Seven Sacred Pauses

Examen of Consciousness

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I’m still mulling over that little book, Seven Sacred Pauses by Macrina Wiederkehr. Did I agree 100% with every paragraph and sentence? No. Would I recommend it? Yes, for those with discernment. Did I love it? Yes.

One of the parts that resonated deeply with me was a section called the examen of consciousness, questions to ask yourself at the end of the day to see if you lived deliberately and mindfully instead of simply existing.

These are good questions for each of us to ponder at the close of another Monday:

  • Have I been a good memory in anyone’s life today?
  • Have the ears of my heart opened to the voice of God?
  • Have the ears of my heart opened to the needs of my sisters and brothers?
  • Have the eyes of my heart beheld the Divine face in all created things?
  • What do I know, but live as though I do not know?
  • Have I been a good student of the hours today?
  • How have I affected the quality of this day?
  • Have I been blind or deaf to the blessings of the day?
  • Is there anyone, including myself, whom I need to forgive?
  • When did I experience my heart opening wide today?
  • Have I worked with joy or drudgery?
  • Have I waited with grace or with impatience?
  • What is the one thing in my life that is standing on tiptoe crying, “May I have your attention please?” What needs my attention?” (Macrina Wiederkehr, Seven Sacred Pauses)

Hopefully, someone has asked you one or more of these questions today. All of us need at least one person to hold us accountable and not let us off with pat answers to the tough questions. We all need someone who will call us out on our crap and who will hold us up to being our very best selves.

Next, I think I’ll tackle reading through The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien yet again. Wish me luck.

The Liturgy of the Hours: A Beautiful Prayer

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I finished The Seven Sacred Pauses by Macrina Wiederkehr and ran across this beautiful prayer that I had to share with you:

“Dear Artist of the Universe, Beloved Sculptor, Singer, and Author of my life, born of your image I have made a home in the open fields of your heart. The magnetic tug of your invitation to grow is slowly transforming me into a gift for the world. Mentor me into healthy ways of living.
—Help me remember to pause.

Make of me a faithful vigil in the heart of darkness, I want to be a sentinel through all the dark hours. When the deep darkness falls, let me be your star. Name me One Who Watches Through the Night. Reveal to me the holiness of lingering with mystery. Employ me in the holy art of waiting.
—O teach me to live with a vigilant heart.

Make of me a dawn. Let me be a small voice of joy, rising with the sun. Color me with sunrise. Let me be your awakening first light of new day. Make me a joyful, unexpected surprise in the lives of many, an everlasting birthday. I want to be your goodness rising, your grace poured forth in every hour. Name me Dawn, sweet beginning of every day, gift for a sleepy world.
—O make of me a rising dawn.

Make of me a midmorning blessing. As you breathe me into this day, let me become your breath. Transform me into early morning sun, bright with potential and possibility. Let me be your love made visible. Sing through me in the mid-morning hours. Make me your musical instrument.
—Strum a melody of blessing with my life.

Make me your noonday sun, bright with passion, on fire with truth, enduringly courageous. Let me be light for the world. Create in me a nonviolent heart. O let me be your heart. Help me believe the truth about myself no matter how beautiful it is. Let me be the peace for which I pray. Teach me to energize others, to stir up their enthusiasm without overwhelming them.
—Make my power to love stronger than my love of power.

Make of me a midafternoon shadow that I may soften the intensity of the sun. Let me be shade. Robe me with wisdom. Enable me to be at home with impermanence. Teach me the dance of surrender. O make of me a great letting go. May the sacred emptiness of my life help others to know fullness. May I never fear a death that brings me life.
—Let me rejoice in the harvest of each dying day.

Make of me a twilight: wake of color, trail of glory. In the evening of life transform me into a song of gratitude. I want to be an evening star for those who have lost their way. I want to be beauty at the end of each day. On my pilgrimage through the day, write mystery stories with my life. Out of my faithful attendance to the hours pour forth the incense of your praise.
—Transform me into a song of gratitude.

