Morning meditation for Monday

 

The moniker for our era [is often called] “the information age.” And yet, while we have more information than ever before, we don’t seem to actually live much better. In fact, many of us feel more anxious, scattered, and distracted than just a few decades ago.  John Mark Comer

 

We swim in a sea of words competing for our attention every day.  Here you are reading a morning meditation from me, perhaps while the morning news is on in the background or your phone just dinged with a text from someone, and then you remember something you need to do or pick up, but on your way to write that down you see something that is broken, and you need to get repaired.

 

That is just a snapshot of a single moment in our day.  We have a twenty-four-hour news cycle that demands we stay up to date.  We have a phone that makes us accessible wherever we go and somewhere we picked up the notion that if we don’t respond immediately to a text, we are being rude.  We have emails piling up (probably in more than one account) and messages on social platforms like Facebook. 

 

In some ways I feel like that opening scene of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, where our green friend the Grinch declares, “Oh the noise! Oh the noise, noise, noise, noise! There's one thing I hate: oh the noise, noise, noise, noise!”

 

No wonder we are overwhelmed, can sometimes feel resentful or restless.  You may think it is just information you are consuming, but information can consume you.  Please re-read that last sentence letting it soak in!  What we encounter each day takes a mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual toil.  We are not robots, what we are experiencing here on earth is multiple crisis converging at the same time. This is on-top of the personal and relationship issues that can cause us to toss and turn each night.

 

Welcome to Thanksgiving 2021.

 

This week, I want to invite you into the four Spiritual practices John Mark Comer writes about in his book, How to Un-hurry.  One note, these are practices for spiritual/interior muscles you may have not used in a long time.  The point of the meditations this week is not that you will levitate or gain enlightenment or guaranteed to make you a guru by Friday.  Rather that you would breathe and be. 

 

In fact, that is the first prayer posture and practice is just that: breathe.

 

Pretty simple.  You do it every day without thinking.  But it is one of the most un-recognized superpowers you have.  Your breath, exhaling carbon dioxide and inhale oxygen is life-giving and life-sustain and absolutely essential. 

 

Imagine this morning breathing out/exhaling a celebration; inhale the laughter of God.

Exhale a moment you felt love; inhale God’s unceasing and unconditional love for you.

Exhale a concern that is causing storminess in your soul; inhale God’s presence and peace.

Exhale the unknown-ness of living in the world; inhale God’s Spirit that created in chaos.

Exhale the doubt and confusion; inhale a sense that you are beloved just for being.

 

Now, rather than looking at your calendar and to do list, ask yourself instead, “What do I want to be today?”  So often we get caught up in the vicious cycle of human “doings” and perpetual motion that we miss that we are human beings. 

 

Be in this moment, noticing your breath.  One final tip ~ when your exhale is longer than your inhale it can calm your brain and body.  So exhale to the count of six or eight, inhale to the count of four or five.  May this prayer practice and posture center you in God’s grace, peace, and love every moment today.  Amen.