Ignatian Life: On the utility of doorstops

What might an inflatable moose head, first vows in the Society of Jesus and doorstops have in common?

Crash's post on his college packing list — which included a recommendation about doorstops — prompted me to write a bit here last week about open and closed doors.  Then I wrote a bit more at This Ignatian Life.  (Repetition is a feature, not a bug, in Ignatian spirituality.)

I’ve periodically returned to those questions (usually when I run into the prayer card from that occasion [First Vows] that is tucked into my breviary). How flexible is my heart, can it expand? What am I passionate about? Where do I desire to be able to love, and to love, not in the abstract, but in my practical day to day existence?

Mike’s doorstop, drawn straight from one of the passions of his life, makes me think about the doorstops of my heart. What do I use to keep my heart open so that I can love — God and neighbor — passionately, abundantly, joyfully?

Read the rest at This Ignatian Life.

I note I still have more questions than answers about what holds my heart open, which may not be such a bad thing on the cusp of retreat.  I'm off on Tuesday for 8 days of silence...