• About The Sophia Center

The Sophia Center for Spirituality

~ Spanning the denominations in NY's Southern Tier

The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Tag Archives: self-control

Hard Questions

06 Sunday Oct 2019

Posted by thesophiacenterforspirituality in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

love, Peace, power, self-control, speaking truth to power, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Timothy, truth

Again today, just one line from St. Paul. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul said the following: For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. (2 TIM 1:7) We would do well to reflect on these qualities in these difficult days when darkness seems to toy with the waning light of day, when violence seems to compromise peace in the world and when leadership in our institutions sometimes seems to fail instead of leading us. Where in ourselves can we find the strength to speak truth to power, to stay the course of peace in times of conflict? And how will we be the love of God to all we meet, regardless of return or reward?

Delightful Fruits

12 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by thesophiacenterforspirituality in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Confirmation, courage, faithfulness, generosity, gentleness, Holy Spirit, joy, kindness, knowledge, love, patience, Peace, reverence, right judgment, self-control, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understanding, wisdom, wonder & awe in God's presence

aholyspiritPart of my preparation for receiving the sacrament of Confirmation was to memorize all the gifts that I would receive from the Holy Spirit. Since I was only twelve years old at the time, I’m not sure how I understood the promise of those gifts. Much later, when teaching Confirmation classes to teenagers, it was still difficult to imagine – even in new translation – how suddenly the confirmands would become spiritually adult, having received gifts of wisdom, understanding, knowledge, right judgment, courage, reverence and wonder & awe in God’s presence as the bishop laid hands on their heads and anointed them. I was lucky to team-teach those classes for a couple of years with a colleague of my age who explained very well to candidates that these gifts, if nurtured by the recipient, would grow in them as they matured. I remember the first time he said, “I was in my thirties when I first realized what that meant.” For him – and for me still – it was good to pull that list out from the brain filed under the title Gifts to grow into to see how we were doing. It still is.

This morning I read another list of Spirit-gifts – not so commonly referred to these days – that I also learned as a young person. These are called by St. Paul in the 5th chapter of his letter to the Galatians fruits of the Spirit. It was a good practice to take inventory of how these qualities that seem somehow more concrete and practical have or have not come to find a home in me as I try to live a good life. Take a look and see what seems to be flourishing in you these days.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ripening Fruit

15 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by thesophiacenterforspirituality in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

faithfulness, fruits of the Holy Spirit, Galatians, generosity, gentleness, gifts of the Holy Spirit, joy, kindness, love, patience, Paul, Peace, self-control, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

s10When I was young I learned that in addition to the “Gifts of the Holy Spirit”, there were also other virtues to be developed by those on a spiritual path. These were called the “Fruits of the Holy Spirit”. As I have aged, I have come to regard these “fruits” as akin to my growth, not achieved by focused hard work but rather as the result of maturation – like fruit on a tree that needs the attention of the sun and rain and good soil in order to flourish. I can see that attention to and practice of the behaviors inherent in these virtues cause the “fruit” to manifest.

Paul gives us the list this morning (GAL 5), calling me to check in on the ripening of each in my heart and to give attention to those that still need time to mature. They are the following: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Donate to The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Donate

Our other websites

  • Main website
  • Facebook page

Visitors

  • 100,563 hits

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,046 other subscribers

Recent Posts

  • The “O Antiphon” Meditations
  • Memorial to be held this Sunday
  • Mark your calendars
  • A note to readers
  • “Hope Springs Eternal…”

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Archives

  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • The Sophia Center for Spirituality
    • Join 560 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Sophia Center for Spirituality
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...