DANDELIONS – SO MUCH MORE THAN WEEDS

Dandelions keep me mindful that God comes to us in the most humble of ways, but we don’t always see it because we are looking for Him in the grandeur.  They remind me not to try and uproot what God has planted.  When they come back and bloom after every cut, they show me that with God’s help, we can be resilient.  The yellow tells me to be cheerful and have joy in the Lord.  They tell me to be careful to honor those God has planted in our lives and not be disrespectful towards them as if they are weeds to be pulled.  Lastly, when they rise again after a cold hard winter, they tell me that death is a part of life, but it has no victory.

7 REFLECTIONS TO HELP US BLOOM WHEN GOD’S GARDENING PLAN IS NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED

Bloom where you are planted is something we hear often, but what happens when we don’t bloom as expected?

REFLECTION 

The tree outside my house blooms too early, in my opinion, every year. In April it decides it’s spring and blooms. Unfortunately the days of a warm April spring have long since passed and it blooms only to find its blossoms to be tossed to the ground by the spring winds and rain. More often than not I can only enjoy them for one or two days top. This year it didn’t follow its normal patter.  Much like everything else these days, I guess. It started to bloom on the tips of the branches and then stopped. Day after cold day it showed no progress.  It reminded me of so much of what is going on during this quarantine. Life was progressing and then it stopped. Like the tree we are frozen in time.

I started to wonder if it would bloom. Would I get to actually enjoy it longer this year? Will the blossoms still be on the tree only a day or two? Would more people get to enjoy it now that so many are out walking? Would people miss the chance to see it in full bloom if they skipped walking one day? As I was pondering the growth of the tree I realized that what I was wondering about, the tree wasn’t. In fact, nobody was wondering, but me. The tree didn’t focus on anything other than glorifying God. It would bloom when God said it was time to and God would be glorified by it whether one person saw it or many.  Nobody needed to plan to see the tree.  The gift was there and those who were open to seeing it and those God needed to see it, would see.  The truth is that God is in control and all the tree needs to do is be the tree it is meant to be,

APPLYING IT TO LIFE

  • How many times do we worry about the outcome and forget to enjoy the process? 
  • How often do we decide that success is determined by how many see our efforts? 
  • How often do we take inventory of our needs, determine what we need to do in order to have our needs met and then get upset when things do not go as planned? 

Unplanned circumstances that cause us to freeze in time, while at the same time, fill our heads with questions is not something limited to a health quarantine.  In fact, whenever circumstances are difficult, we often give ourselves a self-imposed quarantine as we feel stuck and don’t know which way to turn.  Currently, because of the quarantine, I am trying to decide if this is the right time for me to retire.  I saw this as happening in a year or two so the  suddenness and uncertainty are real.  Through it I know who has the answers and I am trying to follow God’s lead, while at the same time, trying to enjoy the journey.  

Trying to enjoy the journey when it’s difficult requires some daily reflection on where we are interiorly.  Some reflections that may be pondered for all of us in times such as these may be:

  • Am I experiencing peace or anxiety?
  • Am I trusting or trying to control?
  • Am I listening in silence?
  • In spite of all the difficulties, am I trying to enjoy this time in my life that will never come again?

Hidden within the moments that are difficult or unplanned are opportunities to grow and trust in God.  In each of us He is writing a Gospel story.  We need not worry about what is ahead.  We need only seek Him in the now.  

How we will proceed will depend on our trust in God.  He invites us to be totally emptied so He can fill us with His divinity.  Part of that means giving Him the wheel in the midst of our circumstances.  While God is always with us, we have the free will to decide if we want His help and to what degree we want it.  Oftentimes we play tug-of war in that we want it and then we act like we are in control and don’t want the help.  The choice is ours.

