Love Wins

I am reading Love Wins, by Rob Bell, and am drawn in by its stark simplicity and deep truth, that is both thought-provoking and controversial...

I do not normally read this kind of book, but a review by Krista Tippett in The Washington Post and an article in Time certainly caught my interest...

"God Love us.

God offers us everlasting life by grace, freely, through no merit on our part."

So affirms the back cover...

Here's the thing, there is much in this book that I agree with. And so much that is "tantric" in nature as well. I'm sure that's not something the author might expect to hear!

I know, I have much to explain. But I think this book could revolutionize Christianity, and why not? Bell asks:

"I have long wondered if there is a massive shift coming in what it meant to be a Christian. Something new is in the air."

He also says, "Love demands freedom."

I may have to revisit this book. It would be interesting to illustrate the tantric themes in this book, and how they are compatible with this new "vision" of Christianity, that is really, not new in some ways, but reminds me of many of the dictates of "Creation-centered spirituality" which were embodied by medieval mystics such as Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen, and Meister Echkart, just to name a few...

It would even be, more interesting to me, to draw parallels between the emergence of Tantra during the Middle Ages and its core writings and teachings, and compare them to those of the mystics I just mentioned, among others...

Is there really anything new under the sun?

Let me just say this, if you had to summarize everything I would say, you could do it, by simply saying:

Love wins.

Yes, like the title of Rob Bell's book, which is taking many communities and churches by storm.

On this eve of a Royal Wedding, let me say:

Love wins.

No matter what activity you engage in today - or what tragedy you hear or read about:

Love wins.

In your deepest hour of need, or want, of sadness, or pain:

Love wins.

In the darkest of times - or the "best of times and the worst of times" - to quote Dickens,

Love wins.

Love is all there is. In union. And separation. In the light of day, and the dark of night. In this life and the next. It build bridges. It means everything.

Love wins.

I do believe that. I think it is what is at the heart of every religious tradition, and spiritual practice - and philosophical system. It is why we are here. It is what every person who has ever experienced an NDE (Near Death Experience) will tell you. It is the only lesson we need to learn. It is the only one we have to get right.

Love wins.

And if by chance, you are one of the two billion or so, who will gather around a TV to watch the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton - know that you are doing so at the same time that everyone else is doing so as well. We will all come together for the same reason. To witness that, simply, in all moments and occasions,

Love wins. Now. Always!

Enough said!

Grace Has Your Back - So Rise to New Ways

Easter morning was magnificent, as I crossed the Potomac River, on my way to teach a friend's yoga classes, hours before I would meet my family for Easter Sunday Mass. The sky was a beautiful blue, but a slight carpet of foggy mist hovered over verdant fields, though it was thicker where it hung over the river.

Halfway into my trip, something told me to flip on the radio, and I caught the Krista Tippett interview with Vigen Guroian, an Armenian priest and college professor, who writes about the joys of gardening in his book, The Fragrance of God. He says that it reveals the grandeur of God to him, more than anything else, for nowhere is the union of God with the whole cosmos made more evident than in a garden.

In fact, Guroian affirms, that for him, gardening is nearer to godliness than theology. And having been a theologian for more than half of my life, that gave me pause for thought!

During my drive, I was captivated by the many different variety of trees in bloom - especially white and pink dogwoods everywhere. I realized, that for some, the verdant greening of valleys and meadows, and explosion of blossoms and leaves unfurling everywhere, was about as real as God gets to be experienced.

I was especially taken with Guroian's observation that the sense of smell is the most mystical of all the senses. It has a way of connecting us deeply to memories and drawing us in. I made a mental note to myself to explore the ways in which the different senses are mystical.

After teaching two wonderful classes, I made my way across town to Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown, and got there early enough to save some seats for my guys.

While I waited, I read the bulletin and was touched by one particular essay, that referenced the book, Inner Compass, by Margaret Silf, a Protestant, who is asked by a retreat master to meditate on the risen Jesus appearing to his mother after the Resurrection, which of course is not described in the scriptures. Still, St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, believed that Jesus would have most certainly appeared to his mother.

