How to Respond to the Things We Can't Control

A spiritual direction adjacent community conversation

It’s another series idea and I just can’t stop.

In addition to The Decision Fatigue Chronicles, Unconventional Spiritual Practices, and our quarterly Questions + Arrows, I have another something I want to bring into the rotation which is to share with you something I’m thinking about without a lot of commentary and then allow you to offer your own reflections in the comments.

When we live our lives attentively, we’ll often discover that our hobbies, passions, fears, loves, interests, and curiosities are clamoring to get into a room and talk to each other.

You watch a movie with a line that stands out and then two days later find yourself in a conversation with someone who, not knowing you just watched that movie, quotes the very line you’ve been thinking about.

You read a book that describes a compelling scene and then you see something that reminds you of that scene as you scroll Instagram.

You’re learning about the Incarnation or owls or native plants or the feminine heart of God and then you start to notice themes that rise up all around you, sometimes subtly and other times impossible to miss.

This week I ran across two quotes from different contexts that I could sense wanted to talk to each other.

So I’m bringing them together here to see what they might have to say to us and through us.