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Living Our Heart’s Desires By Liz Morris, LCSW |
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What do you hunger for? What makes your heart sing? When do you feel most alive? What are you doing then and who are you with? Desires take many shapes and forms and not all of them are of Love. It is important for us to look at the specifics of our own lives and our own desires. It is not easy. It takes time to properly develop this desire muscle. We must start where we are, whatever our particular desires, and probe them. A desire may appear superficial, but what’s underneath it? A desire may appear virtuous and underneath be self-serving. Sometimes all we desire is to actually feel some kind of desire and longing! Margaret Silf, in her book Inner Compass, talks about the importance of all of our desires, such as those for safety, comfort, a peaceful world, physical and spiritual food, depth, and to be who we are. |
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Love=God’s Presence By Sue Priebe, Ph.D. |
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Love is a hot topic. It is a bit tricky to write about love, however, as there are so many different ways to understand or define it. In a simple internet search I found 1,920,000,000 entries. So I’ll narrow it a bit to this equation:
Love = God’s presence. I have been reading this wonderful little book called Lean Forward Into Your Life: Begin Each Day As If It Were On Purpose by Maryanne Radmacher.
It was in the chapter entitled “Risk Love” that I found this delightful paragraph: was it you who painted your favorite indigo blue across the sky? no-it was just the dusk greeting the night. at the end of this day i wondered… i
wouldn’t help but wonder if this is what you meant when you whispered to me that you would always protect
me, even when you couldn’t be seen… and that everywhere i looked and listened i would see & hear signs
of your love for me then… it was you… wasn’t it? (p.57)
I don’t really know if the author is referring to God here in this beautiful picture, but what it did for me was to initiate a process where I began looking and listening for where God was in the world, and therefore where Love might be found. The Christian tradition has the rich theology of God entering the world in the person of Jesus. The things we
sense: taste, touch, see, hear and experience –the emotional and relational connections we have with others –the pain of loss, brokenness and disappointment: all these are validated by God’s full participation in them in Jesus. |
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Managing Holiday Stress - By Rev. Ann Ohlrogge Johnson, LCPC, LMFT |
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The holiday season is full of expectations—some realistic, many not. Most of us have expectations of ourselves, and expectations of others. When there is a gap between our hopes and expectations for the holiday season, and our experience of the season, holiday stress is the result. Some people experience this stress as anxiety—others experience the stress as depression. Accepting the fact that there is no "perfect" family or holiday can reduce stress and transform the way we experience the season. |
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National Domestic Violence Awareness - By Sara Griffin, MDiv, MA, LCPC |
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Ninety-two percent of American women rank domestic and sexual violence as one of their top priorities. One out of every three women experiences at least one physical assault by a partner during adulthood, according to a study by the American Psychological Association. These statistics and the myths that surround domestic violence explain why October is National Domestic Violence Awareness month, dedicated to education and prevention. |
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Embracing the Darkness - by Kathleen Philben, Ph.D, |
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This is the season of darkness and light. We are acutely aware of shorter days and earlier nights. With the winter solstice we experience the shortest day of the year, the day with the least amount of sun and the most time of darkness. We hear people bemoan the fact that the sun sets so early in the evening. Darkness is judged to be bad, or at least as undesirable. We can’t wait to have longer days, more light. |
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