School Of Community

[Schmandi]

Now this is what I call... amesome

cimlog - hello, real quick i just wanted to say i'm i'm happy with your response but i'm also curuios....what's the most amesome to you?

[track2004]

How do we begin to love the reality in front of us?

A'ight Schmandi I'll try on this one...

I think loving the reality in front of us is only possible when we can see the Presence in it. I am having a hard time with life, friends, family, school, everything right now, but I still know that if I want to I can see Christ in every situation.

That's how I begin... after that it gets a little harder... but I think that as I am growing up I notice more and more of how things work. I mean I can deal with people better because of GS, frankly. I think that it is easier to see the reality in front of me therefore it is eaiser to love it beacuse I understand more of it.

[Katt1227]

I agree with Track on this one. We begin to love the reality in front of us by recognizing Christ's Presence. When we begin to recognize His presence in everything, all around us, we can begin to love. I know that in my experience when I recognize Presence in people or places or things around me, it is much easier for me to love them, and when I love them I love the reality in front of me. Even in it's brokenness, it's scandal... I love the reality.

It's at times when I fail to recognize Presence in someone, or some event, I struggle to love them as I should, and I begin to hate the reality that is there.

[track2004]

bump ^_^

[DesiringMore]

We have talked about begging, asking the Lord....well, this past weekend on TEC, specifically on Saturday night i begged to see His face...i asked Him to show me, open my eyes and heart to TRULY SEE-see what is before me.....well, as we all know, that when we ask, when we beg, God answers you....my answer was Sunday but most importantly Sunday night.....i could not deny that God had answered my deepest longing, my sincerest beg, my desperate cry to see Him...this was not the only time i asked to see His face especially throughout the weekend, but it is one of the times that affected me in an imaginable way.....along with this, saturday morning i got there and b/c of the things that happened and they way i was treated and was hurt by it, i was ready to just leave, for crying out loud, i was already COMPLETELY nervous when i got there...so, in this time of confusion, hurting, uncertainty, i asked God to show me himself, for me to see Him that i would not leave but be able to stay....

that is when all those of the CL community gave me hugs...they didn't even know what was going on, they just saw me arriving and hugged me as they passed me with a hug that said, i love you, and i'm so glad you're here....and if that wasn't enough, i walked outside with tears welling up inside me, asking myself whether or not i was going to stay...if i stayed i had to choose to not let this affect my entire weekend and i had to continue to be open and not close doors....if i could not choose to do so, i had no choice but to leave...well, standing outside, was someone dear to me, she looked at me with compassion, as if she saw right to the heart of me and my struggle, my weakness, my pain...she stretched out her arms and held me as i cried in her arms...as i cried and tried to share with her how hard it was to stay she just held me, not saying a word(actually, she was unable to b/c she was a wheatie) but you know what, nothing she could have said would have changed anything....it is what she did that impacted me...

she loved me right where i was at, no strings attached...and i knew she would love me whether i walked away or i stayed, she would wait for me....but it was ultimately my choice on whether to stay or leave and nothing but Christ through her(without words) influenced my decision to choose to stay......When you ASK, believe you will RECEIVE!! maybe not what you expected to, but God does answer you....He answered me many times throughout the weekend...the more i begged....the more i saw what was before me...the more i saw Christ.....

[JuCa]

desiringmore...you're amesome...love ya much!!!

[SallyCat]

"How do we begin to love the reality in front of us?"

First you have to face it, which is hard, and accept it, which may even be harder.

When I looked up and read others opinions on this topic I had already made my decision for the answer...which is above, but y'all provoked me.

To love your reality you have to see Christ's presence...One of my realities is that I have to face is me depression. Now one might think, one as in me...I hate this realiity. And I do or I did, because it smells of elderberries it really really smells of elderberries. So right at this very moment I look back and ponder on my depression....Depression is NOT who i am it is something that I have, yes I have to face it everyday, but it's just one little detailin this whole lot of Ali. So yes I have to face depression and some days I do and yes I have to accept depression and I think now I do a whole lot more than I used to. (Where did my point go?) I think that to beable to accept and face my depression I have to realize that I have it for a purpose and for what purpose I have not figured out yet and I may not ever figure out the purpose, but that is ok. I know that God has this plan for me. I know that I can either accept this plan head on, still with stuggles, or struggle with it more, be miserable and the accept it later on. This is how I see Christ's presence in my depression. He has a reason for why I have it and I hope I can do the best that I can in his plan. So on an ending note (I think)......I have to face and accept my realiy, but to accept it I have to see Christ in it, which I think I do or I hope I do.

