October 2011

The Sisters of the Good Samaritan offer you a simple reflection starter on a current book that reflects Good Samaritan Benedictine spirituality.

Each month we will offer some questions based on a chapter of the book. These questions may help you to reflect and pray. They can also be used for small group sharing. Currently it is:

St Benedict on the Freeway: A Rule of Life for the 21st Century by Corinne Ware, Abingdon Press, USA, 2001.

Chapter 4 – “Anchors”

The reflection starters below may help you plumb the depths of the text and explore more deeply what the text is saying to you in your daily life.

As you read chapter 4, “Anchors”, notice any words or phrases that connect with your experience, surprised you or raised a question for you?

• What are some of the “sacramental objects that bring connection to your life” (p.79)?  
• How would you describe your feelings about Church “disenchanted … detached …” (p. 80)? in your daily life?
• Share an experience when Church had been for you “the powerful and solid anchor which holds us as we negotiate our lives when it has been teacher, safeguard and solace” (p. 82).
• Reflect on the place the Scriptures have in your life. Do they provide “an anchor, a text, a rule of life and way to spiritually sustain” (p. 85) you?
• Is there a particular religious object that offers you “an invitation to think of being in and with God” (p. 87)? What is the object and how does it engage you in dialogue with God?
• What helps you “cultivate mindfulness and attention to the present” (p. 90)?
• As you review chapter 4, give thanks for those things in your daily life that heighten your awareness of God’s presence. As you continue life’s journey make a conscious effort to be aware of God in the ordinary and extraordinary events in your daily life.