Sharpening Your Mental Game

“Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.”

~Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)

Many times I’ve come to a place where the efficiency and efficacy of my thoughts strayed somewhere unknown; like my thinking processes had ground to a halt—even for an hour or a day. Other times it has been stinking thinking that has been the problem; times when rabid thoughts, negative and illogical, clouded my cognitive disposition.

There are numerous other issues that emanate from our minds; sometimes these are informed at a deeper level, by the heart or spirit underpinning.

Whatever the concern, we can address our mental game, sharpening it, by thinking simply about inputs and outputs, and processes of checking and allowing.

Allow What Inputs?

Surely if we are going to control the traffic between our ears we need to check the stimuli we are exposing our minds to.

Myriad inputs for mental dissolution exist in our world; only discipline drives these inputs through a protective filter, by checking. Discipline requires work; effort. The more we are prepared to plan, investing time for forethought, the more we can discern inputs that have insidious or dark features about them—to, hence, avoid them in wisdom.

Sometimes it takes courage to say no. Saying no means upsetting other people, or upsetting our own equilibrium. But discipline requires this. It is an act of faith to sidestep these hazards of the mind.

Perhaps we can picture ourselves as a caretaker for our minds; being studious and prudent regarding what we allow ourselves to see, hear, taste, touch, and even smell.

Checking Those Outputs Before ‘Dispatch’

Despite our best efforts many not-so-good thoughts will buzz through our minds.

Accepting this is one thing, but exercising discipline, again, before attitudes are formed, or thoughts are committed to action, is vital.

When we imagine all our actions are based on thoughts sent from the distribution centre (our minds) we can understand the supervisor (our decisions) giving approval to the truck (the action) leaving the warehouse and making its delivery.

Sharpening our mental game is pausing to stop the process in full swing, to reflect for one logical moment, and to weigh our plans. We ask: is this the right thing to do; the right time; or, the right way?

How often have we regretted an action we committed to because our hindsight informed us, too late, that we should have paused?

***

Disciplining our minds can seem impossible at times, but when we commit our plans to prayer, seeking Divine help, in that deft quietness comes ordered thought.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

Generosity – The Gift That Gives Back

“A generous person will be enriched, and one who gives water will get water.”

~Proverbs 11:25 (NRSV)

“Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.”

~Proverbs 22:9 (NRSV)

Sitting in my office at work recently, enjoying a brief glimpse at the harbour view, God asked me to count the objects on my desk: 31. Thirty-one tools of the trade, some of which are essential for doing my job; some others just make it easier.

The simple fact is, by position and provision, I am mightily blessed. And when we consider our Western lives—presuming the majority reading this are blessed, like me, in their comparative westernised richness—including those in the East, or wherever, who live like modern Westerners—we have little to want for from a material perspective.

No one blessed in such ways deserves it more than someone who isn’t so blessed—born in less fortunate circumstances, perhaps in a poorer country or without the family or support structure many of us take for granted.

Healthy Comparisons

There are not too many comparisons we might make that are healthy; comparing ourselves with others, for instance, is a recipe for envy. But one good comparison to make is our blessedness with others’ relative paucity.

That sort of comparison is, it could be said, not limited to financial or material means; it extends into all circles of life. But material blessing is in present sight.

The motive for such a comparison is genuine compassion, for there is much neediness in the world and so much rank wealth—the distance between the two (relative rich and relative poor) would be hard to parallel.

When Is Enough, Enough?

The nature of accumulation is to gain more and more. How much relative wealth is too much relative wealth? Again, comparatively speaking, though the vast majority of us are nowhere near millionaires, we might still have more than we need.

When we accumulate more and more, redefining with growing blessing our level of comfort, there comes a point where that material blessing has our spiritual blessing ebbing away. The material blessing is a test; where we have enough, can we give some away?

A miraculous thing happens when we start to give away what we don’t need—and the limits of need are much lower than most of us readily contemplate. Not only are we freed of much clutter—mental, emotional and spiritual—we get to feel how God feels, as a sort of provider.

The best thing about such generosity is the desire grows according to the blessings of God that are felt; we quickly realise nothing, not any wealth on this earth, can touch us like God touches us when we act these ways.

