A State of Grace

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desire to please, Eckhart Tolle, grace, life, lightness, present moment, resistance, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

After reading over what I wrote on Saturday and lived through yesterday that provided me no time to write, I am convinced that I am finally coming closer to understanding how to BE in the face of this existence we call LIFE. I have known for a long time that I am not in charge of my life but only responsible to respond to it as it unfolds. I can do that with resistance or acceptance, tightening or loosening my hold on it as I go. Tightening only gives me pain as muscles are not flexed but stiffened. Allowing what comes to wash over me with openness and deep breathing is a better stance. Conveniently—and no longer surprising to me—I find Eckhart Tolle’s “Present Moment Reminder” today quite apropos. He says:

To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way good or bad.

Merton’s Prayer

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desire to please, road ahead, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, Thoughts In Solitude, trust in God

This prayer of Thomas Merton has been a staple for many people over the years. It has popped up several times now in my mail and as an advertisement for a Spirituality & Practice Workshop. I am tempted to sign up for the course as I am a fan of “all things Merton,” but perhaps this prayer is all I need. It certainly speaks to this moment of time in our world. Won’t you pray it with me today…and perhaps for each of the remaining days of this tumultuous year that we’re experiencing.

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (Thoughts in Solitude)

The Right Road

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alone, desire to please, God, Kathleen Deignan, Lord, lost, no fear, path, road, the shadow of death, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, trust, your will

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

~ Thomas Merton
(from Thomas Merton’s Book of Hours by Kathleen Deignan)