Pause for Awareness

At a contemplative worship service, I was recently introduced to a set of questions described as “a pause for awareness prayer.” This set of five questions, posed by Dennis, Sheila and Matthew Linn (www.linnministries.org), provides an easy-to-access structure that any of us can use to stop and remind ourselves of what really matters in our lives. I find this an especially important tool as the holiday season nears and our awareness scatters in a million directions at precisely the time we wish we could stop and enjoy the depth and mystery of the season.

There is no magic bullet that will give you a blissfully serene holiday, but asking yourself these five simple questions will remind you of what is life-giving and of soul level importance to you. Then you can decide if your holiday plans are in alignment with the inner desires that God’s placed in your heart. Or not. You can decide to adjust the way you approach the holidays. Or not. The choice is yours, but once you’ve honestly answered these questions, your will be equipped with an awareness that will begin to shape your behavior in small and not-so-small ways.

So I offer these ponderings for your pre-Advent contemplation:

* When in your life have you been so absorbed in something that time flew by?

* When have you felt most alive, especially in your body?

* What times of your life would you most like to repeat?

* What is the wildest thing you have done that turned out better than you ever imagined?

* If you only had one year to live, what would you do?

I will visit each of these questions myself in this season of reflection and look forward to discovering, along with you, what makes my heart sing. And how I can share that song with those around me this holiday season.