***

The responsibility for generosity is a role for the comparative wealthy; that’s most of us. Indeed, everyone has something to share. Nothing can quite produce the happiness of making someone else happy than the kindness of generosity.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

Sweet Revival of the Soul

“True hope dwells on the possible, even when life seems to be a plot written by someone who wants to see how much adversity we can overcome. True hope responds to the real world, to real life; it is an active effort.”

~Walter Anderson

Struggling souls depend on hope for revival. That hope is awakened by faith-held action—to go on in the hopeless, helpless moment, beyond the negative pale, redeeming the positive.

To be sung in the first person, here is a poem, for you, if your mood descends to the blue:

Swinging with the tide of abandonment, I remind myself of divine enchantment. (For, I am won to the Spirit that descended for me.)

Tumbling in the mix of desolating confusion, I remind myself of the Presence of No Illusion. (God, no less.)

Flattened by the reticence of goals, I remind myself of the Resurrector of souls. (We are raised by request, yet again, by the Son.)

Numbed at the gapingly vacant soul-mood, there is cherished remembrance of nourishing divine food. (Jesus is the Bread of Life.)

When We Feel Abandoned

Rejection is the lowest form of emotion we can experience, for it has trusted in love and unfaithfulness has failed it.

When we feel abandoned we ought to remember the Son scooped and won us. Abandonment has no victory over the soul revived, afresh, by the Holy Spirit.

When We Feel Confused

Chaotic thinking and anxiety abounding, there are times like these where our hearts cannot make sense of our heads.

When we feel confused we ought to remember the Foundation—that Presence of No Illusion is there, in our midst, calming the flailing mind, urging us to take self-respite. The busied mind must take its space.

When We Feel Like A Failure

Whilst the goal of life is to hit the target, whatever that is, we frequently miss. Hope tells us that failure cannot ever define us, unless by choice; to succumb to the inaction of fear when going on in action—the opposite of how we feel—would be the right and better thing to do.

When we feel like a failure we ought to remember there is a Resurrector of souls we call upon in moments like these—to lift us into modes of learning-despite-humiliation and into that raised state of trying again.

When We Feel Empty And Numb

Numbness is possibly the most hopeless of states; yet, it, of itself, is not beyond hope.

When we feel empty and numb we ought to remember to be gentle with ourselves; to go to the divine feeding trough, to the Bread of Life, and eat for rest.

***

Whether we feel abandoned, confused, like a failure, or empty and numb, sweet revival of the soul is but the vision of hope away. Hope believes because it can, especially when all of life is against it. Hope remembers the vision far off and the Presence of God near.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

The Art of Prayer for Sublime Focus

Being human carries with it the state of seeking change—who is 100% satisfied or content with their lives? These changes we seek don’t stick; we keep coming back to the same things we desire to change. We try different methods; a different focus perhaps. And again we fail.

But our resilient desire to improve continues to goad us into trying, again and again; it fights with that fleshy desire that wants us feeling good in the moment; one where satisfaction quickly ebbs away.

A Deeper Focus

Focus is the key to change—to sustainable ends. But such a focus is bound to ebb, itself, if it doesn’t reach a depth we shall call sublime: a focus gained and ingrained through the imprinting of our identities.

Such imprinting takes several months to consecutive years to establish. It’s a journey eternally worth the pain of change, for a new passage to a more satisfying destiny has been tapped.

The work of the deeper focus reaches so deeply into our identities it etches itself into our souls. The change we desired and long fought for has become impregnable.

The Practicalities Of Sublime Focus

These are what procure an indelible and easy focus; but the effort has already gone in.

We have learned to pray the mantra of words God has given us—“Lord, I desire freedom from ____________. Show me the way, today and always. Amen.” Praying such a breath-prayer to the point of consistent habit, many times daily, begins to involve the subconscious mind, supplanting effort.

This is the part of the mind that does our homework for us, effortlessly, once it is trained. Given time, such prayers make their way into our ever-forming identity.

Combined with conscious focus, the subconscious focus now sponsors every effort toward our goal. Focus becomes more sublime, effortless and, therefore, pleasing. The reasons for our devotion to God are beginning to make practical sense.

God’s Spirit has answered our prayers because we have put God first by seeking him, foremost, by a prayer of repentance (Matthew 6:33).

