This morning I sat with my tea just waking up and taking in the new day. I closed my eyes for a moment and the first thing I noticed was all of the noise that usually goes unnoticed. The heater came on, a car went by outside, birds were chirping in the trees, and then the ding of a message coming in on my phone. Our lives and world is filled with noise every day. The only time we are really not consciously aware of it is when we sleep. I can’t explain it, with my eyes still closed, the world suddenly came alive with deeper sounds and things I never noticed before. I realized the heater also makes a howling noise when it is on, the house creaks, and I actually sense light even when my eyes are closed.
Taking a holy moment to just “be” is so revealing, especially when beginning to recognize personal thoughts, senses of the body, or setting intentions of how the day could unfold. I remember reading a book written by Marianne Williamson a long time ago and also her famous quote, “Sacred silence writes the universe.” I thought about the moment just prior to creation and how that silence might have been. What an amazing moment in a void space of time when God took a breath and began creating. It boggles my mind to even consider what a great mind God truly is. I think it goes beyond personal comprehension and is far greater than our human existence can even fathom. Then with great intention God creates.
It’s how our day should begin and how it could be if we design it that way; a holy moment with God and the intention to create the day whatever way we partner in creating it. Think about this, “Without intention our lives seem random as the day unfolds.” It does not have to be that way. Of course, things happen that we can not control but we can control how we respond to them. I wondered this morning, what it might be like to have a day that unfolds with sacred and intended responses.
“Today I will take a breath and intend to be patient when I am tempted to be impatient.”
“I will walk in acceptance that the only life I can have control over is my own.”
Intentions can be much more powerful than we even realize. Could it be because we are not listening or taking sacred silence? When we listen, answers are there for our questions and questions come up we never thought of. It almost feels like the world forgot how to breathe, ask, listen, observe, and intend. Have we forgotten about the holy moment God taught us to have when creation began? Maybe we are in too much of a hurry to take the time to actually do the work that creation and intention require? Not taking the time can be costly though. That leaves our lives and days to unfold in what seems like a random way. If the way we respond to what comes our way is not set with intention our responses are left to our ego self instead of the part of us that is connected to our creative creator.
Maybe this sounds way too deep to take in during a morning cup of tea, but it is important. Can you imagine if we all took a holy moment every day or even several times a day? We can intend to be more kind, respond with more wisdom, pause before we respond at all. Maybe we can be more conscious of what comes out of our mouths. Are our responses positive, necessary, or true? Taking a holy moment to set our intention for each day can help calm some of the emotion we deal with. Emotions are important but they can cause our lives to feel like we are riding in a sail boat being tossed around by an angry or uncontrollable sea. Jesus once calmed those angry and uncontrollable waves. I think it was King David who asked God to level the hills and valleys. Could he have been setting an intention with God to not react in such an emotional or uncontrolled way?
Life can be a “hills and valleys” kind of ride without taking holy moments to sit in sacred silence. If you have not, take that time now and take it every day when you wake. Yes, it requires you create a new habit if you don’t do this already. You will thank yourself and thank God if you do. Give it a try!
Loving you from here,
Dr Jenine Marie Howry
Life Lessons by Jenine Marie 