Food for the Soul | May 6th, 2020

5/6/2020

Dear Friends,

Are you feeling the weight of our current times? Is your patience running out? Maybe you are yearning to return to a normal life, a yearning for the good old days. However, the more I think about that the more I am convinced that we are onto something new. I feel like God is holding us in a liminal space, an in-between place in which we are still discerning how to move forward.

A PRAYER   –   A PRACTICE   –   A POEM

A PRAYER

Prayer during a Pandemic

Loving God, Holy One,
Your desire is for our wholeness and
well-being.

We hold in tenderness and prayer
the collective suffering of our
world at this time.

We grieve precious lives lost and
vulnerable lives threatened.

We ache for ourselves and our
neighbors, standing before an
uncertain future.

We pray: may love, not fear, go viral.

Inspire our leaders to discern and
choose wisely, aligned with the
common good.
Help us to practice social distancing
and reveal to us new and creative
ways to come together in spirit
and in solidarity.
Call us to profound trust in your
faithful presence,
You, the God who does not abandon,
You, the Holy One,
breathing within us,
breathing among us,
breathing around us
in our beautiful yet
wounded world.

– Sisters of IHM, Scranton, PA

A PRACTICE

Everything in our universe is in a constant state of flux. That means we move from one state through liminality to a new state. This requires leaving familiar things behind, detaching from the old ways in order to bring about the new . The separation may be painful and inflict suffering. Yet to be human is to be creative: co-creative with God. After leaving things behind we then move into a liminal space where we remain until the needed creative energy takes hold of us and propels us to a new place. This liminal place is where the metamorphosis occurs. Metamorphosis at its own speed, it will occur when the time is right; but we can create the environment for it to occur: letting go of all pre-conceptions, just letting go, allowing time and space for just being.

Try this exercise:

Quiet your mind by whatever means is familiar to you. Silence, along with attention to your breathing, is always a good, simple choice. As you do so, try to empty your mind of the concerns that weigh on you. Watch them, let them go by, and let yourself become detached from them. Do the same with thoughts, ideas, and plans. Let your mind become as empty as it can, without straining. Turn your attention now toward the future. As you sit quietly, you may want to open your hands, turning the palms upward, remaining in silence. The open palms indicate your acceptance. Whatever will come, you will receive it. Whatever happens tomorrow, there you will look to find God’s presence. “Seek God’s face always,” says the psalmist. Always, in whatever happens.

— Arthur Green in Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow

A POEM

Let it Go   by Danna Faulds

Let go of the ways you thought life would unfold;
the holding of plans or dreams or expectations – Let it all go.
Save your strength to swim with the tide.
The choice to fight what is here before you now
will only result in struggle, fear and desperate attempts to flee
from the very energy you long for. Let it go.

Let it all go and flow with the grace
that washes through your days
whether you receive it gently
or with all your quills raised to defend against invaders.
Take this on faith: the mind may never find
the explanations that it seeks,
but you will move forward nonetheless.

Let go, and the wave’s crest
will carry you to unknown shores,
beyond your wildest dreams or destinations.
Let it all go and find the place of rest
and peace, and certain
transformation.