Meditation Moment in Lent ~ Day 4, Give Up, Take On, Pray

February 25, 2023 

    Life moves at warp speed for many of us. So many have-to's, so many must-do's, so many want-to's, so many didn't do's...so many shoulds, coulds, woulds...so little time. How do we know how to prioritize what is most important?  How can we stop doing so much and find time to just be?"

   Mystic/Trappist Monk/Author Thomas Merton (1915-1968) wrote:

We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time 

or no imagination left for being.  

As a result men [sic] are valued not for what they are 

but for what they do or what they have 

~ for their usefulness.

Dearest Holy Parent, today I will give up trying to be everywhere and do everything and live into everyone else's wants and expectations for my life. Today I will take on stealing time from my worldly life to spend with You ~ my God ~ as a way to build up my spiritual life. I pray for Your Presence as I start with just 5 minutes each day breathing deeply with intention, even if I have to do it hiding in the bathroom or behind the garage. I do want to be more faithful in my prayer life. To that end, I will take small slow steps starting with a pause in my busy-ness for deep breathing several times a day, and move toward small, short prayers ~ while breathing ~ just to say, "Hello, God, this is me, I'm glad we're here in this moment together. I'll come back more often, I promise."  amen.

 

(Start with 3 deep breaths in and then out and slowly work up to 6 and then to 10 as you wake, at mid-day, and before bed and then add another time or two whenever you think of it. Hold your hands and arms together in a prayer position, up in front of your face, the tips of your fingers at your forehead. Imagine filling a balloon in your abdomen/belly by pushing it out on the inhale while raising your arms at the elbows and keeping your hands together. Hold the air in for a count of 3. Then, with your hands together, close your elbows, using them as a bellows to exhale the breath, counting to 3 as you pull in your abdomen/belly to empty. Breathe through your nose on the inhale and through your mouth on the exhale. Soon you'll be deep breathing in and out regularly without realizing it, but still stop intentionally, using your arms and counting on inhale and exhale several times a day. Another breath prayer can be something like, on inhale: Jesus be with me now; on the exhale: and I will be with you. There are no right or wrong words!)

Here's a link on how to do deep breathing properly. This says to lie down or sit. Personally I find it easier to stand or sit most of the time except when I first wake up:

http://ptsd.about.com/od/selfhelp/ht/breathing2.htm

 

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