Silf balks at this suggestion and resists it, but eventually she makes her way into a garden and finds herself spontaneously connecting to Mary in a meditation.

In her meditation, Silf could sense the pain and sadness of this mother who lost her son in such a horrific way, and wondered what the point of everything was. But, at some point, Silf notices a change in Mary. Her face literally lights up as if she has seen her risen son.

And now I excerpt from the passage where Silf writes:

"'Mary,' I whispered, 'Is he there?'

'My child,' she told me, her voice breathless with joy, 'he is standing behind you. you are leaning into him.'

I didn't need to turn around. I could feel the power of his holding. But she had met him in her reaching out to me. 'Go and do the same,' she told me, 'and you will meet him risen and alive, standing always behind those who reach out to you in their need.'"

Wow! I was moved beyond belief!

This reminded me of how in Anusara Yoga, we emphasize coming into the back body. When we do, we connect to something greater than ourselves, to the Universal, to the Divine, which always has our backs. I remember watching John Friend once, assist a reluctant yogini into Scorpion Pose, instructing her to trust that the Divine was behind her, holding her. Only when she surrendered to that realization, was she able to do the pose beautifully.

Yes, Grace always has our backs. The Divine always supports us - and when we tap into that - in our practices, we can serve others...

In this one moment, a confluence of two streams that feed my soul merged within me, and I was able to deeply appreciate the oneness and beauty of all spiritual practices and traditions...

Later in the evening, I enjoyed watching "60 Minutes" do a lengthy segment on the monks, monasteries, and fabled icons at Mount Athos, a remote place that has fascinated me for decades. But, it is not a place where women are allowed to visit, and nothing has changed there in centuries. But I was captivated by how the monks pray unceasingly, even while engaged in their active duties, or even during an interview. This is simply made possible by linking the Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus, have mercy," to every breath taken...

And so my day ended, with the presence of the Divine shining forth in beauty of a morning drive, as I marveled at the surrounding landscape, when I taught wonderful students, attended Mass, and finally as I watched TV in the evening.

God's presence is everywhere, if we are willing to see and notice it. It supports us - and thus, during this wonderful Easter Season - imparts a most important message: to rise always, to new ways of being...

Give Up to Grace - And Die to Old Ways

"Give up to Grace.
The ocean takes care of each wave
until it returns to the shore."

So wrote Rumi, and so I noted, in my last entry...

Today is Good Friday. While many in the Christian tradition will focus exclusively on the passion and death of Jesus, I choose to consider this day from a much broader perspective. It is a time to die to old ways, so that we can rise to new ones...It is a time for deep interior work, cleansing our hearts and our souls, like our Jewish brothers and sisters, who so meticulously clean their homes in preparation for Passover...

This week, which was the beginning of a new yoga session, I told my students, that if they truly say: "Yes! - and open to grace" - they must entertain the possibility they are opening the door to transformation they may have not even begun to envision. If we give up to grace, not only will we be taken care of, as Rumi reminds us, but things may change beyond our wildest dreams or expectations. We may most especially be pulled out of our comfort zone.

"Opening to Grace" is often referred to as "First Principle" in Anusara Yoga - for it is the first of five of Anusara Yoga's Universal Principles of Alignment, and as John Friend, the founder of this system is fond of saying, everything is contained in the "First Principle."

Yesterday, after my morning meditation, and conclusion of my practice, while I released in Savasana, I thought of Jesus, meditating in the Garden of Gethsemani, and how he was abandoned and betrayed by his friends. I have thought a lot of what true friendship means this week. I was able to enter into the experience in that garden, and intuit and feel a real sense of sadness and loneliness.

So what is a true friend? One who holds up the mirror to where we need to do the work...

Everyday in meditation, I ask to receive what I most need that day. And so it happened...

Later in the afternoon, a friend and colleague pointed out a bad habit of mine. She told me she was doing this for me, out of our friendship. After an initial moment of shock, I thanked her for pointing out the behavior in question, for it would make me more aware of this tendency in my relation to others.

