Everyday Spirituality

Friendship and the Face of Jesus

/ sheridursin / 11 Comments

best friend

I love that so many of the Gospel stories depict Jesus with his friends. Traveling together, sharing meals, teaching, talking. Plus all the scenes left to our imagination. Shared laughter, gentle teasing, hugs. It’s one of the things that makes Jesus so very real to me.

I’ve been blessed with wonderful friends in my life… too many to count. I’m positive I don’t thank them often enough for the love and warmth they bring into my life.

But what about those friends who come into our lives for a period of time and then drift away? Why were they sent at that particular time? What were they meant to teach us? Does the fact that they are no longer a part of our daily experience make their impact any less important?

One such friendship I’m moved to write about today is from the year I turned eleven. Up until then my friendships were marked by a shared love of playground games, cute boys, soap operas and candy. Sweet and loyal and true.

Kathleen was the first person who taught me about discipleship. Continue reading →

Clear and Present Darkness

/ sheridursin / 2 Comments

At first glance this Scripture passage did not appeal to me. All the battle imagery is too aggressive and masculine for my usual approach to faith.   I tend to focus more on love and gentleness, peace and happiness. All feel-good, all the time. This talk of armor, shields, flaming arrows, and “spiritual wickedness in high places” is almost like a foreign language to me.

But the truth is there is tremendous darkness in the world. No matter how hard we try to surround ourselves with goodness, we will confront the “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” It’s easy to see, on a more global scale, what those spiritual forces might be. War, oppression, poverty, violence. But where does this “present darkness” exhibit itself in my every day life? Continue reading →

Finding God in the Pots and Pans

/ sheridursin / 2 Comments

old-kitchenI wonder if, like me, you’ve ever felt like there were two people inside of you. There’s the “busy self” who does all the everyday stuff: working, shopping, running errands, cooking, cleaning, paying the bills, taking care of everyone…and the “quiet self” or some might call the “holy self” who is focused on quiet prayer, listening to God in the stillness, going on retreats…all those great things we’re encouraged to do but never seem to find the time for. And so we struggle with this feeling that when we’re dwelling in the “busy self” we’re not quite “holy.” We’re not measuring up to the ideal.

Well, I don’t believe God wants us to live in this fractured or compartmentalized way—when we’re praying, we’re praying…but when we’re working, we’re working. It doesn’t have to be that way. It’s entirely possible to encounter God, or spend time with Jesus, amidst the hustle and bustle of all we have to do. In the words of St. Theresa of Avila… “God is in the pots and pans.”  Continue reading →

Thin Places

/ sheridursin / Leave a comment

Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon him while he is near.
Isaiah 55:6

Would you consider yourself a seeker?

ireland_61_bg_061502Do you find yourself always on the lookout for God, longing to know more about Him, longing to find Him and to hear His voice?  Celtic Christianity has a wonderful concept called “thin places.” According to this belief, a “thin place” is one where “the veil between heaven and earth is lifted.”  God’s presence is so strongly felt, that the human and the divine are only separated by a very thin space.  Because Ireland is full of such beautiful natural landscape, many of these “thin places” were believed to be sacred places in nature.  The cliffs, the ocean, the rocky landscape.

But thin places can be found anywhere—a comfy chair on your back porch, a hidden path through the woods, a busy city street.  And thin places can also be found in moments of time: the birth of a child, a family celebration, a moving liturgy, a beautiful song, or an experience helping someone in need.  The important thing is that when you encounter one of these thin places, you experience an encounter with God.  My husband has always said he feels closest to God among the mountains of Vermont, with their green brilliance and lofty peaks. Continue reading →