Hello and welcome again.
And I want to ask the question today as we come into meditation,
As we come into a still space.
How are you?
How are you?
It seems like an important question to ask in the midst of what's going on.
How am I?
I was reflecting yesterday and I connected to this question.
How am I doing in the midst of this abnormal global pandemic?
How am I navigating this unfamiliar world that I find myself in?
We've not been here before.
This is new territory.
There's no manual on how to get through.
There's no formula on how to get through a global pandemic like this.
For everyone alive now,
We've not faced this before.
So I ask what's going on in me beneath the surface of it's fine,
I'm fine.
Beneath motivating social media posts,
Beneath the news.
Beneath all the amazing ways that people are responding to this crisis,
Beneath the noise.
How am I?
It's an important question.
It feels important that we visit this question regularly.
To sit with it,
To give it space to answer and for that answer to be met with love and acceptance.
To actually go beyond how I think I should be,
How I ought to be responding to how I really am.
To allow what is to be and then to allow what is to be enfolded in the gracious tender love of God.
So today in this contemplative space,
We're going to sit with the question.
How am I?
How am I doing as I navigate this journey for myself?
So I invite you in this moment to come to stillness.
And as a way of entering stillness,
Bring attention to your breathing.
Allow your attention to come to the movement of air,
In and out of the lungs.
And either just be aware of your regular breathing pattern or if it helps take a few deeper,
Wider breaths.
And in that breathing,
Allow your body to sink.
Allow your body to become heavy.
Allow the shoulders to fall and the weight of your body to be supported by the chair,
The bed,
The sofa,
Wherever you're sitting,
Allow the weight of your body to be held.
And we invite stillness and rest to come.
We welcome the presence of love,
Compassion,
Of grace and kindness.
We welcome the presence of spirit,
Of God,
Of Jesus.
We allow ourselves to be held.
And in this moment,
We bring the question,
How am I?
How am I doing?
And first of all,
We're going to bring that question to our thoughts.
And as you sit in this still,
Quiet space.
Bring your attention to your thoughts.
What thoughts have been coming and going through your mind in recent days?
There may be reoccurring thoughts,
Random thoughts,
Fearful thoughts.
Allow yourself to remember what thoughts have been coming to you in recent days.
And as they come to you,
Maybe it helps you to name them.
And then place them into the space in front of you that's compassion and love and kindness.
As those thoughts come.
And you're able to surrender them as prayers.
In this moment,
Be free to let them go,
To let them be held in love and kindness and grace.
Feel the weight of those thoughts fall away.
Knowing that they're seen and known.
Now as we continue,
We turn our attention to our emotions.
Maybe you recognize that your emotions have been up and down,
Maybe unpredictable.
They may have taken you by surprise.
Or you may be unaware of what you've been feeling because you've just been getting through and getting on with things.
Maybe numbing the emotions.
So in this moment,
Bring your attention to what you've been feeling.
Maybe as we sit in this stillness,
There is space for the emotion to surface.
You may be aware of anxiety or anger,
Sadness.
Allow these emotions to rise.
Give them space and voice.
And as you become aware of the emotions that you've been carrying,
All the emotions that have been hidden below the surface.
Again,
You may want to name them.
And place them in front of you without judging.
Just notice them.
And place them into that compassionate,
Kind,
Loving space.
Knowing that how you feel is seen,
Is noticed,
How you feel matters.
And we bring our attention finally to our bodies.
So it may help to bring your focus back onto breath.
And allow that breath to take you into your body.
As your awareness comes to your body,
You may notice places that are tight or knotted.
You may be aware of sensations.
Allow your attention to be drawn to places in your body that feel maybe a little off.
And as you sit with that sensation,
That tightness,
That knot,
Allow it a voice.
Allow it to tell you what it needs to say.
Give it space to tell you about what it needs.
Give it space to be seen and heard.
And responded to with compassion and kindness.
And as we have placed how we're doing in front of us,
And we have observed and can observe our emotions,
Our thoughts,
The responses in our body.
As they are held within this compassionate,
Loving space.
Bring your attention to that space now.
Knowing that God sees and understands and offers only mercy,
Kindness and love.
Know that the Holy Spirit is present to you.
And that Jesus is your friend.
As you navigate through how you're doing.
And maybe as you observe these thoughts,
Feelings and body responses.
Something may happen to them,
Something may change about what you see.
What happens to them in the presence of love and compassion and kindness?
How does God respond to them?
How does God respond to you?
These things that you have been carrying.
We welcome the kindness and the love of God.
Into our bodies,
Our emotions and our thoughts.
We welcome tenderness and kindness and healing.
We're going to remain just for a few more moments in this place of stillness and quiet.
Allowing ourselves to be ministered to by love and compassion.
Allowing that deeper breath to come.
And inviting the let it be.
All shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.
We are loved,
We are held,
We are seen.
We are not alone.
Amen.
Friends,
I bless you today and I pray that hope and peace and love will be present to you and to me as we journey through this season of our lives.