"Let me receive what I most need today, and let me give up to grace..."

I sat for my afternoon meditation after this discussion, and after its conclusion, picked up a booklet of Lenten reflections I have been reading. It focused on the events of Holy Thursday and the betrayals of Jesus by both Peter and Judas.

This booklet noted, that neither Peter nor Judas were bad persons...

Excuse me? Judas?

Yes - Judas! He did do a bad thing, but he despaired - and when he expressed remorse and regret, he did it to the wrong persons - who did not care. Peter went back to the apostles and expressed his sorrow there.

Good people do bad things. We all know that.

Then, I read these words:

"A good friend is someone who loves you even if you do something wrong. A good friend is someone who has the nerve to tell you that what you did was wrong. Sin has to be received mercifully and honestly. It can happen with the help of the Lord and the help of good friends."

What is sin? The Greek word for sin is "hamartia." It means - to miss the mark - as in an arrow missing its target, not the interpretations we most commonly ascribe to the word sin.

We all miss the mark. Hopefully, we have friends to help us along the way, and see the error of our ways.

This morning I read these quotations, that shed further light into matters for me:

"..conflict is the primary engine of creativity and innovation.
People don't learn by staring into a mirror.
People learn by encountering difference,"
~ Ronald Heifetz

"Homogeneity makes for healthy milk but anemic friendships.
We need relationships that cross culturally imposed lines
to enlarge our hearts and expand our vistas."
~ Dan Schmidt

And finally, this poem by Antonio Machado:

"I love Jesus who said to us:
heaven and earth will pass away.
When heaven and earth have passed away,
my word will still remain.
What was your word Jesus?
Love? Forgiveness? Affection?
All your words were
one word: Wake up.

Give up to grace. Die to old ways, so you can wake up - and give birth to new ones. That is my message for this day.

Grace is Sufficient

Sometimes, messages come to you in the most unexpected ways...

Sometimes, you ignore the message the first time, and it keeps coming back to you again and again - a second, and a third, and maybe a fourth time...

Yesterday was one of those days filled with unacknowledged or partially understood messages, and this morning seemed merely a continuation and extension of those lessons...

Yesterday, as I waited in the doctor's office for a routine check up, I read a sermon written by Barbara Brown Taylor, from her book, Home by Another Way. Since we are partly into Holy Week, nearing the conclusion of Lent, I am choosing to read material that is relevant to the liturgical season, or is, at very least, spiritual in nature.

The section I read in Taylor's book was based on a passage from St Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians, where he described a particularly challenging experience in his life, without actually identifying what it was. He describes it as "a thorn in the flesh," a source of deep torment to him, which I would add, could be just as equally experienced in the soul...

When Paul appeals to God, he is simply told:

"My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness."

I glossed over all of this, as I was awaiting my appointment, and did not give it another thought...

When I returned home, an intuitive friend spontaneously called and invited me out to lunch, and during the course of the meal, she addressed an area of my life and a significant relationship which is both the source of my greatest joy, my deepest lessons, and my greatest sadness...

Ironically, in my own meditations, I have been asking to be released of the pain that still runs deep concerning events long past, and slights perceived in the present. But my friend suggested that I consider looking deeply into matters in my heart and soul, and not deny the importance and significance of the deep connection that exists on a higher plane. She told me I should not deny my own insights, or discount what I intuit and "know" on another level.

After I came home, I wondered why this had come up - so unexpectedly. It seemed to churn things inside for me. So I gave intent to receive whatever insights or messages I still needed to know, in my midnight meditation before retiring...

This morning, one of my dearest students and treasured friends, brought up the same exact passage from Corinthians in the course of our yoga practice, while we worked on creating a greater opening by releasing the piriformis muscle. As soon as she brought up this verse, I perked up, and realized I needed to go back to this passage once again, and re-read it. I knew there would be answers for me there...

A little while later in the morning, I sat down to write and I come across this quote by Rumi:

"Give up to Grace.
The ocean takes care of each wave
Until it returns to the shore."

