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*** Weekly Reflections - Joyce Rupp ***
Beginning the week of Ash Wednesday Feb 17th
the National Catholic Reporter will be posting reflections
from Joyce's published resources. Sign up to receive an e-mail alert. Go to NCRonline.org/email-alert-signup .
A new reflection is posted every Friday.
*** For Readers of The Cup of Our Life ***
A new edition of The Cup of Our Life is scheduled for 2011.
My editor would like to include some testimonials from those who have read and found this book to be of value. If you are one of these readers, please consider sending a few lines to me via this website. If you submit a comment, you would be
consenting to allow Ave Maria Press to use it in some way within the book. I do not need your last name but definitely your first name and where you are from. Thanks so much for helping me with this project! - Joyce
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Article Go In peace, Rituals for the dying
In this article, published in U.S. Catholic, June, 2006, Joyce wrote about a meaningful and helpful blessing for the dying that she created and has shared with a number of persons who were near death.
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From the author... |
Welcome! I’m happy that you have chosen to stop by and visit my website. Thanks to Faye Williamsen who creates and manages this site you’ll be able to check my speaking schedule, learn about my published resources, read my monthly reflection (“Spiritual Zest”) and have access to some of my writing. I hope that what you find here is enriching for your spiritual path.
Joyce Hutchison and I continue to receive touching notes and affirming comments from those who have read our latest co-authored book, Now That You’ve Gone Home. We realize how deeply grief can enter the crevices of the deep self, and are grateful if the stories and meditations in our book help to ease an aching heart.
I have almost completed work on my latest manuscript. It contains a wide variety of metaphors and images used to name the divine, 365 of them - one for each day of the year. I’ve written a short reflection on each name. When I first began this project it seemed a bit daunting but once I proceeded to write the process took on a tone of both excitement and wonder. I have been continually amazed at what came forth as I reflected on each name. You can look for this book to come out sometime next Spring. The Muse of Writing hasn’t produced a title for it yet so check back here from time to time. Information on the book will be on this website’s home page this coming autumn.
My most exciting venture continues to be that of serving as co-director of The Institute of Compassionate Presence. I travel to Omaha Nebraska once a month to help facilitate the reflections & rituals, and also to be a presenter at some of the sessions. We had another wonderful group of women and men this year. They met with us all day every second Friday of the month. The other equally rewarding aspect of the ICP is that, for the first time, I taught a four day intensive of the Institute at the beautiful Bon Secours Spiritual Center in Mariottsville, Maryland. I absolutely loved how the week unfolded as those present responded to the many-faceted aspects of compassion. I’ll facilitate a reunion with those participants in 2011, and then offer another four day Institute there. I will also offer the Institute at Maryknoll NY where compassionate aspects related to the Christian Gospels will thread through the days. (see the 2011 schedule for more information on both events)
I leave you with what I penned here earlier this year. This message remains the central focus of my meditation and my life:
I guard my meditation and reflection time like gold. I believe in keeping strong boundaries around this and rarely depart from it. This is the best foundation I could have for writing. I gain so much clearness of mind/heart from meditation. That, and my daily walks, prepare me well for going deeper. Because of this, quality rather than quantity of time, most aids my work.
I am fortunate to live in a beautifully wooded, quiet spot in the heart of the city of Des Moines, Iowa. Here I have the stillness I long for and need. I also have deer, raccoons, possums, foxes, woodchucks, feral cats, squirrels(too many), a myriad of beautiful birds, and who knows what other little creatures, to keep me company. This lovely spot also allows for easy access into and out of the city’s humming heart.
I am going to keep posting the following reflection for you because it continues to be strong in my heart and mind. It is what I most believe for us right now:
A big chunk of my ongoing gratitude is for you, my readers, and those I meet at various gatherings for conferences and retreats. The more I travel, the more assured I am that we are “all one.” Much more unites than divides us. It’s a matter of looking a bit deeper and finding the wealth of goodness inherent in each of us. I’m no Pollyanna about current global pain but I am also no pessimist about the potential in humankind to breathe forth love rather than warring antipathy.
I leave you with a quote from The Wise Heart, Jack Kornfield’s latest book, which I highly recommend:
There is no separation between inner and outer, self and other. Tending ourselves, we tend the world. Tending the world, we tend ourselves.
All the best to you as we travel the road of life together in kinship of spirit.
-Joyce |
Articles of Interest...
Book shares peace found on journey - Review by Shirley Ragsdale, Des Moines Register, July 15, 2006, of Walk in a Relaxed Manner
Go in peace, Rituals for the dying - US Catholic Magazine, Jun 2006
Sneak Preview - Read preview chapter of Joyce's new book Walk in a Relaxed Manner online at The Healing Garden Journal.
