Living from the Heart
SoulStream’s Living from the Heart initiative deliberately seeks to foster communities of ordinary people who desire spiritual transformation through a deepening openness and trust in God. Two pillars undergird this initiative.
The first pillar focuses on the core transition from a spirituality based on performance, achievement, or rational dependence to an immediate and intimate relationship with God. We learn receptivity to what God, in love, is doing in our lives.
The second pillar focuses on community. In community we discover the support necessary to live in the face of the contrary values of society. In relationship with others, beautiful and broken as we all are, we often discover the areas of healing needed in our own lives. As we allow the Spirit to shape us into Christ’s likeness, we can discover a freedom from our illusions and compulsions that enables us to offer loving service in our world.
SoulStream therefore seeks to encourage contemplative experiences through programs, courses, retreats, workshops, and other prayerful means in which people can let go of managing their lives and discover the surprising fruitfulness a loving relationship with God can bring.
Our Partner representative for Living from the Heart is Esther Hizsa*
Esther Hizsa* lives in Vernon, B.C. with her husband, Fred. She has a Master of Divinity degree from Regent College and worked for over twenty years as an associate pastor for the United Church of Canada and the Reformed Church in America. She offers spiritual direction (trained through SoulStream), co-facilitates Living from the Heart (Lower Mainland) and SoulStream’s Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. She is the author of three books on her spiritual life and has posted weekly on her blog, An Everyday Pilgrim since 2013. Esther loves creating opportunities and spaces for people to experience God through her church, Trinity United in Vernon and SoulStream. She and Fred enjoy the outdoors and still camp with a tent. Esther is the partner representative for Living from the Heart.
*Denotes Volunteer
SoulStream Initiatives
Living from the Heart | Spiritual Direction | Partner Formation | Contemplative Response to the World