Month: February 2011

Finding God In All Things

Post author By seedthrower1
Post date 02/16/2011
No Comments on Finding God In All Things

We all have days where it seems like nothing goes right. Hopefully, we’ve also experienced days were everything we put our hand to works out perfectly. I guess this pattern of positive and negative is built into the fabric of our daily living. The more we accept it, the easier it is for us to Find God In All Things.

This understanding of recognizing God in all things is one of the key concepts of Ignatian Spirituality. Instead of using the terms positive and negative, St. Ignatius used desolation (negative) and consolation (positive). Both are movements of the spiritual life, and we will encounter them over and over again in our daily living.

Body Fitness Inspiration

Fitness Challenge Update

Seven weeks ago, I made a New Year’s Resolution to complete a Fitness Challenge at my local YMCA. The program is loosely based on the Biggest Loser television show, which puts people into workout teams and they compete to see who can lose the most weight.

Well, I’m at the midway point in the ten week challenge, and things are going pretty well. I’ve lost about ten pounds and am moving towards my goal. More importantly, I’ve been working out just about every day, and that’s where I’m seeing the most improvement.

Catholic Church Ignatian Spirituality Inspiration Prayer Spirit

Living the Gospel

When you really think about it, you can’t truly live the Gospel without suffering some pain. Last week, I was giving some students from the United Church of Christ a tour of our church. They asked about the stations of the cross, and why we had them displayed all around. It was a good question.

Jesus said that if we wanted to be his disciple, we were going to have to pick up our cross and follow him. The stations of the cross remind us that to be a Christian means that we’re going to experience some suffering along the way.

Main Course Soup On Saturday Soups and Stews Vegan Vegetarian

Tomato and Bulgur Soup

Forgive me for having two back to back tomato soup recipes. The snowy cold weather has been hanging around my neck of the woods, and any kind of tomato soup always seems to pull me out of the winter blues. I want SPRING 🙂

Actually, I was also looking to use up my store of bulgur wheat that I purchased for my Lentil Chili recipe. Bulgur wheat is a whole grain. The kind I use from Bob’s Red Mill is red wheat that has been parboiled, dried, and ground. It thickens anything you add it to.

I’ve learned recently that its very important to eat 3-5 servings of whole grains each day. The Whole Grains Council has terrific information about the health benefits of adding whole grains to your diet. You’ll also find some great recipes there. Adding bulgur wheat to this easy soup recipe is an easy way to get a part of your daily requirement.

Inspiration Prayer Spirit

Trading My Sorrows

Several years ago, Trading My Sorrows, written by Darrell Evans, was a very popular Christian song. I know the teens in our youth group loved it, and it seemed like we sung it often at our various events.

We used it so much that I got tired of it. You’ve probably had similar experiences with other songs. Although the message was great, you become a bit deaf to it because it was repeated so often.

Inspiration Prayer Spirit

Living For God

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately, looking for ideas to help a friend get through some tough times. He’s not alone. There are lots and lots of people dealing with life issues. Some are able to deal with it on their own, and others need some guidance and help.

In reality, we all need help. Whenever we try and go it alone, self-assured and prideful, we will end up taking a tumble some time or other. My suggestion is that we make a change in how we approach our lives. We need to stop living just for ourselves. We need to stop living just for others.

Inspiration Spirit Travel

Reconnecting

Every few years, one of my childhood friends makes a trip to Washington DC for her job. Usually, I take the train down and we catch up over dinner. This year, she came in a day early and we had the chance to spend the day together.

It was really great to reconnect. We lucked out because it was sunny and unusually warm for early February. Last year at this time we were still recovering from back to back blizzards. We had lunch at the Good Stuff Eatery, owned by Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn.

Next we headed to the National Botanical Gardens, just down the mall from the Capital. Then it was on to find the Impressionist Paintings at the National Gallery of Art. It’s been some time since I was last there, and it seemed as though there were many, many new paintings. If you love art and haven’t been here lately, it’s worth the trip.

Catholic Church Inspiration Mind Prayer Spirit

Wanting More

Way back in the 1990’s, I learned about the great spiritual writer Henri Nouwen. His books and tapes were very popular, and his book Return of the Prodigal Son became a huge best seller.

As it is with most authors, over time we move on to other writers who seem to speak more clearly to us. We can also find ourselves bored with one person’s thoughts and turn to the latest and greatest. It seems like that is what happened with me and Henri. I loved his books once, and found great meaning in them. But now those books sit on my shelf collecting dust. Recently though, I’ve been working through some things, and Nouwen’s works have come back as rich sources of inspiration and wisdom.

Inspiration Spirit

Ronald Reagan

Today would be President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday. I voted for him in the first election after I turned 18. As a kid, I remember the dark days under President Carter. I was young then, but I knew the country was in a bad way and that everyone was struggling. Who could forget the Iranian Hostages?

When President Reagan was elected, it seemed like hope returned. Optimism about the future was one of his strong points. As history always does, his weak points have also been revealed, and now we are presented with a balancing act. I guess it’s the same for all of us, but done in a public way with public leaders. Many years from now, I think Ronald Reagan will be remembered as a good president. I personally believe this to be the case because of one remarkable event that I had the privilege to witness.

Inspiration Italy Main Course Soup On Saturday Soups and Stews Vegan Vegetarian

Tomato and Bread Soup

I was visiting with a family the other day, and all the kids were home because school had been cancelled. When my friend asked them what they wanted for lunch, they asked for “red” soup. Interesting. I realized that, since the mom and dad don’t like tomatoes, they must not use that name with their kids. It brought a smile to my face. What kid doesn’t like a bowl of tomato soup, served up with a grilled cheese sandwich?

The soup for this weekend is one of the easiest soups to make, and one of the best tasting. I remember having it for the first time when my family and I were in Florence one October. Pappa al Pomodoro is true Tuscan peasant food. I got the recipe from How To Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. The book arrived the other day as a birthday gift from my brother and his family. It was a great choice 🙂