Hidden Growth

You might look at a tree over a period of time, a young tree, and see that it is not growing upwards all that fast.  Why can you not see more growth?  Well, the tree is growing, but not so as you can see it.  It is growing deeper roots, more connected with other trees around it.  You cannot see this.  Eventually, with deeper roots, the tree will manifest growth and become quite robust and useful to nature.  So it is with meditation.  You and others may see nothing much for a while.  You think it is but a waste of time.  You seem to be the same ole, same ole.  But consistency in practice is the digging of roots.  In time, not your ego’s time, you will blossom and be of service to others.  All training for a goal takes patience and consistent practice.  Ask any successful runner.   

Pilgrimage

 I am too selfish and self-centered to be of much use to others unless I undertake the secret pilgrimage of interior surrender.  Surrender to what or whom?  To an energy, Power, God, who can lead me through my faults and free me from them on a daily basis.  My faults don’t go away, but they can cease to control me on a daily basis if I practice prayer and meditation.  I blog with all this advice and “wisdom” because I read, pray and meditate, not because I am so perfect.  Far from it.  The delusional me forgets my shortcomings and with that forgets my spiritual path.  Chaos develops for me and others quite quickly.  If my blogs don’t help you, they help me for which I am most grateful, as are those around me.  

Peace

 There are two kinds of peace.  There is negative peace.  This is where we don’t have war or battle with one another.  This might be us and China.  But there is also positive peace.  This is where we seek the flourishing of others that we might otherwise battle.  Christians used to kill one another over religious differences.  Now we don’t. We have negative peace.  But if we help one another to flourish then we have positive peace.  I recall a born again church community in Vero Beach, Florida who offered the use of their building for Catholic mass while the new Catholic parish was constructing its own church building.  This is active peace.  You walk into an Addiction recovery meeting and see or hear a person you don’t like, you don’t punch them in the face.  This is negative peace.  But if you go up and introduce yourself and then offer to be of some service in their recovery, that is active peace.  

Boundaries

 When you feel stressed or tired, you tend to set boundaries to protect yourself from going over the edge.  “I won’t do this or that now.”  Often you try to be alone to protect yourself from more stress.  But love always takes us beyond our set boundary.  We don’t always feel like loving or being loving.  By our own power, we generally get cranky in such a situation.  A working Mom might be an example.  A drunk in recovery is an example.  So don’t try being a loving person all on your own power when stressed.  The spiritual path of prayer is so that we can connect with some Power we otherwise don’t possess.  This Power, I call God, allows us to be loving beyond our boundary.  Yes, it is a miracle.  The spiritual path is a miracle in action.  

Crazy Lady

 The Bible praises a “crazy lady.”  Her name is Anna.  She is a widow, old, poor, and discovers her savior.  She goes about telling everyone.  She bothers people with her solution to a full life.  I think of poor, elderly women coming up to me and telling me all about their saving discovery.  I judge them as ‘Crazy Lady.”  How narrow minded I am.  Her type is in a Holy Book.  I bet Bill Wilson was thought to be crazy by many when he told everyone about his solution to alcoholism practice.  God does not always speak to me in my comfort zone.  Any crazy ladies reading my blogs?

The Bottle

 As the joke goes, “Two people are crawling across the floor.  One is a baby going for their bottle.  The other is a drunk going for their bottle.”  Well, the baby has the instinct to grow up and wants its nourishment.  Maybe no one is paying attention to the baby at that moment, so the bottle is on the floor.  The baby might be neglected for one reason or another that is simply life on life’s terms.  But the baby takes control.  The drunk on the other hand has no interest in growing up.  Oblivion is sought.  Maybe the drinking binges started because the drunk has a history of being ignored or neglected.  Oblivion became the solution.  Sobriety is about growing up, and it starts with a simple crawl.  One crawl at a time until you get on your feet.  Then you begin to help rather than blame others.  

Growing Up

 The phrase, “Growing Up,”  is about development and that can take effort, be painful.  When our evolution brought us to learn to stand and walk, it became much harder for women to give birth.  The canal got smaller and the brain got bigger.  The bigger brain allowed us to develop in many good ways.  But there was the price to pay in birthing.  So it is with all growing up which is why many of us prefer not to do it.  We would rather remain more infantile, selfish, dependent on drugs and alcohol for instance.  I try to remember to thank mom each day for giving me birth.  Then I try to live the best life I can, and that often takes pain and sacrifice.  Mom taught me well.