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Ancient olive tree (photo from Medilico’s Olive Facts)
It’s a rich and wonderful contemplative and spiritual practice to invite a word or theme for reflection.
Each word has a frequency or a power or a ‘mood’ of its own,which is why certain words and themes are more helpful than others when we’re ‘cultivating’ through spiritual practice.
You can feel it, even, when you see or say them … holy, Beloved, grace, be still and Know …
As we sit in reflection with a certain word or theme, we invite the essence of that word to arise within us, to envelope us, to inform us, to center and ground us, and to emanate from us.
I’ve been in reflection for keynote words and themes as guides for the coming year — and several have arisen into my awareness (I’ll likely be writing about each soon) — so when I came upon Anna Lin’s post about the word ‘Holy‘ I wanted to pass it along to you.
It reminded me of a bit of holy wisdom I’ve shared before here at Sophia’s Children:
“Take off your shoes,
for the place where you are
standing is holy ground.”
(Exodus 3:5)
Enjoy Anna Lin’s own reflection on this evocative word-reflection.
This morning I spent time in silence to see where my focus lies. My wandering mind tells me that I focus my energy on how to “fix” things — how to get to perfection. I was given the breath word HOLY for this day. It helps me to re-focus on all that is God, rather than on myself and my needs. This is a great help to prayer.
But I recognize this is also a great challenge to prayer. For within this awareness of the Holy, is the element of Holy Fear. Fear of this nature is fear of the unknown — fear of the mystery of God that is unknowable, that cannot be controlled or contained. I sense within me a fear of surrendering my power, my control. I sense a fear of unworthiness in the presence of the Holy One. Then I recall Luther’s explanation of the first…
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In mid-April, I reached an important 1000 day milestone in my mantra-yoga practice. When I started that long sadhana in July 2011, I didn't think beyond the 40-day Kirtan Kriya sadhana, or practice period, I'd been invited to do. Several years... Continue Reading →
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