Greet everyone you meet with a warm smile, no matter how busy you are.
Don’t rush encounters with coworkers, family and friends.
Speak softly. Listen attentively.
Act as if every conversation you have is the most important thing on your mind today.
Look your children and your partner in the eyes when they talk to you.
Stroke the cat, caress the dog.
Lavish love on every living being you meet.
See how different you feel at the end of the day.
~ Sarah Ban Breathnach
When we’re young, the world is our oyster.
Hurt and humiliation are two things we don’t fear.
Imagination is our kingdom and every moment counts.
Ah yes, when we’re young, creativity abounds.
As we grow up they say, “Fall in line!
Get good grades! Be on time!
Find a job! Pay your bills!”
All things that stifle creative wills.
When we’re young, our sense of presence lasts.
There’s no anxiety about the future. No dwelling in the past.
It’s this innate presence that lets our creative juices flow
but we block it and build dams around it every year we grow.
Now I can hear the sound, traveling through your eyes
of broken dreams and emptiness
as your inner child cries,
“Gimme ink and paper, crayons, brushes, and blank space.
Gimme songs to sing and lightening bugs to chase.
Gimme wood to carve, clay to mold, and games to play.
I’m jumpy and I’m restless. Can I come out today?”
A milk has gone bad, throw it away.
Your tires are flat, switch them up.
No need to complain or make sense of these things
All that you’ve done is enough.
A lover has left, let them go free.
Wages were lost, look for more.
No need to dwell or make sense of these things
Resistance can be quite the bore.
Surrender to what is,
then do what you can.
There’s no need to ask,
“Why must this occur?”
For all that you need
is right where you stand.
And you can’t fathom Ways
that are higher than yours.
Dear Child of Mine,
Stay present. Now is all you have. Don’t you see that the present is all that exists? It is where you find Me. It is where you find True Life. I am.
Do you not know that I am with you always? I am guiding your every step. Even when your fallen mind becomes distracted and begins to wander from Me, I will not let you go too far.
You are never lost. You are home. You are here. With Me. Now.
When you need to be reminded of this, come sit in My Presence, just as you are. It is good to stay grounded. I have everything under control and you are exactly where I intend for you to be.
So enjoy this moment, love the ones you’re with, and share The Good News about Me. It is really that simple.
You all complicated things when you introduced time. Have you forgotten that I am Timeless? Where I exist there is no time.
I am here with you, now and forever. Now, won’t you stay here with Me?
A time to be born
A time to die
A time to laugh
A time to cry
A time to love
A time to hate
A time to start
A time to wait
A time to keep quiet
A time to speak out
A time to grieve and mourn
A time to dance and shout
A time to heal
A time to kill
A time to take action
A time to be still
There is a time and a place for every last thing under the sun
But to know what a moment calls for, you must be present for one.
It is written, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
This is where the fruit of the Spirit lives, in your heart. It is where I reside. If you can quiet your mind enough to listen to your heart and be present in every moment, there you will find all the fruits of the Spirit and many more gifts as well.
All you have to do is stay present and open. Here you will find all the fruits of the Spirit and they will fill your entire being, intertwining themselves in your life and relationships. I will be there. I am.
I’m an over achiever and a go getter. There’s a frantic, nitpicky air coursing through most of what I do. When I lived in Los Angeles, I shared an apartment with a wonderful free spirit. We contrasted well with her calming, almost floating presence.
I’ll never forget when she turned to me one day and asked, in her innocent, purely curiosity driven way, “What are you going to do when you’ve done it all?”
At the time, her question bounced right off me. Back then, fresh out of college, the only beatings I endured were from myself and generally, I saw no limits to what I could achieve.
Ironically (though probably not), she was the very person with me 2.5 years ago, when my world came crashing down around me. And although we no longer live together in Los Angeles, her question has haunted me throughout the years.
Today, 29 months and numerous universe inflicted battle wounds later, her words ring more powerful than ever.
While I’m still an over achiever and go getter, I now understand and appreciate the gifts of grace and presence, agents of change that my former LA roommate wisely knew all along.
There is no cure for hot and cold.
There is no cure for the facts of life.
If we can stop trying to escape the inevitable alternation of pleasure and pain, we can simply relax and be fully present for the wonder that is our lives.
The Holy Spirit makes God’s power real to us and alive in us, turning doctrines into relationship.
Suddenly, sin becomes less about obeying the law and more about grieving a Person. Ultimately, the largeness of the Presence of the Father is what allows us to overcome our sinful impulses.