidance and fulfillment.

Coming Home

So, next time you find yourself on that relentless outside search for answers, guidance, fulfillment, money, time, love, etc. and you find the anxiety and worry within you rising in response to this relentless search….STOP.  BREATHE.  PRAY.  Take all the energy that you have been directing outward and point it toward yourself.  Point it toward your own heart, toward that peaceful, loving, joyfilled place within where God dwells.  Then, REST in that peaceful connection that what some might call God and WAIT.  It will be out of this peaceful connection that everything you need will show itself – guidance, abundance, opportunities to nurture and share your gifts, love, empowerment and most importantly….PEACE.

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Finding the Fulfillment of Love

Oct21

Today’s blog explores one spiritual practice that helps us to integrate the principles described in yesterday’s guest blog, and chapter six in my book, Authentic Freedom – Claiming Contentment and Joy. 

 

Seeking Love

As we were reminded in yesterday’s blog by guest blogger, Swami Nithyananda, if we are seeking love in our lives, the first thing we need to acknowledge is that love is NOT something we can get from another person.  Love is not a commodity to be bought, sold, earned or denied.  Love is our very nature and therefore can only be found within ourselves.  If we seek to have loving relationships with others, we have to start by knowing the love within ourselves…only then can we be unconditionally loving toward ourselves and toward another.  When we know the love that we are, we resonate with the energy of that love and reflect it out into the world.   In doing so, others are reminded of their own loving nature and may also decide to seek to know the love with themselves.

 

Coming to Know this Love

The journey to knowing the love that we are has many possible paths.  For me, I have found knowing God through scripture, meditation, prayer, ritual, worship, service, contemplation, writing, being in nature and working with amazing teachers (including my therapist, spiritual director, family, friends, etc. ) have all been helpful and supportive vehicles for coming to know this love.  There is one tool, however, that I have found to be most helpful (for me anyway) and that is the practice of Bhakti Yoga.

 

Devotion to the Beloved

Bhakti yoga is the spiritual practice of intense devotion to “The Beloved.”  While this practice has been officially named as such by the Hindu and Yogic traditions of India, the practice of devotion has also been a big part of the Hebrew and Christian traditions.  In this practice, meditation, prayer, chant, and worship are focused and directed toward the Divine imagined as our lover and beloved.  In the Yogic tradition, the Divine might be imagined as Krishna, Radha, Shiva, Shakti, etc.  In the Hebrew tradition, we may direct our attention toward Adonai, Elohim, the Shekinah, YHWH.  In the Christian tradition, devotion is directed toward Jesus.  The specific tool that I have found to be most helpful in this practice of devotion is sacred chant or Kirtan.

Hare Krishna/Hare Christos/Hare Adonai

In Bhakti yoga, one of the primary tools of devotion to the beloved is chant or Kirtan (chant done in a call and response format).  Chanting the names of the beloved is said to change our own vibration to more closely reflect the love of the Divine and to bring us into resonance with the love that is our truest nature.  In chanting the sacred names, we are healed, transformed, brought into harmony with the Divine in love, peace and joy.  The Hare Krishna chants, those to Rama, Radha, Sita, etc. all work toward this end.  The exciting thing is that in the Hindu and Yogic traditions, these names are universal…meaning that they all reflect aspects of THE ONE GOD and therefore transcend belief, dogma, doctrine or denomination.  I have embraced this practice, holding my personal guru (Jesus) in my mind while chanting these sacred names and have experienced great benefit from this practice.  I find that chanting the sacred names helps me to calm my monkey mind and to find the peaceful calm within that I had previously found to be elusive and nearly impossible to attain.  Additionally, I have found that I have come to know more deeply the love within that is more reflective of my truest nature.  I have found that life flows more freely and effortlessly.  I know more freedom and joy and my external relationships more closely reflect a deep and abiding love.

 

Getting Started

So, here is a little You Tube clip of George Harrison engaged in his own practice of Bhakti- devotion to the beloved….and a great way to get started on your own path to finding the fulfillment of love:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7eFQMakhDE

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Real Love – Guest Blogger

Oct20

Today’s blog saw submitted by a devotee of the Indian swami, Nithyananda.  I loved the words of this blog and found them to completely resonate with what I had written in Authentic Freedom regarding love.  Thank you to Swami Nithyananda for spreading the message of peace, love and joy in the world and for providing tools through which we can find those qualities within ourselves.  Here is the post:

What is real love?

