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    Generous Faith: Stories to Inspire Abudant Living
    Generous Faith: Stories to Inspire Abudant Living
    Generous Faith: Stories to Inspire Abudant Living
    Ebook138 pages1 hour

    Generous Faith: Stories to Inspire Abudant Living

    By Sister Bridget Haase, OSU

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    About this ebook

    Experience the generosity of God in this very moment

    Learn how to live in the now, to trust, and to experience God's presence in your life.

    "I have seen the love and compassion of Sr. Bridget firsthand, in a ministry we have shared for years. She is a woman that not only talks about generous faith, but lives it daily. Enjoy this book - it will open your eyes to see God everywhere and in everything." - Rev. Gloria White-Hammon, MD, Co-Pastor, Bethel AME Church, Boston; and Executive Director, My Sister's Keeper

    "In addition to sh aring powerful stories of seemingly ordinary experiences, Sister wisely directs us to take the time to ponder, reflect, and be attentive to the ways the Lord is working on our lives. We all need to make time and space for God if we want to understand our calling and our mission. With the help of the very accessible guided meditations Sister has provided, we can all grow in faith and confidence that we can witness Christ's love to the people in our lives." - Cardinal Sean O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston

    This simple and joy-filled book opens our hearts to what is in the air we breathe, under our feet, and in this very moment: the abundant life, a gift from God. As Sr. Bridget says with her infectious enthusiasm, all we need to do is cultivate this awareness through three basic practices:
    • Living in the moment
    • Trusting in Divine care, and
    • Experiencing God's presence.


    This is not a how-to book of methods and techniques. Rather, it is a collection of stories that give shape and face to these three practices. The people in these stories ask us to re-examine our own journey and change our perspective. In so doing, we take a second look at our life, and realize that what we have is more than enough for it is, quite simply, most abundant.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherParaclete Press
    Release dateFeb 1, 2009
    ISBN9781612613949
    Generous Faith: Stories to Inspire Abudant Living
    Author

    Sister Bridget Haase, OSU

    Sister Bridget Haase, O.S.U., is a member of the Ursuline Sisters, and holds an M.A. in religious studies. She has ministered in Appalachia, Mexico and Africa. She presently serves as coordinator of the spirituality program at The Boston Home, a long-term care facility for people with multiple sclerosis and other degenerative neurological diseases. She gives parish missions, days of reflection, and inspirational talks throughout the United States. She has written two other books and published many articles. She sits on the Board of My Sister’s Keeper, a faith-based justice/peace organization to work for the education of women and girls in southern Sudan, and is a frequent guest on Boston, Chicago/Milwaukee, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh radio stations. Visit her website at www.wisdomwonder.com

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      Book preview

      Generous Faith - Sister Bridget Haase, OSU

      PART ONE

      Living in the Moment

      For most of my life, living with attention in the present moment, the first practice of the abundant life, has been a challenge. I felt as though I was only respectfully saluting the here and now—doing it in a disengaged manner, hurriedly bowing as it passed by. The conviction that mystics and spiritual masters consider attentiveness to the moment the highest form of spirituality frustrated me even more. I sensed the rightness and importance of being attentive, but no one had shown me how to do it.

      Then one summer day, while spoon-feeding my mother chocolate ice cream, I discovered how I could live in the present moment—sometimes we learn how to live from people who are dying.

      My mama sat in her wheelchair, eyes glazed over and unable to speak. At eighty-three, she was aimlessly drifting on the ocean of Alzheimer’s disease. Knowing she had forgotten how to swallow, I was slowly and carefully feeding her. Unexpectedly, she gestured as though trying to smack her lips.

      You like it, Mama? I asked through the tears that welled up at such moments. I was expecting a smile, a response, a nod. None came from her, but a waterfall of memories cascaded over me.

      I began to reminisce how, after supper dishes were done, Mama would get out the jelly jars and the Sealtest ice cream carton. My four siblings and I would dash into the kitchen, putting homework and squabbling aside. Chocolate ice cream was a built-in family reunion. Being alert for equal portions, we would then indulge, slurping until there was no sound but the spoon tapping the side of the glass. Hope for one last taste sprang eternal.

      Mama never baked cookies or cakes. Once, when I asked her why, she very firmly said, No need to when you’ve got chocolate ice cream. That ended the discussion and explained everything.

      I returned from my reverie to reenter the reality of the Alzheimer’s disease that was consuming her. How could someone, so brave, so heroic, and so active, be smitten with a disease that slowly robs both physical senses and mental abilities? Would Mama continue to deteriorate in the coming months? Would she feel pain—lose more dignity?

      Pity for her overcame me, and I began to feel both anger and deep sadness. Dipping my spoon once again into the ice cream cup, I tapped Mama’s cheek so she would open her mouth and remember to swallow.

      Suddenly my memories and future worries were interrupted as a strange feeling engulfed me. I realized I had mentally crossed my personal International Date Line. I was straddling the present, one foot in the past and the other in the future. I had allowed the thoughts that chocolate ice cream evoked within me to distract me from the gift of this precious moment with Mama. Instead of simply enjoying the experience of being with Mama and feeding her, I had allowed myself to ruminate on the experience. In so doing, I had entered into another time zone. Mama, on the other hand, smacking her lips with the pleasurable taste of chocolate cream, was living totally in the present moment. I knew then that this was what I lacked, and for this I longed.

      In Mama’s ending, I discovered how to begin.

      This first practice of the abundant life is to make a deliberate choice: namely, to be aware of and sensitive to what our senses apprehend, to what we are experiencing, without imposing thoughts and commentary about it—experiencing what I am, being where I am, and not evaluating, judging, or weighing the merits. This practice allows us to live fully in the here and now without thinking about the moment. Simple

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