"Desperately Seeking Sophia," US Catholic Magazine, October 2002
"Open Some Doors this Advent," US Catholic Magazine, November 24, 2008.
"Five Spiritual Lessons of Loss," Family Perspectives Journal, Summer 2002
"Celtic Crossovers: May the Lent of the Irish Be With You," U.S. Catholic, March 2001
"The art of cultivating spiritual growth," The editors interview Joyce Rupp. US Catholic, April 2000. pp 26-31.
"Let the Land Teach Us" About Healing and Creativity. Joyce Rupp. Catholic Rural Life, Spring 2000, pp. 12-16. Catholic Rural Life is a publication of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference. http://www.ncrlc.com
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Book Awards Announced
Catholic Press Association:
Walk in a Relaxed Manner - placed first in the area of spirituality, softcover book.
The Circle of Life placed second in this same category!
Independent Book Publishers Association:
The Circle of Life received a second place award in the Religion category.
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About Joyce Rupp...
Joyce Rupp is well known for her work as a writer, a spiritual "midwife," and retreat and conference speaker. She has led retreats throughout North America, as well as in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Joyce has a B.A. in English, a M.R.E. in Religious Education, and a M.A. in Transpersonal Psychology. She is a member of the Servites (Servants of Mary) community and a volunteer for Hospice. She currently resides in Des Moines, Iowa. A list of Joyce's works can be found in the left column of this page. Click on the book title to find out more information about that title.
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Spiritual Zest
July 2010
It’s been awhile since I’ve been so deeply moved and filled with gratitude as on a recent trip to Omaha Nebraska to see The Bodies Exhibit. I’m someone who tries to live with awareness and appreciation but those two aspects increased a hundredfold after viewing this unusual and educative project. The Exhibition, which is traveling the world, features actual human corpses and allows viewers to see inside the human body with its muscles, nerves, blood vessels, and organs. Some have called this exhibit obscene. Others have condemned the use of real human bodies being used. I found my response to be the opposite. Reverence quickly surfaced as I studied the complex, amazing human system. I felt awe for how wondrously we are created. Each body I observed astonished me with its intricate, complicated parts. What a miracle that most of the time our bodies operate beautifully.
As I walked through the exhibit, stood and gazed at the inside and outside views of the bodies, a verse from psalm 139 returned to me again and again:
For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Since seeing the exhibit I have been marveling at how my body works. Right now, my lungs are taking an average of 15 breaths per minute. My red bone marrow is creating 2 ½ million blood cells and my kidneys are filtering about three pints of blood as they remove waste. My cardiac muscle, which the exhibit reminded me is extremely strong in order to resist fatigue, is contracting about 100,000 times a day as it circulates blood through my body. While I write this, 19 muscles move my hand and wrist. And my brain is using its 100 billion nerve cells to help me think about what I am writing. (I hope I’m using them all!)
I also learned that the largest muscles in the body are those in the buttocks. Well, I guess that’s not too surprising.
As I prepared to leave the exhibit, I thought of what an honor it is for these human beings to be of service to humankind long after their spirits have danced on to another sphere of life. I recall my mother, a year or so before her death, asking me to investigate if and how she might donate her body to science. She explained, “I want to go on giving something to the world long after I am gone.” I was deeply touched by her desire in old age to want to continue to help others. The bodies I viewed did not choose to be on public display but they most definitely are contributing not only to education but even more so they are giving viewers an opportunity to bow to the Holy One whose creation we are.
At the close of the exhibit, there is a quote from Dr. Roy Glover: “Your body is the only thing you carry with you from the moment you’re born until your very last breath.” I’m deeply grateful for this wondrous body of mine and I have resolved once again to take good care of it.
© Joyce Rupp
Check out previous Spiritual Zest Articles.
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Reviews...
"The Dance of Oneness," A review of The Cosmic Dance by Loretta Peters, EarthLight, Summer 2002.
"A Nurturing God," A review by Sally Cunneen of Prayers to Sophia and The Star in My Heart. The American Catholic, March 2000, pp. 7, 19. http://www.vfr.com/tac
Reviews by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat,Values and Visions Review Service
Open the Door
Walk in a Relaxed Manner
Out of the Ordinary: Prayers, Poems, and Reflections for Every Season
The Star in My Heart: Experiencing Sophia, Inner Wisdom
Reviewed by Sharon Flesher Prayers to Sophia: A Companion to "A Star in My Heart"
Reviewed by Austin Repath Walk in a Relaxed Manner |
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