BLOG
Inner Peace
September 22, 2007
A man is praying to God. “Lord,” he prays, “I would like to ask you a question.”
The Lord responds, “No problem. Go ahead.”
“Lord, is it true that a million years to me is but a second to you?”
“Yes, that is true.”
“Well, then, what is a million dollars to you?”
“A million dollars to me is but a penny.”
“Ah, then, Lord,” says the man, “may I have a penny?”
“Sure,” says the Lord. “Just a second.”
from Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar
by Cathcart & Klein
What a wonderful example of divine timing!
I’ve noticed that creative ideas come to me with divine timing. When I have something to write - a talk, an article, something for a class - I can sense potential topics floating around me. Now this is an interesting idea; I could go here and there with it. Is this the one? Because when it is right, I know it; it has chosen me, like it did for this talk.
Coming up with a topic for a talk is a tricky business. After an idea has chosen me, the universe seems to really bring that subject to the forefront of all areas of my life. Others experience this too; a colleague delivered a sermon on Trust and the week beforehand, she lost her notes, her computer got a virus, she misplaced her sources of information, and so on. I believe this has something to do with having to "walk the talk."
We teach what we need to learn (The Law of Authenticity)
My personal intentions for the past several months have been: 1) Remain aware of my connection to God. 2) Clarity of focus. Recent events prompted me to add another: 3) Inner peace.
I visited my "hometown" of Lily Dale, New York, three times this summer. The first time was basically a working week: I taught a class, led a daily meditation service, prepared a talk, and volunteered at the office. The second time I "vacationed" with my family, but that turned into a working week too - of cleaning and painting. The third trip was supposed to be a restorative one for me, with nothing to do besides take a workshop with a favorite instructor. But it turned into a working week of another kind altogether: Inner work. There I was all ready to be inspired, and instead I was SO IRRITATED by a classmate! Then my family members started to irritate me....
I knew I had to look inside for answers: What were these situations mirroring back to me? What was the universe showing me that I was ready to release, to heal, to transform? I found several things and worked on them (at least it was a productive week). That's when I added "inner peace" as a personal intention.
A few days later, after sharing my intentions with a colleague, I completed the day's lesson from A Course in Miracles in which the final stanza was: “And now at last I find myself at peace.” The next day, I pulled a card from an oracle deck; the card I chose was “Inner Peace.” The following day, I suggested that a colleague attend a silent retreat because the answers she sought could be found in the silence - and I knew immediately the message was also for me. And when I read the next day's lesson from A Course in Miracles, the topic for my next talk was right there in the text:
I visited my "hometown" of Lily Dale, New York, three times this summer. The first time was basically a working week: I taught a class, led a daily meditation service, prepared a talk, and volunteered at the office. The second time I "vacationed" with my family, but that turned into a working week too - of cleaning and painting. The third trip was supposed to be a restorative one for me, with nothing to do besides take a workshop with a favorite instructor. But it turned into a working week of another kind altogether: Inner work. There I was all ready to be inspired, and instead I was SO IRRITATED by a classmate! Then my family members started to irritate me....
I knew I had to look inside for answers: What were these situations mirroring back to me? What was the universe showing me that I was ready to release, to heal, to transform? I found several things and worked on them (at least it was a productive week). That's when I added "inner peace" as a personal intention.
A few days later, after sharing my intentions with a colleague, I completed the day's lesson from A Course in Miracles in which the final stanza was: “And now at last I find myself at peace.” The next day, I pulled a card from an oracle deck; the card I chose was “Inner Peace.” The following day, I suggested that a colleague attend a silent retreat because the answers she sought could be found in the silence - and I knew immediately the message was also for me. And when I read the next day's lesson from A Course in Miracles, the topic for my next talk was right there in the text:
“Let every voice but God’s be still in me. Father, today I would but hear Your Voice. In deepest silence I would come to You, to hear Your Voice and to receive Your Word. I have no prayer but this: I come to You to ask You for the truth.“
I spent most of that day in silence. Since then, I have done several meditations to cultivate inner stillness - not an easy task, even for someone who has had a daily meditation practice for many years.
(Does this surprise you? It is a common misconception that a person must quiet their mind to meditate. If your purpose for meditating is to reduce stress, improve concentration, or foster creative ideas, there are many active meditations you can use. However, if you want to experience your connection with the Divine, the best way I have found is to become absolutely still and go into deepest silence).
So I asked Spirit for practical ways to help cultivate stillness and silence during meditation. I used Animal Medicine cards to receive Spirit's response and I was surprised by the card I drew...until I read the description. I drew the card "Squirrel," which is all about gathering. I found particularly insightful the following passages from Medicine Cards by Sams & Carson:
“If Squirrel has scurried into your cards today…the message could be to lighten your load if you have gathered too many ‘things’ that do not serve you. These ‘things’ can include thoughts, worries, pressures, stresses…. Squirrel has another lesson which can aid you…it has to do with the safe place in which to put your gatherings. This safe place is an untroubled heart and mind, and that which is gathered to put in this place is wisdom and caring.”
Two suggestions here: 1) lighten your load and 2) create a safe place.
Let’s lighten the load first. One way is to make a list of everything you want to do - all of the things about your life that you plan for, worry about, resist, get attached to, and micro-manage. I made the biggest list I’ve ever made in my life, and I called it the "To-Do List for the Universe." Yep, I made a comprehensive honey-do list and I gave it to God.
Now when I wake up each day, I don’t have worry thoughts hanging over my head. I simply decide the things that I will take action on that day - the list items that are ready for me to do. Like preparing a talk: if the big idea isn’t ready to unfold, if it isn’t ready for me to develop, then it stays on God’s list and I work on something else. Lighten your load.
Next let’s create a safe place, a sanctuary. This is one of the best ways to cultivate any meditation practice: Create a sacred space - a physical sanctuary to support your spiritual sanctuary. Make it beautiful and comfortable, a place in which you will love to spend time. And hold it sacred - don’t watch TV or pay your bills there - it’s supposed to be a haven from the mundane.
You can build on this concept of sanctuary through ritual also. Commit to doing your meditation practice at the same time every day. You might even create a ritual to start and end your meditation time with prayer, gentle movement, breathing, or reading from a sacred text. I simply say something like, “God, I love you so. I want only to be in your presence.” This is something I do just before I begin these stillness meditations, and it really works.
So, lighten your load, and create a sanctuary. Two things that will help you cultivate silence, which fosters inner peace. I have great confidence in these suggestions, and so does Spirit, as was demonstrated to me synchronistically this morning, as I read today’s lesson from A Course In Miracles. It appears that we’ve come full circle:
“This day I choose to spend in perfect peace.”