Make Your Unknown Known

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Georgia O’Leeffe is quoted as saying, “Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant – there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing.”

Finding our most powerful question, the one embedded in our life story and narrative, does just that. And,  all we can know is what our felt experience and visceral response reveals. That visceral “experience” affirms what is seeking connection and light.

Human Nature

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Humans by nature are explorers. We have barely explored our oceans yet we are designing programs to reach Mars. In my opinion, what we have explored even less than the oceans is our own capacity to love.

The model of love that Jesus Christ left us can often feel unattainable and beyond our reach. That makes His greatest commandment, to “Love one another, as I have loved you,” more of an ideal than a goal. If it were a goal, people would be promoting it, marketing it, practicing it. Part of the problem is that it also requires that we love ourselves, a daunting task for many.

We romanticize love as a way to keep it at a distance, separate and distinct from ourselves and everyday living. We associate it with flowers and not with power.

I think this is the territory most in need of exploration today. I shudder to think how many spaceships will be needed if we fail to do so.

Institute for Religious Life Conference

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The Powerful Question booth was well received at the Institute for Religious Life conference held in Mundelein, Il. Many of the religious orders in attendance wanted information and expressed a desire to incorporate it in their formation efforts.

Next stop: A table at the Upper Peninsula Eucharistic Congress, June 9 th and 10 th in Marquette, Michigan. I will have books there as well as registration material for the Powerful Question retreat. Expect it will fill quickly.

And: The next zoom meeting for those who have found their Powerful Question and want to move to the next level is May 16th. You must contact me if you are interested in joining in. Lots of new activity being planned.

Mundelein Conference

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I just returned from a two day conference with the Institute for Religious Life at Mundelein Seminary. I was moved by the devotion and dedication demonstrated by the IRL staff and the 150 religious brothers, sisters and priests who attended. We had a Powerful Question booth at the conference that attracted a lot of interest and a number of leads for future involvement. I am very grateful to Michael Wick for initiating this connection.

God’s Plan

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Do I really believe that God has a plan and I have a special role to play in it? If the answer is yes, do I then have some responsibility to discern (to the extent I can) what my role is? Finding my powerful question is intentionally pursuing my belief that God has a plan and I have a role to play in it.

Or, do I believe that God’s plan will just play out and I need only be “open” to it, a little like sitting in a theater watching a play unfold.

Living in an Age of Anxiety

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We live in an age of anxiety as evidenced by a general lack of confidence in our institutions. Renewal begins when we accept the fact that we are the institutions and their healing depends on our healing. “I am the vine and you are the branches.” John 15:5, means just what it says. And, what we need to heal becomes apparent when we find the powerful question embedded in our life story.

Zoom Meetings

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On April 18, 2023 at 5 PM CST I will host a zoom call for anyone who has found their powerful question through one of our retreats or workshops and wants to share their reflections and progress. Please contact me at johnolesnavage@gmail.com if you would like to join in. No charge, just a sincere desire to continue the journey.

Searching for Meaning

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So many people are searching for a way to feel their life has a greater meaning. If they are Catholic and Christian, they believe that meaning will begin and end with God. But, we want to feel it and know it, not just believe it. When a person discovers their powerful question they will feel it, they will know it. It happened to me and it happens to everyone who finds their question. This is the intentional search for meaning.

PQ Zoom Calls

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Many who have found their powerful question have asked for additional support as they search for answers. In response to that request I am going to initiate a Zoom call-in once a month at an established day and time. In this monthly call-in people will be encouraged to ask questions and make suggestions. There will be no charge for this call-in. It will begin in April and further information will be coming shortly.

Just asking for a friend.

Personal Truth

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Is there anything more important than coming face-to-face with our own truth? And, for those of us who have, do we see it as an invitation to a new relationship with ourselves as well as with God? Do we remember that God already knows that truth and loves us anyway?

Just asking for a friend.