"Everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing himself." Moral superiority, setting unrealistic and fixed goals, and judging others are antithetical to good practices, self-knowledge and reaching out to others in an open and tolerant fashion facilitate spiritual practice.
Foster stresses that many Eastern practices are compatible with Christian practices. Meditation is not an esoteric part of discipline, but within every believer's capability provided that he or she does the practice in a spirit of contemplation, by using the correct posture, breath, and in mindful isolation. "Christian meditation leads us to the inner wholeness necessary to give ourselves to God freely, and to the spiritual perception necessary to attack social evils. In this sense it is the most practical of all disciplines... Anyone who can tap the power of the imagination can learn to meditate." Journaling as well as contemplating and centering prayer can lead an individual to God as can more conventional forms of prayer and practice in the tradition of Thomas Merton, the Buddha and Christian mystics such as Eckhart.
Following the advice of Foster in many ways requires believers to think outside of the box of mainstream culture's individualism and emphasis on indulgence. True Christian simplicity requires that we accept that all we possess comes from God, that what we have is ultimately under the care of God, and that what seems like 'ours' is also spiritually available to others. Letting go of ego is essential, thus Foster distinguishes between true service, that gives the individual what they genuinely need and self-righteous service that only serves the giver. But perhaps the most fascinating and radical advice given in the book, from an orthodox Christian point-of-view,...
Jesus' Teachings, Prayer, & Christian Life "He (Jesus) Took the Bread. Giving Thanks Broke it. And gave it to his Disciples, saying, 'This is my Body, which is given to you.'" At Elevation time, during Catholic Mass, the priest establishes a mandate for Christian Living. Historically, at the Last Supper, Christ used bread and wine as a supreme metaphor for the rest of our lives. Jesus was in turmoil. He was
Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home By Richard Foster About the Author Richard J. Foster is the author of many best selling books, which includes the most famous "Celebration of Discipline and Streams of Living of Water." He is also the founder of Renovare an infrachurch movement that is dedicated to the restoration of the Church in all her comprehensive expressions. In addition, his is a general editor of the forthcoming Renovare
Persona Christi An Analysis of the Priesthood "in persona Christi" and "in nominee ecclesiae" The questions that surround the functions of the priesthood and the diaconate today appear to be part and parcel of the greater uncertainty that surrounds ancient Church customs. This paper will attempt to analyze the meanings of the phrases "in persona Christi" and "in nomine ecclesiae" as they have reflected the functions of the ministers of the
During this penultimate period of violence under Rojas, the violence that wracked Colombia assumed a number of different characteristics that included an economic quality as well as a political one with numerous assassinations taking place. These were literally contract killings there were sponsored by opposition forms. There were also horrendous genocidal acts that were carried out by gangs combined with authentic revolutionary fighting in some regions of the country. The fourth
One should be aware that meditation is able to bridge the gap between humanity and divinity and the first step is to believe in the possibility and desire such a state. In order to attain the state of meditation, Evelyn Underhill (1930) states that an act of perfect concentration, of passionate focus of the self on a certain point, when the self dedicates itself guided by a pure intention
This work provided an intensive discussion historical forces that were to lead to modern humanism but also succeeds in placing these aspects into the context of the larger social, historical and political milieu. . Online sources and databases proved to be a valid and often insightful recourse area for this topic. Of particular note is a concise and well-written article by Stephen Weldon entitled Secular Humanism in the United States.
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