Spiritual Growth – Page 153 – REACHING HURTING WOMEN MINISTRIES

EACH MONTH IN THE 12 STEPS OF HUMILITY WE ARE CLIMBING SAINT BENEDICT’S LADDER OF HUMILITY. WITH EACH RUNG WE COME CLOSER TO THE PERFECT LOVE OF GOD.

The ladder is our life on earth, if we humble our hearts God will raise it to heaven. ~ St Benedict

Step 2 of Humility: A person shall love not their own will or take pleasure in the satisfaction of their desires; rather they shall imitate by their actions the saying of the Lord: “I have come not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.”

Certainly one of the toughest lessons we learn in life is that we don’t always get things our way. As children we are selfish with our toys, with our activities, our time, with our need for attention and even our friendships.

It doesn’t seem to get any better as adults. We want to control every part of our world.

If we can learn to let go and allow God to have control, life becomes so much easier.

But letting go is the hardest part.

I have found the more I practice letting go, accepting the current circumstances, the easier it is the next time. Now don’t get me wrong. I still struggle with this. But it is getting easier. I just have to remember that what is out of my control is in God’s control. And what better place for control to be?

RESOURCES:
Twelve Steps to Inner Freedom: Humility Revisited by Joan Chittister
The Rule of Saint Benedict edited by Timothy Fry
The Way of Humility by Andre’ Louf

For the better part of January I have been knocked down by the flu virus. More than the usual sniffles and body aches, I was immobilized by chest congestion that brought wheezing, a non-stop cough and loss of breath.

A book I’m reading on Christian mysticism brought a new perspective on the simple act of breathing.*

In the Judeo-Christian tradition the name of God is Yahweh. Written in the Sacred Hebrew tetragrammaton: YHVH (yod, he, vac, and he) it was considered unspeakable by the Jews. This unspeakability has been recognized for a long time but some see it deeper way, not only as a word formally unspoken but a word breathed. Many are convinced the correct pronunciation of Yahweh is replicating the sound of inhalation and exhalation.

Imagine… our first and last words entering and leaving this world, the one thing we do every moment of our life is actually speaking the name of God. This should make me have more respect for my lungs and the breath given me by the Holy Spirit!

Try this meditation/breathing technique: Breath in whispering Yah. Then breath out whispering Weh.

YAH-WEH… YAH-WEH… YAH-WEH… YAH-WEH… YAH-WEH…