Tags
A Deep Breath of Life, Alan Cohen, consciousness, contemplative, dialogue, Divine Presence, inspiration, kindness, listening, message, mindfulness, psalm 57, smile, smiling, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wellness
I have to smile this morning as I sit here waiting for a message to arise when prompts are all around me. My brain feels like a broken record and I wonder if I will ever move through a day – or even an hour – without falling out of consciousness. Here’s what I mean.
1. On Tuesday I met with the two other persons who are working with me to create a second series on Mindfulness to complement what we offered last year during Lent. We’re moving toward weekly presentations on contemplative listening and dialogue – skills that are not easily practiced in our culture. We easily talk about them but practicing is another matter.
2. On Wednesday I was at a pharmacy waiting for a prescription to be filled when my eye fell on what appeared to be a coloring book in the magazine rack at the checkout counter. It was, rather, a creative magazine called Breathe: The Well-being Special. A banner that ran across the cover announced Wellness, Kindness, Mindfulness, Inspiration. Since I had never before seen anything like it, surrounded as it was with offerings of Hollywood gossip and political distress, I had to buy it! I have not been disappointed.
3. This morning Psalm 57:8 sings out: Awake, O Spirit that sleeps within…So I myself can wake the dawn with music in the morning’s light. The commentary speaks of the divine Presence as so powerful that it can affect changes in the outer world.
4. Last but not least, Alan Cohen (A Deep Breath of Life) uses the image of how shoes are all lined up neatly at the entrance of a Japanese house – except his which were “criss-crossed and strewn out of line.”
Happily, I have come to feel that God is not wagging a finger at me when I fall out of consciousness these days. I trust that God is smiling with me when I return from the mindless, interfering thoughts to renewed awareness of the Divine Presence that comes with my next breath in the now.
The gospel this morning tells Luke’s version of the encounter Jesus had with a blind man. I am always struck in the healing stories when Jesus asks the desire of the person he meets who is in need. I never doubt that he can see that condition in the person, so either he is looking for a statement of faith or he wants to be sure of the depth of the person’s intention or desire to be healed. Although life might be easier for the man if he gets his sight, there may be new responsibilities attached to the healing as well. Maybe he will have to find a job, rather than sitting by the side of the road begging. Certainly he will need to become attentive to people who are in need of help with certain life tasks because of infirmities. Who better since he has been there himself?
Not having any inspiration this morning – nor even cogent thoughts for that matter, I have been searching the words of Macrina Wiederkehr for an expression that would mirror how I’m feeling. Since I am unable to recognize myself in anything I read, I choose simply to offer her prayer that begins: There are mornings when I simply sit in silence trying to remember some of the things that rise in me. Her list is challenging but maybe if I focus on even one of the elements, it will jump-start my motivation for the day. May this day be a blessing for each of us and all of us together as we rise to the call of the Spirit.