Thinking about God is a problem if you want to commune with God. The concentration of attention in the heart—this is the starting point of prayer. Martin Laird
If you struggle with thoughts about God when praying and wish to experience God in the quiet space within your heart, perhaps a spiritual companion may be helpful. Visit my website for more information.
God is constantly embracing us just as we are. Sometimes there are moments when we are super aware of God’s presence. Other times we may experience what feels like God’s absence. If you are reading this and can relate and have been searching for someone who might understand, consider me as a spiritual companion. Click below for my website. Peace.
Are you your own worst critic—continually judging your past actions, feeling and thoughts? Does it keep you from living with joy? Many people have been harmed or even traumatized by unhealthy religious teachings and practices.
Would you like to explore experiencing God loving you unconditionally? As you learn to handle your own soul tenderly and lovingly, you’ll be able to carry this same loving wisdom out into the world. If interested contact me at the link below:
When making decisions, do you find yourself not trusting your inner wisdom? Your inner authority? Many of us defer to outer authorities rather than listening to our own spiritual wisdom. It’s the way we have been formed .
If you think that a spiritual director could be helpful in accessing your inner spiritual wisdom, then connect with me through my website below:
Are you experiencing a greater sense of gratitude as you move through your day? Have you become aware that despite your hectic week, there are moments when your heart is simply full? What might God be doing? How does a grateful heart increase your capacity to love or forgive?
If you have become aware of these feelings and would like to explore the ways God might be calling you to a more abundant life, check my website. Spiritual direction may be for you.
Distractions during prayer can cause us to feel hopeless about praying or centering ourselves in God. Most times they are simply nuisances, and other times they may be signs that God is stirring up something to be noticed.
If you think a spiritual companion can be helpful to you in noticing God’s stirrings, check out my website for my contact information.
“You are loved. You are unique. You are free. You are on the way. You are going somewhere. Your life has meaning.” (Rohr). Do you find this hard to believe at different times? Most of us do.
If you think a spiritual companion can be supportive as you explore your spiritual journey, check my website for contact information.
In the light of eternity, we’re here for a very short time, really. We’re here for one thing, ultimately: to learn how to love, because God is love. Love is our origin, love is our ground, and love is our destiny. —James Finley.
Visit my website to contact me for a free first session. https://www.spiritualdirectionjackgeracci.com
When we gaze into the secret of God’s face we are gazing into a mirror reflecting back to us who God eternally knows and calls us to be in the midst of all that remains unresolved in our minds and hearts. James Finley
Visit my website to contact me for a free “meet and greet” session.
https://www.spiritualdirectionjackgeracci.com
When life seems chaotic or unclear, what might be God’s invitation presented to you by this experience? If you feel a spiritual companion may be of help to you, contact me for a free first virtual session.
What are the obstacles to an awareness of the presence of God in your everyday life?
If you feel having the opportunity to share your experiences with a dedicated compassionate listener could enrich your awareness of God’s movement in your life, visit my website site to contact me.
Contemporary mystic James Finley says this about the closeness of God.
“It was just that I was walking back and forth through God, breathing God. And it was clear to me that, no matter where I would try to run from God, I’d be running away from God, in the God that I was breathing and was sustaining me. And this air, this oceanic God that I was breathing, knew me through and through and through and through as compassion, just endless compassion without boundaries. It was just-I know no words to describe it.
Finley’s words help me to awaken to the closeness of God in my very breath when God seems absent. Is this image helpful to you? Take a moment to breathe in and exhale God.
If interested in virtual meet and greet at no cost, please visit my website:
https://spiritualdirectionjackgeracci.com
Are you able to relive a time when you were sure that God’s mysterious presence was supporting you in the midst of a dark and sad season in your life? What did that feel like? Take a moment to rest in that experience.
If interested in exploring how I can be helpful to you as a spiritual companion visit my website:
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''The winter solstice time is no longer celebrated as it once was, with the understanding that this is a period of descent and rest, of going within our homes, within ourselves and taking in all that we have been through, all that has passed in this full year which is coming to a close... like nature and the animal kingdom around us, this time of hibernation is so necessary for our tired limbs, our burdened minds.
Our modern culture teaches avoidance at a max at this time; alcohol, lights, shopping, overworking, over spending, comfort food and consumerism.
And yet the natural tug to go inwards as nearly all creatures are doing is strong and the weather so bitter that people are left feeling that winter is hard, because for those of us without burning fires and big festive families, it can be lonely and isolating. Whereas in actual fact winter is kind, she points us in her quiet soft way towards our inner self, towards this annual time of peace and reflection, embracing the darkness and forgiving, accepting and loving embracing goodbye the past year.
"Winter takes away the distractions, the buzz, and presents us with the perfect time to rest and withdraw into a womb like love, bringing fire & light to our hearth".
.. and then, just around the corner the new year will begin again, and like a seed planted deep in the earth, we will all rise with renewed energy once again to dance in the sunlight.
Life is a gift, a Happy winter to you all...''
-Brigit Anna McNeill
Artwork by Jessica Boehman
Do you have the experience of trying to grasp God with your mind and ending up silent before the Mystery?
If you are considering consulting a spiritual companion, please visit my website:
https://www.spiritualdirectionjackgeracci.com
Do you recall as a child a first moment of awakening when you sensed God or the Divine as a presence, safety or light? Or how else would you describe the awakening? Rest in that graced memory.
Visit my website if you are considering consulting a spiritual director at:
https://www.spiritualdirectionjackgeracci.com
"If we are absolutely grounded in the absolute love of God that protects us from nothing even as it sustains us in all things, then we can face all things with courage and tenderness and touch the hurting places in others and in ourselves with love." James Finley
If interested in a virtual meet and greet at no cost, visit my website at:
https://www.spiritualdirectionjackgeracci.com
"In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few." Zen Quote
How does certitude dampen my ability to hear Spirit?
If you are interested in a virtual meet and greet session at no cost, visit my website:
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Pay attention to the people God puts in your path if you want to discern what God is up to in your life. Henri Nouwen
If you feel that a spiritual director may be helpful to you please visit my website at:
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One of the greatest struggles for busy people is creating the space and time to quiet themselves to pray. Yet, if our our desire to pray is in fact God’s desire moving in us, we have touched the living Spirit.
If you can relate and are considering a spiritual companion, visit my website at:
http://www.spiritualdirectionjackgeracci.com
Trust your desire for the divine, even though prayer is not happening or feels empty.
If you feel a spiritual companion may be helpful to you, visit my website at:
https://www.spiritualdirectionjackgeracci.com
On Being You
Give up defining yourself — to yourself or to others. You won’t die. You will come to life. And don’t be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it’s their problem. Whenever you interact with people, don’t be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious Presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.
Echkart Tolle
If you are considering meeting with a spiritual director, visit my website at:
https://www.spiritualdirectionjackgeracci.com
A hopeful Advent season to all who observe.
This is the irrational season
when love blooms bright and wild.
Had Mary been filled with reason
there’d have been no room for the child. —Madeleine L'Engle, novelist /poet
Slowly
She celebrated the sacrament of
Letting Go…
First she surrendered her Green
Then the Orange, yellow, and Red…
Finally she let go of her Brown…
Shedding her last leaf
She stood empty and silent, stripped bare
Leaning against the sky she began her vigil of trust…
Shedding her last leaf
She watched its journey to the ground…
She stood in silence,
Wearing the color of emptiness
Her branches wondering:
How do you give shade, with so much gone?
And then, the sacrament of waiting began
The sunrise and sunset watched with
Tenderness, clothing her with silhouettes
They kept her hope alive.
They helped her understand that
her vulnerability
her dependence and need
her emptiness
her readiness to receive
were giving her a new kind of beauty.
Every morning and every evening she stood in silence and celebrated
the sacrament of waiting.
Macrina Weidrkehr, OSB