Thursday, April 28, 2016

Tea Time with Tiffany #46 - Introverted penguins & spiritual attacks. I promise I'll explain :0

Hello ALL! I'm so glad to have you with me for a very peaceful installment of:



Today I talk about spiritual challenges and how I'm coping with them. I tie in a story about a penguin. I promise, this makes sense in the podcast. ;-) Listen on, dear listener!





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Items mentioned in this episode:
  • Tuesday's post about spiritual darkness.
  • Baby Penguins Everywhere! board book. I found it, HUZZAH! *pats librarian bun*
  • Next Catholic Book Club selection: Church of Spies.  If you want to buy this book rather than going the library route, it is $15.99 for Kindle, and about $20 in hardcover. The paperback version doesn't release until November, as I suspected.
What are your practical suggestions for dealing with spiritual darkness? Also, don't forget to chime in about how we should structure our Church of Spies discussion. Over one month or multiple? Melanie had a great suggestion in the comments of yesterday's post. Leave yours as well!

10 comments:

  1. Finding the balance between people and quiet time is so hard! I have not been able to find that balance. This year, I've swung to the extreme of all the quiet time and very little time with people, which has left me with very few things to look forward to during the semester.
    Lately, I've been finding myself repeating "Jesus, I trust in you" over and over in my head when I'm overwhelmed or feeling down. I think that's helping me keep perspective.

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  2. 1) I wish my kiddos asked me to read to them. They don't. That said, there is an expectation that we will read before going to bed. And if I don't (for whatever reason) they get highly upset. In fact a few weeks ago, the younger one got upset because a) I was gone and couldn't read therefore b)dad had to put the kiddos to bed but you couldn't talk because he lost his voice so he had the older brother read. He didn't like this one bit. Even though HB reads way above grade level and reads quite well, Knee didn't think this is how things should work. Only parents read to him. *sigh*

    2) My library has your book so I've already requested it for book club. So exited! I pointed out the book review of the Divine Mercy for Moms to my book club, but they wanted to go in a different direction. I think we've been reading a lot of mom related books lately, but my plan is to order it for my own personal reading along with St. Faustina's Diary. Hopefully they won't end up sitting on my book shelf collecting dust much like Servant of God Dorothy Day's book did. I ended up returning it to the library after only getting half way through. Too many books and devotionals I've been reading lately. I need to pair things down because this scattered approach is just exhausting.

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  3. The penguin story you mentioned reminded me of a book that was popular in my family when I was little, Five Minutes Peace. It was about a family of elephants and the mama elephant just wants five minutes of peace but every time she tries her kids follow her. Praying some consolation comes your way soon.

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  4. Sam, I love your idea of a short, interior prayer. I think that this is a common prayer practice amongst Eastern Christians, yes? Called the Jesus Prayer? LOVE.

    Finding balance is indeed very difficult. I feel like when I pay a lot of attention to one thing, the other suffers. It's tough!

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  5. Delta, that's so cute that it's "only parents" for the reading! Occasionally, Henry will offer to read to Anne, or she'll ask him. It's not common though. ;-)

    I'm so excited that you're joining us for the book club! I actually just put in a request with my public library because they own it as an ebook. I'm not certain it'll work out though, because (a) there's a waiting list, and (b) the lending period is only 2 weeks long, maximum. Given the wait list, I have little chance of being able to renew after the two weeks are up, and what are the chances of me finishing in 2 weeks? At any rate, I put in the request, so I'm on the list. I'll see what happens. I can always buy it. I like being able to read at my own pace.

    I understand about the scattered approach thing. I'm currently trying to organize myself more too! The new book club structure is helping, as is my resolve not to buy anymore Kindle books until I go through some of those that I already own! I've gotten through a few fiction titles, so it's a start.

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  6. Melanie, YES, exactly! That poor mama penguin was quickly run ragged, lol! It's such a sweet message. I'm really feeling a ton better today. I can feel your prayers helping!

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  7. Great post Tiffany!
    I really liked how you said that even starting to think of the people in your life and their needs can start to bring you out of your gloom. This is so true with me! My own mental negative reinforcement can be so insidious and almost automatic in its churning. It's important to know that, often, as suddenly as a "funk mood" can arrive, it can also be diminished by thinking of the others in our own little "penguin" community. And if solitude or a friends' listening ear is available, all the better!

    Sometimes I feel weird coming to God in prayer when I'm out of sorts, grumpy, or inconsolate because I don't think I'm in a "godly" enough mood to approach Him. I'm working on affirming that my God is a "come to Me as you are" God.

    Well, Tiffany, your smiling self at the end of that podcast tells me that things moving along positively for you. Thanks again.

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  8. The Jesus Prayer is wonderful! That one runs through my head often, too. I went to the SEEK conference in Nashville last January. In one of the homilies I heard, the priest told us he got himself in the habit of praying the Jesus Prayer anytime he washed his hands. I've *tried* to pick that habit up. Sometimes it works better than others.

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  9. Phil! Always great to see you on here. :) And also: "others in our own little 'penguin' community..." I mean, is it any wonder I love your tweets so much?! :0 I love this! Indeed, an excellent way of putting it.

    I agree 100% with everything in your middle paragraph. I worry that I'm unworthy too when I get into one of my spiritually dry places. "Come to Me as you are" is exactly right.

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  10. Samantha, I ADORE the washing hands idea! Maybe I'll try this too. :)

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