In the introduction to St Teresa of Avila's book The Interior Castle, translator Mirabai Starr writes this:

Listen. Softly, the One you love is calling. Listen... Be brave and walk through the country of your own wild heart. Be gentle and know that you know nothing. Be mindful and remember that every moment can be a prayer. Melting butter, scrambling eggs, lifting fork to mouth, praising God... Losing your temper and your dignity with someone you love, praising God. Balancing ecstasy with clear thinking, self-control with abandon. Be still. Listen. Keep walking.

This is one snapshot of an integrated life – choosing to be with all things that are present, even in a whirlwind.

Living an integrated life involves participation and openness in a continually unfolding process, no matter where you are or what you are doing. It involves the overlap of deep rootedness and a profound becoming all at the same time. It is a practice that accepts, holds, and observes many seemingly contradictory realities while also releasing things that no longer serve us.

Integration honors and validates experiences of suffering, division, fear, prejudice, injustice, and fragmentation, and prompts those who benefit from the systems of this world to move toward those who are diminished and exploited by such powers. Integration does not invite anyone to escape from reality, but elevates wholeness in the midst of all realities. Soren Kierkegaard long ago described faith as being the practice of peace and rootedness which enables individuals and communities to stand firmly in rich, nourishing soil, even in the very eye of chaos. This, in fact, is what the title of this project—Life in the Whirlwind—is all about.

Integration is not just about individuals being whole, but the people who make up communities being united with one another. Independent (for-the-person) flourishing that does not cultivate interdependent (for-the-whole) flourishing has very limited impact. We are all made to embody and enjoy both individual and communal wholeness. Just as a mother is only as happy as her least happy child, so an individual can only flourish as much as the least-allowed-to-flourish member of that community (local or global). Human flourishing always embodies the truth that all lives are worthy of honor and dignity.

Integration is not automatic. There are practices and devotions involved, most of which connect us (again, both individually and communally) to ancient realities. Take this image of emerging fiddlehead ferns as a symbol. They need water, sunlight, and the ferns near them in order to unfurl and do well; but their growth also depends on nourishment from the soil and the steady rhythms of the Earth itself. We, too, depend on both transient and timeless provisions to help us become who we are becoming. And because we are holistic beings, these resources work best when they incorporate all aspects of human beings– mind, body, heart, soul.

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This project and all its resources are committed to nourishing conversations, which may guide you into deeper integration and fuller experiences of your truest Self. Consider these resources an open door through which you (plural) may enter into the practice and embodiment of engaged participation in a monastic-like life. These practices will ideally yield further engagement with the life you are already living, not pull you into a more isolated, detached experience.

Since this is for you, please know how fully you are invited into participation in this space. Comment on blogs & podcast episodes. Send emails with your questions, ideas, and reflections. Enter into this conversation. Without you, it's just a monologue!

May your participation here impact you deeply and strengthen
all the communities in which you live, love, and become.