On the Minister's Mind

by Rev. Laine Morgan

I was talking with a neighbor friend earlier this week and our conversation turned to the reality that “there is a lot going on in the world.” She was overwhelmed by how much was going in the “wrong direction” and how helpless she felt to make things better. It seems I keep having this type of interaction wherever I go, and I am sure you can relate.

So, how do we respond and how do we take care of ourselves if we might be feeling these same things? 

Here are my thoughts today. I think we are exhausted from watching the world change before our very eyes and holding up our shields to try to keep our emotions at bay. I think we are overwhelmed with the idea that we somehow must fix it.  I think we feel invisible, and that our opinions and presence don’t matter in the bigger picture. I think all our very human reactions are normal, but they don’t have to be the end of our awareness.

We can also be aware that when we look back at a time when the world felt better to us, we were not individually responsible for that brighter day either. Whatever was flowing was not happening through our personal power that has somehow evaporated in this current chapter. We were no more visible at that time than we are now, and the picture then was just as big as it is today. 

The difference is that today we feel resistance to what we are seeing, and at some point, in the past we were welcoming what we saw, or we were oblivious to what was happening in the world because the headlines weren’t so disruptive.  Resistance is the discomfort we are carrying. The question becomes, how do we respond from a place of spiritual connection to that inner rise of resistance?

There is a powerful prayer called The Welcoming Prayer by Thomas Keeting, and when I read it I feel an inner relaxation I will offer to you -

"I welcome everything that comes to me today because I know it's for my healing. I welcome all thoughts, feelings, persons, situations, and conditions. I let go of my desire for power and control. I let go of my desire for approval, and I open to the love and presence of God. Amen."

Can you welcome everything that comes to you today, knowing that it is showing up FOR you, whether you approve or not? Can you accept that sometimes humanity needs hard things to reveal opportunities to heal and that everyone gets to determine their own rate of healing? Can you stay open to the love and presence of God right where you are and know it is everywhere present to all? If you can do those things, your suffering may ease and you can focus on your own personal work and creating joy and peace within your realm of influence. 

The choice of welcoming everything brings you to the present moment where you can respond instead of react. 

The pendulum of human conditions will always swing from one extreme to another and you can either relax and trust Spirit or be exhausted from trying to change the course of the race you do not control. Practice welcoming everything and see if your inner peace grows.