So Schmandi - I still think I like the first one better because it causes me less valunerablity, but I am trying to bull doze through my wall and if some bricks fall on me in the process...I will heal with time. and another thing, I think I always had the map I just wasn't sure as to how to read it. and still struggle

[DesiringMore]

today as i went back to school and things started to happen i questioned what i was doing...what i was desiring...what i was longing for....and what was the purpose for those around me wanting me to fail, wanting to keep me from such desires....i begged once again to for Christ to show me...then, i went to chapel, i cannot help but feel it was for me...the sermons, the hymns, all were answers to my begging...this was the first song we sang...

God will make a wayGod will make a way

Where there seems to be no way

He works in ways we cannot see

He will make a way for me

He will be my guide

Hold me closely to His side

With love and strength for each new day

He will make a way He will make a way

By a roadway in the wilderness

He'll lead me

And rivers in the desert will I see

Heaven and earth will fade

But His word will still remain

He will do something new today.

after this song, we sang...

It Is Well (With My Soul)When peace like a river attendeth my way.

When sorrow like sea billows roll.

Whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say,

"It is well, it is well, with my soul".

My sin oh the bliss of this glorious thought.

My sin not in part but the whole

Are nailed to that cross and I'll bear them no more!

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!!

And Lord please haste the day

When my faith shall be sight.

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll.

The trump shall resound

And the Lord shall descend!

Even so, it is well with my soul.

okay, so if that wasn't enough...the pastor starts talking about our dreams and desires...how fear causes us to hide from such desires and dreams, our past paralyzes us and our failures haunt us, like Gideon, we too fear to dream because of those around us...he kept telling us over and over again, "do not let others around you diminish your desires, run towards your desires despite what those around you want you to do"....Abraham Lincoln moved past his past and chose to dream new dreams..and he is considered one of the greatest presidents....and to top this off, he said "God wants you to say 'yes' to His will and to his way...and then we sang.....

Yes, Lord, YesYes, Lord, yes, to Your will and to Your way

Yes, Lord, yes, I will trust You and obey

When Your Spirit speaks to me, with my whole heart I'll agree

And my answer will be yes, Lord, yes!

Lord I give You all the glory for all You've given me

You have filled my life until I overflows

All I have is Yours to use, just anyway You choose

You are Lord of all, so how can I say no. So I say.....

If I never knew the fullness of living in Your will

You see, I would never know how rich my life could be

Lord, my willingness to serve, is the least that You deserve

For all the blessings you have showered over me. And I say.....

Yes, Lord, yes, to Your will and to Your way

Yes, Lord, yes, I will trust You and obey

When Your Spirit speaks to me, with my whole heart I'll agree....

And my answer will be yes, my answer will be yes

My answer will be yes, Lord, yes!

in the midst of all that was around me, He brought me back to my desires, my dreams, and caused me to not allow those around me to keep me from such desires...God is so faithful...

[DesiringMore]

desiringmore...you're amesome...love ya much!!!

I am far from amesome...but i thank the Lord that you love me anyway....

[BLAZEr]

Tonight in our school of community in Brenham we were talking about how Christ does not allow you be fake with the world, how the fact of Christ is a God who does not allow you make him a puffy cloud or a nice idea or a feeling, but God becomes someone who requires something of your life, who imposes himself as a reality in your life because Christ existed.

In the context of this someone said "People today don't want this because they don't want to . .." and someone interrupted "suffer." And we thought about it . . . how suffering is really an invitation into realisty.

Suffering does not allow you to run away from reality, you have to confront it . . . when you hurt you either deal with the pain or you do something about it (take a pill, have a shot, drink) . . . that suffering is an encounter with a reality that we do not control, cannot make an idea, must deal with concretely . . .

And we talked about how dealing with reality is what leads to happiness. That even though we think that we can make ourselves happy by dealing with things on our terms, in our way, in other words, by manipulating reality into something of our choosing . . . that this is empty. That happiness, if it is going to be real, has to do with accepting reality as it is proposed and finding a way to give it meaning . . .

And so if happiness is finding a way to give reality meaning, then it is linked to suffering which is a confrontation to reality . . . We can only be happy in suffering when our suffering has meaning . . . when we our suffering is not just arbitrary but can be a moment of encounter with the Real One.

Our suffering can bring happiness! What a mind blowing thing. That something that makes us unhappy, can be given meaning and thus make us happy.

This is Christ . . . he afflicts our life, in a sense makes us unhappy with our "mere" existence and causes us to give a meaning to our lives and we become happy.

What do you all think of this??

[Katt1227]

Blaze-

What an amesome post, sounds like your school of community is off to a great start!! It's amazing that the things that you are talking about in your school of community are many of the same things I'm struggling with right now. And last night, I was talking to a friend about many of the same things right when you posted this. Amazing How God works, isn't it.