A Gorgeous New Reality

With such a method of godly allegiance, to pray incessantly, we redeem the ever-present portion of blessing for the newly achieved sublime focus.

The change is now seamless. What would take great effort previously, or was not even sustainable, is now somehow never easier because of an undercurrent of focus that comes inexplicably from within us.

We have surely witnessed, first-hand, the genesis and continuation of a miracle—something we cannot fully explain and are, therefore, supremely thankful for.

***

Habit-changing focus must reach, and involve, the subconscious mind. Such a sublime focus is made operative by constant prayer over time, which transforms our identity, making change seamless and pleasing and, therefore, it is miraculous.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

The Resilience of All-Conquering Faith

“Faith upholds a Christian under all trials, by assuring him that every painful dispensation is under the direction of his Lord; that chastisements are a token of His love; that the season, measure, and continuance of his sufferings, are appointed by Infinite Wisdom, and designed to work for his everlasting good; and that grace and strength shall be afforded him, according to his need.”

~John Newton

Most baby believers fall in love with the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ because they erroneously think such a life will save them, somehow miraculously, from many dastardly trials ahead. In fact, it will, but not for the reasons they think.

The more mature believer knows this as a trick for the younger player; perhaps one sown by the devil. Not only is it not true, the genuine believer can know their testing may be even more severe than the nonbeliever’s is.

God, at our salvation, never does promise a silky smooth ride through the rest of our lives; indeed, the Bible is a litany of testimony for precisely the opposite. That is poignantly captured in the John Newton quote above.

Faith Is What Separates Experiences Of Heaven And Hell

Faith, which manifests the power and spiritual blessing of the Holy Spirit, is the thing that directs us, via our actions of trustful surrender before God, to a situation of relative heaven over the hellishness of the destination we’re headed for without faith.

It really is, first, a matter of trust.

We cannot know the blessings consequent of faith without first giving it a go; when we see faith work we see how God is carrying us to a better destination, whilst we are thankful for what we have been saved from, despite the work and sacrifice of faith.

And if we have never experienced the blessings consequent of faith, we ought to simply try it; genuine courageous forays into the world of faith do not land without an encounter with the almighty, living God.

Why The Believing Life Is Superior

When we consider that life is a struggle, whether we believe in God or not, and we also know that faith is the only tool combating, with decent effect, the great claims of such trials over us, we must surely not fail to see the importance of the believing life.

There are many reasons why the gospel is Good News, not least of which is the fact that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we have a way of understanding and overcoming life. Faith, here, is undeniably practical.

How great an understanding it is to attribute everything—the good, the bad, and the ugly—to the Lord’s hand: at the Spirit’s direction. That is Joban theology, right there. God matured Job’s faith through trial, just as the Lord’s refining us through ours. When we approach life this way nothing is truly against us; everything is for our good. Everything can be seen, now, as beneficial from a later perspective.

***

The Good News at the hand of salvation is the gift of power in the Holy Spirit that sponsors faith. Such faith enables an all-conquering life through the strength of honest weakness and reliance on the all-sufficient grace of the Lord Jesus. The faith-life can be seen as winning every time.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

The Journey of One Lifetime

“This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot.”

~Ecclesiastes 5:18 (NRSV)

We are to be forgiven for vacillating throughout our lives—rocking between the flesh and the Spirit—whereby we struggle and fight regarding the dual claims over our lives. We want ‘us’, by virtue of all manner of pleasure that is open to us, and so does God want us, via the obedience we are capable of indwelt of the Holy Spirit: the inspiring life of sanctified actualisation.

The journey of one lifetime—our living, breathing minutes connected in series from cradle to grave—can be seen as a fight or, just as equally, the journey replete in God’s grace, which carries us through every exaltation and every humiliation and all between.

Grace – The Common Thread

The same grace that was on display at the mutilation of the Saviour, the reconciliation of humankind, is disposed in your life and mine, through every life, to the extent of every feature of created life. Grace is eternal as it unfolds here, today, always.

This grace that carries us through the journey that is one lifetime sticks with us through every disobedient thick-and-thin, ever disposing to us second chance upon second chance. And that is the love of God—the Almighty Deity who sponsors the whole journey of every lifetime ever ignited.

