BREATHING AN OPEN SPACE into life...

Isn't it time for a blog post? I ask myself this question and the answer is the usual one these days - "there's no time for anything except getting my readings done. And now there's papers too - yikes!"

Yet, inside me a voice calls out - where is the space for the sacred? Where is the time for stopping and listening to that still small voice? 

This intensity of my life, this focus on classes to the exclusion of almost everything else, this continual sense of work not yet done... It reminds me of Bible reading assignments from these past weeks "How long will you make me wait, Oh Israel?" Yahweh calls out to the people when they ignore that holy relationship. 

Well, you couldn't exactly say I'm ignoring the Holy of Holies, what with classes focused on the Bible, on Anglicanism, on the history of early Christianity, and several times of worship each day, but my own soul feels squinched. I wonder if there's space in my life for the big picture of why I'm here at seminary. 

So I ask my soul, "What would feed you? How can I be tender towards your needs?" The answers that come back are surprisingly simple - of course!   

photo credit: Duncan Millar                                                                     

♡   by taking time to savour the amazing world we live in, this incredible ecosystem that gives us all we need to exist - air to breathe, water to drink and bathe in, earth to stand upon and have a home on... How'd we get to be so lucky! 
I breathe in and remember this.

♡   by asking the big questions and opening to improbable answers. By listening gently, with no agenda. By waiting, being still, trusting.

♡   by never missing an opportunity to laugh, to rejoice in silliness, to engage in foolishness. Letting my child out to play.

♡   by giving myself enough sleep so that when I wake up I remember my dreams, those doorways into mystery and harbingers of wholeness.

♡   by remembering to ask myself – or maybe to ask the Holy – what am I called to be doing here? What are the lessons I need to learn so I can be of greater service when I return home? Gifting myself re-connection with my unique path, my distinct call.

There's probably more, only... those books are calling me and it's time to return to them!