contemplation

“…true contemplation is never a mere retreat. Instead, it draws us deeper into right action by getting us more deeply in touch with the gifts that we have to give, with our need to give them, with the people and problems that need us. “
Parker Palmer

There was a time when I couldn’t stand to be alone. I had to always have people around me. I couldn’t bear silence. To be left alone with my thoughts was a scary thing and I avoided it at all costs.

Now, I love ‘alone’ time. I don’t mind being by myself. In fact, I love it. And, although it is lovely having time alone with God, and it is an essential piece of my spiritual growth, the spiritual life is not meant to a solitary experience. Transformation is not only about what I sense God doing within me but about how I live out what God is doing within me. I need to allow time and space for God to speak into my life, clarifying the gifts and calling He has placed inside. I then need to discern how He wants me to use those gifts, and live out that calling in a way that draws others to Him.

Are you creating space to give God a chance to reveal the gifts He has given you? Do you know what calling He has placed in your heart? Do you know how He wants you offer that to the world?

Give yourself - and others - the gift of contemplation.

Grace and peace,
Deb

Photo by r-z http://www.flickr.com/photos/r-z/3331724551/