I imagine that I am a seed:
a corn, or a bean, or a grain of paddy (rice).
I am buried beneath the soft soil.
I zoom-in to see a magnified image of myself under the soil.
I am surrounded by the grains of sand – the lid of the tomb.
I am embraced by Mother Earth.
It is dark.
It is quiet.
There is some moisture and plenty of warmth.
The seed is apparently dead, at least for now.
Yet, there is so much fecundity around.
Suddenly…
I see in slow motion how the seed begins to swell.
It sheds itself of its coat.
The cotyledons effortlessly split.
And gently from the core of the seed there is a movement of life.
New life.
A tender root germinates as if the seed wants to stand on its feet.
Then the seed rests to gather renewed strength.
Gradually a determined shoot springs up pushing aside the grains of soil.
When […]
Author: selvam
Christian Mindfulness Training
Nairobi, 23 April 2011
This was first of the training that I offered on Christian mindfulness training. It is an outflow from my ongoing PhD project; however, this one day workshop was not part of my research. This training is now becoming one of my passions, as I also integrate elements of this package in other trainings and retreats.
Here is the outline of the contents of the training:
1. ‘Jesus Prayer’ (an ancient Christian Contemplative Practice) in 7 steps, with the help of the Audio CD that I have recently prepared. Click here for more details on the CD.
2. How to journal – as a means to deal with one’s emotions and to grow spiritually.
3. A Labyrinth Walk through a prayer garden at DBYES, Nairobi, getting in touch with oneself, God, and others.
The Holy Saturday training had 29 participants, most […]
Jesus Experience – 7 Step Retreat
Nairobi, 20 April 2011
The popularity of the 7 Step Retreat is now on the rise. Or it is that whenever I am asked to do a retreat for young people these days, I just follow this outline. This morning I concluded another two full-day retreat for about 200 youth at the Don Bosco Boystown. The Boystown is one of the Don Bosco institutions at Karen, Nairobi. It is a technical school that was started in 1985, following the model of Boystown of Father Flanegan, Nebraska, U.S. Our Boystown also admits girls for the secretarial courses during the day programme.
Using John 1:35-42 as the key text I elaborate a 7 step retreat that trace the pathway of the Christian Life Journey: Thirst (two disciples of John the Baptist), Signs (Look there is the Lamb of God!), Search (What do […]
Handling Emotions: a Workshop
Nairobi, 15 April 2011
I facilitated a two day formation seminar for the Junior Sisters of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Salesian Sisters) on the theme “Handling Your Emotions”. It took place at the FMA Provincial house at Hurlingham from 13th to 15th April 2011.
The input part of the workshop targeted the following themes: clarifying various affective states; the difference between moods and emotions; the difference in the way men and women process emotions.
The training attempted to impart following skills: naming one’s feelings; journalling as a way of handling emotions; assertive communication of emotions; examen of conscience.
The liturgies and some prayer moments offered reflections on the role of emotions in spiritual life, namely, God moves us from within us, and we can get in touch with these movements by getting in touch with our feelings.
Youth Caught in the Web
Nairobi, 15 April 2011
A three-day symposium organised by the Institute of Youth Ministry (IYM), came to an end today at Tangaza College. On three afternoons different experts shared their ideas to a large audience on the theme of www.youthcaughtintheweb.com The symposium is an annual event, and this year’s one was specially planned by Fr Hubert Pinto. On the first day, Mr Ronald Omboto, an IT-expert, led a three hour session on the history of Internet and the World wide web (WWW). He spoke also of the tremendous possibilities that exist due to this relatively new development. He also enumerated the socio economic political and cultural impact of the internet.
On the 2nd day, Fr Sahaya G. Selvam, SDB led the discussion on three sub-themes related to ‘youth caught in the web’. He began […]