Do I Really, Really Mean It? : Or….
Authenticity is the first test of my values and purpose. If I say I’m here on earth to repair the world or to be holy, do I really, really mean it? Do these ideas make me live and work differently, or do they ultimately hold no more significance than an empty slogan emblazoned across a glossy corporate annual report? Can I say that I am here on earth for a reason, or am I simply drifting along, grasping after whatever suits a short-term need or current fad? Chris Lowney
Do I really, really mean it when I say
I refuse to gossip slander lie
whatever denies God
and assassinates my neighbor?
Do I really, really mean it when I say
I refuse to scratch spoil destroy
cattle cows creatures
and their garden ground?
Do I really, really mean it when I say
I refuse to squeeze siphon extract
more than I need regardless
of the need of others?
Do I really, really mean it when I promise
to set my mind on minding
what is good for me
and you?
Do I really, really mean it when I promise
to listen and dignify
every person post position
choosing peace before winning?
Do I really, really mean it
or am I
only a resounding gong
or a clanging cymbal?
Do I really, really mean it
or am I
nothing?
Poem by Debra Asis
Chris Lowney’s quote is found in today’s selection in An Ignatian Book of Days by Jim Manney, a series of daily reflections from the Spiritual Wisdom of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Throughout the book we hear the voices of St. Ignatius as well as many great thinkers and writers, long gone and present day, each uniquely revealing the way of finding God in all things.And that is my intention; to find God/Divine Presence/Ultimate Reality in whatever presents itself to me each day in 2024.
Each day I read, reflect and write on the selection, hoping to articulate the ways in which I come to know God/Divine Presence/Ultimate Reality via personal experience, impelled by the leading of my inner life.
INVITATION
Would you like to join me? The book is accessible on Amazon. Let me know in the comments to this post and sign up to get an email whenever I post. I would love to read your reflections too, public or private messages welcome!
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Learn more about me at
https://www.debraasis.org
All words are generated by grace and the grit of a real human being,
Debra Asis
