Despite the reassurance, change always feels rather overwhelming.
Prayer is not just about the immediate moment. It ends up preparing us for all of the moments to come.
It’s one thing to notice the Presence of God in the dramatic, but it’s yet another thing to discover the Presence of God in the midst of ordinary life.
We discover that the Home we find in God does not have four walls. It can even call us into the wilderness, where we discover that many of the assumptions we have made are wrong.
Can we really move mountains? Gratitude has that kind of power, because it changes how we see everything — where the fog begins to lift, and we can make out the Goodness of God.
It is in the face of hard days and temporary exiles that our souls still insist on a Song.
What we do on the outside can change how we feel on the inside: generating gratitude, cultivating compassion, creating contentment. It is both joyful and difficult, because it is a gift of Love.
Patience can keep us from selfishness: rushing to hold resources out of fear. Patience can guard us against blaming others, where we never take the time to look at ourselves in the mirror. Patience cautions us against self-medication: seeking healing in unhealthy ways. Patience can keep us from giving up, shutting down, or closing off.
Whether it is the walls of a waiting room or the days of a pandemic, we know what it feels like to live one day at a time. We have less to do, but more to manage. We are not as busy, but we are still exhausted. We realize: nothing is harder than when there…
The ways of nonviolence remind us that Love is not just an emotion. It is a choice. It is an action. It is a way of Life.