Had I received the message I needed to hear yet? Well apparently not...

Then, moments later, as I was browsing Facebook, I read an entry, titled, "My Journey into Grace," on the blog , "The Awakened Life", and I was momentarily paralyzed. It was a description of a life-altering experience, occurring in 2007, that mirrored my own in so many ways. The author credits Anusara Yoga with helping her awaken, for it is a practice that begins from the vantage point of opening to grace...

In spite of challenges, deep-seated grief, and of obstacles that may seem insurmountable, grace is sufficient. We are never alone, grace provides and takes care of us - and the source of our greatest pain is often the doorway to our embodiment of ultimate freedom.

Grace is everywhere, and I am in awe because the answers sought in my meditation came several times, until I was ready to listen. Thanks to all who came bearing gifts by pointing me in the right direction, for truly,

Grace alone is sufficient...

Meditating for Love

Last night I finished reading Sally Kempton's wonderful gem of a book, Meditation for the Love of It. She acknowledges the reason we meditate is simply because "we are ultimately in it for love."

I thoroughly enjoyed this work, but found the last few chapters particularly helpful because they accurately addressed many of my current experiences. I felt blanketed in the comfort of what Kempton keenly observes and affirms, and the needed insights supplied, that will fortify me on this continual path toward deepening meditation...

For example, Kempton wisely observes and echoes great meditation masters in affirming that:

"The most important signs of spiritual progress are revealed in our character, our ability to maintain equanimity, our power to keep the mind clear and still, our compassion and kindness, our clarity, and our capacity to hold our center."

And truly, what else is there in this journey we call life?

Kempton reminds her readers over and over again, that the practice of meditation does not proceed in a linear fashion. Sometimes it involves taking a step backward, for every one we take forward. Sometimes physical or emotional pain are signs of inward purification. We sit and we seek union with the Divine, whom Kabir recognized, was simply, "the breath within the breath..."

Meditation is not easy. Sometimes it will unearth and dig out strongly held "samkaras," memories, and tendencies we work a whole lifetime to release and eradicate. But if we stick to our work and our commitment to this practice - which is an intense labor of love - we will experience its richly rewarding fruits. However, this may take years, and in many, if not most instances, at least a decade of dedicated practice, morning and evening, without fail...

Hidden within us, behind our thoughts, is always, the Light of Pure Awareness. We merge with this Awareness, the Divine, whatever we choose to call it - and let go of all notions of separation and duality. We enter sometimes unexpectedly, into this Fourth State, or "Turiya" state that the yogic sages described, aware that we simply are one with the Divine, as our heartbeats chime the mantra, "I am. I am. I am," deeply and silently within our hearts...

All of this ultimately is an act of grace. The yoga I practice, Anusara Yoga, begins with a simple dictate, an invitation to surrender, all that I know, and think, and am - and simply, "open to grace," in acknowledgment that no change, and transformation can begin without my participation and receptivity.

I was also comforted in knowing, as Kempton reminds her readers,

"People who meditate can be just as subject to ups and downs as anyone else. The major differences lie in their attitude toward their mood and tendencies, and in the resources they have to deal with them. They know a core part of them is untouched by the emotional weather..."

Of course, she also observes:

"Living from your own center takes effort...When you see life as an ongoing spiritual training you live inside a view that lends significance to even the most ordinary interactions. You don't think so much in terms of winning or losing...instead there is...the consistent effort to come back to the love and lucidity you carry inside, and to bring the values of your inner world into your outer actions..."

Furthermore, the practice reveals and reminds us of the great Truth, which is simply "the Truth of oneness."

Kempton continues her exquisite and brilliant mapping of a life lived in meditation, by instructing:

"Much of the work of meditation takes place underground, and much of it is imperceptible. That is one reason we measure our progress in meditation...by the subtle ways in which a regular meditation practice changes our feelings about ourselves and the world."

