Hi Kristi, Thanks for this beautifully written reminder. It’s so filled with the wisdom of “going with the flow,” of “expecting what you need” not what you think you need; It is a reminder that life is trustworthy. I’ve been in my new home for about two weeks. I made a major move due to health reaons and am learning so much about myself from this experience. As Br. David says in your essay, “Deep trust in life is not a feeling but a stance that you deliberately take. It is the attitude we call courage.” Yes, it’s the attitude of gratitude. As Matthew Fox says in his book “Meditation with Meister Eckhart”
“The Word of God
Is always “In the beginning.”
And this means it is always in the process of being born
And is always already born”

Life is process not product and we are LIFE!
Blessings, Carol

I prefer to accent belonging instead of longing and found Ken Wilber’s quote helpful to me this morning. I share the meditation that it prompted:

“Be the most ethical, the most responsible,
the most authentic you can be with every breath you take,
because you are cutting a path into tomorrow
that others will follow.”
Ken Wilber

The above quote is such a powerful reminder of our evolutionary obligation. To be ethical is to be honest with self; to take responsibility requires the ability to respond not react in all situations. Authenticity is the commitment to grow not only our own soul but to nurture the souls of others. We are called to be evolutionary-soul-food for everyone and everything—to be Eucharist in the world.

I immediately thought of some quotes from “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle and wanted to share them:

The ego could be defined in simply this way: a dysfunctional relationship with the present moment.

Tolle asks, “What kind of relationship do I want with the present moment?”

Then he says, “Do I want the present moment to be my friend or my enemy? The present moment is inseparable from life, so you are really deciding what kind of relationship you want to have with life. Once you have decided you want the present moment to be your friend, it is up to you to make the first move. Become friendly toward it, welcome it no matter in what guise it comes, and soon you will see the results. Life becomes friendly toward you.”

He points out that this one decision changes your entire reality but points out that you have to make this decision again and again until it becomes natural to live in such a way.

As I read the postings of others, I thought they could all be summed up with one word—compassion. The reason I frequent this site is because it shouts out the importance of compassion for oneself and for others to include our planet and all forms of life that share it with us. If I turn on the television, I see violence being acted out on so many programs; if I go on the Internet to sites like Facebook and Twitter, I see postings filled with darkness, fear and hate. They are “I’m right and You’re Wrong” messages filled with judgment and in many cases inaccurate information. In his book, “Walking Between Two Worlds,” Greg Baden tells the story of mystic and philosopher Gurdjieff’s (1866-1949) search for truth in his life. “…the mystic and philosper Gurdjieff came to a point in a remote and hidden monastery in an unnamed country where he was offered the following words: ‘you have now found the conditions in which the desire of your heart can become the reality of your being. Stay here until you acquire a force in you that nothing can destroy.’ I believe that force to be compassion.” P.148 I love the phrase: “the desire of your heart can become the reality of your being.” Our job is willingness—the willingness to let that force known as compassion work in and through us. It is our eyes, our words, our hands and our feet that must become compassion in a needy and confused world.

I definitely agree with Kevin on this one. My pain levels have been very high for over 2 months so to not feel this pain again would be welcomed. But what is really on my mind this morning is Ken Wilber’s quote of the day
“:Authentic spirituality is revolutionary. It does not legitimate the world, it breaks the world; it does not console the world, it shatters it. And it does not render the self content, it renders it undone.
i JUST DO NOT AGREE WITH IT. AUTHENTIC SPIRITUALITY IS TRANSFORMATIVE NOT REVOLUTIONARY. AND MY JOB IS WILLINGNESS. REVOLUTION TENDS TO PUT A NEW BOSS IN POWER.. IT’S KINGDOM ORIENTED BUT SPIRITUALITY IS KINDOM ORIENTED.. iF YOU WANT TO SHATTER THE WORLD, SHATTER YOUR OWN LITTLE WORLD, INTEGRATE YOUR INSIDES AND YOUR OUTSIDES; BECOME THE PERSON YOU WERE MEANT TO BE AND LIKE THE PEBBLE IN THE POND, YOU WILL BECOME AN INSTRUMENT OF THE SPIRIT OF WHOLENESS.

