As though it has already been accomplished.

Be still and know that God is God.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.

Soul Friend,

Last year I hit on a revelatory new way of articulating my intentions for the New Year. Instead of writing down what I what I hoped to accomplish in the coming year, I fast-forward in my imagination all the way to December 31 and wrote my intentions as though I had already accomplished them. This was such a powerful lens through which to encounter each unfolding day that I have decided to do the same this year.

I've articulated my first intention for 2020 this way:

In 2020 I cultivated and integrated a deeper stillness that was the starting point for all of my action. I did this by committing to these practices of stillness:
     •daily meditation
     •conscious connection to my own breath
     •noticing when I am in a hurry and choosing to slow down
     •keeping the edges of my day spacious for daily visioning (morning) and reflection (evening)

I'm already loving how this intention is shaping my days. I have a copy of it at my bedside table. When I crawl in for the night, I place myself in the Beloved's compassionate gaze and I read my intention and I reflect on my day. If I have fulfilled this aspiration in any way, even just once, I rejoice in that and offer gratitude to God for supporting my steps into new ways of being and doing. If I notice I neglected or went against my intention, I give thanks for this moment of awareness. I may pause to become curious about what obstacles I encountered and notice if a different response to such obstacles rises to serve me in the future.  But I don't go digging. This is a gentle reflection focused on wakefulness and gratitude.

A copy of this intention is also at my morning prayer space. Before beginning my meditation, I try to walk through my day in my imagination, picturing myself slowing down, tuning in to body and breath, becoming still, waiting for the next right action to rise from this inner stillpoint.

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits (waiting for my copy on hold at the library!) writes, "You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems." I know he is right. Taking on the mind of Christ has a physicality to it. The practice of meditation reworks our neural pathways and these new pathways support our intentions for new ways of seeing, being and doing. Hope isn't a strategy, it is action rooted in the Beloved's presence in and through us.

Soul Friend, the truest thing about you is your in-the-image-of-God goodness. Nothing you do can alter this. And there is nothing you can do, or that can be done to you, that will make you any more or less loved by God. Conscious participation in our sacred transformation frees us to live from a rootedness to that goodness. What support might you offer yourself on this journey? Is there support you are seeking?

All blessing,

Lorilyn