Soul Stirrings

Jeanne Marie Graham

Description

Soul Stirrings is a guide for all who want to journey deeper into the mystery of their own souls.

"An engaging, instructive, and nourishing account of the spiritual life as a journey of the soul, an exploration of the intersection of our struggling efforts and God’s abundant grace."

-John Welch, O.Carm., founding president of the Carmelite Institute of North America and author of The Carmelite Way: An Ancient Path for Today’s Pilgrim and An Interior Life: Rummaging through the Christian Tradition. 

Jeanne Marie Graham shows how our lives, directed by our souls, can be imaginative and dynamic catalysts for change in our families, culture, and world.

Born from a life of contemplative prayer and theological study, Soul Stirrings: Awakening to the Soul within You draws from psychology, philosophy, science, and the wisdom of spiritual masters from varied religious backgrounds. This book offers old and new practical approaches that can loosen the restrictive grip of the ego and enable our soul’s deepest desires for happiness, creativity, and peace to flourish.

Join the author as she shares her journey and the inspiring stories of individuals whose lives have been transformed by discovering and listening to their own souls.

Sujets

• Inspirational
• Philosophie et théologie
• Jesús de Nazaret
• Religious text
• God
• Jesus
• Religion
• Jésus-Christ
• Bible

Informations

• Publié par: Archway Publishing
• Date de parution: 07 septembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665721653
• Langue: English

Extrait

“A book calling for silence, recollection, and recovery of spiritual equilibrium is now more needed than in other times. A failing world order, a failing economy, and a continuing clash of arms, all distract from the one thing needful. May those who read this attentively find that one needful thing who is Christ and who tells us in His Scripture, ‘Be still and know that I am God.’”
-A lexander Golitzin, Archbishop of Dallas, the South, and the Bulgarian Diocese – Orthodox Church in Ame rica
“This book by Sr. Jeanne Marie Graham, OCD, is truly a gift. Drawing from her own personal experience, from several spiritual masters, and from what science teaches us about mind and body, she offers sage and practical advice on how we can grow in our spiritual life. Reading this book will assist readers to mature in faith, hope, and love and to realize more fully their fundamental identity and vocation as created in the imago Dei.”
-T homas D. Stegman, S.J., Dean and Professor of New Testament, Boston College School of Theology & Mini stry
“A deeply personal interweaving of the psychological and spiritual, and the journey towards self and otherness in ways that are both dynamic and seemingly divine. Sr. Jeanne Marie does a masterful job of blending these perspectives, often through her own intimate experiences, as a means of painting a mosaic of the human condition in ways that are both profound and transcendent. For those exploring faith and a deeper transformation of themselves, this book is sure to be mo ving.”
-S amuel Justin Sinclair, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist in Private Prac tice
SOUL STIRRINGS
 
 
Awakening to the Soul within You
 
 
 
 
Jeanne Marie Graham
 
 

 
Copyright © 2022 Jeanne Marie Graham.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6657-2164-6 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-2166-0 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-2165-3 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022906624
 
