Pushed Out of the Nest

Whether you believe in a God, a higher power, spirit, or a bag of rocks. . .I found great truth in these words below. . .I personally am going through a ton of things right now that I find challenging--and, I'm not sure if I have been pushed into something new or pushed out of the situation I was in at work.  No matter what, there will be change.  And when we cease to grapple with changes--with sanity. . .we might as well not exist.


Today, although it's still dark out, I'm about to head out with my camera. . .probably to go visit, as my friend Paul would say. . .Graveyards. . .where I find I can capture, in the fall, the essence of the season best. . .colors. . .and that natural cycle of the season of life. . .in contrast. . .


Today--Erie Street Cemetery--opened in 1826. . .among all the usual markers and statues I like to photograph, I'll be looking for a few specifics--the markers for Joc-O-Sot--he was an Native American who fought in the Blackhawk War and is rumored to haunt both the cemetery and Progressive Field across the street where the Cleveland Indians play ball.  I'll also be scouting for Chief Thunderwater--reportedly the model for Chief Wahoo.  .  .


uh, rambled a bit too much up there. . .if you have time, read below . . .photos, some music, and maybe a book review to follow sometime today. . .possibly.


Pushed Out of the Nest

Thomas Keating

God's training of people is compared to an eagle training an eaglet to fly. In ancient times it was believed that eaglets learned to fly by being pushed out of the nest, which was usually perched on the edge of a cliff.

This is a marvelous image of what we feel is happening to us. God seems to push us into something that we feel totally incapable of doing. Or, God pushes us out of whatever nest we are in. We wonder if God still loves us.

Like the eaglet desperately flapping its wings, we seem to be heading straight for the abyss. But like the mother eagle, God swoops down and catches us just before we hit the rocks. This happens again and again until the eaglet learns to fly.

After we have been treated in this fashion a number of times, we too may realize that it is not as dangerous as we first believed. We begin to be content with these hair-raising escapes. We learn to trust God beyond our psychological experiences. And we become more courageous in facing and letting go of the dark corners of ourselves.


A shoutout to The Church of the Savior in Washington D.C.--maybe the coolest church in the country for sharing the above Keating lines this morning in their daily sharing Inward/Outword.

To learn more about The Church of the Savior--and how they evolved over the years--because it was never a "church" in the conventional sense--this gets you to some interesting information. . .about how they always perceived a "church" to be:

Church of the Savior

What I always like best about them--and I was fortunate enough to go on a retreat at Wellspring, one of their missions, many, many years ago is the general "mission statement" summed up in the above article:

"A commitment to serious, inward contemplation as well as ambitious social justice work. No spectators. Action over institution."


Time for me to roll. . .have a great day everybody. . .