Margaret Silf, the delighful and – more importantly – insightful author of Inner Compass and Compass Points, came in to visit us the other day (bearing Scottish shortbread and other lovely gifts!)  Her visit reminded me that I haven’t shared one of her compass points in quite a while.

Here is Compass Point #54 – Apostolic Succession

Royal lineages, Apostolic successions, and the the anointing that accompanies them – the various complex mechanisms we have established for the passing on of power and glory – all these are characterized by the laying on of hands upon heads.

But God’s touch on our lives, the touch that calls each of us to be a carrier and co-creator of God’s Dream, happens when God’s hand is laid upon our hearts.

It can be a very long journey from the head to the heart.

Amen, Margaret, Amen.

Sorry for the late posting… the morning just got away from me.

I have been sharing snippets of Margaret Silf’s new book Compass Points – Meeting God Every Day At Every Turn.  Even though it is a little long for a blog post, how could I not share Compass Point #14B, “Finding God in All Things:”

In a story by Anthony de Mello, a fish is searching for the ocean.  Everyone he asks has heard of this thing called “ocean,” but no one has any idea of what it looks like, or where it might be found.  Maybe it is just a figment of fish imagination.  Maybe it is just wishful thinking.  Or maybe it is the ultimate reality in which every fish lives and moves and has its being.  Maybe it’s the mystery that nourishes every fish and sea creature and keeps them alive and growing.  Maybe it is the place in which every little stirring of the water, every hidden current guides the course of every fish, from the smallest plankton to the mighty whale.  Maybe it is the one true home.

If you too are searching for this elusive ocean in which you live and move and have your being, then look no further than what is all around you.  God is closer to us than we are to ourselves, so close that we can’t see the ocean for the water, the forest for the trees.  God is closer to us than our own breathing, closer than our eyes can focus, less than a heartbeat away.

 

Where will we find this mysterious presence that is so close yet seems so far away?  As we head northeast, we discover that God is, quite simply, everywhere, in all that happens and in every particle of all that that is.

 

Enjoy your exploration every day. Read the sermons in the stones along your path.  Listen to the song that daily life is singing in your heart.  Find God around the next turn of the road, just waiting to surprise you.

Compass Points – Meeting God Every Day At Every Turn, Margaret Silf’s wonderful new book was introduced to you a while back.  Today I want to share Compass Point #37:

It has been said that rules are needed by those who have lost their inner balance, and also by those who have not yet discovered it.

I wonder where we as the human race lie along this spectrum.  Have we lost a wisdom we once possessed? Or have we not yet discovered it?

Does Jesus save us from the follies of the past, or does he lead and guide us toward a fullness of wisdom and love that still lies beyond us?

Are we offenders who need correction, or infants who need to be nurtured into maturity.

I think I’m a bit of both. What about you?