How often do you think about your breath? It’s something I take for granted yet as I contemplate my breath, the simplicity and power are overwhelming. After watching “Breathe” on UTube by Rob Bell, I’ve been connecting with the goodness of my breath.
A few years ago, a friend gave me the book “The Obstacle is the Way ” which changed my perspective on how I look at difficulty in my life. I’ve always had the tendency to want to live in the comfort of a stress-free life free of problems, the world I created as a child to survive. Unfortunately, this is not a real world this side of heaven. But we are hardwired for truth, beauty and goodness and to live a life of virtue. As I think about virtue, it’s easy to be attracted to its beauty and excellence, but we rarely think about the difficulty it takes to attain it.
Are you looking for more meaning and purpose in your life? Has your shine started to dull with the ongoing challenges we face in our world, trying to live in the balance of a new normal? Finding God’s goodness in my day to day life gives me more meaning and purpose, leading me to a deeper spiritual life. This discovery leads me to hope and a joyful heart. There are many ways we can walk the spiritual path but recently I’ve been contemplating how vulnerability plays a role in our progress.
Month One: The Virtue of Prudence. Valuing God and finding wisdom and peace.
Looking for God’s Goodness in contemplation and prayer.
When we seek, we find. Today provides an exercise for you to practice flexing your finding muscle. You might find goodness in the following Thanksgiving Examen as previously published here by the Center for Action and Contemplation.
Anxiety can wreak havoc in my life. If I allow it to, it robs me of my joy, the little bits of heaven I receive from living in the present moment. When I am preoccupied with the external events of my life, they can consume a lot of my time and energy. This keeps me from accepting the gift of peace that I am promised through my relationship with God.
As I contemplate the virtue of prudence and orient my soul towards the good, I see how my actions, sparked by my faith, lead to a peaceful heart. I’m learning that my faith must grow, it needs to be sparked by desire if I am to grow in relationship with God. Like any journey, I need to prepare.
As I orient my whole being towards God and find His goodness, I tap into the source of wisdom beyond my understanding. I tap into a source that is much larger than me. Infused with the theological gift of faith, through the Holy Spirit that lives within me, I start to understand the snippets of the divine plan that God reveals to me.
The virtue of prudence orients us to the good. Over time we start to see and understand that God’s goodness is present in the details of our life. But often I need help in seeing and feeling the unshakeable peace of God’s presence.
As we enter this final week reflecting on the virtue of prudence, I can feel God’s wisdom as I orient myself to His goodness. When I seek God in the day-to-day activities of my life with great faith, I receive the ultimate gift of peace.