We're into the sprint...

Waking Up/Slowing Down

“One day Mahatma Gandhi was said to have woken up and told those around him, 'This is going to be a very busy day. I won't be able to meditate for an hour.' His friends were taken aback at the rare break from his discipline. 'I'll have to meditate for two,' he spelled out.”

Pico Iyer (The Art of Stillness)

Do you ever notice that the world seems to have sped up? Days and months and whole years hurtle by in the blink of an eye. Here we are, midway through the second decade of the twenty-first century! How did that happen?

It is not time that has speeded up—it is we ourselves. Not just with our pace of life, which is non-stop around the clock, thanks to our splendid technology, but because we fill every minute with doing. I am speaking for myself, of course. My friends, Libba and John, just celebrated their 39^th anniversary by going to the gulf coast for a whole week—just the two of them! They posted photos of long stretches of empty beach, beautiful sunrises, sunsets, even one of them lying in a hammock on the porch. Just looking at their pictures slowed me down and made me yearn for solitude.

The next two weeks will be the busiest of the year because of the holidays. People will get on airplanes and into cars and travel long distances. Folks will fill our houses and there will be noise and endless cooking and cleaning up. We will undoubtedly be fatigued, irascible and stressed out. Most of us can't retreat to the beach until things settle down, or even meditate for two hours a day. But here's a simple suggestion: take ten minutes before you get out of bed each day for prayer. Then give yourself, at some point in every day, ten minutes of stillness. You don't have to 'try to meditate' or 'try to pray' or do anything. Just sit down and be still. Fully inhabit your own body. Take some deep, calming breaths; catch up with yourself. You will return to your endless tasks refreshed and clear headed. More will be accomplished because you'll be present in the moment.

                                                        In the Spirit,

                                                             Jane