Labyrinths: A Tool for the Journey Towards Wholeness

I wrote in a previous post about how my love affair with labyrinths began. This initial encounter with the seminary's labyrinth was only the beginning of my labyrinth journey. Labyrinths are an ancient form of prayer and meditation. They are "single path or unicursal tool for personal, psychological and spiritual transformation"(Labyrinth Society website). For many labyrinths represent the journey towards transformation. For Christians (as well as others) the first half of the journey is a journey inwards, away from the distractions of the world and towards God. The center of the labyrinth represents God's indwelling or presence with you. The second half of the journey is a journey outwards back into the world, hopefully with a renewed spirit and energy. 

As my labyrinth journey continues I am struck by the uniqueness of each labyrinth walk. Each time I walk a labyrinth my journey is different. Sometimes the twists and turns of the labyrinth are a bold reminder of the twists and turns my life has taken or is taking. Some walks are very emotional and cleansing. Some walks are very ordinary and seem like nothing really scared has taken place. During some walks I can literally feel God's presence around and within me guiding each careful step. One thing I know for certain is that each time I walk a labyrinth I am transformed in some way leading  towards greater wholeness and authenticity.

I love to talk about labyrinths; my journey, their varied uses, and offer suggestions for walking them. This is a passion of mine and I'd love to share more information and stories with you! 

Tell me you labyrinth stories! What questions do you have for me about labyrinths? How might you incorporate labyrinth walking into your life?

For some great information about labyrinths surf on over to the Labyrinth Society website.

Our Death and Ressurection

There are moments where we are acutely aware of God's presence within us. We can feel God's energy moving in and around us. We are fully aware of the Spirit's indwelling. These moments are both completely terrifying and completely comforting all at once. When I am most fully aware of God's presence within me I tend to want to try and flea for fear I am not worthy or enough. Yet, I also want to dwell in this moment forever trusting I am enough and I am completely worthy.

The more I am fully aware of God's indwelling the less terrified I am. I think the more we are aware of God's presence within us the more comforting it is. In fact I think this is what it means to be authentic or to be your true self. Our authenticity comes from embracing who God created us to be and thus how God's Spirit shines through us. In order to let the Spirit shine from within us we must peel back the layers of our "shadow self" that formed because of life circumstances and what "the world" told us we should be. Uncovering our authentic self does not happen overnight. It takes time, energy, and work. In reality it might even take a life time because when we peel back one layer another one can form. I guess you could say uncovering your authentic self is a continuous process. It is a process of death and re-birth.

In many ways this process is resurrection process. Yet, unlike Jesus' death and resurrection which only occurred once ours happens daily. Jesus' death and resurrection give us a foundation for our own death and resurrection process. We know that Jesus was afraid and even prayed not to die. He wasn't fully prepared for his death or his resurrection. Yet, in faith he prayed "not my will but yours." We too are afraid to let parts of us die. For these parts of us seems to be foundational to who we are. The may be comforting they may have even served us well for a time. We wonder if I let this part of me die what will take it's place? Or will I know myself with out this part of me? Will others know me after this part of me is "gone"?  Jesus resurrection reminds us that death is not the end and that with death brings renewal and re-bith. Resurrection reminds us that by peeling away the layers of our "shadow self" we are able to be more fully alive and fully present in this world. We are able to have more moments of being acutely aware of God's presence within us. In the end it's about LOVE-the ability to give and receive God's love more freely. And that my friends is very Good News!!

From Shame and Fear to Enoughness and Worthiness

We live in a culture of scarcity, where nothing is ever "enough".  We are told we are not pretty enough, wealthy, spiritual enough,  good enough, creative enough, enough of a parent or partner...insert just about anything. Now you may be thinking, I don't hear those words everywhere, but think about it...most of advertising is telling you you don't have enough or won't be good enough until you buy their product. Shaming behavior, which is prevalent in our cultural, is all about telling others they are not worthy enough. Once you are aware of this issue scarcity in our culture you begin to see it everywhere and you be begin to notice the effect it is having on out society and on your self.

I struggle with not feeling worthy enough. This feeling of not being worthy enough is at the root of my struggles with fear and shame. Somedays these struggles paralyze me to the point of not being able to accomplish task, not taking a risk I would like to take or not being and ultimately not being able to be be my authentic self. Some days are easier than others-somedays (like today) I have the courage to be authentic and speak my truth. Other days I struggle just to make it through the day without spiraling downward into the negative thoughts that seem to be on auto repeat in the depths of my mind.