Make me your holy darkness, your blessed night. Transform me into a great silence that drowns out distracting noises. Fashion me into one who sees with the eyes of the soul. I long to be a protective mantle of comforting darkness for all who need rest. Give me insight into the Holy Mystery that cradles me through the night.
—O make of me your night prayer.

Help me to remember to pause on my daily pilgrimage through the hours. Teach me to live with a vigilant heart. Make of me a rising dawn. Strum a melody of blessing with my life. Make my power to love stronger than my love of power. Let me rejoice in the harvest of each dying day. Transform me into a song of gratitude. Make of me your night prayer. Enfold me in the circle of your Time-Enduring-Now, even as it was in the beginning  and shall be forever. Amen.”

PS I highly recommend this book. You can pick it up at Amazon by following this link.

Keeping Vigil

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“There is a difference between waiting and keeping vigil. Anxious, fretful, impatient waiting is nothing more than waiting. Waiting with purpose, patience, hope, and love is vigilant waiting. Would that all of our waiting could be a vigil–a watch in the night or in the day hours. So by all means, find a way to make your vigils sacred. Learn the art of holy waiting. Whether you choose, on occasion, to get up in the middle of night, or whether you make an effort to turn your everyday moments of waiting in sacred vigils rather than impatient pacing, you will be blessed through this spiritual practice” (Macrina  Wiederkehr, Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day).

The difference between waiting and keeping vigil is expectation. Simply waiting is assuming the worst, while keeping vigil is holding out hope for God’s best. Waiting fixates on hoping the circumstance will change, while keeping vigil is knowing that you will be the one to change (and trusting that God will do the changing).

Keeping vigil is waiting intentionally. Instead of being idle or unfocused, we are using the time to pray about the matter and create spaces in which God can move and speak.

I’ve learned through time spent waiting that it’s better not to pin my hopes on a certain desired outcome (that job offer or that certain someone to like you or that package in the mail), but rather to put my confidence in God who sees a much bigger picture than I do and has a much more vast plan in mind than I can currently conceive.

“Patience is power.
Patience is not an absence of action;
rather it is ‘timing’
it waits on the right time to act,
for the right principles
and in the right way” (Fulton J. Sheen).

 

 

September Song

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Hello-September-Graphic

“By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer’s best of weather,
And autumn’s best of cheer.

But none of all this beauty
Which floods the earth and air
Is unto me the secret
Which makes September fair.

‘T is a thing which I remember;
To name it thrills me yet:
One day of one September
I never can forget”

(Helen Hunt Jackson).

September is here. That means that all my checks that I write this month– both of them– will have a 9 for the date instead of an 8.

September still means hot weather. We are talking about Tennessee weather where summer sticks around like the unwanted house guests from old movie Madhouse (starring John Larroquette and Kirstie Alley). Seriously, it won’t leave.

It also means that fall and everything pumpkin spice is just around the corner. Soon enough, the weather will turn crisp and the leaves will turn golden and autumn will make a quiet and solemn entrance.

September means a much-needed holiday weekend that 99% of the working world has been looking forward to since July. For real.

September means that we are closer to Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas– the holy trinity of holidays for retailers.

It’s easy to get so caught up in wanting to jump forward to the next season that you forget to pay attention to the present. You can be so fixated on the future that you auto-pilot through the present.

I’m reading an excellent book called Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day. The goal is to live intentionally and mindfully through each day, so that you don’t miss what God is saying to you in the present moment.

To slow down and savor life is hard. It’s easy to want to rush through the day to get to the evening. It’s just as easy to blow through week to get to Friday. In that way, the days turn into weeks that turn into months that slip by unlived and unloved.

I’m looking forward to all the pumpkin spice, bonfires, s’mores, flannel, and crisp air that I can lay my hands on, but I’m also looking forward to tomorrow. I want it to become the best today possible.

