The Renewing

I'm putting the finishing touches on my second book.

I plan to send it out to the printer this week.

It's another self-published book like

my first book, Be Transformed.

This book is a follow-up titled, The Renewing.

It is a series of journals and blogs from the past year.

The book's introduction (part 1) is from

last week's blog, A Time of Waiting.

What follows is the book's introduction (part 2).

Enjoy the preview.

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In the fall of 2020, I submitted a proposal for the

Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship.

This fellowship provides financial support to teachers who wish to set aside meaningful time to pursue a project.

Teachers design, plan, and propose a project that will energize and renew them for their work in the classroom.

It is a creative approach to positively affect educators who can then positively affect their students and colleagues.

The wisdom of this fellowship’s renewal initiative reminds me of my favorite quote by Franciscan Friar, Richard Rohr.

“Transformed people transform people.”

The Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship is a powerful opportunity that allows teachers to do just that.

Fellowship candidates plan activities and experiences they could not otherwise pursue without financial assistance.

Then, the Lilly Endowment selects a handful of proposals to support from the several hundred applications they receive each year.

In the fall of 2020, my proposal was one of those selected.

My project was titled,

A Writer’s Contemplation

Drawing peace from the monastic experience,

pouring stillness on the pages of life’s story.

I know, that’s quite a mouthful considering the title could have simply been, I want to get away to write and pray.

But this was what I proposed and exactly what I did.

This monastic experience allowed me to quiet my mind, find rest, read from spiritual teachers, and write about my thoughts and experiences of this adventure.

I was granted the opportunity to draw peace and practice pouring stillness in those forty days.

I began filling the pages of my life’s story with daily practices and daily journals that continued to follow me long after that season of renewal had passed.

My forty-day summer project had a powerful impact on me.

An impact that continued to renew me over the past forty weeks.

This book holds several journals I collected over that transformative season of forty weeks that began with those forty days in the summer of 2021.

There are three passages of scripture that I held dear over those seasons of change.

“Peace be with you.” Luke 24:36

“Be still and know...” Psalm 46:10

“...be transformed by the renewing…” Romans 12:2

As I read these words, I can’t help but think about the person and presence of Jesus.

I love that Jesus would often take time to retreat to a quiet place where he could find rest and renewal.

What a compelling practice he modeled for us.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the Action of living life and neglect the Contemplation of living this life.

It is wise for us to follow Jesus’s example, taking time to retreat and care for ourselves mind, body, and spirit.

This renewal project allowed me to withdraw from the busyness of life so I could seek stillness and peace.

And I understand what an amazing gift I was given.

This gift allowed me to continue my daily practice far beyond the “forty days” of this summer project.

Looking back, I know my first “forty years” were a journey filled with spiritual restlessness and struggle.

I wandered and searched but could not find rest or peace.

I was a Christian, but I was full of fear, shame, and anxiety.

For years, I struggled and wrestled with these feelings

It was exhausting.

In fact, about five years ago I was ready to “let go” and walk away from my faith tradition,

but there was something that kept me holding on to my faith.

Then, I stumbled across something peculiar and caught a glimpse of something special.

A new way of spiritual living was revealed to me through the practice of both action and contemplation.

You might say I began to understand the balance of being-ness and doing-ness.

You might say I was ready to begin my spiritual hero’s journey.

So I did, I began.

I began the practice of starting my days reading scripture, spending time in contemplative prayer, and committing to time journal writing.

I began discovering spiritual teachers who would guide me to a much more rich and deep faith journey.

I began to understand that faith had much less to do with believing and saying the right things and much more with experiencing the Spirit of God as radical and unconditional love, joy, and peace.

I began to understand that loving God and loving others is much more about listening and being present than talking and having the right answers.

I began to understand that faith is about trust, hope is about openness, and love is about connection.

I began to see an alternative orthodoxy taking form, and I wanted more.

I began to draw peace, and I began to pour stillness.

Thanks to this fellowship, I continued to begin my journey.

I began again in the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I began again at the Prison Contemplative Fellowship Headquarters in Folsom, California.

I began again at the St. Francis Retreat in San Juan Bautista, California.

And I began again at the Deer Park Monastery in Escondido, California.

I thank you for taking the time to follow along and share in this journey of transformation and renewal.

May you find peace and stillness in these words from this writer’s contemplation.

Grace and peace!