Dear readers, so . . . when I ask, how is your spiritual life, I mean, how is your soul, your heart, your core? If this is well, all is well. And conversely, if we are unwell here, all else goes poorly. Such is our nature. Probably all nature. First things first, or we (and others) suffer. Maybe my gifts can be of help in your putting first things first.
As a child, I used to sit in the backyard in a tree and look out over the Charleston marsh. I was very meditative without knowing that word yet. When I entered the Jesuit order in the Catholic Church in 1963 at the age of 18, I began my life of more formal meditation, an extension of my personality and nature. This reflective life of “presence” to people and things (music, birds, books) has continued through my 73 years. I left my formal association with the Jesuits in 1974, but have continued my religious and spiritual pursuits unabated. My 28 years at the Marist School here in Atlanta have contributed immensely to this journey, especially my work with students and adults in prayer, meditation, and retreats. My work during the summers with 5 grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities has extended my training in philosophy, psychology, and mysticism. Of particular benefit have been the studies in Hinduism, Buddhism,and Islamic intellectual history. I very much enjoyed my years of teaching philosophy, theology, and world religions.
With two children of our own, my wife and I have made a study of Alice Miller, Gerald May, John Bradshaw, Konrad Stettbacher, and Bruno Bettelheim, to mention a few of the psychologists who helped us with children and adult relationships. (The Bhagavad Gita, Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Catherine of Siena, Meister Eckhart, Soren Kierkegaard, Simone Weil, and Bernadette Roberts are constant companions, as well as Rumi, Rabia, Hafiz, Mira, and Kabir.) Enneagram studies, especially under my personal friend Don Riso, have particularly nourished me and my students. Right now I spend a fair amount of time meditating and writing poetry. I continue to work with Alumni at Marist (retreats, Evening Series in January for adults, and a new men’s group) and hope to do the same in New Orleans with Jesuit High alumni I continue to visit.
So, follow this site for periodic entries in this journal, and get in touch with me via the means offered elsewhere in this site. Perhaps I can be of help to you. Perhaps I can supplement my social security. In any event, I am offering help for you to grow in your spirit, your heart, your core self. As the Lord says in Proverbs, “My child, give me your heart!” That is certainly what I am trying to do in my life: surrender to the Great Mystery that suffuses all being and experience.
Love and prayer for you and yours from Bob Fecas