A Pause…

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.”

James Clear

For today, let’s take a pause and consider our vote in light of our faith - our certain way of seeing.

Be still, and know that I am God.

Psalm 46:10 NIV

Let’s pray.

Father, how often we get caught up in our own certainty; our visions and dreams of the future; our schedule and routines; our insecurities and our creature comforts. Today, in homage to you, I sit. I breathe. I pray.

May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

May it bear fruit in my life.

Amen

Where Are Your Habits Driving You?

During the pandemic and political cycle of 2020, Pete and I EVENTUALLY turned off our televisions and I began to limit my exposure to Facebook. It became obvious that exposure to the repetitive news cycle - with very little new information - was creating undue anxiety for us. We told our adult kids to tell us if anything earth-shattering happened, otherwise, we had the information we needed to make the choices we decided were right for us. When we relapse, we immediately regret our decision to tune in.

We upped our commitment to daily walks (long ones), meditation and prayer, and our grandchildren. We played more games, worked on more puzzles, and chose to keep the house quiet when our grandkids were not visiting.

These are all choices we had the capacity to make - but it took us surprisingly long to figure out that we could and should make them. We had developed some habits that needed to be jettisoned. It wasn’t like we were eating sugar with a spoon or guzzling soda. Our habits would not have alarmed anyone on an intake form for rehab.

But our habits were driving us; we were not choosing them.

Meditation helps us wake up. Our goal is not to turn our brains off or shut down our thoughts. Mediation is slowing down enough to NOTICE that which has become too automatic for our own good.

Today, sit with your eyes open and observe yourself and your environment. Notice the details. Observe your body’s feelings. Too hot? Too cold? Too stiff? Relaxed? Energized? Need a nap?

What habits might need shifting in order to improve your quality of life?

A Breath Prayer of Faith

I do not believe everything I pray. This is one way I practice faith. Mine is not a faith of certainty but one of commitment (sometimes barely that). Especially on days when I am struggling to have any faith in myself, others or God, I turn to these verses. I read them and pause. Breathe. Read and pause. Breathing my way through each translation, trusting that God will accept my humble prayer of self-doubt as I commit to allowing the psalmist to speak for me while I breathe.

PSALM 139:14

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

NIV

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God - you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made!

The Message

I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart. Your works are wonderful - I know that very well.

CEB

I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well.

AMP

A Moment of Lovingkindness

Lovingkindness - the combination of intention (love) and action (be kind) is a core value that most of us would say we believe in. Here is a prayer that fits this intention:

Lord, may I be at peace. Father, may my heart remain open. Holy Spirit, guide me as I seek to know myself, experience healing, and draw near to you. Grant that I might be a source of healing for others. Even as I am grateful to those who support my healing.

Amen

If this prayer fits your intentions, it might be a good to add to your prayer journal for easy reference and repeat use.

The Gift of Renewed Perspective

I go in and out with a daily examen practice; when I use it, I discover both small and sometimes large things about myself. I realize that the small things can make the biggest difference in my daily life satisfaction.

I often take a late afternoon break and go through the drive in of my local Starbucks. Each day I ask the server to “not give me one of those plastic green stoppers” as I am trying to do my small part to keep plastic from overwhelming the world. Every single time - I get the stopper! My sweet and kind baristas are unconsciously providing those stoppers and no matter how many times I ask to not use them, they shove them down into the top. In the beginning of my attempts to be a bit kinder to the universe, this irritated me.

I would not have noticed my growing habitual attachment to a side order of irritation with my latte unless I were practicing the daily examen. It kept showing up in my daily review - and I did not like what I saw. I don’t want to be the girl with the scowl on her face every time a kind, underpaid but overly solicitous person gives me a cup of hot steamy coffee that I did not have to make for myself. The daily examen gave me the gift of a renewed perspective, one that eventually taught me how to find these small exchanges delightful.

I started by trying to practice gratitude over this small, insignificant matter. It became my own inside joke. Ask for no stopper; get the stopper anyway. This is an indication of a well-trained staffer. These stoppers may add to plastic pollution, but they also decrease the chance that I will spill my cup of joe.

Several months in, and I asked for no stopper - and got no stopper! This delighted me too. It turns out that gratitude muscles can be strengthened. I moved from having an expectation to living out of my highest value priority - appreciating others.

What pattern are you noticing in your own life that does not fit your core values? If this is not obvious, maybe adding a daily examen will be a practice worth trying.