The Good News is that there is hope for all of us, because EVERYONE struggles with the "not enough" feeling at some point/s during our lives. The Good News is that we are good enough and worthy enough.

"God is the reminder of our divine worthiness."

Brene Brown

God is the reason we are worthy and good enough. We are created in the divine image of God, meaning we are part of God and God lives within each of us. When we deny our worthiness and our enoughness we deny that which is of God. They question then becomes how do we trust and have faith in our worthiness and enoughness?

We start by being grateful. We practice gratitude. We take time each day to intentionally make ourselves aware of what we have and who we are-that for which we are grateful. This may take the form of a gratitude journal, a family practice of sharing what we are grateful for with one another, creating a collage of gratitude or any other way you may intentionally become aware of what you are grateful to God for.

We also show compassion for ourselves and for others. Showing compassion for ourselves is about being gentle with ourselves. We tend to be harder on ourselves for things we do or who we thing we are than we would be on others. Compassion for ourselves means giving ourselves space to make mistake, forgiving ourselves for things we are regret doing, and being intentional gentle with ourselves when our instinct is to tear ourselves apart.

Just practicing gratitude and compassion on a daily basis can transform our fear and shame into courage and joy! 

Questions for reflection:

In what areas of your life do you feel unworthy or not enough?

In what areas of your life to you feel shameful or afraid?

How might you begin to practice gratitude and/or compassion?

Where do you feel joy in your life? 

I'd love to hear YOUR story and/or walk with YOUR on your journey! Please contact me for more information!

Finding Balance in My Life

Recently I've been feeling the need for more balance in my life. Over the past 6 months or so I have been focusing a lot on my health and career. Focusing on these two aspects of my life has been necessary but I was beginning to feel just a bit off. I couldn't pin point what I was feeling. None of my previous notions of what it could be fit. It was a bit disconcerting. One day it hit me-balance! I realized that in focusing on my health and my career I had pushed aside other areas of my life.

I recently "stumbled" on a concept that has really helped me better understand what it means to have a balanced life. Oola Life is a way of life the strives to balance 7 areas of ones life. Oola is a noun meaning a "state of awesomeness." They call these key areas the 7 F's: Faith, Family, Fitness, Field, Finance, Friends and Fun. This seems like pretty comprehensive. While I have just begun to dig into and learn about this idea of Oola Life I wanted to share with you all a short overview of each of the 7 F's.

Faith: The focus here is on gratitude, humility and our greater purpose in the world. Our beliefs about God and our Spiritual Practice would fit into this category.

Family: This includes everything related to your family. It is about your relationship with those in your family and how you interact with them.

Fitness: The focus here is on your health and wellness with a primary focus on "how you use your body and what you put into your body."

Field: This is your career what every that is at this moment; including students and stay a home parents.

Finance: Everything related to your person finance.

Friends: This is your social life including close friends and acquaintances.

Fun: "Explores your personal passion in life." This is about what you enjoy doing and really want to do for fun.

There is so much more to learn and explore about the Oola Life. You can find more information about  and use some cool interactive tools at there website www.oolalife.com. I encourage you to check it out and begin your Oola Life journey.

As I learn more about Oola Life and each of the 7 F's I will share with you my insights and experiences. I am excited about the ways this will help keep me be more balanced and authentic!

Living in the Shadows

When we look at a shadow we are seeing only an outline of the actual item. Depending on how the light is cast the shadow of an item can be very skewed and very different from the what the item actually looks like.   When we look only at a shadow we only see what is projected. We don't see the actual or true item.  

Most of us live most of our lives projecting and living in a shadow of our authentic self. As I stated in a previous post I believe our authentic or true self the "self" God intended and created us to be. It is the unwounded, unhurt, and innocent self.  As we live life we become wounded, broken, and afraid. As children we learn to protect ourselves from negative experiences. We build walls, we create masks, and we just tend to forget our authentic self. We forget who God created us to be. We forget we are worthy of love and belonging be cause we are a child of God.

I think there comes a time in our lives when we long to rediscover our authentic self. We need to begin to peel back the layers of fear, woundedness, broken, and shame that have provided the shadow image we see and project. Rediscovering our authentic self is a long and difficult process. There are many avenues, tools, and ways of self discovery. 

