In-between the moments of diapering, feeding, and chasing around our first born, I found was still thinking and debating in my head about world events, friend’s opinions, and matters of God and spirituality. In this time period I had a realization that my Christian faith was often more centered in moral and cultural debates rather than on a life in the spirit. At a time when church for me often meant standing in outside the sanctuary with a crying or hyper child, there wasn’t much intake of message or solace in prayer time. Using technology as a bridge to spirituality is certainly far from the end all of getting the spirit, but thankfully I entered into this period of yearning for spirituality, and my introduction into parenthood, during the continuing revolution of the Internet with its ever expanding content. During my mile and half walk to my office each morning my iPod has always been a companion. Giving online podcast and books a chance has opened some doors in some unexpected ways. While it isn’t about being in the community or isn't for me a replacement of the Catholic celebration of the Eucharist, I found the daily readings for morning mass are online via a Podcast. These are the same exact readings of daily mass. My understanding is that a person could actually hear the entire bible, Old and New Testament, in three years with seven days of readings at mass each week. A total the consumption of the bible is not my goal, however it is meditative to walk with verses for a while. My daily church is the canopy of a forest as I walk through a large wooded property of Emory University’s Lullwater Park (see the photo above). The walk is thirty minutes and the daily readings are about two minutes.
The daily readings I admit are not a regular occurrence as I would like; I do have to remember to replenish the iPod with these readings. I have ventured in recent times into the podcast of homilies, church workshops, and complete books. Franciscan Priest Richard Rohr is most often my homilist on my walks. As a Catholic I have, for reasons almost unknown to me, drifted towards writings of either Franciscans or Trappist monks. Since I was a teen I have been intrigued a contemplative lifestyle, though I actually knew nothing of it. Whenever I read works by Thomas Merton I found his perspective on my Catholic faith compelling and new. I recall talks by Fr. Tom Francis while on a retreat at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, GA ten years ago about Centering Prayer, but this form of prayer and its way of thought seemed like a distant proposal for life. Through Podcast with Richard Rohr, Thomas Keating, Dr. Jerry Webber, Rob Bell and David Stiendle-Rast, I have at the very least stirred a good desire to explore the contemplative side of Christianity. Christian writers are not the only people I am listening to and reading these days, often I find similar message across a wide philosophical and religious spectrum, for example I have found great wisdom in Jon Kabat Zinn’s Zen viewpoints on parenting. Through many mature sources I am slowly being taught to have an active awareness of being present through spirit in all moments without opinions, anger, darkness, and worries blocking the gifts of the those moments; all this helps when you have toddlers living in your here and now. To go back to the original question about enlightenment with toddlers in the home, I find they are great teachers and masters of enlightenment to me. They pose the questions and put challenges before me that I never expected. My future with my children is untested and with unexpected insights whether I like or not.
I haven’t ever written about faith before on my blog. Faith writings can sound kooky especially when you are not used to me, Steve Witte, speaking on these things. Oddly there is controversy amongst many people about the works of those I have named in this post. I can assure you that this is about me not knowing more than knowing. I have discovered that during my listening to spiritually ordinated podcast and in my readings I often feel bombarded with astonishment and revelation to the point I can’t order it into anything cohesive enough to speak about. I certainly can’t hold apologetic sessions on or about my thoughts and life nor should I. I wanted to bring spiritually to this to the blog because these explorations is where I reside right now during my busy and always changing life.
