Letting Go of God (repost from Ronna Detrick)
Posted: 30 June 2012 Filed under: identity | Tags: spirituality Leave a comment »Letting Go of God (repost from Ronna Detrick)
A good reminder about the power of letting go and makes me think of a song from one of my favorite musicals, Children of Eden: The Hardest Part of Love
A Joyous Midsummer
Posted: 20 June 2012 Filed under: awakening, meditation, rebirth, ritual, self-care | Tags: spirituality Leave a comment »I wanted to write a post for the solstice, so I was wandering around the internet and found this great remembrance from Petrarch of the women bathing in the river at midsummer to wash away the tragedies of the coming year. If only we could…
In some ways, the summer solstice feels more like the coming of new year to me than the winter solstice. Perhaps it’s because I’ve spent so much of my life on a “school year” schedule, where June means that you are promoted to the next year of study, to begin in the fall. Or maybe it’s just that the world is so alive at this time of year, and in December, it’s hard to remember that things are just dormant, not dead.
Take a moment today to wash away whatever is holding you back from the coming year – we may not be able to stop the tragedies by washing them away, but we can always rebirth ourselves into a new way of seeing the world. Why not today, on one of the most celebratory days of the year?
The Question of Prayer
Posted: 9 June 2012 Filed under: christianity, God | Tags: spirituality 5 Comments »I was reading over at Ask Mormon Girl, and the question she was addressing was about prayer. And it made me think about how challenging I feel the idea of prayer can be.
When someone asks for prayers, or mentions a death/illness/difficult time I often offer to keep them in my thoughts, or send positive energy/light their way. Because for me, that’s more comfortable than saying “I’ll pray for you.” There are a number of reasons…one is that it would be dishonest – rarely do I speak concrete prayers, and I can’t remember the last time I specifically prayed FOR someone. I also think that prayer can feel very transactional – if I pray, then such and such will happen. And that’s not the way that I feel like the universe works. And as a reiki practitioner, my training tells me that the energy will go where it’s needed, and that when we ask the universe for energy, it should be for the greatest good of the person we are treating – which isn’t always what they want it to be.
I think it’s hard to think of prayer that way, but it’s realistic – if I hold someone in my heart, send them energy, pray for them, whatever I want to call it, I shouldn’t be the one to decide what they need and ask for that. It’s about putting out the thoughts/energy/idea that I hope that whatever is for their best overall good will come.
“In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” ~Gandhi