Archway Publishing rev. date: 08/30/2022
CONTENTS
Introduction
Part I—The Way of Living Faith
The Seeker
Chapter 1A Matter of Time
Chapter 2In the Beginning
Chapter 3Seeking God
The Believer
Chapter 4The Unknown Depth
Chapter 5The Nature of Faith
Chapter 6The Land of Forgetfulness
Part II—The Truth of Living Hope
The Beginner
Chapter 7Begin Again …
Chapter 8Breathe Deep, from Your Soul
Chapter 9The Eternal View
The Learner
Chapter 10Into the Deep Mystery
Chapter 11Laudato Si
Chapter 12Becoming a New Creation
Part III—The Life of Living Love
The Server
Chapter 13The Meaning of Life
Chapter 14Re-Creating Our Lives
Chapter 15The Growing Soul
The Leader
Chapter 16The Call of the Soul
Chapter 17Nurturing Souls
Chapter 18Voices of Transformation
Epilogue
INTRODUCTION
When I was young, lilac breezes and pastel-blooming trees signaled my favorite time of year. March’s dreariness and dark April showers gave way to the unclouded newness of May. Birds sang, baby squirrels played, and mourning doves cooed. The sun was bright, and the trees were a vivid yellow-green against deep blue skies. The earth was born again. A “new creation” was appearing. You could see it, smell it, and touch it. The book of Genesis says that God walked in the “breezy” time of day with Adam and Eve in paradise. Mystics mention four o’clock in the afternoon as the breezy time. I think God loved to walk at four o’clock in May. With lilac breezes. Smiling within His “new creation.”
Before my only sister, Jacquie, was born, I had an imaginary friend named Dado. Wherever I was, Dado was with me. Before I could talk, my mother said that I prattled to Dado. His name was one of the first words I spoke. If I received candy or a cookie, I asked for one for Dado. Then I ate it myself. My mother was a little concerned and spoke to our family doctor, who said an imaginary friend was common for the oldest child, so she stopped worrying. I played with Dado all day long. I was never afraid; I was never lonely. I was never alone because Dado was with me. Those feelings have been with me my whole life: hidden, secure, constant.
When I was twenty-eight, that secret friendship and the beginning of a new creation, all played roles in a long journey leading me from a career as a corporate marketing executive to a very surprising vocation—that of a cloistered, contemplative, Carmelite nun.
Our lives are a mystery, but there are clues. Our souls recognize these clues. They stir us on. Our lives on this earth are the story of our souls’ adventure. It is a love story. It began before time and is still going on. And it will go on. Forever.
Come and See
Growing up in South Boston, my family lived one block from the beach. The smell of the ocean, low or high tide, is one of the things I love most. Behind us lived the Flynn Family. Ray was the former mayor of Boston and was later US ambassador to the Vatican. I babysat the two oldest boys, little Ray and Eddie. In the summer, with the windows open and the ocean breezes flowing, I would hear Kathy Flynn yelling out her window to her younger son, who was getting into something, telling him, “Eddie, God’s watching you!” I would smile, wondering what Eddie was up to, but the phrase stuck. God’s watching you. It is true. God is watching us—not to punish, but with a loving and tender watchfulness. St. Paul says, “In Him, we live, move, and have our being” (Acts: 17:28).
The spiritual life is a recognition of God’s presence in our lives. We have personal lives, work lives, and single, married, or family lives. Our spiritual lives are another life. It is life for our souls and the foundation of the grace sustaining the rest of our lives. This life needs to be valued, nurtured, and strengthened. Otherwise, we are living an existence with our souls, bodies, and minds sensing a lack. Something is missing. There is a longing unfulfilled. We can mask it with things, activities, people, and work, but the longing for God is built into us. It is hardwired into our souls. We need God.
Developing a spiritual life is a journey. It is begun one step at a time. It is more than acquiring knowledge or learning to pray, reading about wonderful people and incredible saints, or becoming more involved with your church, temple, mosque, or favorite charity—though you may do all that. It is a relationship. It is a new way of life that changes you, transforms you. You are never the same. I know. I lived it and will share my story.
Many people desire a deeper connection to their souls. This book will share paths to making this deeper connection. It draws on what I have experienced as well as presents the wisdom of great teachers and masters of the spiritual life from which I have learned. This book is structured in parts as a journey.
Jesus, in the Gospel of John, called himself, “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:16). There are three parts to this book: “The Way of Living Faith,” “The Truth of Living Hope,” and “The Life of Living Love.” Within each milestone of the journey is a life-changing phase that builds upon the former, as follows: the seeker, the beginner, the believer, the learner, the server, and the leader.
Journeying ahead of his future apostles, Andrew and John, Jesus looked back at them kindly and asked, “What are you looking for?” (Joh n 1:38). They responded, “Where are you staying?” (John 1:38). These next words of Jesus, “Come and you will see” (John 1:39) stirred them to leave everything and begin to follow Him. It was four o’clock in the afternoon. The breezy time.
So, I ask you, what are you looking for at this present time in your life? Gently close your eyes, take a deep breath, and ask this of yourself. I invite you to enter into your love story . Your soul’s adventure . My prayers are with you.
PART I The Way of Living Faith
ONE The Seeker
A MATTER OF TIME
God has made everything appropriate to its time, but has put the timeless
into their hearts so they cannot find out, from beginning to end, the work which God has done.
—Ecclesiastes 3:11
A s children, many of us lived our first years