Week 2
God, how would you have me live into the day today?
Today,
pause every so often…
and take in the moment.
See what there is to see…
and really see it.
Let life speak to you; in loud silences and soft whispers.
Let the aliveness of creation
give you a gentle hug and
a soft kiss.
It is always doing so…
if we stop to receive.
It is so even in our
toughest, most challenging moments.
Today, no matter the weather,
your mood, or circumstances…
pause… and receive the loving
embrace that is always there for you.
How to receive?
Breathe in consciously the air that keeps you alive.
Sense the atmosphere… the gravity that
keeps you grounded. The ground that holds you up…
the clouds in the sky… the sky that holds the clouds.
See the beauty around you…even if it is
just the beauty of seeing… or feeling,
or touching and being touched. Even if it is
the beauty of hearing, or being heard.
Creation holds us, surrounds us… is us.
It is the divine manifestation of love;
God’s outpouring to us, for us… as us.
Pause… and wonder at the wonder of it all, today.
Week 2
Evening Reflection
To pause every so often may seem like a chore. It is another thing to remember to do amongst so many other things most of us must try to remember. However, this effort has benefits that outweigh the chore-ness of it.
Remembering to stop… look… and listen… even while you are on the go is worth it.
Buddhism has a wonderful name for this practice. It is called mindfulness. To stay mindfully aware of our lives in each moment allows us to see deeply into the spiritual dimensions as we live. It may feel a bit weird at first to do this; and it does take some getting use to. But the reward is worth developing this spiritual skill.
It is a skill I learned in my training as actor before I became a spiritual teacher. As an acting student, I learned to watch myself while performing a role. To pay attention while performing… to listen and be in the moment. This, in turn, allowed more authentic response as well as more control of the character I portrayed.
For our purposes, stopping to bring our consciousness into a more awake state connects us to divinity in a more direct way… so that we recognize the gifts offered in those moments. Some people on our planet have learned to live in this awakened state at all times. Jesus surely lived it, and part of his message is to encourage us to be aware of and not lose our awareness of our connection to divinity… to God.
We may not always be able to work, cook, pay bills, play, etc., while keeping this transcendent focus; but the more we remember to stop momentarily… we can teach ourselves, with God’s grace, to become more God-conscious more often, and for longer periods of time. This is how we become one with god, more and more… and more.