What are some tools and avenues you have found to be effective in discovering your authentic self?

The Connection Between Salvation & Wholeness

Several weeks ago I shared with you that I have discovered my passion, "To equip and come alongside people as they journey toward greater spiritual, emotional and physical wholeness." For me the key word in this statement of passion is wholeness. I think that all of us long for wholeness. 

Wholeness can mean different things to different people. For me at it's core wholeness is being restored to our true or authentic selves. Our authentic or true self is who God intended and created us to be. It is the unwounded, unhurt, and innocent self. It is my belief that we come into this world pure and whole. It is only when we begin to experience life that we become broken and only a shadow of our authentic self.

Living in this world means experiencing sin, brokenness, woundedness, shame, fear, and suffering. These experiences draw us away from our authentic selves and create in an "unclean heart". It is only through God's unconditional love shown in Jesus that we can be truly restored to wholeness. For me this is the essence of salvation. Salvation is not about the what happens after we die but rather salvation is about being saved from our "shadow selves" (think inauthentic selves).  Jesus' life, death and resurrection not only showed us how much God loves us but also how to love. Jesus showed us the messiness of love and that love is hard. Jesus also showed us that God's love overcomes death gives restored life to each of us. In reality wholeness is about restoring ourselves to the love that God revealed in Jesus Christ. 

The good news is that we are all on a journey toward wholeness and God has given us a vast array of tools that we can tap into to find spiritual, emotional, and physical wholeness! What are some tools you have? What types of tools would you like to learn more about?

"Really Tall" Towers

Life can sometimes feel like a tower of blocks that have come crashing down around us. In life we tend to build towers "really tall" just so we can say or feel like we have accomplished something. Then all of a sudden our "really tall" tower come crashing down around us. All we see is brokenness and chaos. Sometimes we have no idea what made it fall. Was it circumstances? Did we knock it down ourselves? Did someone else knock it down? Whatever the reason there we stand frozen with shock for a while.

I don't know about you but when I'm standing in the middle of my pile of blocks looking at the brokenness and chaos that has ensued all I see is devastation and failure. I want to run away and stick my head in a whole and never show my face again. This is especially true when I feel that it is my fault that the tower has fallen. It can feel hopeless and overwhelming.

The "children will lead them"...this past weekend I spent many hours with my two year old niece. She loves to play and build with blocks.  She loves to build "really tall" towers and she built many of them. What I witnessed as I watch her build and rebuild her "really tall" towers was her reaction to the towers crashing down.  In the beginning, each time the tower would fall I would say "uh-oh!" yet her reaction was always the same, "that's okay!" and she would just build it again. Sometimes she would even knock it down herself only to move it in the truck to rebuild it in another place. By the end of my time with her I had all but stopped saying "uh-oh" and just let her response become the norm.

My nieces reaction to "failure" is one of learning and growing not one of devastation. She does not associate failure with a negative reaction or emotion. Now don't get me wrong-failure is hard and can feel devastating. It can make us feel worthless and throw us for a loop. However, I am beginning to really understand that failure is not a symptom of unworthiness but rather part of "showing up" in life. When we are vulnerable, courageous and authentic (authentic=being who God created you to be) we are bound to fail because that how we learn and "THAT'S OKAY!"

The Thing About Courage

The thing about courage is that it is hard! Well, at least it is for me. So what exactly is courage? I love Brene Brown's definition of courage. She defines courages as "speaking honestly and openly about two we are, about what we're feeling, and about our experiences (good and bad)" (The Gifts of Imperfection pp. 12-13). In other words courage is about speaking our truth. Courage requires being authentic and having the confidence to speak from our heart about who we are and what we are feeling.

Cultivating courage has been a theme of mine over the past few years. My courage has been tested over and over this past year. This past year required the courage to admit to myself and the world that I was being called away from the vocation of Christian Education. It took courage to dig deep within myself and discover a passion and purpose that has been bubbling within the depths of my spirit for sometime. Both of these realizations required me rediscover my authentic or true self. Not only did I have to "rediscover myself" I also realized the importance of practicing compassion and love toward my authentic self.

One of my favorite quotes about courage is "Courage is fear that has said its prayers." Living in to this new reality has required that I not only face my fear of rejection and not being liked but also praying for healing from the wounds that have contributed this fear. I continue to pray for and practice healing, for self compassion and courage.

What are your stories of courage? What wisdom would you share with others about courage?