Healing Through Connection

I appreciate the stories people tell me through the various ways we are connecting during this pandemic season. I am not so thrilled about the content. It seems that there is more keeping us apart than a virus. Our different opinions are separating us, our political preferences are dividing us. Our interpretation of current events fills us with certainty but also creates a chasm between us and others. This is damaging to so much more than the economy or the political process. It is wrecking our mental health and battering our capacity for resilience.

Centering prayer and meditation causes our brain to light up in the same way that it does when we are experiencing a secure attachment relationship. This validates our hope that we will improve our conscious contact with God when we pray. We are making a connection!! If isolation is part of the disease of substance use disorder, then our current situation is creating a petri dish where use disorders will flourish. Connection is part of the treatment; it serves as good preventative medicine; it heals that which has been broken.

This privilege, to connect with God, invites God to do deep work within us. It is union with the divine. It helps cultivate lovely things like love and empathy and compassion.

I know that all the cool kids will enjoy their arguing and certainty. Thus is life.

But for the rest of us. Those who long for a life that is filled with love and joy and peace. This is a way we find it.

Today, see if you can spend a few minutes sitting in quiet awe of a God who shows up for you.

God Will Light Your Path

Meditation is as simple as sitting, breathing and focusing on the present moment. Research indicates that this is extremely helpful especially if we are struggling with anxiety or depression. When we get distracted with thoughts and worries and plans for the future, just take a deep breath and refocus on our breath.

We are SUPPOSED to experience discomfort, distraction and the like. It serves as a reality check. We notice that we are actually more frantic than we want to admit. Or maybe we see how worried we are about a particular situation. AFTER our meditation, these thoughts may inspire us to write in our prayer journal, or ask God for his divine intervention. But during the “sit” we listen.

Today, here is a verse that offers us a bit of insight into what a faithful life can gift us.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

Ephesians 4:14 NIV

It’s possible in the age of the internet and Facebook to find any information we want to confirm our biases. There are conspiracy theories and plenty of people who want to toy with us. There are also sincere people who others discredit for their own personal gain. If we’re paying attention, it gets pretty hard to figure out what is true.

But here’s the thing that I love so much. God has given us a path to follow, with just enough light to keep us stepping. Today, find some time to ground yourself in his love, grace and mercy. His character is the most important reality we can rely on.

A Firm Foundation of Faith

Some days, I need words. Here is an adaptation of The Serenity Prayer, in case someone reading needs this today:

God, thank you for granting me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change.

Thank you for giving me the courage to change the things I can.

Thank you for providing me the wisdom to know the difference.

Ahhh...a prayer of faith. It reminds me of a couple of verses found in Hebrews 11.

The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.

Hebrews 11:1-2 The Message

A Walk Through God's Sanctuary

Thomas Keating said, “Intentionality is the star rising in the dark nights, it is the focus of contemplative prayer.” Prayer and meditation reflects our intentions. What a profound gift.

In the Old Testament, the sanctuary was the place God met up with his people. Only a few of his people were allowed entry into the holiest of holies. Today, we suffer from no such restrictions. Nor do we have to slaughter anything, which I consider a big plus.

He’s made the threshold wide and spacious.

You stand at it, moment by moment.

Today, walk through and into God’s sanctuary. Breathe. Cry. Laugh. Sit quietly. Whatever you need to do to express yourself in the presence of God.

The Price of Ignoring Your Pain

We add to our suffering when we try to ignore our pain. Our compulsions are ways we work to avoid noticing. Meditation helps us notice. If we practice it regularly, we learn that our pain will not kill us and even diminishes once we give it respectful attention.

Avoiding acknowledging our pain CAN kill us.

My “prayer” journals may have served the purpose of off-loading my angst. There is nothing wrong about that practice. When we admit our feelings we reduce resentment and soothe anxiety. Mediation helps us notice the things we are avoiding.

But it also increases conscious contact with God, which provides a light to our path.

Yesterday I stood from my meditation time and made my way to my iphone. I texted one of my children, “I need quality time with you.” I realized I had an incomplete amends to make. Today, we had a lovely lunch. My heart feels lighter. I am tempted to weigh myself (but will resist that urge).

Without my practice, I would not have had the space to notice my wrongdoing. I would not have had the awareness of how this pained me. But without my conscious contact with God, I doubt I would have known what to rise up and DO about it.

This is the gift of the Step 11 - a call to prayer and meditation, an invitation to draw near to God so that he might draw nearer to us. Go have a good sit, if you are so inclined!