Good morning, friends, and gentle grace to you this week ~
I am trying to show myself some gentle grace, too, after sickness went through our home last week. One of the pretty powerful realizations for me as I could do nothing but lay there — with no energy to even read, or watch anything — was how it shouldn’t take an illness to make me stop.
This thinking about pace and “progress” connects not only to the day-to-day, but to, I think an overall approach to life. How different and difficult it can be to embrace the Spirit’s pace, which is often slow.
Early on in my ministry, I came across the prayer by Jesuit priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, called “Patient Trust,” and it is one of the prayers I return to most often. The entire thing can be read here, but it begins…
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay…
and yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time. (emphasis mine)
It goes on….
Your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
It ends with…
Give our Lord the benefit of believing
that [God’s] hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
So, friends, here’s a promise to grab with both hands…
For all of us who feel we should be ‘further along’ with something or with life (whatever that means), for those of us who are not gentle with ourselves and believe we should have accomplished more, for those of us caught in the cult of external metrics with a world that looks for farther, rather than deeper…
You are right on time, because God is on time.
In some ways, I feel like most of life is a major marination. Like the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
Or a quote on the vision board in my office…
Everything in your life has brought you here. What feels like waste is part of the work. Every mile matters.
So take a deep breath, and trust…
A Prayer
From my book, Ash and Starlight: Prayers for the Chaos and Grace of Daily Life, second edition…
When I need to trust where I am is right
Reassuring One,
Today, with your help,
I will release my ruminating…
Today, with your help,
I will welcome what is –
not in resignation, but in trust.
Life won’t always be this way.
And maybe, just maybe, I need this
in order to get where I’m going.
Today, I will thank you
for the value imbedded
in my work and time.
Today, rather than taking consensus
from everything and
everyone around me
about what I need to do,
I will stop.
I will let myself be in
that uncomfortable quiet.
I will do my deepest listening
for the most important Voice
whose tone is pure silence
and who likes to stay small.
I can choose these things today, God,
because these are your promises –
to handle what I can’t,
to use what I’d rather not endure,
to give me the exact wisdom
I need for each choice.
So I say thanks, praise, and okay.
Amen.
1 Kings 19:11-13 * Psalm 4:4 * Psalm 46:10
“Be still and know that I am God.”
- Psalm 46:10
Something that nourished me recently…
* “The Hymn of Promise” — On this theme of trust and slowness, this is probably one of my favorite hymns of all time, sung at loved ones’ funerals, my book launch for Ash and Starlight, and while sitting on the floor by a child’s bed. Soak in the words…
*I’ve only started to enter into Cole Arthur Riley’s new book, Black Liturgies: Prayers, poems, and meditations for staying human, but just like with This Here Flesh, her truth-telling and beautiful writing are profound, as is her own journey of trusting God’s slow work…
*My youngest, Noah, is a huge fan of cats, which to his dismay, we do not have. Shout-out to our talented friend, Bob, who drew and gave this to Noah to hang in his room. It will bring smiles to all of us every single day. And the expression on the cat’s face couldn’t be more representative of Noah’s personality.
Ash and Starlight, plus other good things…
*SECOND EDITION OF ASH AND STARLIGHT ~ Find the new edition of my book here!
Above all, trust…
Love and Light,
Arianne
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This is just what I needed at this time in my life. Your words are always full of grace and truth. Bless you, dear friend!
I love everything about this (especially the prayer and the hymn), except the fact you’ve been sick. Heal quickly!