SEVEN REFLECTIONS FOR PRAYERFUL PONDERING

  • Read and reflect on Matthew 6:24-34
  • Is there something in your life that is not blooming as you had planned or that you had planned on and yet is far more difficult than you had thought?
  • Can you find gifts hidden for you within these circumstances that you had not planned on? 
  • Are you acting as if you are the only one who can solve the problem?  Or are you giving it to God and staying open to how He is directing you through prayer, others and the circumstances? 
  • Are you looking for the love, peace and joy during this time?
  • Are you trusting that step by step God is there?
  • Talk to God about all this. You are on the cross in the suffering that the uncertainty brings.  On this cross, can you see that by your very life you are an unceasing prayer?  Who can you offer the prayer of this part of your life up for?

3 WAYS TO BE MORE AWARE OF THE ANNUNCIATION MOMENTS IN YOUR LIFE

Yesterday I took the dog for a walk.  Just me and him.  No phone, music or podcasts.  The quarantine at times leaves me feeling unmotivated.  I needed the fresh air and the silence that would help me to become more aware of God’s presence.  

I needed to be rejuvenated in God

and I was hopeful that the silent walk to discover more of Him would be the first step.

As I began to walk I made it a point to be aware of the trees, the homes, squirrels and birds that were surrounding me.  

A walking prayer can be much like the prayers we 

engage in when we just want to sit silently with 

God in His presence.  

With both at first we may find ourselves talking in order to be aware of God.  After the initial time, I honestly do not remember what I was thinking of at all.  I like to compare it to sitting quietly with God or, as some refer to it as, losing time with God.  A time when eventually all our senses are stilled and we are lost in God.  I was about ten minutes or less from being back home when suddenly I was pulled out of the quiet by a horn.  It was a friend I hadn’t seen in a while.  An actual person in the midst of the pandemic quarantine.  He got out of his car and being mindful of social distancing we talked and laughed.  It was truly refreshing.  Even Bosco had an unexpected surprise.  Our friend’s surprise visit came complete with dog treats. 

Later on in the night as I was reviewing my day, 

I realized that the sudden encounter with my friend was an annunciation.  

I wanted to be rejuvenated with God and I began the desire by entering into a prayer of actively noticing His presence.  I was opened.  I had given my yes.

We experience annunciation moments all the time.  

We just fail to notice them.  We are going along with our day and are interrupted by something or someone.  Instantly we judge it to be good or bad.  We either welcome the interruption with open arms or grumble at it for taking us away from what we were doing.  We seldom think of it as an annunciation, a visit from God.  

We can become more aware of annunciation moments with three steps.

  • Pray – Prayer must be a habit.  It helps us to get to know God so we can recognize when the interruptions are annunciations from Him or temptations meant to ultimately steer us away from Him.  Mary was always praying and pondering all things in her heart.  When the Angel Gabriel came, he presented her with a scenario that could lead to her being stoned to death.  Being betrothed to one man, not married, and yet seemingly pregnant from another was against the Jewish laws.  On the surface it could appear that the message was not from God, but because Mary had union with God due to her prayer life, she knew it was Him.  It is very important to have a prayer life if you want to recognize when an interruption in your life is an annunciation or temptation.  It doesn’t have to be an earth shattering annunciation.  Mine during my walk certainly was not.  Prayer helps you to recognize the small annunciations and those that may appear to be life altering.  
  • Be Open –   We all have been given the gift of free will.  If you chose not to be open, you will not see.  The brain is very powerful and God designed it to aid us in hearing Him.  It is designed to be like a computer that we program.  If we want to figure out a problem, our brain seems to lead us to the solution.  If we don’t think a solution is possible, our brain will see we are successful in failing.  Some see that as positive or negative thinking.  While that is definitely an accurate explanation, it can be misleading if it is thought of in worldly terms.  In faith, positive and negative thinking are ways of exercising our free will.  If you say yes to God’s desires for you, you will see how He directs you.  If you say no, you will not see.  In a sense, both paths are God’s desires for you in the sense that He first and foremost gave you the gift of free will.  This is not a recipe for getting what you want from the power of positive thinking as some prescribe to.  Nor is this an exercise in asking for signs as the enemy can give signs too.  This is just a recipe for being open to seeing God so you may know Him more fully, recognize Him in your life and be able to give Him your yes just as Mary did. 
  • Gratitude – Giving thanks and having appreciation for the annunciation moments will lead to a greater  awareness of other annunciation moments as well.   More opportunities to be aware of God coming to you will not be as easy if you aren’t thankful for them when you do see them.  Both gratitude and the lack of it are ways of exercising our free will.  Gratitude is a way of saying yes to God.  If we are not thankful, it is a way for our free will to say no thanks.  I think most would prefer to have an increased awareness of the presence of God and that can more easily happen when we say thank you for the times that we do see Him. 

