Daily Bread July 17

Being Mindful
Margaret Polly of Salem, OR, USA


Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving…Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone. -Colossians 4:2, 5-6

I stomped out to the cold garage one more time to move laundry out of the washer into the dryer. It had been a trying, difficult week and I wanted to get chores done in order to rest the following day, the Sunday Sabbath. It felt like my life had become an endless cycle of laundry, dishes, cleaning, and care-giving.

As I opened the dryer, the warm air whooshed out and encircled me. Stop. Listen. I stood in the stillness and took five gentle breaths. Be mindful. Be in the moment; be aware of the gift of the moment.

Mindfulness has never been my strong quality. Usually I am anxious about the future or living in the past. The recent past (meaning this week!) had given us the “opportunity” to purchase a new water heater when ours unceremoniously died. This had followed the recent demise of both our refrigerator and dishwasher. I felt overwhelmed and angry.

The gentle call to stop and listen and become aware was surely from the Divine. Standing in the garage, holding clean warm socks in my hands, I opened my heart. I listened.

The new water heater was humming along. I considered that my brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico and Syria and many other places had no energy for hot water and often did not even have clean water. Although it would take time to pay off the new refrigerator and water heater, we would be able to do so. Many people could not. The dishwasher? It would have to wait, but this also we could do.

Being mindful and open to the Spirit led to gratitude. My life is so blessed with happy relationships, a warm secure home, and opportunities to lovingly serve others. There is tremendous beauty in my life when I look for it, and when I embrace it, I am content.

We find what we are looking for, whether it is negative or positive. To me, when Jesus said to seek first the Kingdom and that the kingdom is within, this is what he meant.

Stop. Listen. Seek. Find.

Prayer Phrase

“Your mercies are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22-23, adapted).

Spiritual Practice

Ordinary Time is a season for noticing the details of life that make up its substance. This month, we invite you to pay attention with each fresh morning to the gift of being alive. Before getting out of bed, take a few deep breaths and notice what it feels like to wake up in your own body. Engage the tasks of your unfolding day with reverence-brushing your teeth, making the bed, pouring the coffee, tending the kids, feeding the animals, making breakfast, etc. Notice the presence of the Holy in every ordinary thing. Embrace your daily routines with sacramental significance. Notice how long you can do this before your attention is taken away, and commit to returning to this simple awareness as gently and often as you can.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

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