Gratitude. Receptivity. Space. Humility. Splendor. Presence. Wow! Amazement within Shekhina. Sovereignty. Actualization. Revealed Word. Selfitude. Reality.
Wednesday, June 5
Wow! It’s been a Splendid day, but ending on a little bit of a difficult note. The Reality of a diet we are trying out with our daughter, in an effort to help her find some relief for the chronic stomach pain she’s been having over the last couple of months, is starting to set in. After embracing the novelty of it for a couple of days, she is now starting to get mad. Who could blame her? It is probably temporary, but it starts out with the elimination of many favorite foods, like onions and garlic. Gluten and lactose have been gone for a long time, thank goodness. At least we don’t have to absorb that, too, which is part of this plan. However, she’s really feeling the limitations of the new restrictions. Raspberries, mango, avocado...
We have a choice here. We can sink into the narrowness of limited choices, or we can open into a new Space and see what takes hold. Sometimes, when I am most down and out, I enter my most Receptive state. I am Receptive to Shekhina, Receptive to new ideas, Receptive to entertaining the thought that some good about the hardship at hand may eventually be Revealed. I don’t insist on it, but it keeps me from despair. Example: the elimination of gluten and lactose when she was 6 years old was certainly difficult, but it was a game-changer for her at the time (eliminated years of chronic stomach distress), AND now we don’t have to do that at the same time as jettisoning these other foods. Can you imagine???
I’m not Pollyanna - this is kinda sucky. And yet, when I look back on my life, I can see so many times when something that every assumption would say is “BAD” leads to some other good outcome. It doesn’t mean I don’t feel pain along the way there. There are several versions of a folk tale that illustrate this point. A young man breaks his leg. Bad luck! It turns out it keeps him from being drafted for military service. Good luck! Etc.
Friends, may you be Receptive to surprising Realities today. May Gratitude serve to Actualize your hopes and dreams. May you feel Amazement in the Presence of Shekhina.