 

 Real love is something so deep, so energizing, that you will not know it unless you experience it. Love is an expression of energy, not something that is transacted. Tell me one thing: can you love people when you meet them for the first time?  (From the audience: No Swamiji! We don’t even know them, then how can we love them?)

 

Exactly! This is what you think. Let me tell you, with a little bit of intellectual understanding and meditation, you will realize that you can love anyone without a reason, causelessly! You can love the trees on the road, you can caress them and feel the energy flow from you. You can love people whom you pass by on the road without even knowing them. Love is actually your very being, not a distilled quality that you possess.

 

Nothing is as misconstrued as love is today. Today, love is more of a transaction. If someone says something nice to you, you love him; tomorrow if the same person falls short of it, you don’t love him that much or you probably hate him.

 

Even your lifelong friend, with whom you chat everyday on the computer, will seem suddenly not-so-close if he says something that goes against your approval. Where is your love at this time? It has suffered temporarily!

 

It is just games that you play; a game in which love and hate surface alternately and interchangeably. And this love-hate relationship is not love at all. Be very clear. It is simply your reaction to a person or a situation, that’s all. This is what we call love. This is not real love. It is subjective love, that’s all.

 

Real love knows no object. It is simply there whether there is an object or not. Real love is the subject itself. It does not know any object. You are the subject and you have become love, that’s all. Any object that comes in touch with it, feels it. Just like a river flows naturally and people enjoy it at the different places that they encounter it, real love exudes from a person and the people around him will be able to feel it.

 

There is absolutely no room for conditioning in real love. The energy in you should overflow and express itself as love. It is then that you can break through the highly knotted boundaries of relationships and express yourself beautifully, as a loving being!

 

In order to discover the quality of your being, that is love, two things can be done. The first thing: repeatedly listen to words like these so that they create a conviction in you about real love; so that a space is created in you for the process of transformation. Second thing: meditate so that the transformation can actually happen.

 

In practical life, when you go deeper and deeper into relationships, you will understand that all that you feel is not real love, but just some form of give and take. It is all just adjustment, some compromise, some duty-bound feelings, some fear, some guilt. It is all there in the name of love.

 

Meditation will take you beyond these mis-understandings of love. Meditation will work at the being level. That is why it is a shortcut! When you have to go through life and know it by yourself, it will take you a lifetime. But with meditation, a space opens inside you to experience these things clearly for yourself, whatever your age may be.

 

Just understand this one thing: when you are able to love without a reason, you will expand like anything. Your world will suddenly seem larger than life. It will be so ecstatic. You will become an energy source to yourself and to others. You will be so overflowing that the energy in you has to touch others. There is no other way. Others will be naturally drawn to you.  Buy the book: Read more: Discover True Love by Paramahamsa Nithyananda

 

Author Bio:  Paramahamsa Nithyananda is an Enlightened master from India and his teachings open up the tremendous possibilities for enlightened living.   So simple and pragmatic are Paramahamsa Nithyananda’s teachings that anyone, whether men, women or children, irrespective of their social, cultural or religious background, can use these teachings as practical manuals for enlightened living in their chosen path of life.  Nithyananda is currently ranked the No.1 spiritual guru on YouTube, and the author of over 200 books in 28 global languages.  

Social Networking Sites

Facebook Page: www.Facebook.com/eNithyananda

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/ePNithyananda

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/paramahamsa

 

Author/Publisher: Sites

Author’s Website: http://www.nithyananda.org/founder/who-is-nithyananda

Author’s Blog: http://enithyananda.wordpress.com/

Publishers: www.eNPublishers.com

 

Buy Links: Amazon kindle|BARNES&NOBEL|Apple iBooks Store|

Belief vs. Direct Experience – Why I do what I do.

Oct19

Do we believe what we believe because we are told to believe it, or do we believe because we have had a direct experience that shows us that it is true?  As we grow spiritually, we become more insistent on the latter rather than the former and this is a sign of healthy spiritual growth.

