So I just fell in love with this wonderful quote in Parker J. Palmer's book, The Courage to Teach. This is the second Florida Scott-Maxwell quote in one of his books that I have just fallen in love with. I am thinking I may have to see what she has written.
Here is the quote and it is about learning to hold paradox:
"Some uncomprehended law holds us at a point of contradiction where we have no choice, where do not like that which we love, here good and bad are inseparable partners impossible to tell apart, and where we--heart-broken and ecstatic--can only resolve the conflict by blindly taking it into our hearts. This used to be called being in the hands of God. Has anyone any better words to describe it?" (Palmer, The Courage to Teach, 90)
Here is the other quote from her that I love:
"You need only claim the events of your life to make yourself yours. When you truly posses all you have been and done..you are fierce with reality." (Palmer, Let Your Life Speak)
I am now on a quest to become "fierce with reality."
and finally a quote shared with me by a friend about vocation:
"Vocation does not come from willfulness. It comes from listening. I must listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about---quite apart from what I would like it to be about---or my life will never represent anything real in the world, no matter how earnest my intentions.... Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear." Herbert Alphonso, SJ
This quote appeared the same day I was meeting with the counselor for my career and psychological assessment as part of the ministerial fellowship process. The timing couldn't have been more perfect!
No comments:
Post a Comment