For love and freedom are only found when one enjoys each note as it arises,
then allows it to go, so as to be fully receptive in the notes that follow.
–Anthony de Mello, Stop Fixing Yourself, 130.
Each note–
this lovely one,
that discordant one,
the next noticing the judgment of notes,
and the next observing the judgment.
Love is found here;
freedom is found here–
not in the note
but under it,
in You with me
experiencing each note,
remaining here
as one moment comes and leaves
and the next one arrives.
Help me welcome what is
before me
and within me.
Let me not run from the love
which You offer
as I open to
disappointment,
disorder
or delight.
Let me hear the tune
my life
is playing.
May I love more.
May I be more present with the ones I love.
May I lift up the moment before me with tender hands
and an awake and available heart.
—Sarah Blondin
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“Most people don’t live aware lives. They live mechanical lives, mechanical thoughts—generally somebody else’s—mechanical emotions, mechanical reactions. As you begin to understand this, you stop making demands on yourself, you stop having expectations of yourself, you stop pushing yourself, and you begin to understand yourself,” said Tony de Mello. His words were recorded in a chapter called “Come Home to Yourself” in the book Stop Fixing Yourself (p.67). Anthony de Mello (4 September 1931 – 2 June 1987), was an Indian Jesuit priest, psychotherapist and well-known speaker and retreat leader. Tony believed and taught that happiness is our natural state and awareness helps us return to it.
What love mischief are you and God doing for the world?
Let me know and I will include it in an upcoming post.
An Everyday Pilgrim 