To Belong
Truth & Transformation / Speaker: Chris Heuertz "Contemplation, Communion and Compassion"
Most of us don't want to wake up. We don't want to do the hard work to know who we really are, to know what is below the surface. We lack a true identity, communion, and compassion for ourselves. We have tried to over-identify with some fragmented pieces to define us. We think that our failures tell us who we are. Or our yeses and our vocations of service. But the truth is that our true self is ascribed, not earned. We are all, without exceptions, created by the divine. Printed by his image, lovable and beautifully made. A unique masterpiece. Nobody can steal our dignity. It´s not related to our actions or our materialistic inheritance. It is attributed to who created us and who we belong to.
"Who am I" will respond to us about what our worth is. Because our value and dignity are ascribed in the highest level, we freely want to embrace the whole fragmented "us". The good and bad, the honorable and shameful "us". True acceptance is being able to embrace all our assertiveness and failures. Capable to recognize our inner struggles, our fears. How will we have grace with others if we are not able to have grace first with ourselves? It's time to shake all false selves in our spiritual life.
Chris Heuertz (speaker of this week) pointed out all our contradictions, inconsistencies, and our conflicting notions of belonging that we don't know how to deal with. How will we know who we belong to if we do not know who we are? He made it so clear that to nourish our spiritual life and find the real meaning of living, we had to find out "the why" that strives below the surface. To grow in our spiritual life it is necessary to excavate our buried treasures that are hidden from ourselves. Instead of holding us back, dive in. As we grow in the word of God, which shapes us and grounds us, we also want to know and accept the flawed parts of ourselves. God will use everything to make us more humble, wiser, less judgemental, full of grace, which empowers us to be the best version of ourselves able to identify with others.
And it all starts in a right relationship with God. Letting God be God. We can´t save ourselves. We can't do what only God can do. By connecting to the source of life, the Tree of life, and learn to quiet ourselves, be still, listen to ourselves, be present. Learning to give up control, and let go.
The Eastern Orthodox Church developed "The Contemplative Prayer". Spiritual postures and practices to align us with the Holy Spirit and correct what is out of control in our lives:
To belong to others, first, we have to love and belong to ourselves. This will help us build community. Belong to a place where we share life with those we have something in common, practice fellowship. The community also gives us identity and unexpected gifts.
The values that bring a community together are hospitality, being trustful, keeping our word, be grateful. If this doesn't exist, the community falls apart.
"Stepping in a community is far worse than we expect, but in the end is far much better than we could ever imagine. In a community, we join together lives that are bursting with promise and potential but that are also marked by grief and sorrow. A community is like the threads of a rug that bounds us together, where we individuals are joined. Waking and facing the struggles together will make us find the greatest gifts. In a community, there really are no resolutions, only ambiguous and messy attempts to find our way back to one another." paraphrasing Chris Heuertz
Openness to the divine interruptions in our lives will bring us back to who we truly are. We need a fresh perspective on the tests and the pain we experience. How can we bring freedom to others if we haven't experienced wholeness and true healing in ourselves? Let's take ownership of our inadequacies, weaknesses, and needs.
Chris reminds us that in a world of arrogance, we are for humility. In a world of individualism, we are for the community. In a world of excess, we are for simplicity. In a world of power, we are for submission. In a world of triumphalism, we are for brokenness.
Most of us don't want to wake up. We don't want to do the hard work to know who we really are, to know what is below the surface. We lack a true identity, communion, and compassion for ourselves. We have tried to over-identify with some fragmented pieces to define us. We think that our failures tell us who we are. Or our yeses and our vocations of service. But the truth is that our true self is ascribed, not earned. We are all, without exceptions, created by the divine. Printed by his image, lovable and beautifully made. A unique masterpiece. Nobody can steal our dignity. It´s not related to our actions or our materialistic inheritance. It is attributed to who created us and who we belong to.
Chris Heuertz (speaker of this week) pointed out all our contradictions, inconsistencies, and our conflicting notions of belonging that we don't know how to deal with. How will we know who we belong to if we do not know who we are? He made it so clear that to nourish our spiritual life and find the real meaning of living, we had to find out "the why" that strives below the surface. To grow in our spiritual life it is necessary to excavate our buried treasures that are hidden from ourselves. Instead of holding us back, dive in. As we grow in the word of God, which shapes us and grounds us, we also want to know and accept the flawed parts of ourselves. God will use everything to make us more humble, wiser, less judgemental, full of grace, which empowers us to be the best version of ourselves able to identify with others.
And it all starts in a right relationship with God. Letting God be God. We can´t save ourselves. We can't do what only God can do. By connecting to the source of life, the Tree of life, and learn to quiet ourselves, be still, listen to ourselves, be present. Learning to give up control, and let go.
The Eastern Orthodox Church developed "The Contemplative Prayer". Spiritual postures and practices to align us with the Holy Spirit and correct what is out of control in our lives:
- The posture of Solitude: Is an intentional vacuating to be present to who we are. Teaches us presence, pressing in to be.
- The Posture of Silence: We are so addicted to distractions. Some of us can't listen to God because we can listen to ourselves to hear the voice of God. Learn to pursue quiet times.
- The Posture of Stillness: Teaches us restraint, discernment. History won't absolve us when we say yes and no.
To belong to others, first, we have to love and belong to ourselves. This will help us build community. Belong to a place where we share life with those we have something in common, practice fellowship. The community also gives us identity and unexpected gifts.
The values that bring a community together are hospitality, being trustful, keeping our word, be grateful. If this doesn't exist, the community falls apart.
"Stepping in a community is far worse than we expect, but in the end is far much better than we could ever imagine. In a community, we join together lives that are bursting with promise and potential but that are also marked by grief and sorrow. A community is like the threads of a rug that bounds us together, where we individuals are joined. Waking and facing the struggles together will make us find the greatest gifts. In a community, there really are no resolutions, only ambiguous and messy attempts to find our way back to one another." paraphrasing Chris Heuertz
Openness to the divine interruptions in our lives will bring us back to who we truly are. We need a fresh perspective on the tests and the pain we experience. How can we bring freedom to others if we haven't experienced wholeness and true healing in ourselves? Let's take ownership of our inadequacies, weaknesses, and needs.
Chris reminds us that in a world of arrogance, we are for humility. In a world of individualism, we are for the community. In a world of excess, we are for simplicity. In a world of power, we are for submission. In a world of triumphalism, we are for brokenness.
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