Get Out of Your Own Way

There’s a teaching I’ve heard most often from the Hindu faith,

“It is hard only because we make it so.”

I know most all of my problems every single day are when I live too much in my own head. One of my girlfriends actually got me to go on my third date with my now husband of 12 years by SCREAMING at me, “Oh for the love of Christ, will you just get out of your own way and let God BLESS YOU?” It's pretty amazing how powerful we are, seriously, because we truly manifest what we’re looking for, what we're meditating on. If we KNOW that our path is going to be filled with encumbrances and obstacles then we will be frustrated with each step; if we know we are supposed to be exactly where we are just so that we can bring blessings at that exact moment in time and space, then everywhere is the perfect place to be. If we anticipate every interaction with someone who lives in pain and likes to spread their pain (hurting people hurt people!) with fear and apprehension, then we’ll play right in to their need to keep the circle of punishment spinning by allowing them to plop their hurt feelings directly on our heads; if we go in to the conversation with the spirit of service (yoga), however, with the ear of compassion, with the heart of empathy, then we receive clarity that the roaring lion is just a damaged little kitty and we are able to engage in and guide the conversation to one of understanding and peace (or just ignore it altogether and step out of the way of the spew). Through simplicity we become mighty.

<Let us look to this day, for it is filled with life, with miracles, with blessings, it is filled with the very breath of life. In the brief course of this day and our span on earth lie all the realities of our existence: the bliss of growth, the wonder of being awake while we’re alive, the peace of gaining wisdom, the glory of action, the splendor of beauty. For yesterday is only a dream, and tomorrow is but a vision. But today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day. - Ancient Sanskrit, sort of>

Philippians 2: Stop Bitching and Trust God, Will Ya?

image source https://pixelsandstories.files.wordpress.com

<Do everything without murmuring, complaining, grumbling, grousing, or questioning the protective care of God or of nature as a spiritual power.>

Paul could have picked any number of moral issues to challenge the church in Philippi but instead he tells them to buck up and cut the crap; if we're going to walk in The Way then we're just gonna have to create beauty and blessings with positive declarations, as the power of life and death is in the tongue, and trust that we are cared for, provided for, and protected. It's funny, I got on the elevator with someone yesterday who, for TWENTY FLOORS, streamed a bitch fest about the weather, about the rain, about her shoes, about her hair. Innocuous, I know, but I thought of the flowers, people who don't have shoes, people in chemo who don't have hair, and I didn't think judgmentally, I promise, but I just thought, you know, I bet you never contemplate those things at all, do you, or you couldn't possibly say the things you're saying. I really had to shake off her grumbling because when people bitch that much at the top of a day, all I want is to swap them out with my dead friend Jon Lipscomb who greeted every morning with a gasp and a, HEY GEWRL! WHEE ! LET'S GET GOING and see what this day has to offer !! <For the birds who sing outside my window, for the tree that stands outside my door, for the neighbor who waves and says "good morning", I give you thanks for these and so much more. Your blessings every morning know no limit, yet I often rush by not seeing them. Let me take a moment this and every morning, God, I pray, to remember all of them, and remember and know that you are here. >  (http://bit.ly/dailyprayerus sort of)

Mary said Yes

The Annunciation, Henry Ossawa Tanner

God, we come to you this very morning, full of hope that the day to come might be filled with joy and positive, peaceful, potent energy. Grant that we may do the work assigned to us this day with a light and happy heart; and if there are tasks that we do not look forward to (or even dread) let us undertake them with courage and resolve. If people who offer us challenging relationships appear in our path, cover them in your peace, give them an understanding heart, and let us see you in them. When we face frustration today, and throughout the coming week, remind us that these are opportunities to inject your love and peace and joy in to this world, and please guide us through these moments with grace and humour. Lead us away from anger or judgment of other people. Let us not pick up any business that isn’t our own business, and let us tend to our own garden instead of looking over the fence at others’. And let everything we attempt be filled with the knowledge and guidance of Your Holy Spirit. We pray that the Spirit will be with us at every moment, that we will always be aware of Her whispers, and guide us to live every moment of this day in Your presence. Let us, like Mary, hear the angel’s voice: “Fear not, for you have found favour with God.” When we respond, “How can this be?” let us remember the calming answer of the ages: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you … For nothing will be impossible with God." Give us the resolve to say, "Here am I, the servant of God; let it be with me according to your word."