 

 

A Blessing Prayer

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I’m in the middle of reading Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day by Macrina Wiederkehr. I found this beautiful prayer that echoes my prayer for all you who are reading this right now:

“What is a blessing but a rain of grace falling generously into the lives of those in need; and who among us is without need?
May the Spirit touch your spirit in this midmorning pause.
May this day be a pathway strewn with blessings.
May your work this day be your love made visible.
May you breathe upon the wounds of those with whom you work.
May you open yourself to God’s breathing.
May you honor the flame of love that burns inside you.
May your voice this day be a voice of encouragement.
May your life be an answer to someone’s prayer.
May you own a grateful heart.
May you have enough joy to give you hope, enough pain to make you wise.
May there be no room in your heart for hatred.
May you be free from violent thoughts.
When you look into the window of your soul may you see the face of God.
May the lamp of your life shine upon all you meet this day” (Macrina Wiedekehr).

I can only add one more sentiment– may you be so filled with Jesus that you are able to serve out of the overflow of a joyful heart, so that those who cross your path will know they have been in the presence of the risen Christ.

 

 

The Space Between the Words

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“The spirit lives in the space between the words. The danger in becoming too wordy is that we miss the space between the words” (Macrina Wiederkehr, Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day).

I often think about something I learned in one of my advertising classes at Union University. The key when you’re creating an ad is not to cram in as many words and images as possible onto a flyer or a brochure. People would be overwhelmed by all the information hitting them all at once, and thus be highly unlikely to actually read the ad.

White space in an ad is extremely important in allowing the eye to rest and emphasizing the words and images.

Most of us live our lives at such a frenetic pace, trying to fill every possible space with words and activity and doing. No wonder so many of us feel like we’re running in place, exerting a great deal of energy but not really moving any place.

It’s vitally important to create margins in our lives. Those are the white spaces where we find rest. It’s also crucial to embrace silence and stillness not as enemies of our productivity but as allies in our quest to work and play smarter and not just harder.

How can any of us hear God speak if we leave no space between our words and our deeds? How can any of us grow into the grace of God apart from margins and boundaries?

No one naturally gravitates toward silence and stillness. Most of us will, left to our own devices, trend toward the tyranny of the urgent instead of nurturing and caring for what is most important– our communion with our Maker.

“When all the sheep have been gathered, [The Good Shepherd] walks on ahead of them; and they follow him because they know his voice” (John 10:4, The Voice).

My Report for August (Borrowed from TCM)

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I’ve done this type of post before where I write about what I am listening to, reading, and watching in hopes that it might inspire you to share what you’re absorbing these days. Plus, if you’re stuck on ideas, these might be worth checking out at some point in the future.

Musicwise, I am obsessed with the songwriting of Lori McKenna. I’ve trekked home for two days successively with her albums Massachusetts and The Bird & The Rifle. Both are worth picking up if you happen to run across them in a record store. Both are filled with songs that remind me of why I fell in love with music in the first place.

Bookwise, I am about to embark on the latest in the Harry Potter universe with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I’m curious to see how this entry matches the tone and feel of the other books in the series (seeing as how it’s actually a stage play authored by someone other than J. K. Rowling).  I’m also extremely stoked to finally have my hands on a little devotional book entitled Seven Sacred Pauses by Macrina Wiederkehr (which I am fully expecting to rock my world).

I’m revisiting the strange and wonderful world of Twin Peaks, the short-lived, quirky, sometimes bizarre series that is slated to finally get around to its third season 26 years after the last episode aired way back in 1991. Maybe this means that Firefly will have a much-belated second season at some point in the near future? A brown-coat can dream.

Moviewise, I seem to be stuck on a Ingmar Bergman kick. Lately, I’ve watched both Through a Glass Darkly and Winter Light, two out of a trilogy based on Bergman’s struggle with God and faith. I don’t necessarily agree with some of his conclusions, but I have to admire that he was a brilliant filmmaker who was much more interested in creating art with a message than mass-producing eye candy that sells a lot of movie tickets.

That wraps up my report for August. Stay tuned for the next time I get around to writing about all the media I’m consuming. As always, I’d love to hear what you’re listening to/reading/watching these days. I just may add it to my ever-growing list.