This post from Anne Lamott says it all. Enjoy!
I am giving this day to God. I said to him, “Here–you can have it!” because yesterday, He (or She) was in such a show-offy mood it was almost embarrassing.
So what does this mean?
It means, I said my prayers, and focused on my daily devotional – I did not turn CNN for a quick fix of intensity; it means I will do my meditation soon, even though I so often try to wriggle out of it; I am on my 6th day of low-sugar, after ending up on last run as Scarface with his face buried in white powder; I’ll answer and return phone calls, do the laundry, hike into the hills to my praying place; rest. I’ll send off some presents, and sneakily give away all sorts of dumb things, and give on the street a whole dollar bill, and drop some of my books off at the Friends of the Library, and I am going to focus on the second great prayer, Thanks, or the longer form, thankyouthankyouthankyou.
Don’t get me wrong – I have ulterior motives. When I don’t eat sugar and white carbs, it is a huge gift to ME, to my tiny princess self. Plus, gratitude and service are the two bests paths to joy. I mean, I’m not stupid – if you want to have loving feelings, do loving things. Period.
AND I will try to pay exquisite attention. I spoke at the Wake Up Conference in Colorado Saturday and have been wearing my Wake Up t-shirts everywhere. Wake up! Stop hitting the snooze button. That’s why we’re here. Let me share the last paragraph of the talk I gave in Colorado, from the great Frederick Buechner, who is for my money, the most amazing theologian of my lifetime. (Frederickbuechner.com)
This passage, from Whistling in the Dark, contains, as does so much of his work, the secret of life, both for writers and seekers: “From the simplest lyric to the most complex novel and densest drama, literature is asking us to pay attention. Pay attention to the frog. Pay attention to the west wind. Pay attention to the boy on the raft, the lady in the tower, the old man on the train. In sum, pay attention to the world and all that dwells therein and thereby learn at last to pay attention to yourself and all that dwells therein.”
Which is God, and which is the kingdom, right? Have a wonderful day, and as always, thank you.
Art: Photo by Vivian Maier
