Happy Wednesday!
With this month’s theme, we invite you to consider the importance awareness plays on the deepening work of one’s spiritual journey.
Anthony de Mello asks, “Would you rather act and not be aware of your actions, talk and not be aware of your words? Would you rather listen to people and not be aware of what you’re hearing, or see things and not be aware of what you’re looking at?”
Even the great Socrates said, “The unaware life is not worth living.”
For this month, we invite you to print off the below illustration and spend time in sacred pause as you consider the soulwork of awareness.
“No one can show you how to do it, because he would be giving you a technique, he would be programming you. But watch yourself … I don’t know of any other way to awareness.” —Anthony de Mello
-With Joy
“Awareness—The Perils and Opportunities of Reality,” by Anthony de Mello
A Pause to Practice
Visio Divina is an ancient way of Christian prayer in which space is created to listen and pay attention to the Holy at work by entering into a sacred image. This form of praxis is an invitation into the S.A.C.R.E.D. art of seeing, and the art below is this month’s featured offering for your time of reflection.
- Step 1 – Stillness: Find a comfortable place of quiet. Take a few deep breaths. Invite God’s presence.
- Step 2 – Acknowledge: Gaze gently over the entire image, allowing yourself to notice as many details as you can – shapes, colors, lighting, foreground, background, and symbols.
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Step 3 – Center: Notice what captures your attention, what your eyes are drawn to, or where your thoughts linger. Notice what inspires you, and perhaps what you might also be avoiding.
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Step 4 – Reflect: Meditate on any part of the image that has captured you. How might God be speaking to you through this? What might the message and meaning be? Is there an invitation in this for you?
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Step 5 – Express: Find words or a prayer of your heart to articulate the thoughts, emotions, memories, or desires that have awakened. Give voice to the insights you’ve gained.
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Step 6 – Dwell: Savor this sacred time. Rest in simple silence. Linger in the holiness of this space and place of practice.
Click here for a high-res / full-print version of this art.
A Passage to Ponder
“Be generous with me and I’ll live a full life; not for a minute will I take my eyes off your road. Open my eyes so I can see what you show me of your miracle-wonders.”
A Prayer to Pray
“Thank you for all your gifts that come clearly marked as gifts – nourishing food and nourishing friends, work to do and energy to do it, wonderful expressions on the faces of children, your love that speaks my name and looks for me with eyes that have longing in them. Surely your goodness is beyond all thinking and beyond all telling.”
“Morning and Evening Prayers,” by Cornelius Plantinga
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If you would like to share this issue of PAUSE – via text, social media, or email – just copy and paste this link: https://joyover.com/pause/march-22-2023
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Click here for previous month’s art offerings
