Weekend Wisdom - July 27th, 2025
Lord Teach Us to Pray!
Throughout July, our Gospels have spoken on the importance of the two-fold commandment. The past two weekends offered us distinct examples of each. 1: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul, and 2: Love your neighbor as yourself, highlighted by the story of the Good Samaritan and then the example of Mary, Martha and Lazarus and listening and loving God. This weekend we hear again in the Gospel about how to pray, how to listen, and how to respond.
Our life of discipleship is not one or the other, but both, contemplative and active, God and others. Our society and lived experience on the other hand has lost sight of much of the contemplative life. I have always been a contemplative at heart. Reading, writing, day-dreaming, star-gazing, breathing in the cold air of winter nights and the glorious mineral-laden lake breezes. It was only when the “responsibilities” of life and the demand to perform and the reward of achieving kicked in during adolescence that I found myself on a hamster wheel of action.
But remember, this is a both/and invitation from the Lord. Active discipleship is just as valuable as contemplative discipleship. One should not be favored over the other and each person must discern and weigh the balance within their own call from God. We have strong and curious witnesses of saints, martyrs and mystics who were deep contemplatives and religious in our modern church who are fully vowed to the contemplative life. Just look at the Carmelite monastery in Denmark, WI! We also have disciples who are prayerfully called to significant active discipleship with our homeless shelters, food pantries and charitable work.
The key is to make time for both and the modern human and American experience is naturally drawn more strongly to active life and discipleship. That is why I have found spiritual direction to be such a healthy and helpful practice. Regularly scheduled sessions with my spiritual director ground me in a practice of stillness and silence. It returns me to a prayerful state with the skillful listening ear of another. What swirls around me in the active life finds a place to settle and be explored with another disciple. In good times and in challenging times, I can turn to spiritual direction, in a group or individual setting, to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen, and be loved, by God.
After 17 years in active parish ministry, I discerned God’s call to attend more fully to my contemplative gifts and be formed as a spiritual director. In addition to my day-to-day ministry, I completed an intense 2-year formation process and maintain a monthly peer supervision practice. If you’re looking for somewhere to enter a more contemplative space and ask questions with another ear listening, I invite you to reach out. I would be happy to discuss spiritual direction further and help you listen for where it might fit into your spiritual life.
May you find time to cease, rest and let the Lord love you. - Amberly Boerschinger