Self renewal

Yesterday was a totally different day. With 3 others I attended a spiritual retreat.

Encounter with the divine can transform ordinary people to greatness. Disciplining your desires can lead you to freedom and freedom to excellence. How can you express your spirituality? How can you grow?

The disciples as one rooted in Christ. 1. Attentiveness to God’s presence 2. Dispositions, the observable attitudes 3. Actions. Your actions should be faithful to your ideals 4. Sacramental life  5. Way of Mary (mother of Jesus). Spiritual obedience. All these headings were broken into smaller parts and elucidated.

The Beatitudes can be a sum of what it means to be rooted in Christ. There are joys and pain. Each beautitude was touched only lightly and will need further reflections.

In the other workshop we reviewed Psalms: Prayer and Poetry. The book of Psalms contains Prayers and Songs that grew from life, worship, and history.

We heard the presentation on the four levels of happiness. It can be expressed in 4 desires to happiness. As one ascends the levels, ego trip, envy, jealousy, pride may disturb the balance.There might be periods of emptiness in spite of accomplishments, attainments,honors. Desire might dominate one's life.

Yesterday was a day of spiritual self-renewal. It’s a bird song, rainbow, a frond, faint crackles on a placid river, a smile, light reflected on a blade of grass, a waterfall. 

Every day is a new day, different from any other day.

(photos : Chapel, US Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado)