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*** Weekly Reflections - Joyce Rupp ***
Beginning the week of Ash Wednesday Feb 17th
the National Catholic Reporter will be posting reflections
from Joyce's published resources. Sign up to receive an e-mail alert. Go to NCRonline.org/email-alert-signup .
A new reflection is posted every Friday.
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Article Go In peace, Rituals for the dying
In this article, published in U.S. Catholic, June, 2006, Joyce wrote about a meaningful and helpful blessing for the dying that she created and has shared with a number of persons who were near death.
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From the author... |
Hello and welcome to my website. I hope you find inspiration and a deepened sense of hope from having stopped by here. I am fortunate to have a wonderful website manager, Faye Willamsen, who creates and updates the site. If this is your first visit, you’ll find some information about myself toward the latter part of this. If you are returning for an update of my current projects, here is what I am tending:.
(1)The impermanence of life has been a focus of mine for sometime now. I still find it difficult to let go of who and what I cherish. The turning of the seasons reminds me of the necessity to be open to change. As much as I treasure the vibrancy of spring, the radiance of summer or the golden glow of autumn, winter also has its gifts. The deepest part of me knows that change is inevitable and that it is essential for transformation, on all levels of life. Yet, the reality of impermanence can still disturb my peace. Perhaps that is why, when I set out to spend summer focused on writing, I was given, instead, seriously ill relatives and friends. While I turned my focus in that direction with a full heart, I also listened to my disappointment in having to set my writing aside. That is, until mid-August. It was then that an image came, freeing me from the “writing time” to which I had been clinging. As I walked one day, the image of a pregnant woman came to mind. I thought, “This is similar to my desire to write. Like a child in the womb, my writing is gestating. Taking the time it needs to ripen. I do not need to fret or worry. It will happen when the moment is right.” I truly believe this now and have no doubt that I’ll return to my manuscript when the fullness reveals itself.
(2) Having shared that insight, I am also pleased with the rotating of Earth toward the darker months of the year. Winter has, for a long time now, been like a cave of quiet in which I dream and create easily. I find the long evenings of darkness and the days of being indoors a perfect time to settle into the mode of reflection and writing.
(3) The book that Joyce Hutchison and I worked on together for the past two years is now in bookstores. If you go to “Spiritual Zest” for October of 2009 you can read some of my reflections regarding Now That You’ve Gone Home.
(4) I continue to serve as co-director of The Institute of Compassionate Presence. I travel to Omaha Nebraska to help facilitate the reflections & rituals, and also to be a presenter at some of the sessions. We have another wonderful group of women and men this year. They meet with us all day on every second Friday of the month. For those of you who cannot join us monthly, I decided to offer a four day intensive of the Institute. I’ll do this next April (see my 2010 schedule) at the beautiful Bon Secours spirituality center in Mariottsville, MD. Perhaps some of you can join me there for this event.
(5) I am entering into a new venture and excited about it. At the end of January 2010, I’ll join Mary Kay Shanley, a gifted author and teacher of writing programs, to offer a women’s winter writing retreat. Mary Kay will facilitate the writing part and I’ll do the creative rituals and presentations on spirituality. We’ve had so much enjoyment preparing for this and I look forward immensely to being with the thirty participants who will join us for the retreat. (see 2010 schedule for details)
(6) Sorin Books, my publisher of the Sophia books (The Star in my Heart and Prayers to Sophia) has designed new covers that look splendid. I wrote a new preface for Star… the books will be out sometime next Spring
Having written all that, you may wonder, given my other scheduled retreats and conferences, if I’ll really find space and time to write. Here’s the secret. I guard my meditation and reflection time like gold. I believe in keeping strong boundaries around this and rarely depart from it. This is the best foundation I could have for writing. I gain so much clearness of mind/heart from meditation. That, and my daily walks, prepare me well for going deeper. Because of this, quality rather than quantity of time, most aids my work.
I am fortunate to live in a beautifully wooded, quiet spot in the heart of the city of Des Moines, Iowa. Here I have the stillness I long for and need. I also have deer, raccoons, possums, foxes, woodchucks, feral cats, squirrels(too many), a myriad of beautiful birds, and who knows what other little creatures, to keep me company. This lovely spot also allows for easy access into and out of the city’s humming heart.
I am going to keep posting the following reflection for you because it continues to be strong in my heart and mind. It is what I most believe for us right now:
A big chunk of my ongoing gratitude is for you, my readers, and those I meet at various gatherings for conferences and retreats. The more I travel, the more assured I am that we are “all one.” Much more unites than divides us. It’s a matter of looking a bit deeper and finding the wealth of goodness inherent in each of us. I’m no Pollyanna about current global pain but I am also no pessimist about the potential in humankind to breathe forth love rather than warring antipathy.
I leave you with a quote from The Wise Heart, Jack Kornfield’s latest book, which I highly recommend:
There is no separation between inner and outer, self and other. Tending ourselves, we tend the world. Tending the world, we tend ourselves.
All the best to you as we travel the road of life together in kinship of spirit.
-Joyce |
Articles of Interest...
Book shares peace found on journey - Review by Shirley Ragsdale, Des Moines Register, July 15, 2006, of Walk in a Relaxed Manner
Go in peace, Rituals for the dying - US Catholic Magazine, Jun 2006
Sneak Preview - Read preview chapter of Joyce's new book Walk in a Relaxed Manner online at The Healing Garden Journal.
"Desperately Seeking Sophia," US Catholic Magazine, October 2002
"Open Some Doors this Advent," US Catholic Magazine, November 24, 2008.
"Five Spiritual Lessons of Loss," Family Perspectives Journal, Summer 2002
"Celtic Crossovers: May the Lent of the Irish Be With You," U.S. Catholic, March 2001
"The art of cultivating spiritual growth," The editors interview Joyce Rupp. US Catholic, April 2000. pp 26-31.
"Let the Land Teach Us" About Healing and Creativity. Joyce Rupp. Catholic Rural Life, Spring 2000, pp. 12-16. Catholic Rural Life is a publication of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference. http://www.ncrlc.com
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Reviews...
"The Dance of Oneness," A review of The Cosmic Dance by Loretta Peters, EarthLight, Summer 2002.
"A Nurturing God," A review by Sally Cunneen of Prayers to Sophia and The Star in My Heart. The American Catholic, March 2000, pp. 7, 19.
http://www.vfr.com/tac
Reviews by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat,Values and Visions Review Service
Open the Door
Walk in a Relaxed Manner
Out of the Ordinary: Prayers, Poems, and Reflections for Every Season
The Star in My Heart: Experiencing Sophia, Inner Wisdom
Reviewed by Sharon Flesher Prayers to Sophia: A Companion to "A Star in My Heart"
Reviewed by Austin Repath Walk in a Relaxed Manner |
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About Joyce Rupp...
Joyce Rupp is well known for her work as a writer, a spiritual "midwife," and retreat and conference speaker. She has led retreats throughout North America, as well as in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Joyce has a B.A. in English, a M.R.E. in Religious Education, and a M.A. in Transpersonal Psychology. She is a member of the Servites (Servants of Mary) community and a volunteer for Hospice. She currently resides in Des Moines, Iowa. A list of Joyce's works can be found in the left column of this page. Click on the book title to find out more information about that title.
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Spiritual Zest
February 2010
Something pretty amazing happened last weekend. I co-facilitated a three day retreat in…get ready for this... a funeral home! That’s right. A mortuary. This retreat had nothing to do with loss and grief. Mary Kay Shanley and I teamed a writing retreat for women. Her husband belongs to the Kiwanis who meet weekly at the funeral home. That’s how we discovered this remarkable place.
I learned last weekend that I still have more un-boxing to do regarding my perceptions and beliefs about certain things. Death stopped being a fearful thing for me once I trained and volunteered for Hospice. But funeral homes have been off-putting. They’re not one of the places I consider spending time except when it’s out of necessity to honor the dead and comfort mourners. The funeral home, Hamilton’s on Westown Parkway, awakened me, - startled me, actually. Over the weekend, I grew to relish that light-filled, beautifully decorated setting: comfortable sofas, soft lighting, fireplaces, a meeting room with two glass walls on either side, one of them offering a view of a lovely garden. All this and more greet the visitor at Hamilton’s.
The staff’s philosophy and vision upends how death is viewed by many in our western culture. The folks at Hamilton’s do not deny death. Rather, they look at death as a natural part of the journey of life, not as something abhorrent and morbid. They believe in using the space that houses the dead to also house other events of diverse nature. Life and death intertwine comfortably in this funeral home. On Sundays, you’ll find a church service, including a children’s nursery. During the week, quilters, book clubs, and other groups gather in one part of the building while a funeral service is taking place in another section.
Why am I sharing this with you? We are approaching Ash Wednesday. The beginning of Lent is a time of intentional renewal to live as our truest self, to live more fully the teachings of Christ. I now know where the focus of my Lenten time will be: establishing greater awareness of my preconceived notions and judgments. Jesus stressed non-judgment (“take the plank out of your own eye”). He lived open-minded, open-hearted. He had the courage to deviate from the acceptable norms of culture that close doors to a wider love. His choices of how to live led to his passion and death on the cross.
I barely notice when I keep people framed in the tight space of my limited views. Yet, this is exactly how prejudice and racism, anti-immigration sentiment, self-righteous religious hostility, ongoing family feuds, and much more, develop and persist. When I tighten and narrow my gauge of those I accept, I lessen the movement of Christ-like love in our world.
Lent is a time to renew, to change, to become a person of greater love, and to be willing to pay the price for those changes. Perceptions can alter. Illusions can be recognized for what they are. Judgments can be let go. Lent is an excellent time to browse inside our mind and heart, to notice what clogs our ability to love, and to release tightly held attitudes that wound our world.
© Joyce Rupp
Check out previous Spiritual Zest Articles.
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Index of Poems found on this Site
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"Evergreen" - from Joyce's new book Rest Your Dreams On A Little Twig
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"A Celtic Moment" from the article "Celtic Crossovers: May the Lent of the Irish Be With You"
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Poetry Cards - Samples of cards available for purchase - poetry from Rest Your Dreams On A Little Twig
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Book Awards Announced
Catholic Press Association:
Walk in a Relaxed Manner - placed first in the area of spirituality, softcover book.
The Circle of Life placed second in this same category!
Independent Book Publishers Association:
The Circle of Life received a second place award in the Religion category.
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