The kingdom of God is justice and peace 
and joy through the Holy Spirit
Come, Lord, and open in us
the gates of your kingdom.
—Taizé Community

Notice it’s not “open to us” but “open in us.” The gate is in us and it’s God who opens it.

Come, Lord, and open in me the gates of your kingdom.

This is my prayer. It helps me when I’m in that not caring that I don’t care place. It opens me to cherish what I do care about and let go of what I don’t need to be responsible for. It also helps me be gentle with myself when I haven’t quite found the balance.

Sometimes I have blinders on. I don’t see how what I’ve done affects others–until I’m told. Then my apologies can’t be stacked high enough. Oh, that uncomfortable discovery of awareness.

This time when it happened, I spent a restless night wondering how I’d missed something so obvious. I was grateful that my friend told me how she was affected and that she said it without blame or judgment. Although I regretted what I’d done, I didn’t beat myself up or fear rejection as I have in the past. Instead, I wondered what God might bring out of it all.

Is that not evidence of the kingdom? God opened the gate for me to receive justice and peace: awareness and compassion.

I’m humbled that I needed God to open the gate of self-awareness. Yet that is a gift as well–even if it isn’t warm and fuzzy.

A participant at Living from the Heart was caught in the old “doing” versus “being” dilemma. Jeff Imbach, a co-facilitator, said, “The contemplative way isn’t about doing or being; it’s about receiving.”

Yes. Receiving the kingdom–humbly like a child. This is my prayer.

Jesus called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” –Matthew 18:2-5 (NRSV)

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Love Mischief for the World

Today’s post was inspired by the Pray As You Go meditation for October 2, 2018. “Pray as you go is a ten-thirteen minute daily prayer session, designed to go with you wherever you go, to help you pray whenever you find time but particularly whilst travelling to and from work, study, etc. It is not a ‘Thought for the Day’, a sermon or a Bible study, but rather a framework for your own prayer to help you   become more aware of God’s presence in your life, listen to and reflect on God’s word, and grow in your relationship with God.” —Pray As You Go

What love mischief are you and God doing to care for the world?
Let me know and I will include it in an upcoming post.

Credits and References:
The Open Gate by mario. Used with permission.
Jesus with the children by Michael D. O’Brien. Used with permission.

© Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim, 2018.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission from Esther Hizsa is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used provided there is a link to the original content and credit is given as follows: © Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim 2013-2018.  http://www.estherhizsa.com