Month: July 2018

Increasingly, I see the need to be gentler in my life.  Harshness can remove the joy.  Life can be hard and harsh and painful.  But, what do I bring to it?  Joy?  Understanding? Life-giving help?  These are all ways for me to respond.  It is how I should respond.  It gives others what they need – space to grow and love and live!  I pray I may do so.

Our lives are primarily build on our habits.  Over the course of a day, between 60% to 90% of our behavior is a habit.  What we did yesterday we will very likely do today.  Therefore, our habits primarily determine what we will do.  We must have a plan as mystics to develop and maintain life giving habits.  It is essential. When we do, we can build the life we want.  Putting prayer times, quiet times, reflective times and times of service into our everyday habits changes who we are.  As aspiring mystics, we do have a great deal of say over our choices.  If we chose to create great habits, we can be on the road to spiritual growth.

As we examine our lives, the most important question for us as mystics is simple.  Whose am I?  This question goes to the heart of our lives.  If we are Jesus’ or Our Triune Lord’s, then we can devote our lives to Our Lord and all that God wants of us. It then helps direct our daily actions and our daily hopes and dreams.  Declaring our lives for God is an important first step.  It appears that all the Saints at some time in their life truly devoted their very beings to God.  It helped clarify their choices and actions – especially when their lives were difficult and required courage.  We too must claim our lives for Jesus. Doing so changes everything!