Philip, Can one submit their own personal experiences, or should we stick to more impersonal stuff?. Are we discussing life as we experience it , or how we experience God in our lives? There seems to be a great reluctance to admit that God is really in control, we like to think that we are. Rita.

-- Anonymous, October 21, 2001

Answers

Response to What are we talking about?

Rita, At the moment (and for perhaps some time to come) we are exploring-- and we are finding out by our attempts what it is we *want* and *need* to write about. We have begun with rather personal accounts of what brings us here and with accounts of experiences in which something has shone through, where the extraordinary shines through the ordinary, or accounts of the twists and turns of life's path--our faith histories. We have been paying attention to situations where we can see that, in the ordinary, something far from ordinary is in play, where we can spot, as it were, the emergence of things from "divine ground", where we catch our breath in wonder, where we listen for more than the passing sounds...

I think that it is important to pay attention to these things and to dwell with them. Meditative paths involve a deep dwelling with things.

There is, too, of course, room for "more impersonal stuff"--of whatever variety. There is room for lots of different kinds of things. At the moment we are indeed exploring, not following one single path. So I think you can go ahead and introduce whatever topics you wish.

Just one "caveat", or suggestion about being careful: I don't think we should at the moment write in this discussion forum about intimate personal matters where we are very vulnerable--things which, if they are to be talked about, should be raised with someone we know we can deeply trust.

-- Anonymous, October 21, 2001

Thank you Philip for your reply, I think perhaps my path is not as medatitive as others. Mine was a call as is the Christian way, to follow along the path of love. In a sense it is to follow the way Jesus went, it is the way of love which is the way of suffering, as love and suffering go together , to love is to be vulnerable and to be open to be hurt. It is not just a path of suffering . It is a path of knowledge, of growth leading to freedom; that no other path can give no matter how medatitive it is. Why anybody who is on the Christian way, would want any other way I find very hard to understand.I would not be anywhere else only where I am now. Rita.

-- Anonymous, October 25, 2001

You touch on fundamental matters.

-- Anonymous, October 28, 2001