ARE THE WATERS OF YOUR LIFE RISING?
I remember that time well. My place of employment was vandalized – again. This time, they pushed a hose through the bathroom window next to my office, turned on the faucet and disappeared as water poured into my office other parts of the building. That experience became an apt image for me, for those times when the exterior circumstances are such that we feel flooded with distress in our lives … or, to put it another way, when the “waters of our life are rising.”
Are the waters rising in your life? Do you feel overwhelmed by increasing pressures at work, in your family, at school, in the world? Are your energies ebbing and flowing with the tide of the aging process? Are you feeling swamped with expectations of other people – yourself – with responsibilities – with too much to do and too little time to do it – with the hold of addictions, fears, or antagonisms towards others? Does the thought of growing older pour fear into your body as you ponder the possibility of aging with physical debilities and financial constraints? Are you dealing with a chronic or life-threatening illness … your own? a loved one’s? Are finances out-of-control?
If so, you are not alone. Today’s society is filled with stress. ‘Distress’ robs us of living life to the fullest and denies us the opportunity to be whole in body, mind and spirit. So it’s to our advantage to learn how to manage the distress (separate from the eustress – from the Greek “eu” meaning “good”) of stress – those good things that get our hearts pumping, our thoughts racing), rather than allow the waters of anxiety and fear (distress) to rise in our lives.
If we were honest, we would admit that some distress can be avoided … like caring for our bodies: driving carefully, eating sensibly; wearing suntan lotion; getting adequate amounts of rest; having regular dentist and doctor check-ups … like exercising our minds: by reading newspapers, borrowing books from our local libraries, listening to various kinds of music, developing a hobby … like nourishing our souls – by savouring the beauty of the world around us, by being humbled by the awareness of the gift of our life, by being appreciative and thankful for the blessings around us.
Because some distress is corporate in nature, some would say that there is little that can be done about that distress, but, there is something we can do. We can exercise our right to vote at each election (municipal, provincial and national) and cast our ballot for the candidates we think will make a difference in our environment, legal system, health care, educational system etc. We can become involved in our communities by volunteering our time to … community organizations which work so faithfully at inculcating morals and values in our children and youth (like our schools, churches, synagogues and temples), … those organizations which provide health care and financial resources to better provide for those with physical and emotional disabilities (like hospital thrift shops, local Extended Care residences and Hospitals etc.) … those groups who work with and care for our youth, the elderly, the unemployed, the single parent families (like the Restorative Justice Society, the Parent Drop-In groups, the Food Banks, Meals on Wheels, all levels of Scouting and Guiding, Homeless shelters, etc.).
And we can pray – pray that the evil in our world doesn’t overwhelm us … doesn’t infiltrate the hearts and minds of our youth … doesn’t contaminate the ambitions of politicians in the political world and our institutions. We can pray that goodness will reign … that hope will be experienced … that inner joy will permeate each woman, child, man, youth … that wisdom will be respected … and that peace, not conflict or war, will be the mandate of all governments and societies.
Yes, there is something each of us can do.
Our individual prayers/thoughts may not seem like much. Then again, neither does one little drop of water seem like much – by itself. But, we know that when droplets of water are put together for good, great things can happen … parched dry food crops become nourished by life-giving rain … glistening snowflakes remind us of our individual uniquenesses … magnificent waterfalls bring forth powerful energy … new life emerges from the waters of baptism … flowing rivers abound with salmon.
It is awe-inspiring to realize what the Creator can do with droplets of prayer offered by each of us … whether those prayers are offered in consecrated places of worship, on the bus, on the ferry or in traffic traveling to and from work … as we pass by someone who seems weary or troubled or disabled … in thanksgiving for the smiling faces of the children we meet, for the clean air we breathe, for the privilege of living in a country where freedom is taken seriously, for the produce that comes from our own gardens … when we can only utter ‘arrow’ prayers like “Help, God!” … before we begin our day’s work or tasks … or at the day’s end.
Prayer/mindfulness/meditation – human ways of our connecting with God and of God’s way of connecting with us – even in the midst of moments in life when the waters of distress seem to be rising.
Tags: health care distress, nourishing our souls, prayer, stress
