Home Tools for your Journey Sept 12

Saturday, September 12

Finally, all of you have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
—1 Peter 3:8

It’s not really "all about me." It’s "all about us." It’s about the relationships we have with those who are closest to us.  It's about the way we interact with friends, neighbors, colleagues, the earth, and even our enemies. The problems we experience with others are often so knotty because we don’t want to admit the truth of this. We want it to be all about me, not all about us.

When we realize that we are connected with all of creation, we begin to understand that we need others in order to truly become ourselves. After all, what is a wave without the shore? Or the shore without a wave?

It is tempting to become overly focused on ourselves, only to find that our self-indulgence leads to boredom. We can also be tempted to focus too much on others, only to find that we no longer know who we are. But, when there is the proper balance between us and the creation, unity engenders peace, love grows, tenderness is tangible, and humility is natural.

Our soul yearns for this balance not only with creation, but also with the heart of heaven. The soul knows that without union with the Holy One, it will remain out of balance, even empty. So we search for that union by traveling down all kinds of paths and peeking around every bend in the road, wondering if we will find it, or know it when we find it.

Then, when we least expect it—in moments of beauty or pain, times of joy or sorrow—something that was dim before becomes clear. We know that we are one with God. And in that moment all is united in love.

Gracious God, give me the longing for union with you, with others, with myself so that I may become the full human being you have created me to be.