Good Monday Is Not an Oxymoron.
Monday: Day of the Moon (Galileo)
Monday gets talked about a great deal. Not much of the talk is about how great it is. Since it is 1/7 of our time, let’s consider it from other perspectives.
One Wednesday 22 years ago, I was in Reagan National Airport, waiting to catch a plane. I was 56 years old at the time. Suddenly, this occurred to me: 56 divided by 7 equals 8; my 56 years equaled 8 years Saturday, Sunday, Monday…. One of my favorite conversation starters since then has been:
“How old are you?”
“I’m 35.”
“So you’ve lived 5 years of Mondays?!”
Of course, most of the time their age isn’t divisible by 7 and I round up or down. Almost all of the time the conversation goes along the lines of well, not nearly a seventh of my life has been bad, so Monday must get more negative press than it deserves.
The English name from the Latin dies lunae, day of the moon. Or MoonDay, thankfully shortened to Monday. How many times do you look at and feel awe at the beauty of the moon, in any of its phases?
The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates saints on Mondays. Considered the day of the angels as well. And, remember, “Monday’s child is fair of face.” Consider the tradition (at least in NYC) of doing the laundry on the work week’s first day.
We pour grief on Monday in lots of ways. “Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.” How about: “Monday, Monday. Can’t trust that day.” Ahh, but there’s the lead line in Carole King’s Beautiful: “You’ve got to get up every morning, with a smile on your face, and show the world all the love in your heart.” She says “every morning”, no exceptions.
Enter “Monday psychology” in Google and the lists of Monday malaise fill the monitor screen. Some relief that one or two sites offer some antidotes(1) to Monday blues(2).
Monday can be …. is …. what we want it to be.
A Prayer for Monday Starts
Power and Presences of All We Do,
you give us our ability to see and know and create
everything we do with your blessings.
We are able to see the clouds and know there’s sun
on the other side.
We are able to wake up every day and see our work
as challenge and cheer waiting for our enjoyment.
We are able to know we are One with You
and know Monday is our human invention
that has only the meanings we give it.
Thank you, Spirit, for allowing us to free ourselves.
And so it is. And so we let it be. Amen
Love and blessings,
19 June 2017
In: Happiness, Inner Peace, Prayer, Time, Work · Tagged with: Peace, Prayer, Time, Work
Breathing Is Praying
Breathing Is Praying
Breathing is pretty important, yes? Yes!
Simplified to bare essentials breathing is “the process of moving air into and out of the lungs to facilitate gas exchange mostly by bringing in oxygen and flushing out carbon dioxide.”
By our doing that involuntarily, without our even thinking about it, we stay alive. Pretty big deal that our breathing both fuels and cleanses our bodies.
Let’s take a look at–breathe a breath for–the several other ways our breathe-ability is such an amazing blessing.
Calms our emotions. Mom’s first words whenever I was upset by younger sister Robin’s almost-anything-she-did were “Take a deep breath.” Perhaps you’ve experienced the same thing. Your mind is racing to keep up with your emotions. Maybe vice versa. Your deep breath drawn in slowly re-freshes your being with oxygen’s enrichment.
Measures our thinking and feeling. While life is (or seems!) random, we benefit from a steady rhythm. We become centered and grounded when we sense a steady recurring beat. Here’s where you can switch to voluntary breathing, applying a definite rhythm. Attach to it the conscious rhythm that pleases you.
Centers and focuses our intentions. A short step from measuring our thoughts and emotions, it’s a step to focusing on what we intend, whatever that intention may be. We can draw and release each breath with awareness of the intention to accomplish an objective or to release a fear or to strengthen a commitment…or whatever we choose.
Expressing prayer. We may have come to know prayer only as words spoken to Spirit. Prayer is our creative communication with God. As it is creative, it allows an infinite number of media. Not merely words. Breathing is praying. Perhaps you’ll enjoy prayer-breathing all the more if you consciously know each breath as a prayer, breathed and not necessarily spoken. Yet even if you don’t do that, suppose reflecting at the end of the day that every breath you’re taken today is a prayer.
If you’d like some simple breathing tips, here are three from Andrew Weill.
Breathing…Praying…Breathing
God of Grace and All that is,
the breath you give us is such a blessing.
Each inhalation fills us with your Spirit,
each exhalation expresses our love and thanks.
The blessings that accompany every breath we take
are many. They are peace and joy,
comfort and harmony,
love and light.
For the power to breathe
and the blessing of breath,
we thank you, God.
And so it is. Amen.
