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Posts tagged ‘Contemplation’

Apr 26

Harbor

“Indeed, this life is a test. It is a test of many things – of our convictions and priorities, our faith and our faithfulness, our patience and our resilience, and in the end, our ultimate desires.” – Sheri L. Dew

The harbor offers a respite from the waves, uncertainty and storms. Calm, safe and secure. But we are not meant to remain in the harbor beyond a brief moment. We are called into the ocean of possibility, unpredictability, growth, of becoming what gently and firmly pulls and pushes us. If we anchor in familiarity and easy too long, we delay where the current is meant to take us. If we resist, we are not avoiding scarcity but abundance. We surrender more for the ease of less.

“The ocean is a mighty harmonist.” – William Wordsworth

“The ocean is a mighty harmonist.” – William Wordsworth

We are more buoyant and resilient than we think or feel. Well beyond the limitations we put upon ourselves, we have what we need to move out of the harbor into deep waters. It is in the mystery and unknown, we discovery our core, our soul.

To achieve our potential, we must pursue depth, height and width. Anything less is not worthy of our pursuit, of our calling. Without hesitation, consternation or doubt, pull up anchor and move confidently out of the harbor and enter with confidence the life that is yours to claim in the vast ocean beyond the horizon.

Mar 29

Ripple

“I have begun to think of life as a series of ripples widening out from an original center.” – Seamus Heaney

“I have begun to think of life as a series of ripples widening out from an original center.” – Seamus Heaney

“To be attuned to the mysteries at work in our lives is to behold the spirit or the sacred in our otherwise secular experiences. And that perception of the sacred transforms life, raises it to a new level. It makes us alive rather than dead and causes the world to resurrect.” – Thomas Moore, A Religion of One’s Own

Each day becomes sacred when we find the holy in ordinary moments. Slices of time that show us a glimpse of something higher, deeper and renders speech silent so the vastness of it all can be taken in, but for a moment.

See the ripple in the clouds, search for patterns, embrace the embrace longer, smile wide and hold it until people wonder what’s right with you. We become whole an experience and encounter at a time. There are no detours and delays that are not meant to be. Each step, each motion forward make us stronger, more aware, more equipped for what’s next, for what’s expected of us.

Behold and grasp the sheer beauty and awe. Behold.

Mar 19

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The Power of Stillness

“Everything that’s created comes out of silence. Your thoughts emerge from the nothingness of silence. Your words come out of this void. Your very essence emerged from emptiness. All creativity requires some stillness.” – Wayne Dyer

Carve quiet into each day.

To hear what is most important;
To see what is right in front of you;
To taste the sweetness of gratitude;
To feel awe for all that is in this very moment;
To think thoughts that need to be thought;
To release what is deep within;
To sow seeds so harvest comes;
To fill the well so it can be drawn upon again;
To grasp the brevity of this very life so you can live it for the purpose you are called to fulfill;

There is something in nothing;
There is more is less;
There is discovery in stillness.

Be still.

Feb 9

Divine Transformation

“Prayer is the means by which we transform our lives by adding that divine dimension to it.” – Marianne Dorman, Living Lent

If we allow, if we dare to be open enough to make prayer an ongoing conversation rather than an occasional obligatory monologue, we find a peace and calming quiet that transcends the noise. It is in our struggles that we are being changed, made new. If we are willing to release our own expectations and to be held in the merciful grace that only God can offer, a divine and lasting transformation begins. Never easy, but we will never be the same again.

“God is offering an invitation. A call to waiting. A call to the mysteries of the cocoon. I discovered in the spiritual life, the long way around is the saving way. It isn’t the quick and easy religion we’re accustomed to. It’s deep and difficult –  a way that leads into the vortex of the soul where we touch God’s transformative powers. But we have to be patient. We have to let go and tap into our creative stillness. Most of all, we have to trust that our scarred hearts really do have wings.” – Sue Monk Kidd, When the Heart Waits

Accept the invitation.

Feb 7

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Life Heals Itself

“Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” – Michelangelo

As we weave through celebration and sorrow, diving and surfacing, pushing and pulling, time passes. Whether we see it sooner, later or ever, through the yin and yang of it all, life balances, goes deeper to rise higher again and heals itself. Only to start all over again, but from a new place, leading us to what’s next.

