Posted by johnboy on August 21, 1999 at 22:02:05:
In Reply to: Re: Formative Spirituality-a maslovian revolution in theology? posted by april on August 12, 1999 at 15:13:45:
: I'd love to hear about your experiences with God, john. If you ever feel so inclined, would you consider posting about them? Your thinking and verbal ability along with your experiences would be a great read as far as I'm concerned.
: Don't forget the three syllable words! :):):) I like the challenge.
: Thanks again.
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thanks for the affirmations; first, as regards this type of request, in general, Sister Eileen Lyddon, in _Door_Through_Darkness_ writes of and quotes juandelacruz:" 'These natural graces and gifts are such a provocation and occasion both to the possessor and the beholder that there is scarcely a heart that escapes from this snare'(Ascent, III.xxi.1) It is advisable for us to be modest about our advantages for the sake of others. 'Whoever has these endowments should be careful and live cautiously lest through vain ostentation he be the occasion that someone withdraw his heart one iota from God'(Ascent, III.xxi.1) If our hearts over-react spontaneously toward a person's beauty, charm, intelligence or sympathetic personality, we need to stand back a little and hold the relationship up to God. Otherwise we may find ourselves taking joy not in the truth of a person but in his or her window dressing. Our whole attitude to reality becomes distorted through this misconception."---again, all of the above words fr Sr. Eileen and juandelacruz---
second, as regards your request in particular, in no way obnibulated by the caveat above but certainly within such a general context of gentle admonition of us all, many of my personal experiences of God, hosannas forged in the crucible of doubt, are archived in the cybernoosphere and can be retrieved by anyone literate in various listserver technologies simply by searching for 'johnboy' on the merton, on fsl and on vatican2---
and most of my postingss have little pedagogical or heuristic value for the multitudes but were results of personal processing that, when vomited onto someone's listserv could be a tad eccentric, most tedious, too voluble, very esoteric & enigmatic, somewhat irrelevant, etc---such processing over the past few years helped me tremendously but, for many others was likely, at best, a distraction and curiosity ... notwithstanding that, as could be expected, there were an isolated few people whose paths resonated with my own and our kindred spirits enjoyed a brief companionship---
still, here at Shalomplace, i shall not return to my ... let's say ... shall not spew forth my ...
well, let's just skip it until i take the time to write my journey more coherently and with a wider audience in mind ;>) but thanks anyway, jb