Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
James 4:8a NRSV
Here is today’s sampling of the music made by the Spirit in the Wind Chimes.
What do you hear?
Being present: A Spiritual Practice
Being present in the spiritual life always has a double meaning. There’s present, as in here, in attendance. And there’s present, as in now, a moment of time. What is the spiritual practice of being present? Being here now. [1]
Drawing near to God by “reading” God in Nature
We have to begin with the first bible, which is creation itself—that God has revealed who God is through what is. If we don’t learn to honor, respect, and learn from creation—the natural world—I think it’s very unlikely that we are going to know how to read the second bible—the written Bible—with respect, reverence, and in an open way. So I believe (and of course this is very Franciscan for me) that we have to start with the first bible, which is the created world itself, or nature. [2]
Obama at the U.N.: A new religion doctrine
President Obama on Tuesday (Sept. 25) gave a forceful speech at the United Nations, in which he challenged much of the world’s assumptions about free speech and religion.
The article, by Lauren Markoe, goes on to extract five points which she says “add up to as close to an Obama Doctrine on Religion as we’ve seen.”
Read the article on Religion News Service
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[1] One of my favorite websites is Spirituality & Practice. A section of their site is devoted to Spiritual Practices. Among the practices (and a dimension of “draw close to God and he will draw close to you”) is “Being Present.”
Hear what the Spirit is saying 
There is a little windchime on my patio – it seldom chimes – and while I read this post it began to softly chime…call to prayer? a reminder that the Spirit is always with us and in us?
Definitely a call to prayer. Thanks for sharing.