Above and Beyond

“Nature is the one song of praise that never stops singing.” – Richard Rohr

“The theological virtue of hope is the patient and trustful willingness to live without closure, without resolution, and still be content and even happy because our Satisfaction is now at another level, and our Source is beyond ourselves.” – Richard Rohr

Hope
Patience
Ease
Praise
Yearn
Hunger
Be filled, fill
Pursue
Enliven
Loosen
Release
Blessed in the ebb and flow, in the valley and the mountain
Expanding and growing
Above and beyond our understanding
Never lose heart
Go deeper, stay awake, guard your joy, hold your hope.
Blessed are we in it all of the messiness, imperfection, struggle and beauty of life.

“Blessed are we when we yearn, yearn for connection and love and touch. Blessed are we when we hunger for the beauty of life itself and the people to fill it. Blessed are we when we are unable to say I’m letting it go because we feel like we will be washed away into an ocean of nothingness. Teach us to hold on to the truths that enliven our spirits and fill our souls and loosen our grip on the painful untruths like that we are alone or unlovable or that desire itself is the enemy. Teach us to hunger for what is good and be filled. There will be no easy addition or subtraction, we will lose and we will gain and almost none of it will make much sense at the time. And it forces our hands open in the ebb and flow of wins and losses, comings and goings we will look for divine love in the mystery of it all. The stubbornness of flowers that still smile at us, at the grocery store and the need for endless small reminders that the pain of it all, the comedy of it all, keeps us wide, wide awake.” – Kate Bowler from podcast with Richard Rohr