- Wednesday Pause
- Posts
- Discomfort, Places Deep Within, and Non-Traditional Peace
Hey friend,
Sad Wednesday to you!
Unusual greeting, right? And yet … should it really be all that unusual?
Our culture has been conditioned to see “Happy Wednesday!” or “Good Day!” as acceptable forms of greeting. But in the spirit of embracing all emotions within the human experience, why do we not also offer well wishes of sadness?
It’s with this thought in mind, I’d like to share a story.
Sister Ruth Fox, of Sacred Heart Monastery in Richardton, North Dakota, was asked to offer a prayer for a senior class’s graduation breakfast. Unable to find something that felt fitting for such an occasion, she decided to write something herself. With pen in hand and Holy Spirit as aid, she composed what later became titled, “A Non-Traditional Blessing.”
It goes like this:
May God bless you with discontent with easy answers, half-truths, superficial relationships, so that you will live from deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, abuse, and exploitation of people, so that you will work for justice, equality, and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you will reach out your hand to comfort them and to change their pain to joy.
May God bless you with the foolishness to think you can make a difference in this world, so that you will do the things which others tell you cannot be done.
If you have the courage to accept these blessings, then God will also bless you with:
Happiness - because you will know that you have made life better for others.
Inner peace - because you will have worked to secure an outer peace for others.
Laughter - because your heart will be light.
Faithful friends - because they will recognize your worth as a person.
These blessings are yours - not for the asking, but for the giving - from One who wants to be your companion, our God, who lives and reigns, forever and ever.
So again I say, Sad Wednesday to you! - not so your yoke is hard and your burden is heavy, but so, with the same spirit and wisdom as Sister Ruth, you may explore “A Non-Traditional Peace” and live “deep within your heart.”
As you sit now with the following prompts for a few moments of soul work, may today’s midweek intermission take your discovery of peace there - deep within.
-With Joy
Source: The Sister Ruth story via The Sacred Braid blog by Dan Miller.
P.S. For a helpful illustration to use as visual aid in your personal times of praxis, feel free to download this month’s art-offering here.
P.S.S. For a few minutes of thought talk about Sister Ruth’s blessing from a few founding members of the team, join us for those musings here.
Pause for Thought
“Remember that it’s not only the desire for wealth and position that debases and subjugates us, but also the desire for peace, leisure, travel, and learning. It doesn’t matter what the external thing is, the value we place on it subjugates us to another … where our heart is set, there our impediment lies.”
Source: The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday, p.61, Epictetus, DISCOURSES, 4.4.1-2; 15.
Pause for Practice
In the newsletter opener, we shared a story about Sister Ruth Fox and the origin behind her insightful—but oh so difficult—non-traditional blessing. We also shared a pretty frank quote from the stoic philosopher Epictetus, and we wished you a Sad Wednesday! If I had to wager a bet, I’m guessing you might be thinking right about now: what the heck?
Thing is, hard emotions and uncomfortable places need to be explored and practiced just as much as positive affirmations and gratitude practices. The spiritual disciplines of “sitting with” and “going there” are sacred ways God helps us confront difficult realizations as we’re led deeper into the internal work of our souls.
The following practice—Examine the Discomfort—is a pause to acknowledge those places, “so that you may live deep within your heart.”
As you make time to dwell in this practice, invite the presence of peace to be your companion.
Invite God’s presence - Pause for a few moments of quiet.
Reflectively read - Take a few moments to read “A Non-Traditional Blessing” again slowly and meditatively.
Give thanks - Sit with the words of the blessing and name the gifts of insight you received.
Pray about the specifics - Spend a few moments praying about what surfaced. Pick one thing to ask God to give you clarity on.
Practice forgiveness - Thank God for the grace of awareness. Ask for forgiveness for the things that surfaced that you may not be proud of.
Look to tomorrow - Invite God to be part of what you feel invited to explore further. Ask for the grace, courage, confidence, wisdom and peace you’ll need.
Pause for Prayer
Dear God, if I fly high, so do you. If I sink low, so do you. If I rise with the dawn or set with the evening sun, you rise and set right along with me. Amen.
Source: Morning and Evening Prayers by Cornelius Plantinga p.28.
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Click here for previous month’s art offerings
P.S. Peace doesn’t always look like a day at the spa. Sometimes the work of peace looks and feels a lot like this. May this little girl’s perspective rub off on you, too ;)