I"m so greatly encouraged that so many of you have emailed or left comments about me sharing my own personal journey of discernment.I thought I would share here some collected resources: prayers, poems, etc that I'm using that you may want to consider also. Would you mind sharing in the comment section of the blog any other resources you've found helpful---those that offer light and insight; those prayers that you find yourself saying again and again and I'll add to this list. Let's build this together. Songs, books, etc. Let's help each other here, OK? Again, leave your suggestions here so we can watch the list build.Things I've written on the blog, can be easily accessed by scrolling up and down the blog entries.Finally, Would you consider to "Share" this post on your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, etc post as so many are searching for answers. Here are a few of mine:For a New Beginningby John O’DonohueIn out-of-the-way places of the heart,Where your thoughts never think to wander,This beginning has been quietly forming,Waiting until you were ready to emerge.For a long time it has watched your desire,Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,Noticing how you willed yourself on,Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.It watched you play with the seduction of safetyAnd the gray promises that sameness whispered,Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,Wondered would you always live like this.Then the delight, when your courage kindled,And out you stepped onto new ground,Your eyes young again with energy and dream,A path of plenitude opening before you.Though your destination is not yet clearYou can trust the promise of this opening;Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginningThat is at one with your life’s desire.Awaken your spirit to adventure;Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,For your soul senses the world that awaits you. -----------------------------------------------------Harrowing by Parker Palmer The plow has savaged this sweet fieldMisshapen clods of earth kicked upRocks and twisted roots exposed to viewLast year’s growth demolished by the blade.I have plowed my life this wayTurned over a whole historyLooking for the roots of what went wrongUntil my face is ravaged, furrowed, scared.Enough. The job is done.Whatever’s been uprooted, let it beSeedbed for the growing that’s to comeI plowed to unearth last year’s reasons—The farmer plows to plant a greening season. ----------------------------------------For RetirementBy John O’Donohue This is where your life has arrived,After all the years of effort and toil;Look back with graciousness and thanksOn all your great and quiet achievements.You stand on the shore of new invitationTo open your life towhat is left undone;Let your heart enjoy a different rhythmWhen drawn to the wonder of other horizons.Have the courage for a new approach to time;Allow it to slow until you find freedomTo draw alongside the mystery you holdAnd befriend your own beauty of soul.Now is the time to enjoy your heart’s desire,To live the dreams you’ve waited for,To awaken the depths beyond your workAnd enter into your infinite source.------------------------------------------- Disturb Us, O Lord by Sir Francis Drake Disturb us, Lord, whenWe are too pleased with ourselves,When our dreams have come trueBecause we dreamed too little,When we arrived safelyBecause we sailed too close to the shore.Disturb us, Lord, whenWith the abundance of things we possessWe have lost our thirstFor the waters of life;Having fallen in love with life,We have ceased to dream of eternityAnd in our efforts to build a new earth,We have allowed our visionOf the new Heaven to dim.Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,To venture on wilder seasWhere storms will show Your mastery;Where losing sight of land,We shall find the stars.We ask you to push backThe horizons of our hopes;And to push back the futureIn strength, courage, hope, and love.This we ask in the name of our Captain,Who is Jesus Christ. --------------------------------------------------A Prayer by Thomas MertonMY 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 that 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 will I 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.
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