Welcome, welcome, welcome.I found this prayer very challenging. The part that I found hardest was welcoming my emotions. My emotions can be big and scary and sometimes I don't want to welcome them. But I know that being honest about how I feel makes me more whole.
I welcome everything that comes to me in this moment
Because I know it is for my healing.
I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions.
I let go of my desire for security.
I let go of my desire for approval.
I let go of my desire for control.
I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person, or myself.
I open to the love and presence of God
And the healing action and grace within.
I also have a hard time with letting go of my desire to "change any situation, condition, person, or myself." I want to change things, and especially myself, all the time! My strong reactions to this prayer were a pretty clear sign that this is a good prayer for me.
I have been thinking about the welcoming prayer again as the new year gets closer. The coming year will be a year of a lot of change, some I know about and some that I don't. Because I don't always respond well to change, I am trying to make this welcoming prayer my prayer for the new year.
I welcome the ways my life will change this year. I welcome my emotions, my fear and anger as well as my joy and love, because I know they are for my healing. I welcome my mistakes because it is by making mistakes that I learn and grow. I welcome all of the people in my life and I pray I will be present for them when they need me and open to them when I need them. Most of all, I welcome the presence of God in my life, and I welcome wherever that presence may lead me this year.
I'm glad there is Life for you in this prayer, and I can relate to the resistance of truly letting go and opening ourselves to God.
ReplyDeleteIn one workshop I was offering, I encouraged participants to deal with resistance this way:
If you are not willing to surrender (or add your verb of choice here), can you affirm that you are willing to be willing...?
I also find I can be worked on by the Spirit--exercised, as it were--when I allow myself to observe my resistance. That seems to help me avoid judging it as bad or something to be pushed through.
Here's to a New Year of experiencing God's grace and Divine Love, no matter how things play out.
Blessings,
Liz Opp, The Good Raised Up
I am praying with you Ashley. Amen.
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