Often when I go to the supermarket I can have an intention to buy one particular thing and end up buying many things that have attracted my attention. There is probably a science that has been created to gather things we think we may need but then wonder why we bought them. It seemed important at the time but when we return home we find that we have not found the very thing that we needed.
I believe we encounter the same thing in spiritual life. We enter into prayer so that we can grow in a deeper relationship with God. This is allowing us time to quiet the mind and the heart from the many thoughts and emotions that can flood in when we sit down for a time of reflection. We can become caught in a cycle of mental or emotional acrobatics as we swing from one thing to the next. Yet the time of contemplation is to notice that moment when we release ourselves from what is familiar towards the trapeze which swings before us. In mid-flight, we can panic realizing that we are mid-air with nothing to support us. This can feel unfamiliar and this can cause us to notice our own vulnerability of leaping out into the dark. Yet if we allow ourselves to relax we are caught in a moment where we can trust that we will be caught by the person we have launched ourselves towards.
This is the trust where we allow our day to unfold out of this prayerful space. It allows us to notice that there is a dynamic tension in which God calls us to let go and trust. In this very moment, we discover a way of living that notices the present moment where God is at work and gives us direction and purpose. This allows us to use all our gifts to be available to God and others as the person we are called to become. We focus on what is needed for this moment and this time.
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