If grace thrives beyond politics or religion, then … Have you wondered as I have, how we might re-discover spiritual freedom? Are you looking as I am, outside age-old camps that offer politics and religion yet seem to lack grace as a thriving and lived experience. What if we each submitted a suggestion to our leaders that begins with the words: “I WISH MY LEADER KNEW ___________________________________”
Would you agree the authentic answer is wider than a liberal or conservative leaning? And do you also hold that the spirit of God we crave is far deeper than mere denominational membership?
Growth and a grace mindset start with our admission there is much more to discover!
Perhaps the reason churches are dying all around us, is that they seem unable to help us to awaken and access the very life of God in each of us. If that is so, what avenue do we have, other than to rewire for a personal and collective response to the call of God and His grace that thrives in us (and in humanity) as a living mindset for the era we face.
Thomas Merton said it best, in his words below sent to me today by a close friend who often inspires me!
“In one sense we are always traveling, and traveling as if we did not know where we were going. In another sense, we have already arrived. We cannot arrive at the perfect possession of God in this life, and that is why we are traveling and in darkness. But we already possess Him by grace, and therefore, in that sense, we have arrived and are dwelling in the light. But oh! How far I have to go to find You in Whom I have already arrived.”
Contemplation is the highest expression of a person’s intellectual and spiritual life. It is that life itself, fully awake, fully active, fully aware that it is alive. It is spiritual wonder. It is spontaneous awe at the sacredness of life, of being. It is a vivid realization of the fact that life and being in us proceed from an invisible, transcendent, infinitely abundant source. It knows the Source, obscurely, inexplicably, but with a certitude that goes beyond reason and beyond simple faith… It is a more profound depth of faith, a knowledge too deep to be grasped in images, in words, or even in clear concepts.”
LINKS TO BOOKS THAT RECHARGE OUR EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL HEALTH IN A TOXIC ERA
Grace Mindset Book – paperback
The Teen’s Growth Mindset Workbook – paperback
Growth Mindset Interactive Materials at TPT
Mita (Growth Mindset) Strategies in Class and Beyond
Student Assessment that Works – a Practical Approach