How do we know we're moving toward union with God? Simple: we can know that by the fruits we see. Ignatius and Paul may use different words, but they're in sync with the idea of "living by the Spirit".

God In All Things

The Fruits of the Spirit(s)

If we dig beneath the desires of our hearts we will discover deeper core motivations for those desires. They're ultimately for God or the ego. Here are a couple ways we can dig down and uncover those motivations.

The Motivations Beneath Desires: Why They’re Important

Our image of God depends on how we understand the Bible. Is the Bible a moral rulebook or does it present a larger Truth about humanity's experience with God told through stories?

Sacred Stories: Scripture and Lived Experience

Whenever we bring suffering or negative feelings into our consciousness, we give it less power over us. When we take a mindful, contemplative, and non-resistance stance like Jesus, we discover a new kind of freedom.

The Weeds and the Wheat: Mindfulness and Non-Resistance

Think you don't have an imagination? Here's why Ignatius felt imagination was so important to our prayer. Also, try our new Memory Recollection audio meditation.

Ignatian Contemplation: Praying with Your Imagination

What was going on in Ignatius' heart as he gazed up each night at the stars? His cosmology was quite different than ours, but he still understood that love was the force of the universe, the source of all and the ultimate destination.

Gazing at the Stars

It feels good to be remembered. Ignatius saw the memory as a gift, one that draws us into a deeper union with God.

The Ministry of Remembering

The things in our life are all passing. They are gifts to help us in our journey to a union with God. When we accept impermanence, we discover heaven on earth. When we let go of 'shoulds' and illusions and expectations, we find salvation.

Accepting Impermanence and Experiencing Heaven Now

The ego is another name for the evil spirit. This is an important truth to understand if you wish to grow in the spiritual life. The evil spirit tries to protect the ego, which is just another word for the masks of self-importance and superiority we wear as individuals and groups. The good spirit, on the other hand, helps us transcend the egoic preoccupation.

The Ego

If We Were All Good Shepherds

When we listen to the deep desires of our hearts we are in the flow of God's love and God's dream for our lives. But how do we know a desire is 'of God'?

In the Flow

We tend to look for God in the big emotion-filled moments and can feel disappointed when we don't notice God in the everyday. Yet Ignatius says we can find God's presence in the real stuff of everyday life.

How is God Present?

Ignatius uses two images for our relationship with God: a friendship and a master-servant relationship. Both of these however are really about a deep intimacy and companionship.

Friend and Master: Two Images of Divine Companionship

Forgiveness is a way that God seeks to lift the burdens from us that prevent us from the freedom to love and live fully.

Forgiveness is a Means to Freedom

God's will for us is not some predetermined blueprint that negates our freedom. Let's examine how the Ignatian tradition understands discernment and purpose. Hint: There's a bigger Dream for the world. And Disney Pixar's Soul helps reminds us of this, too.

You Have No Purpose (In the Way that You Think)

This podcast hopes to find God in all things, mulling over questions about God from an Ignatian perspective, reflecting on scripture, and being attentive to how God permeates the moments of our exciting and mundane life. For more, visit GodInAllThings.com.