Day 24 - A November discipline of giving thanks each day
The following quotes are from the introduction to An Alter in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor. I haven't gotten any farther than the intro, but the pencil is already dulling from underlining. This is not a page-turner, but a book to sit and ponder with... at least so far.
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No one longs for what he or she already has, and yet the accumulated insight of those wise about the spiritual life suggests that the reason so many of us cannot see the red X that marks the spot [the spiritual life] is because we are standing on it. The treasure we seek requires no lengthy expedition , no expensive equipment, no superior aptitude or spacial company. All we lack is the willingness to imagine that we already have everything we need. The only thing missing is our consent to be where we are.
-on Christians longing for the spiritual life.
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There is no spiritual treasure to be found apart from the bodily experiences of human life on earth. My life depends on engaging the most ordinary physical activities with the most exquisite attention I can give them. My life depends on ignoring all touted distinctions between the secular and the sacred, the physical and the spiritual, the body and the soul. What is saving my life now is becoming more fully human, trusting that there is no way to God apart from real life in the real world.
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