UNTIEING THE KNOT

So, this month has certainly been filled with adventure and challenges. I have come to remember that achieving unity with someone is not always easy. Sometimes our ways of working towards the common goal are so different. This week a collaborator asked me to prayerfully make a commitment to do something. Reading the request left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I wanted to be able to say that what they wanted me to commit to would happen. At the same time, I realized that what they wanted me to commit to involved so many more people and situations then I had control over. I also realized I was feeling this pressure to do something from someone who had always said they would never pressure me to do that. As I repeatedly read the request, I realized the pivotal word in the request was prayerfully.

Prayerfully. That was what reminded me that you had the answer to all that I needed to be in unity with this person. So, thank you for allowing me to speak my truth in love. I know that in your time I will achieve the goal that we would both like to see me achieve, which is also a part of her goal. However, I also know that this is about you and your timing. So, I will continue to commit to being the best me I can be each day and know that you will continue to open doors and remove obstacles and create ways out of no way.

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A DIFFERENT UNITY

Dear God,
I have been thinking about how sometimes working in unity with someone is so easy. At the same time, working with someone can also be difficult. There are times in my when I have wanted to work in unity with someone and they have been open and willing to work with me in return. We have had a common goal and worked together, sharing our gifts and insights with each other. The experience has been amazing. It reminded me of that feeling of being on a see saw with a friend who would make sure we both went up and down and nobody left the other stuck up in the air. There was a feeling of peace and synchronicity in the process.
However, recently, I was reminded it takes two to work in unity. Both parties must want to work towards a common goal. If one party cuts themselves off then it creates a challenge to work as one body. What I have come to realize is that I may not be able to create a bond of unity with everyone or that it might take time for me to help someone wash away years of loneliness and isolation before they are willing to work with me in unity.
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LIKE POTATOES IN A TUB

It’s funny how stories have a way of drifting up into your memory from your childhood when you are meditating and reflecting on a specific word or practice. As you may have figured out by now, the theme for this month is connection and I have been working on being intentional this month about practicing seeing the connections in my life. I hope you have as well.

This morning I found myself thinking about a story my father told me about washing potatoes.  Decades ago, my father served in the Korean War. Amongst many positions in which he served, was that of a translator. He also spent some time working in the kitchen. One of his least favorite tasks was cleaning and peeling potatoes. Often times he would find himself assigned to this task, ordered to do hundreds of potatoes, one at a time. While he became efficient at cleaning potatoes, it was not one he enjoyed doing.

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