Stay ConnectedOvercome chronic anxiety through resting in God.
Simple, repeatable tools. Ancient contemplative practices. Modern brain science.
Practice resting in the heart of God on the good days so you can make your way home to the Prince of Peace in the middle of your hurricanes.
When we are functioning out of the orphan spirit our primary default mode is believing that love, care, and provision are scarce. Fear grips and we put on the rags of the matchstick girl wandering the streets of people pleasing, perfectionism, and performance hoping for a coin, a kind look, a handout, a crust.
But here's the truth: all this time a seat has been set at the King's table.
A story of following the light of Christ's Presence one moment after another.
So here's my question: Is it possible to intentionally place sensory reminders of the truth of God's Presence and walk from present moment to present moment using them to remind us that God is here? Whether it's a lit candle, a praise song on repeat, the liturgy of the hours at a monastery, or a cross in your pocket?
Our brains have to be rewired for perfect love.
Here's why. Many of us transfer our attachment disorders onto our relationship with God. We have received halting, crippled human love from our caregivers and we end up using that same lens with which to view God. It's the only lens for love we have!
In Brain science speak, we're literally trying to push perfect love through the same neural pathways we were given of imperfect human love.
& this rewiring to perfect love is the ultimate mission of The Presence Project.
Richard Foster says this in his mini-book which I highly recommend: Sanctuary of the Soul, "Distraction is the primary spiritual problem of our day." Maybe you agree, maybe you don't. When I look around me at Starbucks tonight, I see what he means. 90% of the people around me have their eyes glued to a device. When I look into my own soul, I agree.
Distraction is the fog that can keep me from self-awareness and self-correcting. And I wonder, whose presence am I practicing? Am I practicing the presence of my iphone or the thousands of "friends" chatting there?
This episode is the story of a hike up to Hemlock Falls and how a clinging cross and a question steadied my focus in prayer and ultimately opened up a powerful moment of healing.
"But when Mom started laying down her fears to her counselor one at a time, Delores looked her straight in the eye, "Beth, you're painting a picture of a life without God in it.
Delores' words shook something in mom. Where WAS God in the picture she was painting? Over and over she was practicing the absence of God. Over and over she was painting a picture of her new location and Christ was nowhere in sight."
Find transcript at aThirstforGod.com
Stillness feels awkward, but it can be an invitation to a deeper interior peace.
To Join The Presence Project email list or find a full transcript of this podcast visit aThirstforGod.com
Mindfulness is Christian as it leads our full embodied presence into the courts of God's presence. The present moment can be a doorway to communion.
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Today a story that captured my attention. Three ways to rebuild our trust in God. And a lectio divina on Hebrews 13:5b.
Read the transcript here:
http://www.athirstforgod.com/rebuilding-trust-in-god-after-an-earthquake/
Episode 9 is a vacation from The Presence Project. It's time to rest, to soak, to receive our God-given identity.
10 Minutes of Stillness is a modern, accessible version of the Sacrament of the Present Moment.
In Thornton Wilder's play, Our Town, Emily who died in childbirth was given the gift of going back to spend one full day with her family. After the day is over, she sobs as she tells the stage manager, "We don't have time to look at one another. I didn't realize. So all that was going on and we never noticed...do any human beings ever realize life while they live it, every, every minute?
Stage Manager answers, "No, the saints and poets, maybe--they do some."
At its most basic, 10 Minutes of Stillness is an invitation to realize life while we live it. A way back to wonder. That's what this episode is about.
And as Mary Oliver pointed out, it's the perfect practice for your summer day.
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