Grace’s most majestic achievement is, of course, salvation, and that is the choice only one soul, representing one lifetime, can make. I cannot have my father, nor my brother, nor my daughter saved any more than a wish or a prayer. Salvation is a question—with grace the key—every heart and mind must answer of their own accord.

Still, grace extends herself to believer and nonbeliever alike, equally, and passionately, that they may live how they wish, but its wish is that they choose for God.

Think Of Your Life

We may think of things such as our lives vacantly or deliberately, yet how often do we view life from the eternal context—from the position post-death; that is, having lived the entirety of our lives, now with eternity to reflect over that divestment of time.

The journey of one lifetime is what we have.

According to the Teacher of Ecclesiastes we have a “few days” with which to fully experience life. And experience it we will; as sinners and as saints; in good days and bad; in happiness and sadness; in sickness and in health; right until the end.

***

What are our lives? With transport of time, from cradle to grave, we live the best we can—a very imperfect journey. Still, we can know God’s forgiveness for the things beyond us and our limited power. Within sensible limits, life is to be enjoyed!

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

Peace and Quiet In Life’s Thunderstorms

“Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened but go on in fortune and misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm.”

~Robert Louis Stevenson

Making a study of the features of time might seem numbing to the younger player, but there is something tantalising in the truths bestowed within the characterisation of time; that is, to imagine our emotional lives, more or less, at the steady state resembling time.

Some people naturally resemble such clocks. Their emotional ambience flickers little; they are not easily swayed, upset, or even buoyant. They just keep living, one ticking moment following the previous one, and so on. These have little redress for regret, for they seem to manage the tremulous minute the same as they ever do—there is a pleasant casualness about them that we tend to admire. They seem resilient and stoic.

Could it be that their minds function quietly? Are their hearts, underpinning, also more present to self-acceptance?

Quietening The Mind

We all seem to understand the theory—that a quietened mind is preferable and critical for control—but we struggle with the practicality of instituting same.

This is because we understand, implicitly, how the mind should operate but we have little understanding on gaining control over it.

Could it be that there are levels of psychological functioning and coping well below the thought processes? We need to conceive that the feeling heart underlies the thinking mind. Only when we venture into steadying the heart, in seeking to understand and accept ourselves, will we be granted opportunities to sustainability quieten the mind.

The Value Of Steadiness Of Heart

Much deeper below the thinking process is the heart silently informing thought, especially stressed thought. When the going gets tough, not only do the tough get going, but the heart becomes more fully engaged. At non-stressful times we couldn’t care less.

The more fully employed heart, coming in to the allegiance of both eustress and distress, is either ally or enemy. We, of course, are interested in enhancing the former and dispelling the latter.

The tumultuous seconds must be managed, not in a way where the mind is busied by the chaos of the instant, but in such a way as to busy the mind only with logic and reason enough to get through. That, there, is victorious kingdom living and it is retrieved moment-by-steady-moment.

Heart And Mind Combined

The state of the imagination, now, is sent to crisis:

Heart and mind will work in unison to produce the seedbed of the calm reality, but the default is to panic, where, again, heart and mind work together, but against us.

This level of inner collusion will produce avoidant or risky decision-making, and particularly procrastination, because of a lack of courage or the winning of fear, where what we really need in a crisis is a steady heart producing a quietened mind.

It is important to understand we have two allies in the heart and mind and that they work together to achieve, for us, peace. If we feel in steadiness, despite our fears, sticking with logical and reasoned thinking, we treat the heart and mind as allies and they work industriously for our defence.

***

We are to aim to live, emotionally, from within ourselves, as clocks—ever turning clockwise at the same cadence, neither running ahead of time nor behind. That requires thinking soundly, feeling in steadiness, and, with mind and heart aligned, it achieves for us quietness of mind—even in the midst of life’s thunderstorm.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

Delightfully Cracked, Wonderfully Broken

“The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

~Psalm 51:17 (NRSV)

“There is a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in.”

~Leonard Cohen, Anthem

Blissful humanity!

We are known as much for our fallibility as we are for the greatest of human achievements—no matter how proficient we ever get at living life, we’ll always be subject to God regarding the circumstances of life and how they play out. Proverbs 16 has much to say about that!