Prayerfully reflect on where you are in these three steps. 

Prayer:  Prayer is the most important step.  Being open and having gratitude cannot stand alone without prayer because our  aim is to recognize when it is God and when it is not.  It is hard to recognize a stranger and it is only through prayer that we grow in a relationship with God.  Do you take time to pray daily?  Try and make it your goal to pray 30 minutes a day.  If it is hard to sit for that long, break it down to 10-15 minutes at a time until you reach the 30 minutes.  

Being Open:  Are you mindful of your thoughts?  Are you more of a positive thinker filled with the virtue of hope or a negative thinker filled with defeat?  Notice your thoughts and if they are negative, try and stop yourself from engaging in that way of thinking.  Reframe your thoughts to those that are positive and filled with hope.  Avoid the temptation to think that this is a way of getting worldly things.  This is a way of getting only one thing…more of God.  At the end of the day, reflect on how your are doing with this.

Gratitude:  Do you practice gratitude?  If not start making it a point to daily write down at least three things that you were grateful for in your day.  Also start out each day writing at least three things in your upcoming day that you are looking forward to.  In the morning coffee may be the first thing on many lists! 

Pray about these steps and try practicing them and see, if in time, you become more aware of God’s presence in your life and His annunciation moments.  

Three Practices We Can Maintain So That We Can Make a Difference

Each person is a precious gift given to us in our lives and we are a gift to others.  Deep down we understand this and that is why we all want to make a difference.  There are three practices that can help us towards this end.

1.  Respect the value of others

We marvel at so much in this world, but we are  the greatest marvel for each of us holds the Divine within.  

If you really think about that and let it sink in, that is amazing.   We go through our day in such a hurry and with so many things to do that we neglect that truth.

We have all seen statistics beaten and have heard stories of individuals who society would have bet on being lost flourish because they were consistently shown value.  It is a hard thing to do, however.  Life is so busy and the stress is so great at times that we simply don’t have time to respect the value of others.  

2.  Be Mindful that Every Moment of Every Day Holds God

We must find God in the ordinary ways of our life and in the lives of others.  

It is good to grow in this and become more aware that He is there in the good times and bad, the unexpected fun and in the ordinary, the joy and the tears, the work and the play and in our lives and others. 

3.  Build Our Relationship With God and Neighbor

Being aware of the presence of God can be lost in the weight of our days so building on our relationship with Him and practicing self care so we can love Him in our neighbor is vital.  In fact, these practices are foundational to making a sustainable difference.

We need to take time to pray, play, create and give gratitude.  The more we are filled with God through prayer and refreshment, the more we will be able to give to others.  The more we give to others, the more they will see their value.  

The more people see that they are loved and valued, the better this world will be.  

I don’t know how this blog will develop over time.  Like you, I am on a journey and I cannot see that far ahead.  I can only plan for what I see directly ahead of me.  My plans for the moment are to post things related to these three areas.   By living lives filled with praying, playing, creating and gratitude and finding God in the ordinary day and in our neighbor, I hope we can all be encouraged to have the fortitude necessary to make a difference.  It is in discovering that God is always there and always within that we discover that we aren’t simply living our lives.  

Instead we discover that we are the continual prayer in all we do.  

By being the continual prayer, we are always making a difference and giving value to others, even if we don’t see it.  We don’t know what tomorrow brings.  

We only know that each moment holds love and hope because each moment holds God and together with Him, we can make a difference even if we feel we are small and ordinary.  

Prayerfully reflect on where you currently stand in these three areas and then talk to God about it.