The Light of Blessedness

What you are seeking, is seeking you. Rumi

When we develop practices and form habits that remind us that we are the Beloved, we not only are able to see how magnificently we are blessed but also know how tenderly the Beloved holds us in times of pain and suffering. The Beloved uses all the circumstances of our lives to draw us into a deeper level of faith when we choose to participate consciously in the Divine dance called our life.

Join me on Thursday for a practice of gently working with our bodies so that everything we experience, be it tightness, limitation, discomfort or unease can be part of the journey to the full realization that the entrance to the sanctuary is within.

The great spiritual call of the Beloved Children of God is to pull their brokenness away from the shadow of the curse and put it under the light of blessing. When we keep listening attentively to the voice calling us the Beloved, it becomes possible to live our brokenness, not as a confirmation of our fear that we are worthless, but as an opportunity to purify and deepen the blessing that rests upon us. Henri Nouwen, Being the Beloved

All doubt, despair, and fear become insignificant once the intention of life becomes love. Rumi

We shouldn’t try to get rid of our own pain until we’ve learned what it has to teach. When we can hold our pain consciously and trustfully (and not project it elsewhere), we find ourselves in a very special liminal space. Here we are open to learning and breaking through to a much deeper level of faith and consciousness. Please trust me on this. We must all carry the cross of our own reality until God transforms us through it. Richard Rohr Daily Meditations

Physical, mental or emotional pain lived under the blessing is experienced in ways radically different from physical, mental or emotional pain lived under the curse. What seemed intolerable becomes a challenge. What seemed a reason for depression becomes a source of purification. What seemed punishment becomes a gentle pruning. What seemed rejection becomes a way of deeper communication. And so the great task becomes that of allowing the blessing to touch us in our brokenness. Henri Nouwen, Being the Beloved

“I thought faith would say, ‘I’ll take away the pain and discomfort,’ but what it ended up saying was, ‘I’ll sit with you in it.’”- Brené Brown

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened. Don’t open the door to the study and begin reading. Take down the dulcimer. Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to knee and kiss the ground. Rumi

The deep truth is that our human suffering need not be an obstacle to the joy and peace we so desire, but can become, instead the means to it. The great secret of the spiritual life is that everything we live, be it gladness or sadness, joy or pain, health or illness, can all be part of the journey toward the full realization of our humanity. Henri Nouwen, Being the Beloved