Quote “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the signs and sorrows. That is what love looks like.”
Author: Augustine (354-430 CE) was a Latin-speaking theologian and philosopher born in present-day Algeria. He was a key figure in the development of Western Christianity.
Soul-Questions
1. The ancient Greeks had four words for love: agape (unconditional love) eros (intimate love) philia (friendship love) storgē (natural affection such as felt by parents for children and vice versa)
In your journal, reflect on how you have expressed love in its various forms in the past for family, friend, colleague, stranger, the world.
2. Was the love you showed, expressed verbally? monetarily? physically? emotionally? politically? prayerfully? in an action-oriented way? … simply by your presence? a visit? a card? a handmade gift? a phone call? social media?
3. Journal about an incident where the love you felt was expressed with “hands to help” …
“feet to hasten to the poor and needy” …
“eyes to see misery and want” …
“ears to hear the signs and sorrow” …
4. Are words sufficient to express love or are actions also an integral part of expressing love?
In your journal, consider a situation with someone you say you love but the other tells you that they receive a different message because your actions don’t reflect your words.
5. What can you do to bring the love you say you have for an individual, so that they feel loved by you in both word and action?
6. Consider ways you might express your love that are different from the ways you have expressed love in the past.
In your journal, reflect on situations when you have felt loved … deeply loved … by a parent, child, partner, spouse, God, pet, stranger.
How to use “Soulistry Soul-Questions” You may want to begin a Journal so your responses are all in one place.
From time to time, a quotation will appear along with accompanying Soul-Questions. Write the quotation. Add the first question and write your response.
Take your time in writing your replies. This is your time – these are your answers.
Then at your leisure, add the second Soul-Question and respond and continue on. Btw, it helps to put the date after each Soul-Question response.
The “Soul-Questions” group on Facebook can be found www.facebook.com/groups/soulquestions
The “Soul-Questions” website and individual quotes/soul-questions can be found www.soulistry.com/soul-questions-blog-posts
“My courage does not roar. It whispers to my heart. It makes me dig deep and find it in my soul to fight on.” <Kim Fitzsimmons>
It takes courage to go to work these days as an ‘essential services’ provider. You valiantly and selflessly serve long hours at potentially great cost to you and your families. We continue to hold you close in our hearts and pray for your protection. We are grateful … grateful beyond measure. Thank you for letting the courage that whispers to your heart help you dig deep and find it in your soul to fight on.
In spite of any personal situation we may be dealing with … in spite of any seas we may need to confront … in spite of where we are on the aging scale … in spite of what is happening in this world at this time … in spite of COVID19, may we face each moment with that indefinable spirit that enables us to deal with what-must-be-faced day-by-day, moment-by-moment.
Courage, my friends. Courage. And when we no longer have any courage, may we remember that somewhere in the world, people are praying for courage for those who are needing it. We are stronger than we may think we are.
The initial shock of COVID19 has hit. Grief is emerging as people deal with the loss COVID19 is bringing: … issues of death and dying because of a diagnosis of COVID19 … loss of income because their place of employment has been shut down … loss of freedom because schools, parks, businesses, swimming pools, recreation centres, pubs, theatres, conferences, etc. are closed … loss of control over lives … and more.
How to deal with the stress of it all? How to maintain some sense of emotional stability? How to find peace in the panic?
Perhaps the words of a woman who lived centuries ago, will help. Dame Julian of Norwich wrote something very simple at a difficult time in her life. She wrote this: “All shall be well. All shall be well. And all manner of thing shall be well.”
As a grief counsellor, I’ve found it helpful to encourage people, when they find themselves in a difficult situation, to use Dame Julian’s words with a conscious pattern of breathing gently, deeply, slowly and properly.
We breathe, but not always properly. And at times of stress, our breathing becomes more and more shallow which can lead to further stress. One way to test how you breathe is to place your hands in front of you on your belly/tummy with the longest fingers gently touching. As you breathe in, check to see if your shoulders are moving up or if your fingers are gently moving apart. Hopefully, it’s the latter. Keep practicing until you’re able to do this.
Then, using Dame Julian’s words, consciously doing some gentle, deep, slow breathing, try following this:
1. Gently inhaling … say/whisper/think/pray “All shall be well.” 2. Gently exhaling … say/whisper/think/pray “All shall be well.” 3. Gently inhaling … say/whisper/think/pray “And all manner of thing 4. Gently exhaling … say/whisper/think/pray “Shall be well.”
Then just sit for a few moments. Sit in the calm. Sit in the peace.
By doing the above, you have slowed down your breathing, brought oxygen into your body and welcomed a gentle reduction in your anxiety. Peace. Maybe just for a moment – or a few moments – but peace.
And, there is more. While Dame Julian’s words don’t say that “All IS well,” the words offer a hopeful message to our brain that “all SHALL BE well.”
When we combine Dame Julian’s words with a pattern of conscious breathing, we are sending positive messages to our body and our mind. “All shall be well.”
It will take time, but “all shall be well” and we will get through COVID19 – together.
Breathe, my Soulistry friends. Breathe in ruach, peace, hope. “All shall be well. All shall be well. And all manner of thing shall be well.”
“Stocks surged after the worst day since 1987 crash!” “Countries are closed off.” “Sports games, concerts, worship services are cancelled.” “It’s going to get worse, not better.” “COVID-19 is the end of the world.”
We’ve heard them all – and more. So what do we do?
Perhaps we do an attitude-adjustment.
Perhaps we intentionally focus on the goodness around us the examples of compassion the incidents of kindness the expressions of love the gifts of colour in flowers, children at play, puppies and kittens instead of the yuck.
Perhaps we look to the Creator of the present moment who stills the storm and soothes the frantic heart, who brings hope, courage, strength as we wait in uncertainty and who brings peace that passes understanding so that we may rest at night, heal and awaken in the morning to the gift of a new day where we focus on making time to breathe, deep and gently and inhale peace … and calm … and hope.
People seem to be reacting to news of the spreading COVID virus in different ways.
Discrimination of certain ethnicities is becoming one of the consequences of the rising fear of this virus.
My hope is that everyone will treat others “as the sacred being they are”and that bullying, abuse, violence, hatred, war, road rage, prejudice, gossip, racism, ageism, sexism, terrorism, religious intolerance, injustice, discrimination … for any reason … will cease.
May every human being be treated as the sacred being they are.
