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Theme: By trusting in the Divine and the sacredness of where you are in each moment, you can enjoy contentment and find a way to be a blessing to others.
Opening Prayer
Holy Spirit, make Your presence so real to me, that I find rest in You from the seeking of You. Let me sense into Your Being, my being and Your Self being one Being, in the Word, from eternity to eternity. Amen.
Today's Quote
Prayer is the movement of trust, of gratitude, of adoration, or of sorrow, that places us before God, seeing both Him and ourselves in the light of His infinite truth, and moves us to ask Him for the mercy, the spiritual strength, the material help, that we all need.
*Thomas Merton. Trappist Monk. 20th Century.
If there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life.
*Albert Camus. French existentialist author & philosopher. 20th Century.
Sacred Teaching
My favorite modern prayer is by Thomas Merton. I have shared this before on this site, and will do so again, with some new comments on the theme:
MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
*Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"
Before proceeding, reflect on how the prayer above speaks to your heart about your life.
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Last night - really - early morning, I completed my move into the home of a friend and her daughter. I finally fell asleep at 3AM in a new place and new bed alone - I and my dogs acting a little disoriented.
Now, I am at another transition. I do not know where this road leads. Or, is it possible the road is leading nowhere? That there is never a transition - only one Flow of the Life in which we all participate? Possibly, the much instability in my living situations for years is really sending me a message: The only stability is in being stable amid the changes; stability, then, is an inner resolve and experience, not a matter of outward fixation in thought, lifestyle, or place. Stability, then, is a matter of spirit, not staying in one place, one house, one relationship, one job, one religion, ...
I find that we miss Life by thinking that this is not the place God is leading me. This is not the right place. So, then, we keep seeking the right place, keep praying for where God wants us. We even keep seeking God, as though God is lost.
Our very seeking can speak of our alienation from God - like our being alienated from the nose on our face, while we rush about looking for it. This same thing persons do with relationships: Oh, the one with me now, well, she is not good enough, I must find another one. Our silent disquiet is a loud roar in a pampered, sated Western culture.
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Is it essentially that we are alienated from God and need reconciliation with God, or that we have become pervasively alienated from ourselves and our lives, chasing a myth of the better, or right, life and right me? And does not much Christianity and other religion foster this discontent, this ceaseless desperation for what we feel we lack, of what we are not and "should" be, a better me? Even the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment can be a pervasively alienating and selfish enterprise.
Yet, what if there is no right or wrong place? Is it possible to led go of such dualism and relax, feel into, the present moment as Sacred, exactly where I need to be now, and as much the Will of God as anywhere I could or will be?
The Zen focus on being mindful has become more integrated into me over time, by practicing the contemplative Path. My girlfriend said to me today, "You have no sense of time." Of course, he is largely right, but I am aware of time, and I can get to appointments on time. Yet, generally, I am simply immersed in the Flow, in the OneTaste of God - where all is a manifesting of the One Life - each thing a different hue of God.
This idea corresponds with the Christian Practice of the Presence of God. Yet, the mindful quality is simply being present, not having to attach "God" or any idea to it. Any sacred idea is an addition to the purity of Being, of holiness.
Being present to God, I am being present to my life - for Divinity is woven into my life in a seamless Love - there is no difference for me between the spiritual and the secular. I need go nowhere to find beauty, I only need to look. What helps me in religions, I can use, the other, I can release as useless to this awakening to the Sacred.
* * *
St. Paul spoke of this being contented. The word "content" in the following means, ironically, "self-sufficient." This does not mean isolated, but able to blend in with the Flow of the life script we are in at present:
10 How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me [financially]. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.
*Philippians 4.10-12 (NLT)
* * *
In the midst of all these changes and exhausted, I am sitting in a coffee shop preparing worship for our new fellowship. Doing this reminds me of a fruit of mindful-contented living:
So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
*I Corinthians 15.58 (NLT)
We cannot be any of the qualities St. Paul speaks of in the above Scripture if we cannot be present to the present. Indeed, whatever we have or do not have, we can always be engaged in some form of serving - which is nothing more or less than choosing to be a blessing to others.
Presently, my home space is with a mother and her daughter. I choose this space not only to have shelter and food, but to find a way for my presence to be a blessing to bless this single mother and her daughter, who has had no male presence in the home for a decade. This, then, is as much the place God has me as if I was serving on the "mission field." By being in the moment, and saying here is the Divine Will, I can release restless seeking and give and receive blessing.
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Now, we are in a culture of gain. The media give us the message more, more, more. Now, I refer to St. Paul, and he gives us a sane position on a sane way to live, on a way of great gain, or great wealth:
5These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy.
6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it.
*I Timothy 6.5-7 (NLT)
* * *
On this move, I gave away over half my so-called belongings. I chose to do this, to live more simply, without the load of so much stuff. I pray to enter more fully into the more "wealthy" way, which includes less things and more of what matters most. I feel those blessings coming, and more contentment, too.
Quietly Responding
1) What changes might you need to make to live more fully in the present moment? For what matters most? And what matters most to you? Does your life choices reflect this?
2) Do you find yourself habitually discontented? What might be the source of such disquiet? What are you willing to do to get the discernment to become a more content person?
3) What social, familial, and religious messages may you have adopted, even if unconsciously, that hinders your being in the moment with gratitude and giving blessing?
4) Have you had a time when you felt contentment in a situation you would usually be discontented, and you sensed God gave you that contentment? Explain.
Blessings! In Love! And Peace to All!
Brian Kenneth Wilcox July 18, 2009
briankwilcox@yahoo.com
Facebook: Brian Kenneth Wilcox
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*OneLife Ministries is a ministry of Brian Kenneth Wilcox, SW Florida. Brian lives a vowed life and with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis, with friends and under a vow of simplicity. Brian is an ecumenical-interspiritual leader, who chooses not to identify with any group, and renounces all titles of sacredness that some would apply to him, but seeks to be open to how Christ manifests in the diversity of Christian denominations and varied religious-spiritual traditions. He affirms that all spiritual paths lead ultimately back to Jesus Christ. He is Senior Chaplain for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, Punta Gorda, FL.
*Brian welcomes responses to his writings or submission of prayer requests at briankwilcox@yahoo.com . Also, Brian is on Facebook: search Brian Kenneth Wilcox.
*Contact the above email to book Brian for preaching, Spiritual Direction, retreats, workshops, animal blessing services, house blessings, or other spiritual requests. You can order his book An Ache for Union from major booksellers.
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