Steps on the Journey To take these steps on the spiritual journey we need two skills: the practice of intention and a stilled mind. “Be still,” God says, “and know that I am God.” [Psalm 46:10] A stilled mind means that we are no longer under the power of the repetitive tapes that are mostly negative reminders of what we have to be careful about-- leftovers from our childhoods. As long as we let them drive our behavior, as long as we give them power over us, we will be at their mercy. As I wrote above, meditation and contemplation are keys to developing a stilled mind, a receptive mind that knows God. Eventually as we practice these skills that stilled mind is available throughout the day and night and we are able to rest our minds in God’s mind no matter what is going on around us. This ability spills over into our lives from the dedicated practice time-- the great benefit of the practice. The other skill is setting intentions. Setting intentions—which have nothing to do with getting rich or getting our way—begins with the deep listening of a stilled mind. There we hear what God is calling us to now. And we meet that invitation with our whole selves, essentially saying that what God wants for us is what we want, too. And we can add to these calls any behavior or words coming from us that we know are off the mark. Intentions are set in the most positive way. Later on in some days or months we will experience the intention beginning to live in us until it is complete. Our part of the intention is to set it with our whole selves—body, mind, soul and heart. The Holy Spirit does the work, because we have opened the door within us to his presence. Taking these four steps leads us into the arms of God, into our true selves and into the purpose for our lives. The two tools, a stilled mind and the practice of intention, keep us attuned to God and what he wants for us. We can start at any time, manage the pace of change for a while until the Spirit really takes over our lives and leads us in the most natural way for us to our own true selves in service to the Lord. Then we are partnering, co-creating with God. _____ Blessing for the week: May we embrace ourselves as we are and where we are on the journey, remembering that God is in charge of our progress as long as we are willing to follow his plan for us. May we become so good at surrendering our will to his that we no longer resist what comes to us. May we be faithful. In faith and love, Pat
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 09:00:00 +0000
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