Through Stained Glass: August Angst

Oh, teach me in each moment
of every Now to know that
You are the Here in all my
wandering and the Yes in
all my wondering and the Love
in nothing less than everything.
~Meister Eckhart

I am not a fan of this time of the year. Honestly, this is the only time of the year when I wish for someplace else. Specifically, a cabin high up in the mountains where it is warm in the day time, and the evenings are cool enough for a fire. There’s just something about the unbearable heat, the relentless muzak of the cicadas, and the blinding light of the sky that makes me cranky. When will it end?

 If I'm honest, it is these very components of summer that ground me in the present moment. The dusty ground with the half-inch wide cracks have me pondering for what is my spirit thirsting? The sunflowers I waited in anticipation for to bloom, not stand half their height, weighed down by their beauty, and I ask, "What is weighing heavy on my heart?" My neighbor's oak tree stretches tall and wide, providing a cold shadow for Tecumseh to nap in, and I ask, "What is saving my life these days?"

It is easy to get dragged down by negativity. What the dog days of summer remind me is that not all is as it seems. Sometimes to see what good and beautiful gift sits before us, we need to consider the parts that get under our skin. All parts of life, every season, and all things under the sun make up this life. We need the hot days, and the cold days, we need the planting and the harvesting, and we need cabins in the mountains and chairs on the beach. Or as Richard Rohr says, “Diminishment and beauty, darkness and light, death and life are not opposites: they are held together in the paradox of the “hidden wholeness.” 

To see this 'hidden wholeness,' we might need to take a step back and view things from a different perspective. Rising above the negative thoughts might mean reframing a situation and asking a different or more profound question about the current season we are in. Yes, the relentless noise from air conditioners and the heaviness of the humidity are annoying. But what about this season is giving you life? 

The flowers? The sound of the marching band practicing on the street? The cool evenings we are gifted with once the heat gets out of the way? The thunderstorm happening right now that will give you more tomatoes? 

Wonderful, beautiful things are happening now. It's just a matter of perspective, right? Sometimes we need to check our brokenness in order to welcome God's wholeness--in which we exist!

So I ask you, friends, 

What can you see differently today? 

How are you encountering the Divine at this moment?

I can't wait to hear about what you see!