To Be Beloved: Mere Spirituality

Stepping aside to move forward has given me time to return to reading and study of essential books and spiritual guides that have shaped my lifetime and vocation. In this podcast I reflect on the work of Fr. Henri Nouwen and his central theme of “Being The Beloved.” `

Raymond Carver, just before he died, as one of the finest writers of our time, wrote a fragment of a poem titled Last Fragment .

I have shared this in several sermons and retreats across the years, including as part of my teaching the 2017 Clergy Conference of the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe, Northern Ireland, for Bishop Ken Good.

I want to share with you, as part of this podcast, an audio excerpt from a previous sermon I preached.

And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth.”

The spiritual journey is at its core the discovery of our belovedness as the essence of who we truly are.

We are not what we do. We are not what we have. We are not what others say about us. We do not need to hurry or hustle. We do not need to worry. We can trust Jesus our friend and the voice that tells us who we are: Beloved of God.

Faith is the courage to accept your acceptance and your prior belovedness, to be the beloved of God.

With you on the Journey,

Rob+