One thing we have little control over is the way we are built and the way life is designed.

The issue of conditionality regarding life is as much about biology as it is about circumstances; we may be one lump or one headache away from the worst news imaginable. And that’s only what could happen to us; we are possibly more hurt through what happens to us when other people we love suffer—as is the case with parents and grandparents who endure much additional indirect hardship.

The longer we live the more we realise how cracked life is.

Yet, if there were no imperfections there would be no striving for God; if there was no darkness there would be no need for the light; if there were no hopelessness, there would be little need for hope.

A Theology of Cracks

God avails to those least perfect of us the warm oil of power to transcend our vulnerability by simple acknowledgement: we are not there yet! The truth prevails upon us this awkwardly inconceivable power—in weakness there is inimitable strength.

This Lord of turning things upside down is doing so by favouring the humble and contrite. There is no need of perfection in an imperfect world. The humble will be exalted, but those who insist on exalting themselves will be humbled against their will (Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14).

Yes, God wants cracks.

The living God wants us dependent to the point of obedience—for our very own good; not to break us, but to infirm us enough that we may follow the right way. Disobedience and unfaithfulness make no sense in a life implicit of love. Still, there is room for wayward imperfection. Praise God for such grace!

***

There is little point in pretending we have it all together, but there is no excuse in settling for less than our best. We may be wonderfully and fearfully made; we are just as much delightfully cracked and wonderfully broken. Only when we celebrate this fact are we ready for communion with God.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

Problem Solving for Solidifying Change

There are three core reasons why plans to change fail us: the dissatisfaction that drove motivation to change has dissipated to indifference; the vision to carry us the journey has withered from relevance or importance; or, the plan to forge and achieve the change was either ill-conceived or we didn’t stick to it.

Whenever we think of the life changes we’ve made that didn’t stick we can analyse these occasions for insufficient dissatisfaction, lack of focused vision, and the lack of conception of or adherence to a plan to achieve the change.

1. Maintaining The Hunger Of Dissatisfaction

Motivation is, and will always be, the key ingredient compelling us to first believe we can change, and then to inspire whatever it takes to make that change happen.

Dissatisfaction with the status quo is a primary driver for a change-engendering period of adjustment.

The problem of the human default, however, is we remain dissatisfied for only a period of time, once the change is applied; then, we start to believe our own copy—we’ve got this change licked! But, as we should know, pride always precedes a fall.

Maintaining the energising dissatisfaction that started us off in good stead is simply about ensuring memory is not lost of how it felt to be sick-and-tired-of-feeling-sick-and-tired. We need a legacy to it so we remember why we needed to change in the first place.

2. When The Vision Has Withered

There are few people who can maintain focus and concentration on the vision without severe prodding. Although vision is about believing in an end we feel we are capable of, it is more so—like above—about not forgetting how or why we developed such a vision in the first place.

The vision for change most often comes from the intensity of dissatisfaction.

When we begin justifying the softening of our vision we need to be careful that we don’t betray the person inside us who agreed to the earlier vision. We too easily betray an earlier version of ourselves; the one we should be listening to.

Our momentary compromises have us paying a hefty debt, sometimes even to the point of spiritual bankruptcy.

Memory is critical to both the above two, but it’s a lack of care in the planning that hurts us most with the next one.

3. Failing To Plan Is Planning To Fail

We have probably heard clichés like the above spouted so often the truth to their meaning is lost on us, and it is a powerful truth.

Planning can only fail for one of two reasons; either we planned poorly, and the conception of the plan was maligned from the beginning, or we did not diligently adhere to the plan, and therefore our plans didn’t cater for digression.

Any good plan considers possible excursions from normal practice, and plans an appropriate response for each of the issues identified.

***

We all need change in our lives from time to time. Embedding change is much harder than initiating it. We need to plan for problem solving regarding the maintenance of change. Only then can we reach our goals with sustainability.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

This is a companion article for, Steps to Turning Life Around.

Joy’s Key Performance Indicators

The world of management statistics gave us the Key Performance Indicator, and there are two types relevant to joy—the lead indicator and the lag indicator.

Lead indicators help us understand what we may be doing now to provide for future joy. Lag indicators, on the other hand, help us learn as we look with hindsight at what has and hasn’t worked for joy.