George Harrison

Yesterday I had the great opportunity to watch Part I of the Martin Scorsese  documentary on George Harrison.  While insight into his life as a Beatle was interesting, I was most struck by his spiritual journey.  George was raised Catholic and in adulthood discovered Eastern (specifically Indian) meditation, became a student of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and pursued a path of spiritual practice and discipline that radically altered his interior life.  I can’t give you the exact quote, but he says something in the documentary about belief and how we can’t believe something until we have had a direct experience of it…and I could not agree more.  It was this direct correlation between experience and true belief that drove George to want to share meditation and other spiritual practices in the world so that we could all know the peace he had found in direct experience.  I deeply resonated with his passionate commitment to this task as it is for this very reason that I do the work that I do.

Believe it Because I Told You

Having been raised Catholic, there were many things I was taught to believe because the priest, the women religious and my parents told me to believe it.  I was told to believe this because these were the things that Catholics believed.  Fortunately, my heart told me other things in regards to many of these teachings and I later found out that some of these things weren’t even Catholic teachings (or had been reformed through the Vatican II Council).  But the attitude remained – “believe it because we tell you to and do what we tell you because we tell you to.”  Nowhere in this “telling” were there any opportunities to come to understand, know or come to believe these teachings on my own.  Blind obedience was the expectation.  And since God had planted some sort of rebellious, questioning, spirit within me, I could not just simply believe because I was told and lived my life knowing that at best, I was a Catholic in questionable standing.

Spontaneous Direct Experience

One of the things that fueled my resistance to blind belief was that as far back as I can remember, I had what I now understand to be “direct experiences” of God.  Mostly these experiences came while I was praying at mass or saying my bedtime prayers.  I can’t really explain these experiences except to say that when they happened, it felt like some sort of energy within me was being uplifted, raised up and elevated and it felt like it was joining with God on some unseen plane.  If I were to give the energy a name, I would call it wonder, reverence and awe.  In that place, I felt peaceful, calm, safe and alone with God.  It was in this space that I came to KNOW (not just because someone told me) that God was loving, kind, tender, compassionate, joyful, silly and passionate.  I KNEW that God loved without condition and that in the end, WE ALL return to this Source that I called God.  I KNEW there to be no judgment in this God, neither was there separation….only ONENESS.

Creating the Space for Direct Experience

All of these Direct Experiences of the Divine that I was having were coming about spontaneously and were not due to any specific spiritual practice other than simply showing up.  Then, in my adulthood, I had the great opportunity to learn the rich tradition of Western/Christian spiritual practice.  This tradition includes, Lectio-Divina, Imagination/Contemplation, Mantra Prayer, Chant, Centering Prayer, Meditation and Contemplation.  Learning these practices gave me the tools through which I could not only increase, but expand my experiences of the Divine.  I immediately took to these practices and embraced them with my whole heart.  By engaging in these practices, scripture suddenly became relevant, the mass took on a whole new meaning and purpose, eucharist became an opportunity to receive Christ, I came to know Jesus more deeply, intimately and ecstatically, I came to find and embrace the Catholic teachings that were rooted in compassion and justice and could now believe them in my heart, not just in my mind because I was told to do so.  Everything came alive after embarking on this path of spiritual discipline.  Additionally, I found greater peace, I found direction in my life, guidance, support….and most importantly….I FOUND LOVE.  I came to know the love of God in my heart, saw it living in the world and came to know myself as a reflection of God’s love….and all of humanity with me.

Why I Do What I Do

So, this is why I do what I do.  I have found tools through which I came to KNOW God, to KNOW myself and to find purpose and direction in my life.  I found tools that help me find peace, joy and love and the motivation to live a life of generosity and compassion.  I found tools that make me want to work for peace and harmony, justice and freedom in our world.  And….I think that these are the things that in our heart of hearts we are all looking for.  So……I share these tools.  I share what I have come to know about God.  I share peace, compassion and love.  And I hope that in the sharing, others will experience the peace and joy that I have found and are then motivated to share that with others.  And maybe just then we will ALL know the truth of heaven here on earth.

How have you come to know God in your heart?

What tools have helped you to find peace, compassion and joy?

How are you being invited to make a commitment to your own spiritual practice?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Spiritual Truths to Ponder

Oct18

In today’s blog, I offer you a list of spiritual truths to ponder.  Where are you in believing these truths?  For assistance on embracing these truths, read Authentic Freedom – Claiming a Life of Contentment and Joy!

