Week 56

God, what guidance do you have for me today?

Reflect on your life’s blessings.

Let your mind wander through

your years and connect to the goodness 

you have experienced.

Take long, slow, deep breaths that allow

time for the acknowledgment of this goodness.

Let it spread through your whole body. 

It is not important to remember the fine details… 

general imprints will do.

Soak yourself in this grace and blessing 

that come to your memory.

Bow your head in humble thanks.

Or,

raise your head in joyous gratitude.

In a moment of silence,

let your breathing honor the Presence within… 

the Life of the life that is in you.

Close your eyes and sense the

love that allows you to be.

As you move through this day make room

for the good of your life to reverberate freely

throughout your body, mind and soul.

Let it gently wash over memories of

challenge and hardship.

Yes, today, 

let the goodness and grace of your lifetime 

rise up and shine in you.

Will you do this, today?

Week 56

Evening Reflection

I was not in the mood to reflect on my life today. But then I realized I was not being asked to look at my whole life, but the blessings in my life. That I could do. And it was good to do. There are things that came right to mind without any effort at all: my family and the love I have experienced are at the top of the list. But even to have that I have to be alive. So, my very life is a blessing to me. Once I started thinking of other blessings there quickly became too many to count. I am glad the guidance included that fine details were not necessary. The general imprints came fast and furious, as if they were waiting to be remembered, rushing back into my consciousness so fast I couldn’t have pushed them away if I had wanted to, it seemed. They came in all sizes, from a remembered smile from a teacher in elementary school to landing a part in a Broadway show as a young man. A blessing is a blessing if it helps your life in some way. Even in a day there have been too many to keep up with. And I have tried just to see if I could. 

As I thought of challenge and hardship many, many of my blessings came right in the middle of these experiences. The grace of these blessings made the hardships bearable and helped me to become a better man. Blessings come in both good times and bad. At one point I was in the living room when I let out a loud, audible sigh. My wife heard this in the kitchen and wanted to know what the sound was all about. I told her it was about a lot of things, but mostly it was the sound of appreciating the blessings I have experienced in my life. She told me she heard other things in there. It started a conversation about the challenges we’ve had in life. We ended by sharing our blessings and thanking God for the strength to get through them to be where we are now. 

I went to a meeting of a non-profit organization where I am chairman of the board. As I prepared to open the meeting I felt a nudge to read the guidance to the Board Members and the Executive and Artistic Director who were also present. They were very grateful for this message and requested a copy be placed in the notes. As I read the last line I could see an energetic change in the group as we were encouraged to let the goodness and grace of our lifetimes rise up and shine in us. We had a great meeting and I believe I did see us all shining!