Our backyard
Up here in the very northern hemisphere, the new year has been welcomed in with an abundance of snow. Conditions at my favorite cross-country ski park are listing it as "fluffy." This is another way to describe it as ideal. The beauty of the season, the crisp cold, the blanket of snow covering the upcoming spring, all this makes it an ideal backdrop to think ahead and prep for the year ahead. Here are four areas I feel are important for me:
Rest.
Although this seemed like a funny way to start off, I am intrigued with rest. It certainly is nourishing, and it is based on ( or rests on) a profound trust - that God is governing all: all systems and functions of the body, of organizations and of nations. "God rests in action" makes me think of my activity as productive, efficient. During yesterday's skiing, I constantly reminded myself to rest in each stride which helped me relax into the movement and release any tension. Resting in action brought more fluidity and grace.
Be alert.
Just so the "rest" part doesn't fall into sleep, I am adding alertness. Alertness is sharp, is keen insight and means we stay open to experience more of God's infinite goodness. We are engaged, a part of life - not mere by-standers.
Work.
Once we accept an idea of God (like goodness, abundance, companionship, and so on) as already present, we can then get to work at demonstrating it. You know, like once you have accepted that 4+6 is 10, then you can find all sorts of ways to work with that idea by managing finances, baking, figuring out the mileage to your cousin's, etc. Likewise once we accept that God is All-present and All-good, we can get to work at seeing this goodness everywhere. Working diligently, striving and patiently persisting just throws off the baggage of chatter and puts us in the honest, naked pursuit of demonstrating spiritual being.
Love.
Connection. Redemption. Celebration. I wholeheartedly agree with MBEddy's statement about Love: "What a word! I am in awe before it. Over what worlds on worlds it hath range and is sovereign! the underived, the incomparable, the infinite All of good, the alone God, is Love." Yep. Love is something I'll be exploring eternally. MBEddy goes on to say:
Love is not something put upon a shelf, to be taken down on rare occasions with sugar-tongs and laid on a rose-leaf. I make strong demands on love, call for active witnesses to prove it, and noble sacrifices and grand achievements as its results. Unless these appear, I cast aside the word as a sham and counterfeit, having no ring of the true metal. Love cannot be a mere abstraction, or goodness without activity and power. (from Miscellaneous Writings, p. 249)
Please feel free to share your ideas for renewal!
To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.
