Letting Go

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A Deep Breath of Life, accept, Alan Cohen, change, desires, divine, free, greater good, letting go, pain, Peace, resistance, service, surrender, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

In our conversations this weekend about Mary Magdalene and Conscious Love, we have often spoken of the need to surrender to life, letting go of our “small-self” desires in service to the greater good. In our meditation sessions, we let go of any thoughts that arise in order to allow us to be present to the Divine. I found a resonance in Alan Cohen’s reflection for today in his book, A Deep Breath of Life, that seems appropriate to share as we depart from this very valuable group experience. Cohen writes:

True mastery lies in flowing with the events of life. We are empowered when we assume that everything comes from God and goes back to God. Nothing in form lasts forever, and when we can accept change, we are free. All pain is born of resistance. An attitude of non-resistance liberates tremendous energy. Pain arises when we fight against what is happening, and peace comes when we accept what is.

Cohen then proceeds to ask two questions: What in your life are you resisting? and How much peace could you gain by letting what is, be? Those seem worthy of some reflection as we begin a new week…

A Second Try

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A Deep Breath of Life, adventure, Alan Cohen, blessed, capable of being, comfort zone, desires, dreams, failures, humility, missteps, more, Quaker, resting on laurels, retreat, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, virtue

A little over a month ago, when I was not sure of my ability to do this morning writing practice because I was leaving on vacation, I promised to leave a  series of quotes for our tech wizard, Mary Pat, to post day by day. I was so satisfied with myself for having completed that task but as I was driving the next morning, I realized that the quotes were still sitting in my computer as I had not sent them to her! Humility is a great virtue and I have learned a lot about it along the way. The best thing about that virtue, I think, is the ability to admit both the great things about oneself and the failures or missteps without agonizing over either. In that spirit, I am going to try again to complete what I didn’t on my first try.

I’m off again today, this time to a long-awaited retreat at Pendle Hill, a Quaker facility near Philadelphia. I am leaving home where we are completing a weekend with a group of wonderful women who have come here seeking to deepen their spiritual lives. In a different time and place, with a different set of circumstances, we are all looking for the same thing. I found the expression of that in a quote this morning from Alan Cohen (A Deep Breath of Life) that I will share as the introduction to the thoughts of others for the rest of his week. May the week be blessed for us all.

There is a part of us that will not let us be content until we become all that we are capable of being. Life is not about resting on our laurels and hanging out in our comfort zone; it is an adventure from good to better to best…Bless your dreams, your desires, and your sense that there must be more. There is more because you are more.

The important Question

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Ask and you shall receive, blind spots, consciousness, desires, disciplined life, happiness, honest assessment, Jesus, Mark, Matthew Kelly, Perfectly Yourself, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I just read an interesting quote from a book called Perfectly Yourself by Matthew Kelly, speaking about the necessity of discipline in life. The crux of it was that the level of our happiness is equal to the level of our discipline. I’ll be thinking about that one today. He says if you have too little happiness, try being more disciplined in whatever area of your life seems lacking that happiness. It’s a question of going deeper than the surface, I think, to discern what our deepest desires are and then working to fulfill them. Consciousness and honest assessment are the necessary disciplinary practices for long-term success in this matter. For example, a large piece of chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream may momentarily assuage the hurt of a bruised ego, but too much of that might have dire consequences. A good vacation may restore equilibrium but if there are issues at home that we don’t care to face, the effects of the time off will dissipate quickly. It’s up to us to take charge of our own choices and come to clarity about what’s really important to us.

This morning’s gospel (MK 10:46-52) is a good example of how Jesus was always calling people to get to the heart of their desires. He asked the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?” Knowing that he also said more than once in one way or another, “Ask and you shall receive,” the short, seemingly simple exchange is really rather stunning – especially if I consider the answer of the blind man who asks to see and gets his wish. Now there’s something to ask for! Considering my “blind spots” would I be disciplined enough to ask to have them removed? Am I willing to look life that fully in the face? What would I need to give up in order to see that clearly about everything?

God asks: What do you want me to do for you? Hmm…