C. Paul Schroeder - Practice makes PURPOSE: Six Spiritual Practices That Will Change Your Life and Transform Your Community

Practice Makes

PURPOSE

Six Spiritual Practices

That Will Change Your Life

and Transform Your Community

C. Paul Schroeder

Nautilus Book Award 2017 Silver Winner in the Category Personal Growth

Schroeder, formerly a Greek Orthodox priest, takes inspiration from the great spiritual masters of the Egyptian desert in this cheery formulation of a simple method for compassionate livingNever veering into egotism, this gentle, grateful, and relatable book will serve any readers looking for practical steps toward spiritual fulfillment.

Publishers Weekly

Schroeder offers a guide to a spiritually vibrant existence...[His] writing is clear, tight, and comprehensive...An engaging and valuable book about living a more loving and purposeful life.

Kirkus Reviews

Here is a book that provides practices that will awaken your heart and help us all to ventilate the world with tenderness.

Gregory Boyle, Founder of Homeboy Industries, bestselling author of Tattoos on the Heart: the Power of Boundless Compassion

The Six Spiritual Practices offer simple, practical tools for people who want to make a positive impact in their neighborhoods and cities.

Dan ONeill, Founder of Mercy Corps International, bestselling author of Signatures: the Story of John Michael Talbot

I found Pauls insights refreshing and thought-provoking, and would recommend this book to people in all walks of life.

Chris Dussin, Chairman of OSF International

For other resources, including the Practice Makes PURPOSE Workbook, a Practice Makes PURPOSE Toolkit, and a free study guide with discussion questions for reading groups, visit www.sixpractices.com.

Copyright 2018 C. Paul Schroeder.

Published by Hexad Publishing, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the express written consent of the copyright holder, except for brief quotations in book reviews.

ISBN: 978-0-692-11330-1

LCCN 2017901593

Interior eBook formatting by Melissa Williams Design

Illustrations by Emily Crawford

Edited by Melissa Binder

Cover design by Melissa Williams Design

The geometric design that appears on the cover and recurs throughout the book is a universal symbol that is found in many different spiritual traditions throughout the world. It is created by superimposing six interlocking circles to create a symmetrical floral pattern. Sometimes referred to as the flower of life, it is an image of human flourishing, unfolding to ones full potential, and as such, a visible representation of the Six Spiritual Practices.

For my coworkers at New City Initiative.

You taught me more about these Six Practices than I could say in a hundred volumes. This book would not have been possible without you.

I would like to express my deep appreciation and gratitude to:

My mother Clare and my grandmother Sybil, for loving and nurturing me as a human being. My father Norm and my grandfather C.L., for teaching me how to be a man.

My wife Caroline, partner in the dance of differentiation and connection.

My children, Erin, Zach, and Lucy, and all my children and grandchildren yet to be born. You are my hope for a more compassionate and cooperative future.

The 9 Bridges Downtown Saturday Critique Meeting, for saving this project from itself on numerous occasions.

All my friends at Traditional Taekwon-Do of Portland, Oregon, who showed me what it takes to be a fighter.

Very special thanks to those without whom this book would not have been possible: Clare Schroeder (in memory of C.L. and Sybil Coward and Norman Schroeder), Chris and Tyanne Dussin, Suzeanne Mager, Kelly and John Close, Michael and Mari Lou Diamond, Bill and Pam Gates, Dan and Ann Heuvel, Ann and Jerry Hudson, J J Martin, Jan Rika Rinehart, Diana and Nick Santrizos, Tom and Donna Wehrley, and Anna E. Zeigler.

Special thanks to all who contributed to the creation of this book: Susanna Rempel, Willa Keegan-Rodewald, Dave Albertine, Richard Bahr, Melissa Binder, Matthew Boosalis, Audre Bratcher, Tom Campbell-Schmitt, Emily Crawford, Vance and Connie Hays, Jeanne Kaliszewski, John Konugres, Emily Leach, George G. Lendaris and Elizabeth Daskarolis, Christine Lentz, Matt Morris, Beth Neel, Andrea Pappajohn and Kimathi Marangu, Tel and Barbara Pappajohn, Craig Plunkett, Deb Pratt, Rev. Stephen V. Schneider, Dave and Jean Shaffer, Jon Shaffer, Kevin Scherer, Kris Soebroto and Bren Reis, Sonja Skvarla, Akira Templeton, and Judy Willis.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Compassionate Seeing: Viewing ourselves and others with complete and unconditional acceptance. Mantra: I accept everything I see.
2. Heartfelt Listening: Listening in such a way that our heart, our emotional center, is engaged and active in the hearing process. Mantra: I hear what my heart is saying.
3. Intentional Welcoming: The ability to say no and mean it so we can say yes to the things that matter most to us. Mantra: I honor the boundaries I set.
4. Joyful Sharing: Giving freely of ourselves without becoming entangled in a particular expectation or idea of success. Mantra: I share what I have freely.
5. Grateful Receiving: Creatively reappraising our current situation so as to discover the gift it contains. Mantra: I receive the gift that is offered.
6. Cooperative Building: Gracefully partnering with others to construct a new way of living together. Mantra: I co-create a new reality.

The Way of the Six Practices

________

This is a book about how to love. Although the word love appears infrequently in these pages, the Six Spiritual Practices are what love looks like in action.

The world suffers more than anything else from a lack of love. The social ills that plague our neighborhoods and citiespoverty, homelessness, crime, violenceare all symptoms of this deficit. They persist because we dont love each other enough to make them stop. Such problems will not ultimately be solved by more money or social programs, though these may be necessary in the interim. They will cease through the creation of a more compassionate community.

When you engage the Six Spiritual Practices in your daily life, you are cooperating with the universe in the emergence of a new realitya community where all people flourish.

What are the Six Spiritual Practices? They are a new formulation of a very old set of teachings and disciplines. If you apply them regularly, you will have more energy and vitality, more focus, more compassion, more clarity, and more joy. And these effects will ripple outward into your marriage and family, your parenting, your workplace, your friendships, your neighborhood and city.

These practices will change your life and transform your community. They will connect you and the people around you to Purpose, which I define as belonging to something infinitely greater than ourselves. This something infinitely greater is what I have in mind when I speak of the universe throughout this book. If you find it helpful, you can use the word God instead. The term we use to refer to ultimate reality is not so important. Anything real is not altered by the words we use to describe it.

The Six Practices are rooted in ancient wisdom, especially the practical, no-nonsense approach of the great spiritual masters of the Egyptian desert. More than fifteen hundred years ago, these little-known spiritual geniuses walked the path of utter simplicity, integrity, and freedom. Beyond the reach of the law or the state, they were guided only by their conscience and a few ironclad principles: