Saturday, January 31, 2015

Silence in the Storm

“Silence introduced in a society that worships noise is like the moon exposing the night. Behind darkness is our fear. Within silence our voice dwells. What is required from both is that we be still. We focus. We listen. We see and we hear. The unexpected emerges. The act of listening is the act of creating.” Terry Tempest Williams

In the silence your heart speaks, whispering truth. Press on, stay, just focus on today. The swirling world can swirl outside. Within your heart, a sanctuary. Dwell within the possibility. Leaning into mystery; a dark and scary place. Held by light within, don’t follow after fear. Breathe in and let the light grow big, it will guide you through the dark. With each exhale release a little bit. Surrender your control, you will not need it here. In the land where you are not the one who has to make the calls, you can find a little rest and begin to see through the fog. In the silence, it starts to clear and the break necking speed begins to slow. It feels like you are losing all control. You are! It was not meant for you in the first place. Do not outrun grace. Soften and allow the Spirit to guide you on the path that leads to life. When you are feeling like you are in a battle, close the door. Turn out the light. Begin again. The way to peace sounds simple, actually it is. But we are complex beings and are continually getting in the way. Our work is not that of putting on or learning some new trick. It is more about letting go and taking off the chains that bind.

Tell me what to do, and I will do it. Open up the door, I will walk through it. Just sit in the silence, until the storm clouds begin to lift. After the rain comes a rainbow, a beautiful gift. Soften to receive a thousand different hues, painted across your soul, creating a different view. Letting go of tension, blessings flow right in. Open hand, receiving… life begins to spin. From dark and dull and dreary to joy unspeakable. This is what you are meant for.

I believe this and have experienced it first hand and yet I wrestle. I tussle with God and go back to my old ways of fear and control countless times each day. I choose to hold within me conflict that I cannot control. I pick up packages of sorrow and let them pull me to the depths. I ride the waves of elation to the top of the highest peak and let the storms of life crash and break within me. I feel to the depths and the heights and am thankful that I do, but I crave the peace of stillness and imagine that you do too. Balance is an illusion just outside our reach, always keeping me striving and grasping for that perfect peace. The solution lies in non-doing, in laying the burden down. In trusting in God’s perfect plan that is unfolding right now. I always want to see more than the moment will reveal. And yet the work is returning to that which is within my view. Drinking it in like a cold tall glass of water. My soul is quenched. Gratitude clears away the insatiable need for more. It is and so be it. Amen

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Jesus Christ took hold of me.” Phil 3:12

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Wake up!

Have you ever been caught walking in your sleep? When I was young I climbed out of bed and made a b-line for the front door. Luckily the door was locked and my parents were sitting in the living room and able to re-direct me back to bed. Consider the harm that can be done if we walk around sleeping, and yet metaphorically many of us do.

Sometimes I find myself driving completely engrossed in thought. It is as if I am on autopilot. There is no presence of mind, only going through the motions. I do relationships like this sometimes too. If I am not careful, I can catch myself checked out and cut off from Spirit and the sweetness of the moment. This is not the way I want to live, so it is my intention to be awake and integrated as I engage with what is all around me and also with what is within. When I consider the why, I think a lot of it has to do with a lack of awareness and also an effort to self-protect. If I keep my heart guarded and tucked safely away it can’t get harmed. Unfortunately, it can’t experience the fullness of joy that was intended for it either. There are countless ways that we can choose to numb out or keep ourselves from full waking consciousness, and our culture encourages it through the constant connection to technology and insane speed.

We can choose to walk intentionally as children of the light in the little and big choices we make each day. One way I have decided to move toward the light is to wake up earlier, so that the first fruits of my day are given to God. I love to sleep, so when the alarm sounds at 5 a.m. I often hit snooze (repeatedly), sleeping away the most life giving hour of the day. Then I get catapulted into mom mode. On these days I feel robbed and frustrated with myself. One way that I have been trying to encourage myself to wake up is by setting my intention before I go to bed. I read these words by Rumi as a reminder. “The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don’t go back to sleep.” When the alarm sounds, I stir in wonder and arise to see if I can grab hold of these secrets as I decide what I really want on this new and glorious day.

If we begin and end each day with intentionality and presence of mind, everything in the middle is sure to fall into place. At the end of the day I like to practice daily examen. It is a way of reviewing and “tucking in” the day and laying it down before God. This is an ancient Ignatian practice in which we reflect on the day’s events to look for the fingerprints of God and also to inquire and discern his direction going forward. It is an act of surrender. “Lord, I give you this day and I thank you for the specific ways that I noticed your presence moving in my life.” One invaluable tool I have found is called “Reviewing my Days Map” from the Listen to my Life curriculum. You can find it at onelifemaps.com.

The in between part of the day is often mundane. You go to work, or do the laundry, cook and clean, pretend you are a taxi. How do I do this daily work in a way that is pleasing to God? It is all in the attitude of my heart. When I anchor myself in the Light and Love of God in the morning I feel filled and focused. From there, it is all about gratitude, wonder and awe. I am thankful for another day to do what I am called to do. To love people and God, to pray without ceasing and to walk humbly in the Light. “This is why it is said: Wake up sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:14




Thursday, January 1, 2015

Begin Again

I love new beginnings… a new journal, flipping the page on the calendar to a new week, month, and year. Beginnings symbolize a clean slate and a chance to hit reset. To let go of past mistakes and failures and set your eyes on something on the horizon. New Year’s Day is the ultimate new beginning. The whole world pauses in anticipation, teetering in the in between space where change takes place. We gather, celebrate, and count down the minutes. We acknowledge the growth, and notice how far we have come. We count our blessings and bear witness to all of the challenges and obstacles we have hurdled. Together we stand firm in our resolve. We declare before God and man that this year will be different. We jump out of the gate like a stallion, strong and ready for whatever this year brings. We promise to be better, to do more, and to stay the course. Somewhere along the line we lose sight of our vision and become passive, we grow weary. We get a taste of failure and start to over identify with that.

For this reason, I don’t like to set goals. Every time I miss the mark, I fall into a pit of despair. I believe the lies and the voice of mockery takes me out at the knees. It happened earlier this month when the pressure and demands of the holidays caused me to miss a blog. My goal was weekly publication and after I missed one week I quickly threw in the towel. One week turned to one month and the message of self-harm and mockery swelled within me. So today, I stand on this first day of a new year and commit myself again to try and put one blog post out each week. I also commit to return to grace sooner. I just found a scrap of paper that I wrote on earlier this month. It says, the truth is life happens, and I am in need of grace, gentleness, and self-care. I will find faith in a process that is different than what I know. I am committed to grow!

New beginnings are about surrender. As we release our grip and soften, grace happens. The Spirit and power of God begin to flow freely into and through our lives. We start to live life that is truly life. Richard Miller is a psychologist, author, and yogic scholar. He invites us all to return to grace. He wrote “In every moment we begin again, we accept and surrender. As we deepen our understanding and let our truth unfold we pave the way for healing and transformation.” This is in alignment with the truth of scripture. It lines up with the promise that we can join God on the road to transformation, but it is a moment by moment process. We want to be transformed quickly and completely. We are an instant gratification culture. We prefer a cleaning crew to come into our house so that the whole thing is clean at the same time. If we do room by room, corner by corner, we never feel the joy of completion. This process is the reality that we are called to live into. In Romans 12:2 it says “Do not conform any longer to the patters of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

This year is the year of the Lord’s favor! It is an invitation to soften and surrender and return to the flow of grace. Every time you find yourself falling short of your goals and desires, please consider this invitation to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Begin again and again and again… all is grace!

blogger templates | Make Money Online