every centering prayer session is an opportunity to sweep out the selfish cencerns in my consciousness and make a warm and  welcoming place for the other. just slowing everything way down over those 20 minutes is traing me to be mindful throughout the day. i am consciously readying myself for whoever or whatever enters my space. this morning , it was an inky black sky with an ethereal cloud floating in it.  out come the paints, and it came to life on paper.

it is helping that i am practicing and learning compassionate listening remotely. how wonderful to (finally) know that people are whole and complete at their core and i dont need to say more in response to people other than appreciation. having had plenty of counseling, the practice of just listening without feedback is a gamechanger.

how can i be so blessed?

pam , i don’t know how you do it, but your selection of readings is so powerful. i read word of the week sunday morning and then forgot during the day. in the middle of the night i woke up for a long time and reviewed all the ways God is present to me when i open to what is on my plate. He gentles me in such a visceral way. the way is thru, not around . at 5 am i went back to sleep and had a nightmare. the next night i had another bad dream. but the direction i got from those dreams is valuable: being ready to pack up and go at a moment’s notice, and having oil for my lamp and having it lit. my daily intention is stewarding my energy and mental space to respondd to what God is calling me to. I want to be of service at this time and want to be ready.
so, thank you . thank you. thank you.

i wonder if the great ideological divide in our country and our church might be a collective way of displacement of angst….anxiety over  our lack of control  over our lives, and how our security is threatened . it certainly mitigates against the attachment to affection and esteem  we so want, unless we are trying to find it in our tribe.

this morning i am led  to just be with the discomfiting state, rather than seek to make theories about it and lay blame.

whew! God is good!

my reflection above ended with “wish me luck”. well my attempt  to speak from the heart totally backfired. the speech went through the false self to somebody else’s’ false self and feelings were hurt!

i guess “luck” was the wrong word to use.

going to the heart level as i return  to god throughout the day seems a good way to disengage from any commentaries about who ( i think) i am. of course each day,  i cobble together a self to function but it is not real , just a facsimile.

• so, my intention is ro listen  from the heart, speak from the heart and act from that wordless place within.

wish me luck!

alita, holding you in prayer

All week i have been pondering this topic. it occupied a few pages of my journal. what  i have dicovered is that i can choose to be present to another person, accompanying them, if you will, without seeking connection. it isn’t in any way treating the other as an object of sympathy, but just being open to what they want to express and to what gifts i may find there. basically, it is choosing to take myself out of the equation.

it is for me, like beginning my life all over again. kathy

i am asked to rest in the space between hope and despair…just being here, now with what is as it is.

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