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Learning to Cultivate the Inner Life

October 13, 2014

One of the things that initially attracted me to the Episcopal Service Corps, and later, after some research, to JSC was the knowledge that I would be challenged to explore my own spirituality in a way I never had before. I knew I was an external, extroverted person – while I need space and time alone I find it more distressing when I am too long apart from the people I love. One of our exercises during core training was to write down characteristics of our inner and outer lives on paper plates and think about their relationship. I realized, through that exercise, that I really didn’t know very much about my inner life. I was aware it existed, but I did not put any deep care into its development beyond how it allowed me to relate to, care for, and interact with the rest of the world.

It is ironic that the value of communion is bringing me closer to my inner life rather than to the world around me. I hold the principle of communion very dear. On a most basic level, I find sharing a meal, lovingly prepared, with people I love or strangers I have just met to be a deeply meaningful experience. It is an extension of the Eucharist, of sacred time. I love it. It sustains me. But JSC terms connects communion to centering practices that allow one to live life with greater presence. It is far more challenging to engage in communion within myself than it is with others. I am so grateful I am challenged to be present with myself, not only the people around me, and to commit to a centering practice that will allow me to learn more about my inner world.

–Rebecca Ogus is serving at Habitat for Humanity of Orange County.  She loves music, dancing, and the ocean.

Communion is one of the 5 values we reflect on during the service year.  Here is the JSC definition:

Communion: I am committed to a regular, transformative, centering practice of spirituality and I intend to live the moments of my life increasingly present to life and awake to who I am called to be.

Communion communion, inward journey

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