I have found that in many ways “Letting Go” is about making peace with what is. It is about desisting instead of resisting or as Michael says, “Going with the flow.” I find that acceptance of a situation often helps me look at my options. It’s giving in instead of giving up. I’m currently dealing with a strained back and after one week of physical therapy, I was seeing improvement and then yesterday, I woke up in a lot of pain. My son called last night to w…I have found that in many ways “Letting Go” is about making peace with what is. It is about desisting instead of resisting or as Michael says, “Going with the flow.” I find that acceptance of a situation often helps me look at my options. It’s giving-in instead of giving-up. I’m currently dealing with a strained back and after one week of physical therapy, I was seeing improvement and then yesterday, I woke up in a lot of pain. My son called last night to wish me a happy mother’s day. When I told him that it had been a rather discouraging day reference my back injury, he said, “Mama, just remember it could be worse.” The light bulb went on! I found myself relaxing a bit, letting go of the fear the day’s pain had wrought and filling my cup with gratefulness for my son’s call, for my son’s wisdom, for the doctors, the therapists, the friends that have rallied around me during this challenging time. I think I will go out on You Tube and listen to the Beatles sing “Let it BE.”

Good Morning, It’s 8 a.m. in my neck of the woods and it’s a bright-sun-shiny day. I’m not tripping-the-light fantastic as they say physically as I strained my back yesterday and it speaks quite loudly when I attempt to do some of the simplest things like bending to pick an object up off of the floor. Oh, how I wish this reality were not so; Oh, how I wish I hadn’t been so tense; oh, how I wish I hadn’t reacted in fear when that big dog came bounding toward me. It was not vicious just overly friendly but in my need to avoid injury, I caused injury.
I don’t like to own the fact that this scenario has been a pattern in my life—the old “react instead of respond” syndrome. I wish it were not so but it brings the serenity prayer to mind.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can’t change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
I’m scheduled to hit the road in a few days and time will tell when I will be able to depart but I know I will be able to hit the road sooner or later. That is because the thing I can change is my attitude toward my situation. I can “desist” instead of “resist.” Acceptance creates possibility. Mind and body always wishes to be healed.
This injury has already provided me with a powerful reminder of the limitations many live with every day, every hour of their lives. The pain reminds me that the pain of so many others leaves them feeling helpless and hopeless. This injury reminds me that fear can rob us of the mercy to be fully human, to be instruments of the wisdom that can make a difference. It reminds me of the importance of willingness, the willingness to be channels of the grace that the world so desperately craves and needs to heal.
And so that is my wish for us all. Yes, as Saint Mother Teresa taught: Even the smallest act of love is an act of peace. There are things we can’t change but we can always strive to choose love instead of fear. The tired the poor are every where, surrounding us in our every day lives. I have a wish: May we greet ourselves and them with compassion.

Today’s question and quote reminded me of the story below excerpted from “Tales of a Magic Monastery” by Theophane the Monk. It says it all.
“MYSELF?”
I sat there in awe as the old monk answered our questions. Though I am usually shy, I felt so comfortable in his presence that I found myself raising my hand. “Father, could you tell us something about yourself?”
He leaned back, “Myself?” he mused. There was a long pause.
“My name…
used to be…
Me.”
But now…
it’s You.”
Here is another from Henri Nouwen:
When you are interiorly free you call others to freedom, whether you know it or not. Freedom attracts wherever it appears. A free man or a free woman creates a space where others feel safe and want to dwell. Our world is so full of conditions, demands, requirements, and obligations that we often wonder what is expected of us. But when we meet a truly free person, there are no expectations, only an invitation to reach into ourselves and discover there our own freedom. Where true inner freedom is, there is God. And where God is, there we want to be.
May we all find ourselves practicing what St. Paul (in Greek) coined “one-another-ness.” I think Henri Nouwen would call it “Practicing the Presence.” The OT teaches that God is faithful and all God asks in obedience, the root meaning (obedere) being “to listen.” I know I can name the people in my life I cherish most. Why? Because they were and are willing to listen.

