The season of Lent is an invitation to embark on an inward journey of reflection within the inner sanctuary of one's heart. A time for open receptivity, of quieting the mind to listen without judgement or the need to fix.
This week I had a less than ideal interaction with a person I care about and hold in high esteem. When a situation arose, I reacted in the moment without pausing to check my assumptions. I immediately felt the impact of my words. That night I did not sleep well. My mind was ruminating and in hyper mode trying to problem-solve and to fix it. Finally, I decided to listen to a soothing voice on YouTube that helps facilitate relaxation and sleep. The voice suggested the listener think of someone you may be concerned about, see them in front of you and offer them love. I visualized that person of concern and I repeated this several times with various people in my life. Eventually, a small softening gave way in me and I opened to receive love as well. The sea of anxiety began to recede.
I noticed how hard it was for me to open to receive a little mercy.
The next morning, I called to speak to the involved person about what had happened. I shared my assumptions I had made about their behavior and I asked them to share from their perspective. We came to a space of understanding and I owned and apologized for my part. We made some new agreements on how best to work together and our encounter ended with a mutual expression of love.
The experience reminded me of a spiritual truth. It is easy to react, point blame and make it about the other person. Yet, in every situation there is an opportunity to instead, focus on our own behavior. One can explore, what is the lesson for me, what am I resisting, how might I change? This open receptivity enables us to receive a gift that is ever present within an expansive “field of compassion.”
This is what the Lenten journey offers us, an opportunity to increase one’s self-awareness and receive a transforming gift of healing; a Love that is always calling to us…
A Prayer from the book “Fields of Compassion” by Judy Cannato
“Holy One, you have given us the gift of story in our lives, ways of understanding who we are, ways of making sense of our world, of finding meaning and knowing how to respond to all that happens in our lives. Please show us where our stories fall short or are too narrow, where they exclude rather than include, where they divide rather than unite. Help us to see where a story we live out may go amiss of what is real. Where it allows us to escape becoming whole, where it lets us live comfortably in fear. Fill us with your story, the story of unity, compassion and love. Fill us with images that energize us and give us hope and lead us to the fundamental truth that you have tried to teach us all along: we are all one.”
~Amen
Liz Sorensen Wessel
Mandala By ~liz
