Monday Manna
The throne of 'what is'...
If you are new to Monday Manna, I’m so glad you are here. My prayer with this little pause on Monday mornings is to offer some nourishment (“manna”) for you — via my reflection, prayer, and painting — as you are nourishing the world around you. Together, we are watching for the ways God is with us and for us as we take one day at a time….
Good morning, friends, and deep peace to you as we step into summer ~
Last week, our little family seemed to be situated (stuck!) at the intersection station of dysregulation and defiance. This is the last week of school for our kids, and the moods, refusals, and overall energy in our home caused my husband, Jeff, and I to look at each other on more than one occasion and say, “what is going on?!”
Through what I can only assume was the Spirit’s prompting, I came across once again some beautiful words by spiritual teacher Mirabai Starr. Her newest book, Ordinary Mysticism: Your Life As Sacred Ground, is a treasure trove of wisdom in how our imperfect families and challenging relationships are golden chances to practice divine love, acceptance, and compassion.
Mysticism — a word not too familiar to many — simply means experiencing connection and unity with God. And what Mirabai Starr reminded me of is how our everyday realities — and accepting those realities — is what draws us right into a fuller sense of God with us. This is so hard. At least for me. Especially when it comes to my the idealized visions I have for what life with my kids ought to look like. But Mirabai writes...(this is long, but too good not to share)
“It’s hard to give up our fantasies of a life where beauty is built in and we don’t have to work at finding it. It’s easy to recognize the presence of the sacred in the saintly hospice chaplain who turns your mother’s deathbed into a temple…. But what about your boring job, your addicted partner, your hometown that feels more like a strip mall than a community? What about your dining room table at dinner time?
One of the things it means to be an ordinary mystic is to bow at the feet of your everyday existence, with its disappointments and dramas, its peaceful mornings and luminous nights, and to honor yourself just as you are…. A mystic finds the magic in the midst of the nitty-gritty, the crusty spaghetti sauce pot in the sink and the crocus poking out of a spring snowfall, the unsigned divorce papers on the kitchen table and the results of your latest blood work on your computer screen.
Chances are, if you are a parent, whether adoptive or biological, you too have experienced the collapse of your parenting fantasies. You also have received an open invitation to accept the kids you have and forgive the parent you are, with a degree of humility bordering on humiliation and a dash of humor that can sometimes carry maniacal overtones….
This is the human condition. And at the very center of your own shattered dream, the face of the sacred flashes and glimmers. The holy disaster is a beckoning. Come. Enter the fire of love and let it remake you again and again. To be an ordinary, everyday mystic is to take your rightful place on the throne of what is.”* (emphasis mine)
I was talking with a friend the other day — also a parent to young children — of how acceptance in parenting is such a continual, transformative process of sanctification (another big word). In essence, the journey of becoming more like Jesus. If we allow it to.
And so as our little family enters into summer, with all its ‘humiliation, humor, and maniacal overtones,’ my hope is that I/we will take my “rightful place on the throne of what is.” To fully accept my people (and myself!) for who they are, which opens me to actually love them. And in turn, to love God, becoming even a tiny bit more like Jesus.
*Mirabai Starr, Ordinary Mysticism: Your Life as Sacred Ground (HarperOne, 2024), 30–31, 35–36.
A Prayer
A prayer for accepting life when it feels hard to accept. From my book, Ash and Starlight: Prayers for the Chaos and Grace of Daily Life, Second Edition.
When I’m struggling to accept my life right now
Completely Gracious One,
Forgive me.
I’ve slipped into cynicism this week,
hanging my heart on negativity
rather than hope,
covering bloody wounds
rather than opening them
to the air of your healing.
Air can sting.
I’ve been asking you
for a change in my circumstances.
And I’ve been complaining.
Sometimes, you want a
change of conditions,
and you equip me to
make that happen.
But maybe what
I need this time
is not a change of what’s around me,
but a change inside me.
My heart,
not my circumstances.
Maybe a change in heart
will lead to a change
in circumstances?
But, for now, the changed
heart will be enough.
Instead of discontent, gratitude.
Rather than jealousy, generosity.
In place of judgment, compassion.
Replacing anger, laughter.
Mold my heart, God, into
the form you want it to be.
Lead me to my courage.
Kindle and warm what
has grown cold in me.
Energize the passions
lying lethargic.
In this day, help me stand
before all of my life
with a trusting, open heart.
That’s a good enough change for now.
I will ask you about
those circumstances later.
I praise you as
the heart-renewing
God who is good,
the God who is able,
the God I love,
and the God of us all.
Amen.
Psalm 34:10 * 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 * Philippians
4:11–13
“[T]hose who seek the Lord lack no good thing…”
—Psalm 34:10b
Something that nourished me recently…
*Doing art with kids brings me so much joy. I led a “Watercolor Wonder” party for preschoolers last week in which we dabbled in some watercolor exercises, then made pieces with the letters of their name, surrounded by kosher salt for texture. It was a lot of fun (and not as messy as I thought it would be).
*This book has become a nightly ritual for me. I cannot recommend enough, and will likely be sharing some favorites here in the weeks to come. Nothing like poetry to bring some grounding and presence.
And here is one poem from the book that made me cry…
Ash and Starlight, plus other good things…
*For another post I wrote on this topic, see “It’s Like This” from an earlier Monday Manna…
*MY ETSY SHOP ~ Last week on May 28th was World Hunger Day. A reminder that a portion of each sale from my Etsy Shop goes to The Hunger Project. I have a small assortment of prints, greeting cards, and originals for sale now, with more to come later this summer. You can view the shop here.
*SECOND EDITION OF ASH AND STARLIGHT ~ Find the updated edition of my book here at Chalice or at the Bookshop link.
*MONDAY MANNA ARCHIVES ~ You can view previous Substack Monday Manna reflections as a paid subscriber here, or for the really old stuff, go to my website.
*WHAT DOES MANNA MEAN? ~ Check out an earlier post to learn how this little bit of “daily bread” got its name…
Blessings to you, friends, as you open your heart’s arms to accept reality, finding a broader capacity to truly love what is…taking your rightful place on the throne, and finding God’s presence in every moment and with your people. Just as it is, just as they are.
Love and Light,
Arianne
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Thank you for sharing about Ordinary Mysticism. What a gift to open our eyes in the mundane and see the Presence before us in all.
This is wonderful!