I would add, this happens almost unexpectedly at times, often manifesting itself in very nuanced ways...Meditation finds our stuff, holds up the mirror to where we need to do the work, and then invites us to walk through all the needed doors and even blazing fires. In time, we will discern a greater clarity, and lightness in all things. And wonderfully, the Bhagavad Gita reminds us:

"In this practice, no effort is ever lost.
Even a little of this practice
protects one from great fear."

As Kempton notes, over the course of time, perhaps in a decade or more - we "ripen" like the fruit of the trees or the vine - we are fashioned into something purely delectable. We let go - and the fruits come into maturity and are revealed, in their own time...

What or whom do we seek in meditation? We seek our Beloved, our true Self, our Awareness, the Truth, and we discover universes within universes, continually unfolding, as we are transmuted, experience by experience until there is nothing left but the very incarnation of Divine Love in our ever willing and receptive hearts...

I think of this, on this Palm Sunday, falling on a full moon and signaling the beginning of Holy Week for Christians, and the observance of Passover by our Jewish brothers and sisters.

For me, the Incarnation is simply a constant reminder, that Love is all there is... And meditation as a spiritual practice, allows all of us - Christian and Jew, Hindu and Buddhist, Muslim and Sufi, and the rest of us - to drink and be nourished from this font of Divine Love...

Life as a Meditation Practice - Insights from Masters

For over a week, I've enjoyed deep silence, longer periods of meditation, touching base with a few friends, spring cleaning, reading, and delighting in the insights gained and imparted by wonderful teachers.

A week and a half ago, I had the privilege and honor of studying with Elena Brower, an Anusara Yoga certified teacher, who shares her heart and gifts all over the country, and also writes a wonderful blog for the Huffington Post, among other talents. For a long time I have wanted to take one of her classes "live" - since I had already experienced her teaching "online," and I was grateful to be able to experience her deep teaching in a beautiful art gallery.

One of the most wonderful things Elena told us, was that we have the power to transmute the triggers in our lives into nourishment, through our practices, and most particularly in our bodies, through yoga. She explained that we can choose practice over indulging in our preferences and thus create meaningful boundaries to maximize an ultimate flow of energy in our bodies and consequently in our lives. Elena's teaching was filled with grace, humility, and poetry, and I was very moved by the depth of her wise instructions.

A week ago, I also had my yearly private lesson with Frans Stiene, my Reiki teacher, who was here visiting from Australia, and who co-founded the International House of Reiki with his wife, and gifted and celebrated author, Bronwen Stiene. Together they wrote The Reiki Sourcebook, which is the definitive text on Reiki.

Every year for the last four, I have both studied with Frans and also privately met with him to discuss my own personal practice and learn a new meditation technique. What distinguishes the Reiki that Frans and Bronwen teach from most forms taught in the West, is that their Japanese style is based on the way that Mikao Usui taught his own students, which is to say, they were initiated into meditation practices and techniques which they practiced until they were ready to move on. Their practices allowed them to embody oneness and their healing abilities flowed from this, firmly anchored in their deep personal work. Anyone who has practiced meditation knows that it has the ability to transform one's life, and indeed, the lives of all those one comes in contact with as well.

Frans very much emphasized this understanding of Reiki as a meditation practice, first and foremost, during the lecture he gave last Thursday night, when he categorically stated that "Life needs to become meditation, and meditation needs to become life." I found myself hanging on those words. This wise assessment comes from a man who practices meditation many hours a day, and when you have a treatment with him, his personal practice is very evident in his presence, and in the healing experience as well. When Reiki is practiced in this way, you experience oneness, and transcend all duality: no longer does a practitioner, a client, or a divine energy exist separately. They are all one.

I have also been immersed in Sally Kempton's new book, Meditation for the Love of it, in preparation for a book club meeting this weekend, but also in anticipation of her visit here to Willow Street Yoga Center in the Washington, DC area, a month from now. I am looking forward to two days of sitting at the feet of such a seasoned meditation master, and imbibing her wisdom, and having the opportunity to meditate with a packed room as well.

