OUR AMAZING JOURNEY -- 7

 

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I hold this to be the highest task for a bond between two people:

that each protects the solitude of the other.

-- Rainer Maria Rilke

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It is in solitude that I find the deep gentleness with which I can truly love others.

— Thomas Merton

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Language has created the word “loneliness” to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word “solitude” to express the glory of being alone. There is no place to which we could flee from God, which is outside of God.  – Paul Tillich

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Fortunately I have been blessed by a number of significant relationships where my solitude has been protected.  I cherish my solitude and I know that my amazing journey benefits immensely when I move into a time and space of solitude. But I also know that loneliness can come all too quickly and the joys of solitude can quickly diminish.  I need you.

Whenever I do the Spiritual Styles Preference Tool which is offered by Spiritual Paths Relationships does not come out on or near the top.  I prefer Wisdom, Contemplation, Imagination, Arts, Prayer and Mysticism. For some, Relationships come naturally and easily, If you are in that category and are also reading this, I suspect you know how important Solitude is and can appreciate what Rilke said here. 

 The Spiritual Styles Preference Tool js free. You don’t need to sign up for a course.  Once you do it you will get an email with a circle chart and a bar chart indicating your preferences.  We are all different .  Recognizing what comes naturally as a spiritual style and what doesn’t can be a useful awareness on your amazing journey.  Keep working at and enjoying those styles which you prefer but don’t neglect to work on the other styles which can add to the joy as you become more and more integrated.  

The twelve styles are:

·         The Arts

·         The Body

·         Contemplation & Meditation

·         Devotion

·         Imagination

·         Love

·         Mystic

·         Nature

·         Prayer

·         Reason

·         Relationships

·         Wisdom

For illuminating descriptions of each style. please read Mandala: Creating An Authentic Spiritual Path: An InterSpiritual Process by Edward Bastian. Ed offers short videos on each style on the ISM app (InterSpiriuall Meditation App) which you can add to your devices.  Search for ISM. I know that you don’t have to scroll down too far at Play Store before you get to it.  But if you search for “Interspiritual” it comes up on top.

Ed has created the amazing Spiritual Paths website which offers two courses, InterSpiritual Meditation and InterSpiritual Mandala. I would love to be your InterSpiritual Mentor and guide you through one or both of these courses.  It is easy to register and it is only $8 per month to be a member and have access to these 2 wonderful courses.

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