Pebble Resting in the River (Part 2)
Vickie McArthur of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. -1 Corinthians 1:3
Many of us do not know how to allow our body and mind to rest. We always seem to be struggling in some way. In fact, struggling has become a kind of habit, a way of life where we have forgotten what living with ease even feels like. We cannot seem to resist being active, constantly looking for ways to distract ourselves from the subtle messages of healing, hidden deep in the protective armoring of our own hearts.
Thich Nhat Hanh says that resting may well be the most important practice for those of us born and raised in the Western world where our sense of worth is so caught up in the outer expression of what we do and what we have accomplished. Perhaps as we learn to rest, we will somehow learn how to be kinder to both ourselves and our planet. It’s all connected. When we take care of our own internal home, we take care of our collective home, Mother Earth.
Thich Nhat Hanh says that like the pebble in the river, during meditation we can allow ourselves to rest like the pebble at the bottom of the riverbed. In a posture of relaxation, we begin to let go of the struggle. We start to let go of our ideas about how meditation or yoga should be, or even try to stop our thoughts. We begin to rest in the natural flow of our own breath connected to the larger river of life. A spacious sense of awareness begins to open up. We may even find that this sense of spaciousness gets up off the mat or cushion and follows us back into our daily lives, even for a short time.
It takes a village to raise and take care of a child. It takes a village, a global village, to raise and take care of our planet. It takes a new evolution of consciousness and spirit that knows how to rest and renew itself, so we can all act from a place of creative empowerment instead of exhausted depletion, as we face the growing challenge of climate change and the global fear that is arising from seemingly hopeless situations around the world. Maybe the healing starts with our own body and mind. Maybe a Day of Nurturing Spirit is like the pebble tossed into the lake, with the effects rippling out in ever-expanding circles around the world.
Prayer Phrase
My ordinary life is a sacred place.
Spiritual Practice
Sacramental Living
“…our everyday ordinary lives are also sacred places, or put another way, the sacred place of our living. As dwellers within the Sacredness of Creation, there is potential to be aware and appreciate the holy within the ordinary. You may remember times when it felt like you were seeing the world through God’s eyes. That’s a good description for what it means to live sacramentally-to sense divine Spirit amid daily activities.” -Jane M. Gardner, “Sacramental Living,” September/October 2019 Herald, p. 5
How are you invited to live sacramentally today?
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.
