This morning I went out to check on my tree.  She is beginning to bloom and in the soft pink light of the morning, she is beautiful.  As I was outside capturing her first blooms, I reveled in the quiet and the stillness of the morning.  I took deep, healing breaths.  I inhaled the new and freshness of the day and exhaled the worries I was trying to bring to it.

And with each breath, I felt God there with me reminding me of his care, his love, and his delight in my delight.

There is nothing magical about solitude
that makes God suddenly appear.
God is everywhere all the time.
It’s just that most of the time we are so busy
with everything else that we don’t notice.
But by practicing the discipline of solitude,
we are creating a space in our lives where God can be with us.
~John Michael Talbot

With all the misunderstandings, yelling, fear, and outright hate that is circulating our country right now, we are all in need of some quiet and stillness.  I wonder what would it look like if we were grounding ourselves in love.  Each day, I am discouraged and feel an anger at injustice rise up in me.   I must remind myself to find a place of quiet and inhale hope and compassion and exhale contempt and fear. And while I don’t want to live in a cloud of denial, I do not want to allow hate and fear penetrate my heart so that my heart is full of hate and fear.  I want the fight for justice and righteousness to be backed by a great and sound love.  While I am surrounded by cowardliness and ignorance,  I want my heart to remain strong and kind.

This is not something I can do on my own.  I must have the help of the Great Mystery to protect my heart from hate and fill it with an unending love.  I go to back to him again and again and ask for help.  Help to keep my heart resilient, soft, and gentle while facing wickedness and iniquity.  Help to keep fighting for those that are meek and poor in spirit while also being a peacemaker.  Help to speak out against injustice while also being merciful.

I beg of you, my Lord,
to remove anything that separates
me from you, and you from me.
Remove anything that stands in the way of
my seeing you, hearing, tasting, savoring and touching you;
reverencing and being mindful of you;
knowing, trusting, loving, and possessing you;
being conscious of your presence
and, as far as possible, enjoying you.
This is what I ask for myself and earnestly desire from you. Amen

St. Peter Faber

I have been praying this prayer from St. Peter Faber.  It has helped me start each day with some stillness and grounding.  And from these secure foundations, I continue to fight on the side of love, for love, and with love.