Weekly Blog

Tips, Tricks, Skills, Spirituality and Wisdom

Teresa McBean 4/14/19 Teresa McBean 4/14/19

Fighting Gravity

My granddaughter does not believe in gravity. She sits in her high chair, leans over and stares at the ground. She drops her pacifier over the edge of her chair. Her weary parents eventually tire of the game of retrieval. Sadly, neither one of them possess the labrador gene that carries with it a love for fetching. On the umpteenth toss her parental units allow the pacifier to succumb to gravity. She looks startled; she frowns; she wails. She stares at both the object of her affection and her parents as if they have betrayed her. Why won’t her pacifier return to her? She WANTS it! Shouldn’t that be enough?

No. Because despite her passionate desire to be able to both drop her pacifier and have it return to her on a whim, her desires violate the law of gravity. She is a baby and she is learning how the world works. Aren’t we all?

Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.

You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way.

You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.”

So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet. James 4:1-10 The Message

In what ways have you been fighting gravity?

Teresa McBean 4/13/19 Teresa McBean 4/13/19

Re-Remember

Recovering our lives asks us to re-remember. We observe and acknowledge the world we have constructed for ourselves - what we have chosen to focus on and obsess over. We admit that our ways of being in the world are not working. We do not have to figure all that out but we do need to accept the truth of our failed strategies for making life work. We commit to examining and re-evaluating what we remember - we know something has to change!

Inevitably, we will need to deconstruct some of our confidently held beliefs about God, ourselves and the world. This will require a certain degree of trust in something bigger than ourselves (God and even other mentors), a big dose of humility (I could be wrong), and a LOT of work to reconstruct our life in a way that is workable.

How does this sound to you? Overwhelming? It’s not as overwhelming as living life alone and disconnected from your virtue! One step at a time - just take one step at a time. And breathe.

Teresa McBean 4/12/19 Teresa McBean 4/12/19

Meditation Moment- Thank You

Some days my mind races too much to formulate words; one prayer that is always appropriate:

Thank You.

Amen

Combine this prayer with Centering Prayer and breathe in - Thank You. Breathe out - Thank You. Take the time you need to move from saying the words to feeling them.

Teresa McBean 4/11/19 Teresa McBean 4/11/19

Your Relationship with God: A Journaling Exercise

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

~ Matthew 11:28-30 The Message

Journal about this passage of scripture. What do you notice? How does this fit with your notions about God and his relationship with you?

Teresa McBean 4/10/19 Teresa McBean 4/10/19

Identifying False Strategies and Confused Beliefs

I have a habit of thinking that God and others expect me to earn my keep. I believe that I must constantly choose what is best for others so that THEY can have a good life. I believe in duty. I believe in sacrifice. I believe in suffering for the cause. What cause? I dunno. I never thought further than this idea that I should not ask for what I need.

One of the weird ways this showed up is an eating disorder. I basically starved myself almost to death.

This is NOT what the scriptures teach. Everyday I have to unlearn these deeply ingrained inclinations that I have to believe that I am unworthy unless I am achieving for the sake of others. I’m going to level with you - I like to win. I love to achieve. I enjoy being helpful. I am obsessed with a drive to leave the world a better place than it was when I arrived kicking and screaming. If these strategies worked, I would stick with them. But they could not bear up under the wear and tear of life.

Every sacrifice eventually lost its luster.

Success was fleeting, constantly demanding more success to satisfy my craving for significance and praise.

Ultimately, I could not thrive on self-deprivation. My eating disorder, anorexia, was a representation of my false strategies and confused beliefs about God and myself.

These may not be your strategies or false beliefs - your work is to figure out and name yours. As you lay claim to them, it will inform the ways that they have compromised your sanity.