Love and blessings,
16 June 2017
In: Breath, Energy, Peace, Peacefulness, Prayer · Tagged with: Breath, Energy, Peace, praying
Life Speed: Fast and Slow
Most of us live at dual life speed: fast and slow. Some things we want or need to hurry through. Other activities invite us to linger and enjoy. Of course, those are not the same fast items or slow choices for all of us. To each her or his own, for certain.
There are some things we do both fast and slow, depending upon our want. Some days I head out to see the neighborhood via a morning run. Other days it’s in the evening that I check things out with a more leisurely stroll. There are those at-home fast food meals: a grilled cheese sandwich or an omelet. Then there are the ones we linger over with careful attention to the recipes, the stirring, the anticipating.
Life Speed?
Simon & Garfunkel’s encouragement to “slow down; you move too fast” is good advice at times. I Googled “living life fast or slow”. Every one of the top 10 returns recommended ways to slow down. Here are three gave good reasons.
- The 10 Essential Reasons for Slowing Down and Enjoying Life More
- 5 Reasons to Slow Down Your Life Today, and How to Do It
- Life in the Slow Lane (a bit academic!)
At other times, we may even tell ourselves to pick it up, get a move on, to rev up our life speed. Life sometimes demand that we get things done faster, but it can be more important that we desire to step up the pace. Sometimes it feels better to run than to walk, figuratively speaking. True, Google doesn’t turn up as many sources encouraging living faster, but these two are interesting:
Now, here’s my consolidated belief. The ideal is the healthy blend of fast and slow. We need — our bodies, our minds, our spirit need — variety. How exciting it can be to pick up the pace and to energize myself by deciding to work full out on this or that project for 30 minutes non-stop. And then how soothing it is to treat myself to a break from what’s rapid-fire and ease back to let my being breathe. I believe it’s better to mix it up, to live at different speeds to satisfy our being’s need for breaks from what may be routine.
Interesting that Googling for information about such variety turned up the fewest choices:
Praying at Every Speed
Sweet Speed Spirit,
as we may choose life speed fast
and life speed slow,
the speed at which we converse with you
is of no matter.
The joy and grace are not that it is fast
or slow, merely that it is.
However, we love that a prayer is welcome
whether offered lickety-split
or with lengthy consideration,
at a moment’s notice or with hours’ engagement.
We honor our being’s choices
to live fast or slow.
We embrace our freedom to choose praying
in the very same ways.
And so it is. And so we thank you. Amen.
Love and blessings,
15 June 2017
In: Energy, Happiness, Life, Prayer, Zeal · Tagged with: Energy, spiritual simplicity, Strength
The Meaning of Food
Inner Peace from Food
So, what is the meaning of food? If my grandparents were right, food means many things. I’ll share three of them with you. And I’ll point you back to last week’s post: Feed the Body.
You are what you eat. (Bea)
The more natural and so the fewer artificial ingredients in what we eat, the better. It’s pretty obvious that “one ingredient foods from nature” can increase your vibrations. Is that good? Consider this: “Low vibrations provide signals to us that our thinking and behaviors are headed in a direction we don’t want to go….” (thespiritscience.net)
That same source cites a number of “good vibrations” that come from the good food:high vibrations ratio. These good vibes include health, strength, communications, prosperity, personal relations.
Eat slow so you’ll live long. (Gram)
Relaxing at meal time allows us to enjoy more than our hunger being satisfied. Investing time and attention in enjoying each bite adds pleasure to meal-taking. Savoring the flavor of each food on your plate enhances that pleasure. At the same time, the event of eating, sharing table time with someone else–friend or family or new acquaintance–likely boosts your energy and your joy.
Join the Clean Plate Club. (Papaw)
My learning from Papaw’s adage has modified with time. I’ve come to understand that what’s important is not experiencing the discomfort from stuffing myself to clear my plate (and win his approval). I realize now the power and pleasure of moderation in how much I put on my plate at the meal’s beginning. I can’t tell you how many ways that relearning applies to my life.
Food Favoring Prayer
Mother Father God, it is you
who provides the nourishment we need,
the food we enjoy,
the substance that satisfies our appetites.
We are thankful to remember our diet’s
importance, its impacts, and its presence in our being.
We are glad to remember–to receive reminders–
to pay attention to what we eat, to the joy of eating,
to the pleasure and peace from food we receive.
And so it is. And so we thank you, God.
Love and blessings,
14 June 2017
In: Creativity, Energy, Gratitude, Grounded, Inner Peace, Joy, Life, Prayer, Strength · Tagged with: creativity, Energy, Joy, Peace, spiritual simplicity, Strength
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