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.

Unexpected Happenings

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life, plans, resistance, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

This past week has turned my scheduled plans upside down. Happily, much of what I thought was going to happen was easily postponed or taken care of in another way. I was recounting that circumstance to someone yesterday who actually was living the same reality and I said something that struck me as appropriate and perhaps even helpful to remember in times like these. Maybe it can serve you today or in the future.

I said: “Life has to be lived as it presents itself these days, I think. There’s no value in resistance.” Not rocket science and probably self-evident but sounds good to me today. What about you?

Being There

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compassion, difficulty, Jesus, letting God be God, love God, prayer, resistance, suffering, surrender, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trials, unite

There has been a lot of bad news lately – some global, some personal involving people that I love. My typical response to all of it (as maybe for many of us) is to try to make things better. I am lately finding it difficult to trust my ability to do anything and so am shifting to what some people would call “letting God be God.” What that involves sometimes looks like passivity, and it does involve surrender to what is, but it seems more sensible than being against anything which involves resistance and pushing when there is a wall in the way.

What is left when one gives up trying to fix things, it seems to me, is compassion – a feeling with others. It involves presence – physically if possible and long distance if necessary – and mindfulness of the struggles of others. It certainly could lead to action if that seems the best course, but if we unite ourselves to others who are suffering without losing a deep conviction of hope that does not necessarily depend on outcome  I believe that we may find ourselves to be agents of consolation. Additionally, our own prayer may be helpful in adding light to the world.

I realize that all of this (if it makes sense at all) may elicit from some people a reaction of “easy for you to say.” I have been much blessed in my life and have not personally suffered extreme trials. When life has been difficult in some way I have been gifted with the strength of companions whose compassion truly has made a difference and helped me move on. I suppose that is the point of all these thoughts…so the conclusion may simply be for all of us to cultivate good relationships, being faithful to them and to a serious effort to develop compassion in the manner of Jesus who emptied himself of himself in love for the life of the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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…

Yielding

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centering prayer, Finding the On-Ramp to You Spiritual Life, Jan Phillips, journey, opportunities, resistance, spiritual path, spiritual practices, surrender, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, yield

In looking ahead to possibilities for the autumn “semester” at the Sophia Center, I began re-reading Finding the On-Ramp to Your Spiritual Life, a little book by Jan Phillips. The impetus came from two different conversations – one with Jan and another with a member of my Spiritual Practices Circle who is considering reading the book with a group in her Church. It’s a catchy title and the idea of using traffic signs as chapter titles was, it seems to me, quite an inspired idea. It’s part of Jan’s genius, I think, to see deep meaning in the connections that exist everywhere and use everyday experiences to mine deep truth. Think about all you could say about “STOP” or “DIVIDED HIGHWAY” or even “FALLING ROCKS AHEAD.” (Actually, that’s not a bad idea. What would you say about each of those things vis-à-vis your life?)

Last night I read the chapter entitled YIELD, which is a familiar concept to someone who learns the daily letting go in the practice of centering prayer. Here’s how Jan began that reflection.

The word yield has a variety of meanings. On the road, it means to surrender, to give way. In nature, it means to engender, to bear fruit. On the spiritual path, one leads to the other. Once we give up our notion of how life “should be,” we free ourselves to experience the lives that we do have.

Simple, right? But not easy, of course. Give it some time today as you drive or shop or interact with others…See how yielding is a better choice than resistance and bow to the opportunities that so often just show up to help us along on our journey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Help!

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care, dance with God, draw near to God, help, psalm 55, resistance, support, The Letter of James, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, worries

There are times in life when we each need help. Asking for what we need is more difficult for some of us than for others. There are many reasons why this could be true in life but I’m coming to learn that resisting help is something we need to come to grips with and let go. Most of us are willing to give help; it’s just receiving assistance from someone else that takes more humility than some of us can muster. It might come easier to us if we considered that when we allow others to help us we are giving them the opportunity to be generous. However we overcome our overactive sense of independence, we need to do it – else how can we ever break down the walls of separation that keep us apart?

This concept also applies to our relationship with God (the most important word here being relationship). There are two lines in today’s readings that emphasize our part in seeking help from God. We can’t just go along assuming God will take care of everything to our liking. That may be the case, but put yourself in God’s place. How would you feel if your spouse or child or very good friend never asked for your help but always assumed you would take care of everything? Where is the relatedness in that? Where is the exchange, the gratitude – the love expressed? The Letter of James advises us to draw near to God and he will draw near to you. That reminds me of the synergy of the couples on Dancing with the Stars last night. If they were just thinking of their own steps, the dance was choppy and stagnant. Last night each of the five remaining couples were brilliantly connected, dancing as one. Don’t we owe God that kind of relationship? The psalmist gives the same kind of advice with a vivid verb in the refrain of Psalm 55, saying: Throw your cares on the Lord, and he will support you. Again I see the dancers, especially one couple in a contemporary dance, where the lifts were extraordinary and the partners so in sync that there wasn’t even an inkling that he would drop her.

Why not try a dance with God today – letting God lead but responding in kind? It might be good preparation for seeking the help of a fellow seeker/traveler on the earth.