 

  • Abundance is your natural state.
  • Creativity is your natural state.
  • Empowerment is your natural state.
  • Love is your natural state.
  • Freedom is your natural state.
  • Knowing is your natural state.
  • Oneness with God (peace) is your natural state.

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Ordination for Everyone?

Oct17

Warning:  today’s blog might be considered blasphemous to some.  ;)   Exploring ordination and asking the question “what is it for, who is it for and why?” 

Ordination as Most Know it

In the Christian tradition, ordination is the ceremony or sacrament (if you are Catholic) that designates a certain individual (usually male) to act “in persona Christi” (in the person of Christ) and empowers them to serve as minister, pastor, priest within their designated denomination and Church (notice I used “Big C” Church).  In the Catholic tradition in which I was raised, this designation is even more restricted and clearly defined- heterosexual male only (don’t ask don’t tell), the ONLY one who can act in the person of Christ, the ONLY one who can preach, perform the sacraments, preside over mass, lead a congregation, run the business of the congregation, heal, teach, evangelize, etc. etc. etc.

Pew Potatoes

Being raised in the Catholic Church, I had an opportunity to see the negative effects of this restrictive approach to ordination – most specifically prior to the Vatican II Council….but its effects still linger and I wonder what will happen under the rule of Benedict XVI and his “reform of the reform.”  When you have only ONE MAN who is empowered to perform the ministry of Christ in the world….you get ONE THING…..PEW POTATOES.  Pew Potatoes are dis-empowered Catholics (or any other denomination for that matter), who are never challenged, invited, formed or empowered to do anything other than show up to mass on Sunday.  They have fulfilled their “Sunday obligation” and are therefore done with their job of being Christian.  Now they can go back into the world and live as they normally live, perhaps somewhat inspired to be more loving and caring in the world, but in my humble (ok, maybe not so humble) opinion, Jesus wanted more from us.  Like our pastors, priests, ministers, etc. WE TOO are called to BE CHRIST in the world and to be vessels through which God’s healing love, compassion, mercy, peace, justice, joy can be known in the world.  We are called to do more than just show up and let the priest do all the work!  And in truth, I feel sorry for our poor priests who are expected to BE EVERYTHING and DO EVERYTHING. No wonder no one wants to join.  No wonder so many are burned out or acting out!  What would happen if the Institutions did something different with ordination and gave these guys a break!?

Crazy Ideas from a Mystical Madwoman!

So, I have a crazy idea….what would happen if ordination was available to EVERYONE?  Before you have a heart attack over this blasphemous idea…..Paul had a similar thought.  In his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 12: 1-27). Paul reflects on how each and every one of us is uniquely gifted to serve God and to be a source of Divine revelation in the world and went so far as to say that in doing so, “WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST.” (ahem….”in persona Christi”).  Why don’t we take this reading seriously?  Why aren’t each and every one of us given the tools through which we can discern what our unique giftedness might be and to discern how God might be calling us to share these gifts in the world in service to love and recognize that in doing so, we are the Body of Christ?  Why not?

Ordination for all

So here’s my crazy thought in form…..which will mostly likely NOT show up in any institutional church anytime soon.  But, what if people were given the tools to come to know themselves more fully, to come to KNOW God in a very deeply and intimate way within their own hearts?  What if people were given the tools to discover, cultivate, nurture and claim their own unique gifteness and how they are called to reveal God in the world through the sharing of their gifts.  And WHAT IF…….when those individuals are ready to claim these gifts and step into the world to boldly share these gifts in service to God and God’s love….WHAT IF….THEY WERE ORDAINED?  GASP!  Then instead of having one man who is expected to fulfill all the gifts as healer, teacher, preacher, listener, confessor, counselor, administrator, accountant, evangelizer, etc. etc. we had individual people empowered and ordained as:

  • ministers of healing
  • ministers of teaching
  • ministers of administration
  • ministers of preaching
  • ministers of leading
  • ministers of discernment
  • ministers of service to the poor
  • ministers of hospitality
  • etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

Just a thought!

Where have you been invited to know God and in knowing God, knowing yourself in a very intimate and personal way?

Where have you been invited to name, claim, cultivate your gifts?

Where have you been empowered to share those gifts in the world in service to love/God? 

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com