Meditations on God

Welcoming Grace

Grace is not something we can create.

It is not given to us through our efforts.

Nor can we think or believe our way into receiving it.

Grace is a gift freely given.

And, it is being given to us at all times.

It was given to us prior to our birth and will be continue to be given long after we have passed on.

We cannot make grace happen for ourselves or others.

All we can do is accept it.

Grace is there for us to acknowledge, welcome, and receive.

How we live, what we think, and what we believe may make this acceptance of grace either easier or more difficult for us.

But, when grace wants to have its way with us, nothing can stop it.

Grace, once experienced, begins to break down our internal walls so that its light can work its way into our hearts.

This is not guaranteed to be an easy or a comfortable process.

We may try to resist, ignore, or reject grace, but we will suffer for our efforts.

If we allow it, however, grace will transform us such that we become an example of the compassion, mercy, and comfort that it offers to us and all who welcome it into our lives.

May 15, 2021

compassion, grace, mercy

A Loving Vessel (Healing Trauma)

We are not responsible for either the consequences or the healing of the trauma that other people bring to a relationship with us.

The best we can do is to love them as they are and for who they are capable of becoming.

But, we cannot solve their problems or resolve their issues.

That is their work to do.

We can be compassionate observers to the process, but we are not saviors or direct healers.

That said, a loving relationship can help to facilitate healing, but the work that must be done in order to transcend trauma for good and all is internal.

If our love is going to aid in this process, we must be able to give it without any expectation of this result or any other.

Love with expectations is not love freely given.

It is conditional.

But, love that has the power to transform has no expectations nor does it have conditions.

The reason for this is because the love that has the power to transform does not come from us, so we have no right to expect or require anything in exchange for it.

Even if a person we love is changed through our love, if they are able to look inward and to face and transcend their trauma in part because of what our love represents to them, we did not do that for them.

We cannot do that for them.

Only love can do that and, even our love, if it is the kind of love that can transform others, is not really our love anyway.

We own no burden in someone else’s trauma if we did not cause it.

We are not responsible for their living with it, their working through it, or their healing from it.

The best we can hope for is to be a vessel for the kind of love that has the power to transform.

We must keep in mind, however, that which a vessel transports does not belong to the vessel.

May 14, 2021

healing, love, trauma

Waiting For A Solution

There are many problems that cannot be solved by thinking our way through them.

No amount of reason, creativity, or worry will solve them.

Sometimes the only solution is patience.

This is not easy, however, especially for those of us who are internally driven to action.

Waiting can feel like torture when we desperately want, or even need, to try to solve whatever problem we are faced with.

But, when nothing can be done, we must make our home in the waiting.

We must embrace the need to be patient and become comfortable there.

This is neither careless nor is it lazy.

Patience is not apathy or sloth.

Patience requires discipline and effort.
In fact, more often than not, patience requires faith.

May 13, 2021

faith, patience, problems, solutions

Maintaining A Generous Spirit

When we give someone else the benefit of the doubt and they disappoint us, take advantage of us, or betray us, it does not mean that we were wrong in doing so.

We cannot allow the selfish actions or poor decisions of one person, or a few people, dictate how we perceive or interact with the world.

We have to maintain our bearing regardless of hurt feelings.

This means fighting the temptation to give in to cynicism.

Our cynicism will not change the people we were hurt by anyway.

Meanwhile, this negativity, if we allow it to fester, will destroy us from the inside out.

It will eat away at our optimism and our relationships will begin to suffer.

If we let this go too far, we will eventually find ourselves sad and alone, all because our generosity was not received the way we had hoped it would be.

It is far better to remain open, to keep an optimistic outlook, and to maintain a generous spirit regardless of the outcomes of our generosity.

There is nothing to be gained by hardening our hearts simply because we were let down by someone when we were kind.

There is, however, a lot to be lost by doing so.

If we have a generous spirit, we should not try to change who we are simply because of what others have chosen to do with our generosity.

Generosity, if it is genuine and sincere, has nothing to do with outcomes anyway.

Generosity is a gift freely given to others.

What they choose to do with that gift is really none of our business.

We are in the business of giving, after all, not in the business of dictating outcomes.

May 12, 2021

generosity, kindness, optimism

Infinite Comfort

Every tragedy, hardship, and difficulty we experience in life is an opportunity to either become more self-sufficient or more God-reliant.

Self-sufficiency will take us quite far.

It will get us through many challenges in life.

In fact, self-sufficiency will even enable us set up conditions in our lives that will relieve or, more likely, postpone our suffering for quite some time.

But, inevitably, self-sufficiency will fail us.

Tragedy will strike, hardships will befall us, and difficulties will arise that we simply cannot overcome on our own.

They will shake us to the core of our being and will cause us to question everything we previously held to be true.

No matter how smart we may be, no matter how much effort we can muster, and regardless of hard we try, we will realize that some things, the most important things, are entirely beyond our ability to control them.

In these moments, if our entire identity and sense of security is based on our self-sufficiency, we will feel lost, confused, and frightened when we realize that it has failed us.

If we are fortunate and willing enough to see, we may come to realize that our finite powers were never going to be enough to get us through the worst that life has to offer.

Nor are they enough to allow us to experience the best that life has to offer.

This realization, if we allow it to, can drive us to seek out and come to rely on a power greater than ourselves for comfort, guidance, and security.

This power, which many people call God, existed prior to our suffering, exists amidst our suffering, and will exist long after our suffering has passed.

It is an infinite source of hope, peace, and comfort.

All it needs from us is for us to be willing to receive, trust, and rely on it.

Tragedy will still strike, hardships will still befall us, and difficulties will still arise that we cannot overcome on our own, but, when they do, we will be comforted by the fact that we are not alone and that this, too, shall pass with the deepest, truest, and most permanent part of who we are unharmed and intact.

May 11, 2021

difficulites, god, hardship, self reliance, self sufficiency, tragedy

Welcoming Grace

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A Loving Vessel (Healing Trauma)

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Waiting For A Solution

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Maintaining A Generous Spirit

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Infinite Comfort

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