Our blessings and burdens both serve to shape, sustain and make the fragments whole again. Life, the very force that hurls us forward, breaks us open and binds us up resides in each day, each moment and in each one of us.

Sometimes we are the stone being sculpted and sometimes we are the sculptor. Chip by chip, we reveal and do the revealing, discovering the beauty that patiently waits to be found. Both light and dark move us further into our blooming, burgeoning and becoming. Life, indeed, heals itself and each of us in the very living of it.

Feb 4

Open Water

“In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti

Frozen by our resistance to change, we hold firm to our predictable world. And as we grasp to familiarity, change marches on, prompting us to move with it,  to become. When we worry less about change that is inevitable, we open up to being changed and growth ensues.

As we open to being transformed, the frozen surface we’ve built to protect us cracks under the current moving deep within, an unstoppable force. Release the need for control and let the water furl and float with a natural sacred ease grounded in faith and grace.

“Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away.” – Marcus Aurelius

“Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away.” – Marcus Aurelius

 

Feb 1

The Butterfly

“The winter solstice has always been special to me as a barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond imagination, a time of pain and withdrawal that produces something joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully extracting itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth into unexpected glory.” – Gary Zukav

“The winter solstice has always been special to me as a barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond imagination, a time of pain and withdrawal that produces something joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully extracting itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth into unexpected glory.” – Gary Zukav

“Too many of us go to our graves with our music still inside.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

As I looked at my house light tonight at dusk, I noticed the image of a butterfly as the light spread its wings. What we choose to see guides our day, our way.

To release our music before we go to our graves, we must keep pushing through the cocoon to go from the caterpillar to the butterfly. Transformation takes time and then suddenly, it enters softly like a whisper.

Keep pushing. You never know when that last ounce of pressure and persistence will be your breakthrough, the tipping point. Release your light, your music, your true self – the butterfly.

Dec 6

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In Not Of

“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.” – Francis of Assisi

Without a foundation, roots, an anchor to a power and presence so much more immense than we can imagine, we are easily moved by the world. Tossed about by the storms, drifting aimlessly, lost.

We need to be in the world, but not of the world. To wake up every day, witness the worst of the world through the media and in our daily walk, and still choose hope and optimism. To stay soft when anger tries to harden us. To forgiven and let go. To let our heart trump our head. To release judgment and accept the grace of a peace that passes all understanding that has overcome the world. To be kind, when kindness is not extended in return. To simply, like a child, accept an unending unexplainable joy.

With God as the vine and each of us as the branches, we are called to fearlessly and confidently move out into the middle of a relentless and cynical world to cast love and light. The branches will be pulled, pushed, stretched and worn but never defeated or broken when rooted in the Vine.

In not of.

Oct 18

Amen

“What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?” – E. M. Forster

“What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?” – E. M. Forster

“Give yourself a gift of five minutes of contemplation in awe of everything you see around you. Go outside and turn your attention to the many miracles around you. This five-minute-a-day regimen of appreciation and gratitude will help you to focus your life in awe.” – Wayne Dyer

Amen – a word that goes deeper and wider than a thousand words. Amen moments are all around us each and every day. When we wake up to all that is within and in reach, we enter fully into the most precious gift of the present, remaining quietly in awe of simple wonders abound. The sun rising and falling. Birds lifting effortlessly to the sky. The stillness and reflection of a lake at dawn and dusk. A peaceful sigh of contentment.

When we let God in, the creator of Amen, all the way into our day with no reservations, how can we be nothing less than filled with pure, authentic joy? Being positive and hope-filled is no longer a choice but the only option available.

May you see all of the many “Amens” in your life today.

Amen.

Oct 6

Cascade

“Forever is composed of nows.” – Emily Dickinson

We can pool up and remain or flow like water over the rocks, dancing, moving, learning, laughing, living. Whether stay dormant or move freely with the flow, each moment cascades over the rocks never to pass the same place again.

Kids start first grade and suddenly they are in college. Parents protect and hold us, now they need to be held. At 25, we race the sprint, at 50 we know it’s a marathon that’s not forever and pace to enjoy the journey.

Yesterday has taken care of itself, tomorrow will do the same. Embrace your nows, right now.

“Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away.” – Marcus Aurelius

“Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away.” – Marcus Aurelius

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