This book is a gem, chalk full of wisdom, and wonderful quotations as well. There is a whole section dedicated to understanding the notion of oneness through practical exercises and suggestions, supported by a lifetime of insights.

"Remembering oneness makes love arise," Sally wisely teaches. She notes that meditation is an intimate relationship that we must cultivate, and going deeper into this practice happens because we must want to do this. It brings us into greater self awareness of who we are at our essence, and allows us to experience our true nature.

Kempton's book is a rich resource for both novice and experienced meditators as well. Each one will glean the needed wisdom from its pages, and will find satiation in its many quotations. I share a few here:

"Wherever the mind goes,
whether turned inward
or toward the outside world,
everywhere there is the divine.
Since the divine is everywhere,
where can the mind go
to avoid it?"
~ Vijnana Bhairava

"In this nakedness the spirit finds rest,
for when it covets nothing,
nothing raises it up,
and nothing weighs it down."
~ St John of the Cross

"I have realized at last
the true nature of prayer and meditation.
They are simply your own play
as longing and as aspiration."
~ Ramprasad

The Practice of Blessing

To offer a blessing, is a spiritual practice. It is perhaps, one of the highest...

The Talmud says, "It is forbidden to taste of the pleasures of this world without a blessing."

While some traditions teach that only certain persons can offer blessings, the truth is, everyone can offer one. And when we do, everything becomes a blessing...

I thought of this, as I drove around, and saw a man suspended up high, doing pole utility maintenance. This work is dangerous - and it is a service this man renders to us to make our lives more comfortable. I spontaneously offered him a blessing, and asked that he be kept safe - that he be returned to his loved ones.

I also thought of this, when my breath was taken away as a driver cut me off on the beltway this afternoon, as I was returning home from the most delicious class in restorative yoga. I restrained my first reaction, and offered a blessing instead, thus choosing to remain in the beautiful energy of my class, where my teacher invited us to become intimate with the Divine...

I found myself blessing all the animals I walked by, and even the people on the news. Truly, everyone needs a blessing...

When we meditate, pray, practice yoga, or offer our services - we can enrich these practices and bring more meaning to them, if we wrap them in our blessings...

For those of the Jewish faith, a blessing prayer is called a "brakha." Observant Jews offer a blessing for everything under the sun, and I thought to myself, what a beautiful world this would be - if we all did this...

I have a dear friend who offers blessings all the time. She once shared with me, that her mother goes out into her garden and blesses her plants and flowers every day.

When we bless others, we are as much transformed by the blessing - if not more - than our recipients are. Blessings have the power to shift our consciousness profoundly.

The last chapter of the book, An Altar in the World, by Barbara Brown Taylor, was appropriately titled, "The Practice of Pronouncing Blessings." This world needs our blessings, but so do we - because we are as much enriched by them as anyone else is.

We should bless beginnings and bless endings, and that which is animate and inanimate. We should bless the living and the dead. We should bless our teachers, our friends, and our family - those we love - but most especially those who challenge in us in so many ways - for they bring us blessings wrapped up and disguised as needed lessons.

The more we practice, the more we realize everything is connected - and the more we become aware, as I taught many students recently, that "life is practice, and practice is life."

Barbara Brown Taylor ends her book in this way:

"...I hope you can think of at least...many more ways to celebrate your own priesthood, practiced at the altar of your own life. As the love poet of all time [Rumi] reminds us both,

Today like every other day we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground."

Love and blessings to you!

Practicing the Presence of God

How does one practice the presence of God?

In everything one does, thinks, and says...

I have been knee deep in spring cleaning the last couple of days - currently in between yoga sessions - so I have taken this time to launder the winter bedding and put it away, and break out all the spring sheets, quilts, and clothes. I've also taken the opportunity to gather up clothes and household items for donation as well...

Yesterday afternoon, after a full day of cleaning, washing, and organizing, I met a dear friend to walk the labyrinth. It's kind of "our thing" - something we've done over the years - and it gave us the opportunity to walk it and meditate together, and reflect on the Stations of the Cross, which were featured through an number of beautiful displays along the way as well.

