I will arise, and in the strength of love
Pursue the bright track ere it fade away,
My Saviour’s pathway to His home above. John Keble
About Pathways of Grace
The workshops are all designed to help us understand, and enter into, the pathways of grace.
Materials for Use in the Parish
Download a letter-sized poster describing the sessions. Print, copy, and post in the parish.
Download a document with small cards describing the sessions. Print and copy for parish distribution.
Here's a JPG file of the card.
Also see at the bottom of this page the e-newsletter version used by the Diocese of Olympia Communications Office.
The Presence
How are we to recognize the presence of God, of Angels and Archangels and the whole company of heaven? How might we become more sensitive to God’s presence with us?
The Pathways of Grace workshops assume that we’re called to place ourselves where God is known to be present – in Eucharist and Office, in Sacraments and Word, in silence and solitude. We don’t get to manipulate God’s presence. It’s not for us to make God appear and act in life. Our part is to put ourselves in the Pathways of Grace.
All the Time
We are working on the assumption that God’s presence is common, not rare.
God is at our right hand (Ps 16:8); God is not far from each of us (Acts 17:27); In him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28); The kingdom of God is within you (or among you, or in your midst) (Luke 17:21)
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
In our daily life – in family, with friends and strangers, in joy and despair. In all of our life – God is present, standing alongside us, dwelling within us. A presence that at times we feel.
And as God’s presence is so near and ordinary we may learn to better recognize it; to notice it in the “people, things and circumstances of life.”
Accepting
We are not trying to conjure up holiness or spiritual feelings or a sense of the mystical. Our faith is not about doing magic. It’s not about us controlling and manipulating God, the angels and saints. The church is not about saying magical incantations that will generate happiness and success.
It is about accepting, receiving, noticing, and loving. Finally, it is about repenting, believing, and loving.
Regula
Regula or “rule” is about living our spiritual life with a pattern. Not a random or self-constructed list of rules but a prayer life with a shape; a shape that has emerged from the long experience and wisdom of the People of God.
It is the Prayer Book Pattern, the threefold rule of prayer --- Eucharist, Daily Office, Personal Devotions. It is the underpinning of a faithful prayer life.
This pattern, this shape, is the foundational pathway.
Regula - Daily practice, discipline, what is objective -- grounds us in God’s ways. So, we may notice the moments of holy disclosure and presence. The regula is essential. It is how we stay grounded in faith and practice; it is how we become sensitive to the ways of God.
Uniqueness
And yet, the spiritual life is not just regula. It is also about our unique and personal experience of God. Both/and, not either/or.
So, there are pathways unique to each person. Pathways that allow you to accept the closeness of God.
Balance
So, we have regula and personal experience. Each of us needs some balance that fits out temperament, circumstance, and need to grow and have our heart enlarged.
A balance -
- Of regula and uniqueness
- Transcendent and immanent
- Unknowable and indwelling
- Our God and my God
- We believe and I believe
Practical guidance
Whether the pathway we are exploring is of the regula or of personal experience – our hope is to offer realistic and useful assistance. This is applied theology.
Christian life is social, centered upon the corporate liturgy and expressed in love for the neighbor; it is also intensely personal, a relationship between God and unique individuality. Martin Thornton
Silence & Action - January 2019
Adoration, Awe, and Service - June
Order of the Ascension
Pathways of Grace
“Pathways of Grace is a series of five morning workshops on the spiritual life. Sponsored by the Order of the Ascension, an Episcopal Religious Community. The workshops are designed to help us understand, and enter into, the pathways of grace. How are we to recognize the presence of God, of Angels and Archangels and the whole company of heaven? How might we become more sensitive to God’s presence with us?
You can register for one or all of the workshops. There is a materials fee of $15.00. There is a limit of five participants.
Silence & Action – A Pathways of Grace Workshop: Queen Anne, Seattle | January 12, 9:30am; Register by January 5 | $15 Materials Fee
- For laity and clergy. Christian action takes place in the daily life of each person baptized into Christ — in families and with friends, at work, and as citizens and neighbors. In our time together we’ll explore how inner silence relates to our action and how we might grow in inner silence and tranquility. Limit of 5 participants.
Adoration, Awe, and Service – A Pathways of Grace Workshop: Queen Anne, Seattle | June 15, 9:30am; Register by June 5 | $15 Materials Fee
- For laity and clergy. We’ll explore Evelyn Underhill’s understanding of our three duties – adoration, awe and service. How our service is transformed by adoration and awe. Limit of 5 participants.
Justice, Saint Mary, Jon Daniels – A Pathways of Grace Workshop: Queen Anne, Seattle | August 14, 9:30am; Register by August 5 | $15 Materials Fee
- A time to explore the spirituality of Jonathan Daniels. We’ll give special attention to his relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary (Feast Day August 15). How can his spirituality inform our own and connect us to God’s justice in ways appropriate to our own vocation and gifts?
Saying the Daily Office – A Pathways of Grace Workshop: Queen Anne, Seattle | October 19, 2019, 9:30am; Register by October 8, 2019 | $15 Materials Fee
- For laity and clergy. You’ll explore several ways of saying the Daily Office on your own. We assume you want to find a way that maintains the tradition and fits your temperament and circumstances. After experimenting with saying the office during the following week we’ll check in with you.
Attrait – A Pathways of Grace Workshop: Queen Anne, Seattle | December 7, 2019, 9:30am; Register by November 15, 2019 | $15 Materials Fee
- For laity and clergy. This offering of Attrait will focus on a form of personal devotions that begins with the longings of each person – for harmony and uniqueness, for healing and forgiveness, for meaning and a sense of direction. These states-of-being are an experience of God’s prayer within us. How might we prepare ourselves to be receptive? What forms of prayer can help us focus these longings?