This is It — Words that can change your life

Several years back I belonged to a meditative prayer group. During those times I made an effort to begin each day reading inspirational books and practicing meditative prayer. I remember these as peaceful days.

Life got in the way. I got irritated with the church. And the practice fell away. Now I’m trying to bring some sense of peace and tranquility back into my life by reinstating some kind of morning routine.

This morning I read small parts of these three books:  Hearing God’s Voice  by Fr. Mark Burger, Wherever You Go There You Are — Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn, and If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland.

	I started reading Fr. Mark Burger’s book earlier this year. It contains daily short readings. Today’s title was “Are You in a Hurry?” After commenting on the fast past of today’s society, Fr. Mark quotes Isaiah at the end of the selection, “They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, and they will soar with eagles’ wings. They will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not grow faint.” He writes that an old Baptist pastor explained to him what he thought it meant. “‘It means,'” he said, ‘that you must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. There is nothing else.'”
	I heard of Wherever You Go . . . from a blogging and Goodreads friend of mine, Debra. I decided to try it. The selection I read today was called, “This is it.” Kabat-Zinn writes, “Meditation is the only intentional, systematic human activity which at bottom is about not trying to improve yourself or get anywhere else, but simply to realize where you already are.” He suggests we trying reminding ourselves from time to time, “This is it.”I feel like there most be something important for me in these two similar messages that I read this morning. Nothing like getting hit over the head twice.
	The third book, If You Want to Write, was a gift from my son and daughter-in-law. I am finding it to be a great source of comfort and solace as my spirits and confidence routinely soar and crash through this self-publishing process.

With the exception of Fr. Mark Burger, who lives locally but wouldn’t know my name, I’ve never met the authors of these books. But their words inspire me. Their words may even change my life.

How powerful is that?

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