Later in the evening, when I went to pick up dinner, on the warmest day we've had in so many months (85 degrees!), I stepped out of my car and into the night and thought to myself, "God is everywhere!" In a split second, my heart swelled and filled with incredible bliss, arriving as an unexpected gift!

Yes, God is everywhere - in the laundering, in the spring cleaning, in the little bit of weeding I did in the morning after the weekend rains. God was present when I met my dear friend and shared the walking of the labyrinth with her, and later in the evening, when another friend requested needed prayers...

I curled in bed once again, with Barbara Brown Taylor's, An Altar in the World, and nearly finished it. I particularly hung on every paragraph, word and sentence in the chapter, "The Practice of Being Present in God."

This chapter is about prayer - but perhaps not prayer in the traditional sense, of saying prayers. It is an exposition on the practice of prayer as presence.

Hundreds of years ago, a lowly monk, who swept and tended a kitchen, wrote a book, that was never meant for publication. It came to be known as, The Practice of the Presence of God, and in time it became a spiritual classic. This simple tome notes how one practices God's presence in very simple ways - by dedicating every moment and action to God.

For each of us, such a practice takes on a different flavor, for it is individually "seasoned" by our vocations, our work, our family situations, and everything that is unique about us and our lives. Each opportunity and circumstance offers us the chance to practice this presence in varying ways.

The chapter I read last night began with this quote, which really says and sums it all up:

"The best preparation for a life of prayer is to become more intensely human."

That is all we can do: live as fully and as mindfully as possible - and then see God's presence in everything - everyone - and every experience!

Let God Hold You

Last night, I curled in bed with the book I am currently reading - An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith, by Barbara Brown Taylor, a former parish priest, who currently teaches spirituality.

This book is delicious in every way - not one to be raced through - but one to be savored, and so I "tasted" the chapter "The Practice of Saying No." It begins by explaining the historical, cultural, and religious differences between keeping the Sabbath and the Christian practice of observing Sunday - and then explores the value of having one day a week where we say no to doing, and simply enjoy being.

Taylor begins the chapter with this quote from Meister Eckhart:

"God is not found in the soul by adding anything but by subtracting."

A couple of pages into the chapter, she quotes the Swiss theologian Karl Barth:

"A being is free only when it can determine and limit its activity."

Later, she refers to Abraham Heschel:

"The first holy thing in all creation was not a people or place but a day. God made everything in creation and called it good, but when God rested on the seventh day, God called it holy."

Still, this is not an easy thing for most of us. Here are some wonderful insights in the author's own words...

"Sabbath is the great equalizer, the great reminder that we do not live on this earth but in it, and that everything we do under the warming tent of this planet's atmosphere affects all who are woven into this web with us...

In the eyes of the world, there is no payoff for sitting on the porch...In the eyes of the true God, the porch is imperative...

According to the rabbis, those who observe the Sabbath observe all the other commandments. Practicing it over and over again they become accomplished at saying no, which is how they gradually become able to resist the cultures killing rhythms of drivenness and depletion...

If a whole day of life-giving freedom is too much for you to imagine, then start however you can. Decide that you will get up an hour before everyone else in the house and dedicate that time to doing nothing but being in the divine presence...

At least one day in every seven...stay home not because you are sick but because you are well. Talk someone you love into being well with you...Even if you spent one day being good for nothing you would still be precious in God's sight - and when you get anxious because you are convinced that this is not so, remember that your own conviction is not required. This is a commandment...

...there is no saying yes to God without saying no to God's rivals...

When you live in God, your day begins when you open your eyes...and take your first breath...your day begins when you let God hold you because you do not have the slightest idea how to hold yourself...When you live in God, your day begins when you lose yourself long enough for God to find you, and when God finds you, to lose yourself again in praise."

This month, let God hold you. Say no to anything that interferes with his embrace and keeping one day holy. Find the time to be alone with the Alone, and become so drunk with the wine of sweet Love Divine, that nothing else matters!