Integrity is Sexy (So is Silly, Honest & Kind; Litter is Not)

Recently a friend and I hiked to the top of majestic Council Rock where, legend says, Lenape used to hold meetings.  I think the face of it looks like one of these ancestors.  Whether or not it's true, what's true to me is that it feels like sacred space.  Except for the litter.  It drives me crazy, my friend too.  I picked up a lone orange lid and some paper which my friend then took to the trashcan only twenty feet away.  We then sat on Council Rock until our rumbling stomachs told us it was time to fix lunch.  But we parted in different directions purposefully. 
Before the climb, we had each picked a word to use with walking mediation for the return trip.  I had picked "integrity" and grumbled about it.  My friend said, "integrity is sexy," and the phrase stuck with me. Because we were returning in silence, we each chose a different path.  I decided to go back the way that we had come which meant I would need to boulder down and hold on to tree roots.  I was especially ill-prepared, wearing dress boots with no grip to counter the slippery leaves.  Also, I found more trash at the start of my climb down.  Because I needed my hands free, I had to throw the trash a few feet in front of me and keep doing that all the way down.  I had to laugh at how "unsexy" this must have looked to nearby hikers, but I didn't care because "integrity is sexy" was playing over and over in my head.
After journaling about this experience the next day, I picked a postcard from A BOOK THAT TAKES ITS TIME, An Unhurried Adventure in Creative Mindfulness by Irene Smit and Astrid van der Hulst.  The decorative side of it said "Be silly, be honest, be kind."  This seemed to fit the walking meditation experience perfectly! It will also be something I know I will come back to at some point in my journal which is good, because it's not easy to pull off, "Be silly, be honest, be kind."         
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, the community and I would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else.  Most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.
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Reflective questions:
1.  Consider the word "litter," literally and figuratively.  Which one defines the state you are in today?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, "God, what do you want me to know?")

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by MH

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling which is simply journaling what's on your heart and mind and then asking God* what else you should know (read more at CardinalTouch.net).

Give Thanks (Making Comparisons)

We all do it.....make comparisons, that is.  It is part of the human condition.  I write this today because I recognize that this Thanksgiving my family was able to participate in our usual traditions.  Last year we could not because of illness.  That's why this year it was so wonderful to do the "usual" and really take notice of it.  The planner in me doesn't always like the usual.  I like to do new, try new, meet new.  This year I was thrilled with the usual.
When I ask God* what I should know about this, I'm drawn to the opening prayer of last weekend's silent retreat:  "Creator, we celebrate your overflowing love, and we give thanks to all that we have, all that we are.  We know abundance because of you."
I believe we know abundance because we make comparisons.  Sometimes the comparisons lead us to feeling that we are in a space in which life is hard and there are obstacles to overcome.  We might feel scared or alone.  This can be a difficult time to be grateful.  For me, during these times. writing down my thoughts, concerns and fears is helpful.  It's also takes me to a place of calm when I write out gratitude lists in my journal, especially during stress-filled or anxious times. I try to come up with 36 things.  I list the events, people, places and things that happened the day before.  Often it is about the time I have spent outside because being out in "The Big Book," where everything is Creator-made, is a space where awe and wonder live.  It's here that if I can't find gratitude within, I can find gratitude from outside:  the various colors, different cloud types, the names of the birds and animals the weather, the wind, what's happening in the current season, and so forth.  Don't believe me.... go within and outside, make a comparison. Either way, give thanks.  You'll feel the difference.   
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, the community and I would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else.  Most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.
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Reflective questions:
1.  Do you feel like you're in a space of "less than" or abundance?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, "God, what do you want me to know?")

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by MH

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling which is simply journaling what's on your heart and mind and then asking God* what else you should know (read more at CardinalTouch.net).

Empty Days (Another Call to Stillness)

I've been told I'm a Golden Gal, defined as a woman fifty or older.  I like that term because it has an uplifting ring to it!  I must say, however, that I've been challenged these last few months with a sense of emptiness that comes with age.  My youngest is now off to college, leaving the house quiet, and while the first month was very freeing, I found the second two months leaving me feeling a little empty, especially in the afternoons.  Because I work from home, I enjoyed my kids coming and going, especially coming home from school mid-afternoon.  Now no family is with me until my husband gets home from work.

While I've added some freelance work to the work I do from home, it still leaves something to be desired during this afternoon space.  It's been suggested that I write during this time, but I do my best writing really early in the morning.  While this empty space is only a few hours, some days it is daunting.  That's why I wasn't happy when the twenty-four hour silent retreat rolled around.  Usually I long for it and love the November ones because it is right before the start of the holidays.  I had signed up for this one months ago, though, and now wasn't so certain about it. 

But of course it was just what I needed.  Twenty-four hours of silence can give us time to listen to our spirit's hunger, and for me, surprisingly, God/Spirit* said to "trust in the blessings of God's presence in our most empty days" (excerpted from the Opening Prayer the first evening of the retreat).

If you've been following my latest posts, you might have noticed a running theme which is a call to stillness.  Spirit keeps reminding me right now because it's in my nature to run full speed and fill this space.  But I haven't.  Not even at the retreat.  I didn't write prolifically like I usually do.  Instead I mostly read for pleasure and I tooled around with watercolors and then consciously left the paintings behind.  Bringing them home with me would have meant that I needed to do something with them, but that didn't feel right.  After all, Spirit had spoken.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, the community and I would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else.  Most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.
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Reflective questions:
1.  Do you long for or fear empty days?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, "God, what do you want me to know?")

