Is It Time for a God Break?

I've been struggling to keep my "God space" throughout the day. Every morning I meditate and pray. I often sense a deep inner stillness, an aliveness within me that transcends yet embraces all my problems, foibles and unanswered questions. By mid-morning, noon at the latest, I've lost most of it. It's vanished midst the detritus of unending tasks, interpersonal challenges, and E-distractions (email, Facebook, etc.) Where did God go? Where did I go?

At the conclusion of his book Resurrection Jesus: Embodying the Spirit of a Revolutionary Mystic, Adyashanti writes:

Ultimately, what allows us to embody the full measure of our life is a sense of stillness. One of the underlying, almost unspoken themes of the Jesus story is the stillness of eternity. It's Jesus in the desert, Jesus on top of the mountain. In such moments of aloneness, we give ourselves to that which is quiet within, to the deepest type of listening. True spiritual action in the world comes from a deep sense of inner stillness, rooted in that point around which the changing world revolves. And within the changing world is the spark of eternity - always free, always content, always the quiet and silent life-giver to our lives.

How can we possibly find inner stillness midst such a flurry of activity that is our lives? I think Jesus embodied the Way: take a break. Reconnect.

Even when thousands clamored for his attention, he would go off to pray for a bit up the mountainside. When those in authority demanded an immediate answer to a delicate situation, Jesus paused, bent down, and drew doodles in the dirt. Then, he stood up and gave an answer. (John 8)

So today, when I feel like a spun top that's losing balance, rather than plow through, I intend to pause and take a God-break.

When I become aware that I am no longer rooted and inwardly still, no longer in alignment with my Inner Compass...or when I face a particularly challenging situation...or even as a preventative measure throughout the day...I intend to pause and go even deeper into "God space".

The way to stretch "God space" is not to lengthen morning meditation time or detach from the world, but rather to disperse "God breaks" throughout the day. It's not magic nor wishful thinking but rather a decision to pause long enough to remember deep in my bones who and what I AM so that I can be busy and inwardly still simultaneously.

Cat in a Bag

The other night Bebe decided to make a "cat cave" out of a paper bag. Safe and snug, content and tranquil, she hid inside her protective sack. After a few minutes, however, she had her fix and hopped out of the sack and onto the bed with her two humans and the Fox Terrier. All of us need to be like a cat in a bag from time to time. We need a place to escape and hide out. Yet, after a respite, we too need to come out of the dark caverns and rejoin life. While it is comfortable to stay small, cozy and unnoticed, within us is a drive to express, connect and shine.

For the past few weeks before my morning meditation, I've been reading a selection from Adyashanti's Resurrecting Jesus: Embodying the Spirit of a Revolutionary Mystic. This morning's selection (p. 159):

We turn away from the light and into the darkness, because sometimes the light is hard to bear. It's a myth that the light of being is always easy to bear; sometimes the radiance of the divine asks us to do difficult things. To remain oriented toward the spark of divinity within us is not always easy, and to act from that space can take great courage and faith...Do we embody the radiance of spirit, or is it simply a passing experience? The whole Jesus story is the story of embodied spirit, of what it means and what it looks like to embody and act from divine being.

To embody and act from divine BEING. Wow! What a life that would be. It would shift the energy with which we do everything. It would mean pausing throughout the day to ask:

• Am I acting from a place of openness, centeredness and compassion?
• Am I emanating that essence of my divine spark, no matter how menial the task?
• Am I consciously choosing to be the presence of Christ/Buddha/My Best Self as I interact with people today?

For most of us shining this brightly is a terrifying prospect. Would people think we are crazy? Would we be on a different wavelength than our loved ones and coworkers and feel isolated? Would we have to change long-cherished patterns and behaviors?

We usually just slink back into our paper bags.

But everyone once in a while, the divine spark turns into a flame, and we can no longer ignore it. Those critical moments change the trajectory of a lifetime if we decide to come out of our "cat caves".

Perhaps no one has said it better than Marianne Williamson in A Return to Love:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.