Hello TSJ Peeps!
Solomon is back with his never ending grin and wisdom-filled eyes that reflect our inner selves back to us so we can see ourselves more clearly and grow emotionally and spiritually.
With a new year beginning, we pondered over some words or themes that would be relevant and meaningful to us here at TSJ headquarters. We also felt they should clearly reflect the longings of my heart- which Solomon seems to know better than I. He has that wisdom thing going, you know.
Two words came to mind for this year:
Cultivate & Love
“That is it!” I proclaimed aloud. That is it. My passion and my own need is to Cultivate Love.
What gets cultivated? Like soil in the garden, our hearts and minds need cultivating. It is there where compacted beliefs, hurts, broken dreams, anger, anxieties and fear creep up on us. All too often we forget to breathe in the very air of God’s Love that is ever present and available. This means we leave little room for new seeds of Love to burst forth and flourish.
Love gets pushed aside when fear and blame take over. The election year may offer us a good example. It has caused most of us reason to worry, no matter which camp we choose to pitch our tent in. But worry, blame, and fear always block hope, happiness and harmony.
So facing a new year has caused me moments of reflection. I have been noting places where my own heart may need an annual work over. I have examined my unmet goals, broken dreams and residual longings. especially to be more loving when it is hard to be loving.
How do our hearts and mind get cultivated? The Shared Journey’s answer is our hearts get cultivated by the wisdom of life experiences, ancient Biblical stories of the human journey, and a collection of our own stories. There is something about sharing the journey of life that breaks up the hardened soil of our minds and makes room for change.
May I ask you the same question I have been asked by Solomon? Do you having longings and dreams that have either been broken or simply neglected because life keeps getting in the way?
As I thought about my own answer, I began to journal again- something I have neglected for awhile. I realized many challenges remain for me and one of them is my own unmet longing to be more loving and more efficient with time and energy.
I know I am repeatedly writing about Love. For some time, I have felt embarrassed or perhaps even ashamed that this is the topic I explore the most. After all, it does not appeal to the intellect, is neither particularly informative nor specific. But when experienced, it is utterly transformative.
So I no longer feel apologetic about this theme. And for me that is a big step in the right direction. Love after all, is the very nature of God.. Love is not easy nor fuzzy nor sentimental frivolity. Love is action and is hard work and impossible to do by ourselves. Love comes from relationships- with God, Nature, each other, even with our inner waring selves.
Sharing our stories is one way of breathing new life into old stories and adding new flavor to the stew of daily living. It is one way to cultivate Love for one another. And it is likely the only way to answer the Divine call to kindness and mercy, to forgiveness and surrender and to service and trust.
The Shepherd is in the field. Right beside us. Even within us. Always.
Let us spend 2017 cultivating love wherever we go.
Solomon seems to think it a good idea. When you are feeling anxious and alone in your hurt, practice whispering the words, “How can I cultivate love in this circumstance?” How can I make room for love in the midst of fear, blame, or hurt.
Our wounds call for healing. We can call out to God and our trusted mentors for help and we can simply be still and remember who we are and most of all – Whose we are.
Let’s play in the pastures together this year – no matter what.
Margie and Solomon