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by MH

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling which is simply journaling what's on your heart and mind and then asking God* what else you should know (read more at CardinalTouch.net).

Knowing Part II (Use our Senses)

One of the ways I was taught to pray with the Bible is using the Lectio Devina Method.  You can read more about that here:  https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-what-how-why-of-prayer/praying-with-scripture.  It's about putting yourself into the story and asking yourself, "What do I see/hear/feel/taste?"

I was reminded about this method yesterday when I considered the pond fish and whether or not to feed them anymore.  There's so much advice out there by experts.  In this case, it's the pond experts, the fish experts, and the fish food experts.  They all say something a little bit different.  So who is one to take advice from?

The best advice for me (the advice that made me say "YES, YES, this feels right") is to put myself into the story, to put myself into my life by asking what do I see when I watch the fish?  Margaret Roach, who blogs about gardening, put me on to this thought wave with her latest blog post.  She wrote, "My fish actually tell me around October that they are done eating:  even if I toss pellets into the pool, they show disinterest once it's cold." 

How simple!  I can take advice from what's in front of me - in this case the fish - and determine next steps based on what I see, hear, taste and feel.

As a result, I used this advice again today.  In front of me I found a memoir I haven't read yet and also business cards from three women I met recently who asked me to speak at their synagogue and/or women's groups. It gave me a moment of pause and discomfort because they said they would contact me but I haven't heard anything.  I needed to decide on whether or not to follow up. 

Considering the hearing, seeing, feeling pieces, here's what I know: 

• Chasing a lead is what I was taught, but it is not what I feel to be best for me.  I am grateful that these women took steps based on seeing the promotion about the event and feeling that they should come to meet me.  They acted upon what they saw and felt and therefore our interaction that day was good.  The ball is in their courts again and that feels good to me.  

• Taking time to be still allows for hearing.  What I hear in my prayer time is that right now I will reach the destination by being instead of doing.  It's not to say that I should not work, it's that I shouldn't push.  Instead, I should relish this journey by taking time.  The right people are right in front of me, I see them, and I should savor (taste) these moments.  

• I have started reading that book.  It's called Waking Up in Eden by former journalist Lucinda Fleeson about leaving her career in Philadelphia and beginning a new one in Hawaii.   Doing so is putting me into a story where I am seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling and tasting with my imagination.  My senses are alive and this is where I KNOW I am to be at this moment.

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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, the community and I would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else.  Most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.
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Reflective questions:
1.  What do you KNOW based on what you see, hear, feel, smell and/or taste?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, "God, what do you want me to know?")

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by EJH

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling which is simply journaling what's on your heart and mind and then asking God* what else you should know (read more at CardinalTouch.net).

How Do We "Know"? (Developing Inner Spirit Wisdom)

So how do we KNOW it's God* that is with us and directing us? This is a question I've gotten in response to the content of my book, Sprouting Spiritual Growth.  As is usual for me, I don't have an answer right away (I'm one of those people who has the right answer hours after the conversation is done).  The good news is the question wasn't forgotten.  I've been collecting my thoughts because it's a tough question.  Today, when looking back in my journal, I found another nugget to help me formulate an answer. 

The answer I have today is that as we develop a deeper relationship with God (we sit in the stillness, we ask for direction, we ask questions), we come to KNOW by taking notice.  Here are things to notice:

• Our body gives us signals.  Our bodies were made to move back to equilibrium, to homeostasis.   We are not meant to stay at the edges of the continuum that is flight or fight at one end and total lethargy at the other.  Because I believe God created man, I believe that God made our bodies in a way that keeps us in relationship with God.  
• Our minds notice when a thought is good and when a thought is wasteful.  When we move towards the good, we come into a space of self-acceptance and self-love, of God.    
• Our hearts/souls repel from certain activities.   If we are doing activities that have been thrust upon us as "you have to do this", and "to be successful, you must do that, and they don't make our hearts sing, it's time to stop those activities.  Moving away from the activities which repel our heart will God will give us direction.  The right people and ideas will be on our path.  If we are drawn to it, we can KNOW that it is good.  If we repel from it, it is not right for us.

This is not to say that it's easy to stay in this space.  It requires action on our part.  It requires faith. This is not easy for me!  That's why I'm grateful for the reminders of the body, mind and soul.  Lately my shoulders have been tense, I've noticed it and I've journaled about it.  My heart has not been singing because I am rushing (to write another book, to follow through on too many marketing ideas).  I sometimes find it hard to not jump on what others who have been successful tell me I should do.  When I do follow my heart's desires, like in the last two days, there is a KNOWING that it's all I need to do because God is in these very simple desires (enjoy the people who are in front of you, who have asked for a relationship, who are drawn to you). 

When I recognized that my body was talking back and I asked God* what I should know about this, God reminded me to stop pushing so hard (I'm getting off the November National Novel Writing Month train), enjoy what's in the every day (look out my windows at the birds, the more I do, the more likely I'll see a migrant), come back to stillness (God waits for me here).

If this repels you, it is not your niche.  Shelley Hitz, author and speaker, said to me and other conference attendees recently, "Your niche should repel the wrong reader."  If the idea of journaling, giving consideration to your body, mind and soul is repelling to you, move into the direction that you KNOW.  
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, the community and I would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else.  Most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.
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Reflective questions:
1.  What do you KNOW?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, "God, what do you want me to know?")

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by MH

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling which is simply journaling what's on your heart and mind and then asking God* what else you should know (read more at CardinalTouch.net).