Michael, your post prompted the writing of my Morning Med today. I wanted to share it with you and others who might read it at gratefulness.org today.

Morning Med April 19 2018 Made and Making

This one, this one, this…….Wait, there is only this one. Wonderful!
As Thich Nhat Hanh says, the miracle is not walking on water,
it is walking on the earth. Michael

Good Morning, A line from one of the Psalms comes to mind:
“Today is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it.”

I’ve had such a difficult time rejoicing in the day lately, such a difficult time being glad. If the phone rings very early in the morning or very late at night, I rush to read the screen before I answer as so many in my extended family have been dealt big losses.

The sharing above from Michael really warmed my heart this morning.
This one, this one, this…….Wait, there is only this one. Wonderful!
It asks me, if this is the one, the one the Lord has made, what am I making of it?”

Then, Michael shares such profound wisdom from Thich Nhat Hanh.
The miracle is not walking on water,
it is walking on the earth.

It is making my way in and through this day with the perspective that this is the one, this day is the only one I have been given. And how do I maintain that perspective? Mindfulness…or as I prefer to say…Re-mind-ing…claiming BE-ginners-mind.

One of the Morning Meds readers has shared with me that he loves the phrase, “BE our lives,” he’s referring to a quote that I shared in the April 13th Morning Med..”

If we could just actually BE our lives rather than TRY TO CONTROL them,
maybe we could appreciate them.

He has also said that his life has taught him the need to “cut himself some slack every day. I give thanks for such wisdom. Why, because if we can’t “cut ourselves some slack,” we really are not capable of “cutting anyone else some slack.” We live on expectations and fall into blame and shame.

Many years ago, I was in a workshop and the presenter was harping on “being in control.” I raised my hand and shared the premise that I thought we are here to learn how to “lose control.” I explained that my life had taught me that there is a big difference between being “out of control” and “losing control to the Spirit.” He proceeded to mock my words and I knew that his dualistic thinking would not let him entertain the possibility of surrender, of “letting go and letting be.” For him, one is either in control or out of control and surrender is not in his vocabulary. I didn’t argue with him. I “cut him some slack!” Another person, attending the conference, came up to me after the session and said, “I hear you. I understand what you meant. Thanks for sharing.”

When we “try to control life” and I have been doing that a lot lately; when we refuse to “cut ourselves some slack,” and I have been hosting a full blown pity party; when we decide that we are “not enough,” we initiate a downward spiral that relentlessly seeks instead of sees; we feed an EGO that refuses to recognizes that “Being is Seeing.” That “what I need” is always given in the moment. I guess that’s why we call it “the present.”

Yes, today is the day that the Lord, the life giver, made. What are we making of it? Life doesn’t ask us to walk on water. It asks us to lose control to the wisdom present in each moment. I think that’s what “living in the Spirit” means.”

Words cannot express it but my gut tells me that by accepting my humanity as gift, by being fully human—open, vulnerable, willing to evolve–I become a gift to life and of life.

I am able to see instead of seek, to give as well as get, to enjoy instead of lament what appears to be ordinary, boring, repetitive and meaningless or as 12 Steppers would say, “I no longer Edge God Out (EGO).” I say, “Here I am, Lord.” And, if you prefer not to use the words, God or Lord, just make your mantra, “Here I am.”

As Hans Christian Andersen so aptly put it, “The whole world is a series of miracles, but we’re so used to them, we call them ordinary things.”

Blessings, Carol