Who will you encounter today who will deliver something you need to learn today just about yourself? What experience will be just what you need to open up to your truth?
I forget we all come from the same place. We all are here on this planet to love and learn. To love and learn so that we can live. Live deeply.
Sometimes I don’t want to admit the person in front of me is there to teach me something. We are here for each other, guiding each other along the way.
by J.G. McGlothern
The F word scares people. Not that F word, the other one. The one that comes with the realization that in order to move forward in life something must be let go.
Forgiveness.
I think there is a misconception that in order to forgive another person, ourselves or an experience we need to forget it completely – erase if from our mind.
I see it another way. Forgiving is opening the window that has been painted shut.
When I look at the forgiving I have done in my life, I see that it is not an overnight process. Some instances it took years. Like anything that is planted and grows to full blossom it all starts with one step.
One seed. One action.
Forgiveness too, starts with one step. A slow intentional action with something as simple as cracking the window open to let in some light and cool breeze. If the window you encounter has been painted shut for a very long time, start with a chisel and just one scrape at the far corner. You may discover the ease at which the paint comes loose from the entire window pane.
After one step, then two, you will be moving forward and opening that window allowing new awareness into your world. You may find yourself staring at the window and wondering why it was even painted shut to begin with, deep inside you’ll know why, but it won’t matter anymore because now all you’ll see is an open window.
by J.G. McGlothern
This is honestly the first Monday when I don’t have a thought to fill the page. I have many thoughts but not just one. And the many thoughts I have are crowding the other out so none of them are able to spill forth into a culmination of anything concrete let alone abstract.
Perhaps it is time for a poem:
I am noticing the wet leaves on the sidewalk,
Stinky soccer cleats on stairs.
Umbrellas and rain boots, out from hibernation,
Damp from recent usage.
A new season brings new awareness.
I see the tomato plant hangs on with her green fruit,
Pine needles and spider webs collect in corners.
The Crockpot waits to be dusted off, new recipes begging to be
Created.
A new season awakens the old and even though leaves are falling
Birth is about to take place.
I see it in the children’s faces, the color of the sun, and in the neighbor’s garden.
I feel it in words I read, the phrases I speak but most of all in the quiet, change of the wind
As she blows with great intention.
by J. G. McGlothern
Peace.
We all want it in our lives. We wish we could walk in a room and leave Peace in our wake. We wonder how we can get more Peace in our lives.
Personally, I want to scream, Where’s the Peace?
We make our to-do list and we don’t even add the one thing we REALLY want.
Peace.
We add the stuff, the responsibilities, the chores but we see the list as too full for even one day so the items get shoved over to the next day, another list. How can we possibly add what we really want when the list is so full to begin with?
Peace.
There’s no time to add peace, there’s no room for it, it will just have to wait. Oh, but we want it. We have time to complain about not having it. We cave in to the “shoulds”. We show up for the “musts”. In the mean time…Peace is waiting. Quietly. Patiently. Loyally waiting.
Instead of putting it off, hoping to find room for it one day, what would happen if we put it at the top of our list? Created space for it.
First thing.
Peace.
We can name one thing that brings us Peace: a walk, a song, a prayer, a breath, a moment of emptiness, chocolate and we set that as priority.
Top of the list.
Peace.
We make it a “should”, we act as if it is a “must”.
Twenty-one days to make a habit, they say. If we can quit smoking, lose weight, become vegan or whatever, why can’t we quit the excuses, lose the negative attitude and become Peace?
No reason really.
by J.G. McGlothern
Our son has his rituals. They are evident in his play, meal time, conversations, interactions, habits, school routine, on the soccer field. There are things that he does, that in his mind if he doesn’t do them, everything will be wrong. He thrives on structure and order.
This morning, he didn’t want to go to school. He tells me this every Monday. Transitioning from the weekend is hard for him. Instead of getting anxious myself as I notice the time on the clock, I take a deep breath. As he gets big and mad and sad all at once telling me, I don’t want to go to school, I give him a choice.
Honey, we can run to school right now and make it on time or we can walk slowly and be late.
He grabs my hand and we walk slowly. I don’t freak out about him being late and he calms down. This was our prayer this morning. Walking hand in hand, breathing in each other’s silence we made it just two minutes after the bell and all is well. No one got in trouble. We breathed in the peace we both needed. How much more can a prayer be if it isn’t that? I didn’t ask God to help me. I didn’t ask God to help my son. I held out my hand, I took a breath, believing God, the Universe, the Holy Spirit, Divine Mystery would help us. I had faith the details would be handled. No words. Just surrendered to the moment with a breath.
Mama, he said before I said good bye at school. I looked down and saw him open the palm of my hand and I felt his kiss touch my skin, like I do every morning. Then he held out his hand for me to do the same. I kissed his palm and he placed his hand on his cheek.
How many hours, mama?
Six. I will see you in six hours. Just like I tell him five days a week.
One more kiss more than his ritual calls for, an extra hug beyond the routine, a couple minutes later than usual, but with new awareness from my heart that a breath made the transition easier. And some hand holding was all the prayer the morning needed.
by J.G. McGlothern
For more thoughts on prayer, read my blog from Friday http://www.mamaneedsarefill.com/2012/09/fridays-free-refill-prayer/
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