Enthusiasm for life Some things in life are simply too exciting to ignore. They come when we least expect them. They explode into the middle of the mundane and race through our veins faster than our hearts can handle the pressure of them. They leave us in a kind of spiritual shock, a sort of spiritual numbness. The conversation we doubted we’d ever have is about to happen. The letter we thought would never come arrives. The opportunity we never dreamed would be offered to us is now, unexpectedly, within reach. Life is suddenly different. Where do such things come from in the midst of the daily, at the center of unrelenting dullness? Life simply keeps intruding on our plans, our decisions, our certainties, our fears. What can we say to ourselves about such things? Most of all, what is their spiritual meaning for us? As surprising and unsettling as the twists and turns of life may be, it is even more damaging to simply take life itself for granted. If we do that, we are fast on our way to becoming inured to the pulse of life that beats through all our days, however taxing, however difficult. If we miss the little things, we will soon begin to take love and friendship and blessing for granted. Perhaps even miss them entirely. When we do not cultivate a sense of surprise, we give in to the emotional dysfunction that suffocates the breath of life in us. Our hearts go sour and our souls go blind. We lack the open-armed exuberance for life that makes the human human. It is time to pray for the spiritual consciousness of the unexpected so that Life at work in us can astonish us with its real fullness. –from The Breath of the Soul: Reflections on Prayer by Joan Chittister (Twenty-Third Publications)
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 14:52:48 +0000