Three Essential Things

In her book "The Soul's Slow Ripening" Christine Valters Paintner talks about the practice of Three Essential Things. Finding those values that speak to who we are called to be in a particular season of life. Those things may change as we move from season to season or period of time in our life. What is essential for us in our 20's may change in our 60's and it is ours to seek what is essential that we may seek to live out the soul's deepest calling. 

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Welcome to season four of Faith in the Cracks. I'm Pastor Karen Wright. Life has cracks, moments between activities, places where we feel fractured. This is the space where we listen for God in the ordinary moments of life, where we are reminded that just as cracks let things in, it's a space for light and love to shine through. So just like plants grow in the cracks of a sidewalk, let faith grow in the cracks of our lives, trusting that God is at work within us. Episode 11. Three essential things. In a Celtic spiritual practice book that I have been reading, The Soul's Slow Ripening by Christine Walters Painter, one of the practices she talks about is three essential things. That there are three things that are the most important things in our life. And how we align with those things can help shape what activities we choose to do, what things we say no to, what we engage in in our daily life. And so it's a way of clarifying our focus and our intention, of clarifying and discerning what is our call. And as I've been reading and sitting with this, she distinguishes a couple of things. One being what is urgent over what is essential. There are many things that compete for our time and for our money, but what is essential, not just what is urgent. She also points out that we can be in different seasons, and so these three essential things may change at different points in our lives. So whether you are in a season of beginning something new, whether it's a new job or some new undertaking, or maybe you're at a closing towards retirement or a shift. Maybe you're finding yourself in a different spiritual season. For we all go through winters and springs and summer, times when we need rest and to reflect, and times when it's time to plant or time to harvest. We all have those seasons, and so what's essential in one season of life may change as we move into a new season. And she talks about the three essential things, largely because in threes we move out of a sense of duality. So the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And that three moves us beyond black and white, beyond either or, and creates space and dimension for mystery and for complexity. So the essential three things in your life in Celtic history, the saints, one wished for virginity, wisdom, and pilgrimage, another faith, simplicity, and generosity. And so they differ from person to person and from time to time. And in sitting with these things and asking an adult Sunday school class to reflect on words that came up to them, we had a variety showing up peacemaking, creativity, welcoming, joyful traditions, dependable interactions, relationships, community, forgiveness, service. So people were in lots of different places, and so I wonder if spending a little time, or maybe a lot of time, because I have struggled with discovering and discerning what are the three essential things, is to spend some time about what is essential and what would your life look like if you were able to say no to things because they didn't match where you were, so that you could then say yes to the things that help move you into those essential areas you've identified. So I leave you with finding those three essential things to help focus and discern where you are in this moment in life. Until next time. Thanks for listening. New podcasts are released every Monday. If you like the show, share it with a friend, or scroll to the bottom of the episode description and support the show for the cost of a cup of coffee once a month. You can also check out my webpage at faithinthecracks.com. As you go through your week, remember you are a child of God and you are love. May God seep into the cracks and bring forth new life.