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Spiritual Highs and Everyday Life
The Rocky Mountains -- photo from a trip I took with my siblings
During our IHM conference (prayer, socializing, planning, contemplative dialogue, decision-making) this past weekend, there was an awesome feeling of being “in sync” with one another and with the Spirit of God. Now it wasn’t always easy or pretty, but we were all committed to being present to one another and the common good of our IHM community and IHM mission, so we hung in there within one another. At the end of the conference, one of my IHM Sisters mentioned how good the meeting was and how challenging it would be to walk back into everyday life with the phone ringing off the hook, ministerial responsibilities, paying the electrical bill, wrangling email, etc.
As I sit here surrounded by piles of “stuff to do” and an email inbox threatening to hijack my computer, I too wonder how to go from spiritual highs “back” to everyday life. And even as I’m writing this, I had to edit and put the word “back” into quotation marks because I realized as I wrote it that that’s actually one of the keys to sifting through this. That key is that we don’t really go “back” nor is everyday life somehow separate from or lower than the so-called spiritual “highs”.
Once we’ve had that insight, that moment of clarity, that feeling of “in sync”, we are forever transformed, even if it doesn’t feel that way, even if the very next moment we have to clean the cat’s litter box. We are transformed. And in the stuff of everyday life, in the seemingly unspiritual moments, that experience of “spiritual high” becomes incarnate once again … and gives rise to other moments.
Still, it’s never easy to re-embrace ordinary life. But that’s where life truly is, that’s the stuff that makes spiritual highs possible.
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Wow, the same realization came to me yesterday afternoon during a particularly stressful workday following a very stressful prior week. I sat back in my cube to center myself, trying to find calm amongst the storms. The many times I’ve attempted to separate the spiritual from everyday “stuff” and then yesterday that sudden brain-blast of realization, there is no separation.
Sr Julie, I like your term “in-sync” as that is exactly how it feels. And it feels good!
Excellent post as always dear sister!
Cubic centering is a real talent, but very possible and good for you! I much prefer to be in the cathedral of dense forest trees than at my desk to pray, yet, why? Why not the cubicle, the car, the hospital, the grocery store line to engage with Beauty?!
So I, too, am wrestling with the not so edifying duties of everyday life – mostly feeling buried under the load of paper on my desk and in my uncleared files – so appreciate the reminder that it’s all part of the whole. Good insights, Sr. Julie and Suze.
Prayers as you excavate your desk and your soul!
One of the keys I have found (still don’t always use it as I should) to dealing with the daily is to cultivate the ability, the desire, to be fully present to reality. It helps me to take that deep breath and move into a more centered position. If I can be truly present I am more likely to sense, to be fully aware of, and blessed by those transformative moments that can happen anywhere any time. I find I am also more likely to put the daily and its demands in proper order and to face with honesty what I can do and what I cannot. Does that mean being more real? Maybe.
Ah yes! We often have the keys and do not use them, Sister Hildegard. I am often there too. I appreciate hearing about your key too because it gives me some more to think on and to try out. It’s important to know that there can be multiple keys and if one isn’t working so well one day, then try another!
Nothing better to get in-sync with the moment than walking the dog in the rain. Today Button was not pleased to have to deal with walking in the rain. Snow fine, rain – forget about it. But since she needed to do her “walkies,” it was up to me to find the way. Suddenly I am seeing things at her level and trying to entice her to smell all the wet smells the leaves have; and what about that bird over there – what do you think it is Button? And then there are the squirrels to consider, and then and then, and on goes the walk and she does her business and we are on our way back to have breakfast as family with Marguerite. So now I am at work and trying to make my way through what I have to deal with today and I think – “what about the squirrels, what about the leaves, what about the smells….” And suddenly it isnt so hard to get through things.
Can’t make it to Pray with the Sisters tonight – can you please add this for me:
Prayers for all of our neighbor kids – Nate, Linda and Vignish (vig-nesh) who ride the bus. Prayers that Guardian Angels protect them from any bullying that they may come up against on the bus, in the halls, in the classroom – anywhere. Prayers that they stay close to the friends that help them laugh and feel safe.
Love the reflection, Karol. Many thanks. And we will be sure to keep your friends in our prayers.
SJ – I too find it difficult sometimes to stay grounded in joy of the present moment. Often, I find myself either too bogged down by the chaos of everyday life (the mountain of paperwork, lesson plans, other activities) or looking for the future and what that may be for me. When I am able to take short ‘breaks’ and spend some concentrated time in prayer it brings on a longing for more, because I recognize how beneficial it really is in my life to have that time of solitude, devoted entirely to God. So a cycle ensues. Thank you for the reminder of how to keep balanced and ‘in the moment.’ Hugs
I think of riding a bike and the necessity of always leading with the eyes. If I stare at an obstacle in the road, I will run into it. If I keep my eyes on the path ahead, I ride clear.