Rambles...

Confession: This blog will be a random post of thoughts and happenings. I cannot be held liable as my brain is overstimulated. 

I find myself drawn to study monks and nuns these days. Yep I said it...monks and nuns. I am quite intrigued by their commitments to the committed life of stability through spirituality. I think we often think of nuns and monks as "those who can't have sex". But it doesn't seem to bother them. They transcend into this marriage with Jesus that utterly thrills them. Strange? Or Greatness? While theologically, I don't subscribe to all their beliefs, I find the serenity they have found very soothing...God like even...unencumbered by the entanglements of this world and it's draining power...they ascend to bliss maybe? Or do they? I'm not sure...but I will search it out. This week as I was finishing a 12 hour shift to go home and study I thought of how great a weekend retreat in "silence" would be at a monastery...Hmmm...more to come on that one...

I heard tonight on Oprah's life class..."Your inner life is your real life." I believe it. More than ever. As I descend more and more into periods of time with only myself, I find the stability that comes out of relationship with God and oneself. It cannot be priced. Yet it's painful and lonely. Hmm...yep more to come on that one too...

Beginning "Home Tonight: Further Reflections on The Parable of the Prodigal Son" by Henri Nouwen. Nouwen is a priest that suffered a mental breakdown...this book was written during his breakdown and healing in solitude for 9 months. I find it fascinating already and it kinda goes along with points one and two of this blog: Do those in solitude have a special bond with God? Or do they have breakdowns too? Also, it seems Nouwen wrote a fantastic spiritual piece during a breakdown in solitude after he faced his own humanity...I like it.

Lastly, church today felt like a symphony within my soul. I hadn't been able to attend in three weeks and I was saturated with God and his disciples. We need community. Plain and Simple. We need Him. Plain and simple. Both are utterly delightful. I'm a grateful girl. 

Grace n Peace,

A ~