True Mystics

I have come to believe that the true mystics are not those who contemplate holiness in isolation, reaching godlike illumination in serene silence, but those who manage to find God in a life filled with noise, the demands of other people and relentless daily duties that can consume the self…. If they are wise, they treasure the rare moments of solitude and silence that come their way, and use them not to escape, to distract themselves with television and the like. Instead, they listen for a sign of God’s presence and they open their hearts toward prayer.   Kathleen Norris Source: The Quotidian Mysteries Add your thoughts at inward/outward

Throwing different kinds of parties. . .

Luke 14:12-14

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

12 He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

1.  Who do we normally invite to our parties?  Why so? 

2.  What happens when we do?  Any surprises?  

3.  What might happen if we threw different kinds of parties with different "guest lists"?  What would that be like?  What would be uncomfortable?  Why?  What would be positive?  Why?

4.  Where does "repayment" take place in the work of compassion and justice?