And we talked about how dealing with reality is what leads to happiness. That even though we think that we can make ourselves happy by dealing with things on our terms, in our way, in other words, by manipulating reality into something of our choosing . . . that this is empty. That happiness, if it is going to be real, has to do with accepting reality as it is proposed and finding a way to give it meaning . . .

I have been "making myself happy" or trying to, at least, by manipulating my reality... I have been putting on my happy face (as I like to call it) and trying to pretend like everything is peachy keen. This is empty, because I know in my heart that I am not truly happy.

But my question is how do you concretely give reality meaning?? How do you accept reality as it is given to you and be happy through your suffering??

[DesiringMore]

I read this in a magazine today...and thoguht i'd share with you....

CHANGE: GOD'S GIFT TO YOU

By Joyce Meyer

The more i grow, the more i understand that i need change to move forward. i've discovered that when God pushes me out of my comfort zone its because He wants to bless me with so much more than i had before. that's where Paul writes, "for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" as i ponder those words, i had to face the fact that FEAR was standing in the way of the better thing that God has for me. Friend, nothing you leave behind to follow the Lord even compares to the reward He will give you. Trust Him to guide you, and even if the journey takes you along unfamiliar roads, you will always be safe in the hollow of His hand. The Bible says He will direct your paths(Prv.3:6) and change is His gift to you. do not be afraid. you may not know the path ahead, but He does. and He will lead you all the way to victory.

Edited February 13, 2004 by DesiringMore

[BLAZEr]

Katt, I can only say what I have experienced.

Here in this parish I am not, and especially was not, perfectly happy. Especially last fall, after learning of all the challenges that were present in the parish and learning of how mean and treacherous some were being to the priest I found my self pretty unhappy, but putting on a happy face.

I was beginning to feel like my being here was meaningless. And this was making me very sad.

Then I found CL again in Houston. And I began to remember that there was something about this life that wasn't meaningless. That my everyday life was in fact a great drama where my salvation was being played out. This became a fact only because my friends made it so for me. In a sense, I began to live for Wednesday Nights . . . for the next time I could be with my friends. Thursday through Tuesday now were a way to get to Wednesday again, where I experienced my happiness very concretely.

And so in this parish, in order to confront the meaninglessness, I had to propose CL. I had to try to give meaning to my life here. The meaning I chose to give it was an active desire to see Christ present through the movement. I desire Christ to be present. I desire companionship here in the parish (not just in houston, an hour away) so my reason for being here becomes "To make CL present, in order to make Christ present."

Now, I'm not sad. Now I'm don't feel lost. Now I have a purpose. And everything throughout the day takes on new meaning because it is all a way to propose CL again, to someone new. Everywhere I go now in my parish I mention CL. Everything I do, I use a thought from Fr. Gius. Every class I teach we work from the writings of Fr. Gius.

Because when I am with him (even just on paper) I can say "It is not just my imagination that I can be happy through CL making Christ present. This man believes it too." And I am less alone. There is another.

Now, with the new School of Community, there are more others. More people who I begin to see in various activities at the parish who remind me of this happiness. Who remind me of this experience. Who help me to recall the memories of this that make me happy.

That is how I confronted it.

[track2004]

bump ^_^

[Katt1227]

Hey All!! SO here's the next couple questions from the video of Guissani. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this

Question: The most important task for a Christian is to communicate the encounter with Christ. From this point of view, in this past year I have encountered two types of problems. The first: so many people are Christians because Christianity is their cultural tradition (many, for example, are children of the Irish tradition), thus they think they know already what the Christian proposal is, what it is all about. The second: conversely, we can meet people who are not struck in any way, who show no openness to faith. How should we act in our dealings with these two types of people?

Guissani: I believe that the way to deal with these two types of people, those who have already had Christianity and those who have not yet had it, is identical. In other words, it is the message which is borne by personal witness, because Christ is present in my witness. Or rather, at the most, there is one difference: with those who have already received Christianity, our witness has to be much stronger and more powerful because, as Barbara Ward says, "men rarely learn what they think they already know"

Question: What is the original Characteristic of the Movement? What makes it deifferen from other movements in the Church and in the world?

Guissani: It seems to me that the genuis -using the word in the Latin sense- of the movement is that it has felt the urgency of proclaiming the need to return to the elementary aspects of Christianity, that is to say to the passion of the Christian fact as such, in its original elements, full stop. This is why priests, friars, sisters, people from other movements feel at home in our accent. They feel, so to speak, like friends in our accent. We do not want anything other than what we ought to have in common with everybody, and our action, our task is that of recalling everyone to these original factors that are necessary for all, above all to what I have said: the category of the event, that Christianity is a present face, of which you and I are a part. It is the fact of Christ who is present, but in order to be present, He needs you and me, us. You ought to see Delanoy's film God Needs Us if you can find it in some film library.