Integrating Spirit and Learning

Studying the bible with a difference. Looking behind, into and in front of the text, we seek to take the bible seriously, but not literally.

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Source Of Inspiration

Awe Inspiring

Creation is Groaning

Our 2023 Fall retreat at Falcon Trails Resort in Manitoba's boreal forest helped find a framework to articulate our thoughts to God, and articulate the theological and liturgical language that could ground us in our future steps. Our hope for this retreat was to explore more deeply how to relate to all of God's creation in an intentional way. To share our laments and joys.

a person holding a compass in their hand with the words, letter to a young man

Letter to a Young Man

This letter addresses a young man's anxiety about life. A recent Christian, he is wondering about the difference between the promise of new life in the Spirit and the apparent mundanity of the everyday. The letter seeks to offer enlightenment from one further along the journey.

there is a bird painted on the side of a wall with words that read, strange to justice

A Stranger to Justice

Everyone wants justice done on somebody else (Bruce Cockburn). Often getting angry at injustice masks an avoidance of our own hurts. Unwittingly we project these hurts outward and excuse our hostility as “justice”. Biblical justice cuts through this defensiveness, inviting action and reflection, restoring both the victim and the oppressor. This begins with an honest searching for truth: personal, relational and social. God wants justice for all to flow like a river.

a book cover with the title storm of a different sort

Storm of a Different Sort

Luke’s story of Jesus asleep in a boat captures us at so many levels. The onslaught of personal and/or news feed storms, the desperation of the disciples, the inexplicable calm of the sleeping Jesus, his piercing post-storm question about faith in the midst of chaos. This meditation on the boat in the storm gives us a line into Jesus’ anchor, inviting us to trust and engagement.

a window with the words, the passionate life on it in front of a city street

The Passionate Life

We are trained early to compare ourselves to others; social media is based on this. But Christ in the Philippians hymn shows us another way. He learned to be fully human in order to identify with humanity. And he calls us to the same path of self-awareness, humility, compassion and service. Ultimately our worth comes from God not each other, from seeking God’s way, not our own.

an image of a person looking at the light coming through their eyes with words on it

Bible

On Kindness

http://watershedonline.ca/content/articles/onkindness_20230503.html

a chess board with the words, blessed are the impure in heart

Human Flourishing

Watch Breaking Bad

Anti Establishment

It’s A Wonderful Life

Blessed Are The Impure in Heart

The parable of the dishonest steward teases our imagination. It seems to suggest self-interested shrewdness. But is there an anti-establishment twist? Are we to be cheats? Is there something we are missing? Eldon takes us down some of these rabbit holes and imagines how our limited cleverness could be met by the Spirit’s overflowing generosity for the sake of human flourishing.

a collage of birds nests in the sky with words that read,'a home coming like no other '

Lost In Woods

Craving Meanings

Resurrection Of Christ

A Homecoming Like No Other

When we get lost in woods of our own making, we long to find home. John reminds of the expansive, extravagant love of God is always calling us home even as God makes God’s home among and within us. God’s suffering love, shown through the life and resurrection of Christ, shows us the way out of the dark woods, our patterns and predilections, our sin, to the One who calls all us prodigals home. A homecoming like no other.

an image of jesus with the words who do you say i am?

Who Do You Say I Am?

“Who do people say I am? Who do you say I am?” are indeed honest questions. Answering objectively from a historical point of view, and sincerely from a subjective point of view, is absolutely essential. Meditating on Jesus' prayer threatens our religious creeds, lifestyles and cultural certainties. It leads through human suffering to a global love for one another and ever-partial but authentic responses to who we are and who Jesus of Nazareth is for us today.

a man kneeling down in front of a lake with the words for all time, for all people

For All Time, All People

In our deeply divided times, the Lord’s Prayer seems so rote and innocuous. But we have no idea how radical Jesus was to teach us to pray to “Abba”. Although undeniably anchored in the faith of Jesus of Nazareth toward his Father, the prayer is for everyone, in all times and places, despite differences of cultures or ideologies.

a man painting graffiti on the side of a wall

Peripheral Vision

Sometimes the best way to look at complex issues is the sidelong gaze, out of the corner of your eye. Sometimes a poem is the only way to express an immense sorrow, a desire for healing or the agony of the daily news. Sometimes reading poetry gets us in touch with our deeper selves.

there is a plant growing out of the ground with words planting seeds written on it

Planting Seeds

Climate change is so big and all-encompassing it appears that our little small responses won’t make any difference. But what if our imaginations became formed more deeply by the threads of love and creation care in scripture and in literature? We created this blog as a little alcove of those love letters. We are wanting to get in touch with our love of creation, and hope through that love the Spirit of God can change the world by changing us.

a red butterfly sitting on top of a leaf covered ground with the words fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom

Fear of the Lord

If perfect love casts out all fear, how can fear of the Lord be the beginning of knowledge, understanding and wisdom? Fear paralyzes where love liberates. But if we look more closely at the kinds of fear, natural, moral, religious and psychological, we see that rightly understood each of these has a wisdom about them. Ultimately the purpose of fear is to call us out of our self-centeredness and into the liberating love that no longer needs to fear.

a painting with the words tools of character written in front of it, and an image of trees

Tools of Character

As difficult as it is to learn to trust a mentor, it is even more arduous to break down our self suspicion. Do we have what it takes to break free of the entanglements of the Dark Wood? As we stare down the antagonist within, Dante reminds us that love guides our recovery, turning us towards a deep hope.

a painting with the words when the teacher comes

When The Teacher Comes

Facing ourselves honestly is a bitter pill to swallow; we hope it is also good medicine. At the end of our rope, a guide or mentor can be just what is needed move from self-pity to wholeness. If we can learn to trust. Dante is ready for a teacher, but the Teacher has not come. Paul Pattersons continues to channel Dante’s imagination through the next part of The Divine Comedy.