Have you ever had one of those days when your mind and heart felt foggy? Or, when thinking clearly feels challenging and rest eludes your weary soul? I find myself in one of those spaces as I write this spigot. Often the Lord offers me clarity regarding the spigot word and the Holy Spirit leads me to create the post. Right now, however, I lack both clarity and words. It’s one of those days.
Maybe you can relate with me? It’s one of those days for you too. Or, perhaps, you find yourself in a sweet space with a rested and settled soul?
Whatever you notice, give attention to the state of your soul. I continue to learn to welcome God’s care into the dissonance and pain of life.
In Abandonment to Divine Providence, Jean-Pierre de Caussade states that “What God arranges for us to experience at each moment is the best and holiest thing that could happen to us.” (Pg. 14) Although I struggle to fully understand God’s best and holiest, I lean into trusting Him through the Welcome Prayer.
The Welcome Prayer, developed over time by Father Thomas Keating, an authentic follower of God, teaches my soul and opens my heart to God’s presence and activity within my life. When I welcome all that comes to me as an invitation to know God, experience His companionship, and fully live embraced by Him, I experience freedom resounding within me.
Welcome, welcome, welcome.
I welcome everything that comes to me today, because I know it’s for my healing.
I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions.
I let go of my desire for power and control.
I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval, and pleasure.
I let go of my desire for survival and security.
I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person or myself.
I open to the love and presence of God and God’s action within. Amen.
God invites us to move deeper into trust and intimacy with Himself. Just as Jesus experienced deep connection with His Heavenly Father while walking the earth, we too can meet with God in the ordinary routines and daily challenges of life. God loves each of us personally and uniquely – He communes with us where we are, not where we are not.
I pray the Welcome prayer and give consideration to my body. With this embodied practice, I become aware of the sensations of breathing and living given to me by God. Scanning from head to toe, I note physical signs of temperature, tensions, and the intangible. I tune into the presence of God and the action of the Holy Spirit in my life in the current moment. I attune to and learn with God’s help what occurs with my physical being.
Consider engaging a body scan right now. Get comfortable and become aware of your body. Acts 17:28 reminds us that in God “we live and move and have our being.” Take note of your breathing. Begin with your feet on the floor and move up your legs, stomach, back, arms, hands, shoulders, neck, jaw, and face. Recognize weight, pressure, heaviness, lightness, tension, tightness, soft, and hard. Learn by listening to the body given to you by God.
Praying this prayer helps me consent to the activity of God in my life and frees me to welcome whatever comes to me as a holy gift from the Almighty. I learn to listen and wonder without judgment those thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions as graces of God and opportunities to align myself with His mind and heart. The Lord teaches me.
I welcome my interior space and embrace the Holy Spirit’s presence with me. The Lord draws me deeper into His divine heart as I pay attention to moments when my need for security, affection, and control seem either thwarted or satisfied. My reactions reveal interior disturbances and delights. These offer opportunities to welcome God’s activity and grow with Him. It moves from the physical to the spiritual.
Reflect for a moment. When have your needs for security, affection, or control encountered disruption? Without evaluation, notice your reaction and response.
When I return to cognizance of the Spirit of God within my soul, my faith and trust enlarge. I grow in the capacity to consent to the work of the Spirit. As repentance, change, and transformation occur within me, I become aware of internal motivations. These then shift to align with the Lover of my soul impacting my attitudes and actions which reflect that reality. As I recognize these movements, I learn and grow in Christ.
Do I want change? I must consent to the work of the Holy Spirit, so change really isn’t the focus, but attachment to God and His purposes. God draws me to let go and open to His will. I learn to let loose of those things to which I cling consciously and unconsciously. I learn to say “Yes, Lord.”
Desire alone fails to welcome transformation. Desire must lead to surrender: surrender of self to the love and presence of God and His action within the soul. This relinquishment leads to action and the possibility of godly transformation by the hand of God. I get to release everything over to the God of the universe, trusting in His goodness, generosity, and grace. He alone brings transformation.
“The divine action, although only visible to the eye of faith, is everywhere, and always present. . . . There is not a moment in which God does not present himself under the cover of some pain to be endured, of some consolation to be enjoyed, or of some duty to be performed. All that takes place within us, around us, or through us, contains and conceals his divine action.” (Jean-Pierre DeCaussade. Abandonment to Divine Providence, pg. 24)
I invite you welcome God’s divine action: to notice your body, welcome the opportunity to consent to the Holy Spirit, and let go to the will and ways of God. I hope this prayer leads you deeper in devotion and surrender to your kind and present Creator, Savior, Healer, and Provider.
Step into the freedom to say “Yes, Lord” throughout the day, even when it’s one of those days. I thank God for His tender teaching to my soul, even when my mind feels foggy and my heart feels weary and discouraged. He is faithful.
Welcome, welcome, welcome.
I welcome everything that comes to me today, because I know it’s for my healing.
I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions.
I let go of my desire for power and control.
I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval, and pleasure.
I let go of my desire for survival and security.
I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person or myself.
I open to the love and presence of God and God’s action within. Amen.
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Drips from the Word: Muse about these Bible verses. Let these truths impact your living.
Proverbs 19:21 – Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
Psalm 32:8 – I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
Splashes from the Spigot: Drink from deep wells. Read these recommended books to fill your soul.
Fr Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure and Claude de la Colombiere. Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence: The Secret of Peace and Happiness. 2020.
Jean-Pierre de Caussade. Abandonment to Divine Providence. St. Louis, MI. 2010.
Sprinklings of Truth: Soak in meaningful songs. Check out these music videos to lift up your spirit.
David Wesly. Trust and Obey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HSD1c0Geqc
Brian and Jenn Johnson. You’re Going to be Okay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjF9IqvXDjY