“You don’t have to
prove anything” my mother said. “Just be ready
for what God sends“
Poet William Stafford died of a heart attack in August 1993, having written a poem that morning with these words…
Just be ready
Tag: Life
Completeness
The start of a New Year often gives rise to a restless energy, thoughts of needing to do better, to achieve more, to comparing our actual life with some better life, berating ourselves for perceived failures and shortcomings. Dogen reminds us to let go of this drama, these continually shifting ideas created by the mind, and rest in a sense of completeness
No creature ever falls short of its own completeness
Wherever it stands it does not fail to cover the ground.
Dogen
…and let expectations subside
There are several aspects to meditation that are part of establishing friendship with yourself. One is mindfulness. Mindfulness is keeping track, or keeping a pulse, of being there, in a nonjudgmental way. There is no good or bad. Everything is allowed to be. Among other things, mindfulness is a stabilizing or pacifying influence. The panic of everyday life and every expectation laid on life can subside.
This is a huge relief.
It is called the discovery of peace.
Carolyn Rose Gimian, What’s Good About Being You
Sunday: The messiness of real life
It’s odd in a way, this business of Perfect Christmasses. The story of the first Christmas is the story of a series of completely unplanned, messy events – a surprise pregnancy, an unexpected journey that’s got to be made, a complete muddle over the hotel accommodation when you get there… Not exactly a perfect holiday.
But it tells us something really vital. We try to plan all this stuff and stay in charge, and too often (especially with advertisers singing in our ears the whole time) we think that unless we can cook the perfect dinner, plan the perfect wedding, organise the perfect Christmas, we somehow don’t really count or we can’t hold our heads up.
But in the complete mess of the first Christmas, God says, ‘Don’t worry – I’m not going to wait until you’ve got everything sorted out perfectly before I get involved with you. I’m already there for you in the middle of it all, and if you just let yourself lean on me a bit instead of trying to make yourself and everything around you perfect by your own efforts, everyone will feel a little more of my love flowing’.
Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, Pause for Thought, BBC Radio 2.
Living simply
I taught myself to live simply and wisely,
to look at the sky and pray to God,
and to wander long before evening to tire my superfluous worries.
Anna Akhmatova, 1889 – 1966 I Taught Myself to Live Simply
Not limiting oneself
Forget distinctions
Leap into the boundless
and make it your own.
Zhuang Zhou, Chinese philosopher, 4th century BC
Mindfulbalance 