[RivCompanions] it's all about relationship

Barbi Click bgclick at gmail.com
Thu Nov 12 15:28:41 UTC 2015


for what it is worth...I wrote the name of Ecclesia incorrectly. :-)

It is Ecclesia Ministries Mission and more information for those who are
interested may be found at http://www.ecclesiaministriesmission.org/.

*Barbi Click*
*www.linkedin.com/in/barbiclick/* <http://www.linkedin.com/in/barbiclick/>
*http://feathersandfaith.blogspot.com
<http://feathersandfaith.blogspot.com> *
*http://facebook.com/bgclick <http://facebook.com/bgclick>*

* He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require
of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.*




On Thu, Nov 12, 2015 at 8:24 AM, Barbi Click <bgclick at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear beloveds,
>
>
> Here is a bit of highlight from my time at Ecclesia Mission Ministries
> conference.
>
>
> Everything is about Relationship. It is all about relationship.
>
>
>
> A story about Relationship:
>
> Gennie from Trinity Church in Boston:
>
> She has been sight-impaired since birth. She walks with a sight cane as
> she ministers to the homeless who are around Trinity Church.
>
> She told of one man who made sexual advances towards her. It was all
> innuendo but clearly pointed. She leaned towards him and asked, “Is this
> about sexual intimacy?” Boom. There it was, blatantly laid out on the
> table. He began stuttering and clambering for words to back out of what had
> become an uncomfortable conversation for him. But she continued to
> converse. He finally said, “I have not been touched in 12 years. I just
> want someone to touch me.” She asked him, “May I give you a hug?” As tears
> streamed down his face, he said, “Yes.” And she did. She said she is not a
> hugger but that she hugs him every time she sees him.
>
>
>
>
>
> People hunger for more than simply food. Poverty isolates.
>
>
>
> Bob Flick+ on Francis:
>
>    - Francis stripped naked – to become obedient (to hear)
>    - He heard the word of God tell him to rebuild San Domiano – to build
>    community
>    - He began to work as a minister in a leper colony.—he wanted to be
>    able to embrace the leper.
>
> Embracing the leper became a metaphor for following his deepest desire.
> The leper was within him.
>
>
>
> Emptying/letting go – we have to strip naked before being filled, being
> able to embrace our own leper.
>
>
>
> Bonaventure wrote about Francis. For Francis, the world was the monastery. Francis
> asked: How can I be a contemplative in the world around me?
>
>
>
> Bonaventure used the example of the Temple.
>
>    - The court as the outer ring – world outside of the self, creation.
>    It’s about relationship between the outside and me.
>
> God is in the crap as well as in the roses. Nobody needs fixing by me.
> There is no good change without relationship. Developing relationship is
> about being open to the presence of God in one another.
>
>
>
>    - Sanctuary – inside the self – conscious, memories, imagination – WHO
>    AM I?
>
> Memory is the IS of eternity. We have a past, a future – but the NOW –
> present to the stuff inside of us.
>
> In touch with self- memories need to be contemplative.
>
> Eucharist is being present to the Now and the remembering of the Holy
> Spirit on these gifts.
>
> Jesus told us to remember him. We rob ourselves of the contemplative life
> if we do not spend time in our memories, good and bad.
>
>
>
> We are called into something much more profound than just getting the job
> done. We are working to learn/feel compassion. For ourselves, towards
> others, for God.
>
>
>
> God made flesh in Jesus was to show us that all of this is doable.
>
>    - Holy of Holies – Beyond self. God as God. Godness, Trinity, Mystery.
>
> To be present to God in mystery. Bring in relationship with a God that is
> beyond our knowing.
>
> God is most essentially relationship: Love changes. God is love. God
> changes. God is constantly creating new things which means change.
>
> Love – God is relentless.
>
>
>
>
>
> I knew I had to change my narrative. In the midst of this talk, I felt the
> tears begin. It became a flood and I had to get up and go to the back of
> the room. I knew something really big was happening. I didn't know what at
> the moment but I knew it was important.
>
>
>
> As the tears flowed, I felt the resentment, anger, bitterness flow out of
> me. It was a profound moment and I knew I was different. The understanding
> didn’t all happen quite so quickly but soon after it became apparent. I
> felt changed. I felt a calm that I have never felt before in my life. And
> it remains.
>
>
>
> God *is* relentless.
>
>
>
> *Barbi *
>
>
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