Inner Compass: Some Ideas

Big Trees State Park-Arnold, CA

Currently I am reading a book by Margaret Silf, titled Inner Compass: An Invitation to Ignatian Spirituality. I learned about Ignatian Spiritual concepts several months ago after reading a book by James Martin, SJ. This book by Margaret Silf, mentioned above, was recommended and so I bought it. The more you read about the same subject the better you can begin to understand it. I offer up the following information which I found to be both helpful and interesting. 

One of the first concepts Ms. Silf describes is how to learn about your own inner landscape by identifying its three parts: Where am I? How am I? and Who Am I? The first outer ring consists of your own personal history. These are things that you cannot change (or are hard to change) such as your place of birth or where you work or where you live. We do most of our everyday living here. The second ring consists of your reactions to things. This is the place where we can exercise some choice. It's also where we can impact others the most with those choices. The third ring is where you are yourself before God. No pretenses, just yourself. Her point is that most people come into conflict when the outermost circle clashes with the innermost circle. How you are living is at odds with how you would like to be (and how God knows that you can be, given the opportunity). The middle circle is where the changes can occur; changes that will bring you closer to the innermost circle and closer to God.

I have gone around and around on this idea and the above paragraph is the best way that I can describe it. Ms. Silf's writing is just fine but she uses some terms that I just don't quite relate to very well. In thinking about things though, what she was suggesting sounded an awful lot like something I learned in college. It's called cognitive dissonance. It's a psychological construct that describes what happens when a belief that you hold to be true is at odds with something that you hear or see or do. It's uncomfortable and we work to rectify that discomfort in any number of ways. I think what she is advocating is resolution through action; changing your behavior through active examination and prayer in order to bring it in line with how you want to be-how God wants you to be. It's how you find your vocation or your calling. And how you move closer to God each and every day.

Libby

Close, Far, Together and Seperate

View from 26 on the way to Moke Hill 1/15

Two things:

I start nearly every morning now with the awareness that I am alive. Recognizing that I am awake and functioning and thanking God for this miracle is part of my morning routine. I try to do this every day and most days I am successful at remembering what to do. Though I am Jewish, I learned this practice from reading a book on Jesuit life and theology.  It isn't that Jews don't engage in this kind of "prayer"; it just so happens that I learned how to do it by reading a Roman Catholic centered book. I have no prejudices these days about where or how I get my info or how I jump start my awareness.

I also start each morning by reading "news feeds." The feeds are mostly art related but some of them have to do with religion or philosophy, life and morality- in a very broad sense. I read this post , written by a Jesuit author, this morning. The post deals with the idea of public and private spaces, how children share a common need of belonging, and how people can have such radically different paths in life yet still manage to find each other. (And be found.)  In looking for "evidence" of God's presence, I am beginning to think that one of the best places to search is in the interactions between two people or groups of people. How we relate to one another, what we do for each other, and how we are present in the lives of those all around us. Even if the places seem unlikely or the people in them seem mismatched, there is still some underlying commonality that makes you aware of the presence of something greater. Just take a look:)

Libby