Lead indicators are more positive than lag indicators, but both are meaningful.

Lag Indicators For Joy

Though we are tripped up by the mistakes we make we’re still provided great ammunition for learning.

Lag indicators to joy are things like complaint, or times when we let a spirit of disconsolation reside over our souls, perhaps from a waking moment. These types of indicators show us where we haven’t experienced joy, and under further investigation we’re able to determine why.

This is about learning from our mistakes so far as we allowed joy to escape our grasp. Yet, sometimes no matter how hard we try we cannot have that joy, because of some life adjustment, or the expression of grief for loss, and sometimes for inexplicable reasons.

The lag indicator can reveal successes, as far as joy is concerned, as much as failures. That might be the truest joy: to reflect on the essence of the significant achievement of joy; from the lag perspective.

A far more proactive way of measuring for joy, however, is via the lead indicator.

Lead Indicators For Joy

Everyone in management circles loves the lead indicator because it provides early warning of the performance we can expect to achieve at the lag indicator stage—yes, the best of circumstances are targets met according to the lag indicator!

For joy, our lead indicators are things like enjoyable activities and the realistic goals we set that are achieved. They are investments for good performance as soon to be revealed by the lag indicator. Converting opportunities into good results is simply wisdom.

We extract more joy from the lead perspective when we plan ahead, don’t covet things too much, give ourselves plenty of time to do things, and ensure we do our best to have things to hope for.

To focus on joy in the here and now, and a joy to be experienced in the near future, is to attend to the lead indicator.

***

The most salient indicator of joy is hope. Where we have hope it translates into a lived-out joy, and peace is consequent of that—the abundant life.

To gain grasp of joy, then, is to invest in a truth-borne hope, which is backed up by what life delivers us every day. The indicators of joy are merely the results of a quotient of hope we have both experienced and are experiencing.

One way to enliven hope is to focus on the joy key performance indicators.

Joy is outbound of our inner hope; a fervent indicator of our present sense of spirituality. When we work on our joy we increase our hope and that in turn helps us feel more joyful.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

What Are We Running From?

Think about life for one reflective moment—that minute caption of time, long enough to consciously think—and what do you see?

There is no limit to answers for such a spacious question.

The specific answer I was given as I reflected, recently, was that life catches up with all of us in the end—and that end is not about a conclusive end, but an end in the realm of the coming, and soon-to-arrive, even been-and-gone, circumstances.

Life has a cause-and-effect basis about it. And there is no good running from it, because, though life is relatively still and calm as in a flow, it involves us to the level of consequences for the actions we decide for.

What, truly, are we running from—from the folly of past decisions—the common human destinies devoid of situational wisdom?

Answering THAT Incisive Question

Any time we approach life in such a way as to either reflect in these ways or to delve specifically into the sources of denial that continue to restrict the level of practiced wisdom we deploy in life, we are the benefactors.

That is as a direct consequence; for we learn. And what is wisdom but learning?

There are also other benefactors (friends and loved ones) as we choose to live in such ways.

Think about a time when we might approach life as a constant prayer regaling these enfolding hopes:

What am I running from?

Why, by doing this, am I afraid of life?

Why can I not see life as an innocuous character repaying me for my deeds of the day and previous day?

Two Ways Of Living – One Right And One Wrong

If our modus operandi is to rush through life, or to blame life and its other characters for the things that happen to us, we will never be happy. We will earn ourselves a miserable existence. And the irony will be: only ourselves can we truly blame.

But when we flip our thinking by having the courage to go against fear, to deal with life on honest terms, and at its natural ever-eternal pace, we collect for ourselves not misery, but fuel for learning; and learning requites wisdom, which in turn blesses us with peace and joy. And we learn about love, patience, and compassion whilst we get to sail upon the splendiferous rolling sea of virtue beyond it.

***

Notwithstanding loss and grief, our emotional states tell us a lot about how we are choosing to live life. Just as easily we can have peace, hope, grace, and joy, as burden, stress, rushing, frustration, and fatigue. We just ask ourselves, “What are we running from?”

From there—a 5-word prayer—new life begins! Revealed by God, the truth becomes self-evident, and learning betroths blessing.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

Graphic Credit: Handpainted Quilts.