Peace in the Storm

Winds and rains may howl outside. We cling to the news reports, listening as grim stories of the storm roll in.

The lights flicker, and then die all together. Just to make sure, we check the lights in the other room. Once it is confirmed we have lost electrical power, we gather the radio, flashlights, candles and what we need to wait for the repairs to be done.

It could be a few minutes, or several days.

Some switch to mobile devices to continue viewing the news stories, others turn to the battery-powered radio. Several use generators and can continue watching TV.

A few, like myself, will issue a sigh of relief, and take a few moments to listen to the silence.

 

Once  the internet and TV die, it is an ideal time to unplug. While the storm rages outside and candlelights blossom in the neighborhood, it is a good time to check on elderly neighbors or those with young (possibly frightened) small children.

It's an ideal time to curl up with those books you have promised to read but never found the time.

It is also a perfect time to just be still, reconnecting to God with mediation and prayer.

The world inside be- comes still as winds and rains howl outside.

When all is still inside, there is God's Peace.

Non-stop streams of information and interconnection may keep our hearts beating fast. But instead of complaining when our connections are cut, perhaps we can take advantage of it, finding sweet blessings even in the midst of a storm.  :D

~ESA

Lessons in Listening

Yesterday we drove out to my in-laws for New Year's Day. We took my husband's old mini-van, which - like my Jeep - has no working radio. So we filled the long drive with conversation. Part of that conversation, I wish to share here.

At one point, he changed topics and out of the blue says, "You know when you were praying the other day at your mother's, I went in and touched you on the shoulder. It was different than when I touch others when they pray or meditate. Usually there is a sense of peace. There was no peace in you."

I responded, "Well, that was right after I listened to a lengthy tirade from my mother (who spent a great deal of time griping about her neighbors, friends, family members and others), and I was struggling to get some of that negativity out of me."

He added that when I was praying, I was curled up in a ball. 

"Most people when they pray or meditate are open. You were closed, cutting off the world. When one is in an open posture, you are open to the universe and all that is in it, including other people. God IS the universe. But you were curled in a ball, cutting off everything. You were struggling, but you were also closed."

I was silent a moment, not sure how to respond and, instead of letting it sink in, I started to reply with how I was struggling to find some Peace after my mom's tirade. 

But that even sounded lame in my ears. Who was I fooling? No one apparently. He was right, I was cutting off everything, curling into my shell and hiding. Trying to struggle with the negativity by myself even while I prayed for help.

Where I had fallen silent, he added, "There is nothing wrong with what you have done. Turning to God in prayer and meditation is the right thing to do. But there may have been a better way to do it. That's all. While bowing your head low and being humble before God is a good thing, you also need to be open to God...

"Sometimes that means straightening your posture and raising your head, letting God flow into you and through you. Picture the lotus position some meditate in."

There was nothing I could do but agree with this. His words were right. But there was also resistance in me. Who did my husband think he is? Why is he taking a smarter-than-me stance?

Why did I not see until later that those questions - that resistance - was from my own petty ego? 

God works through me; God works through him too. God's Spirit (the Holy Ghost / Holy Spirit) works through everyone, helping us - and helping others through us - learn and grow. We are supposed to help each other; this is part of God's Plan.

I really need to learn to listen more and set my ego aside. Things would be much better in the end if I set aside "me" and listened to God's Wisdom when I encounter it.

-ESA