Monthly Musings
February - March 2007
Suzie I just returned from a wonderful trip to visit good friends in California and all of them were very curious about what was going on in our life. We told many of them that our new adventure in Georgia was full of wonderful surprises! Sometimes that statement was met with a brief moment of silence while the listener pondered what we exactly meant by the word surprises! Is that a good thing, or not?
When we think of surprises in our own lives, what comes up for us? If someone told us a big surprise was coming into our life what feelings would that bring up for us? What would be our immediate reaction? For some of us we get that excited Christmas morning feeling. “I can’t wait to see what Santa Claus has brought. What new and exciting thing does life have for me now"? For others the word surprise brings up a feeling of dread. “Oh geez, what now?” Those of us who plan and schedule and figure out life, (and we know who we are) sometimes don’t have room for surprises (whatever they may me) to come and mess up our neatly packaged little lives. They rock our world to the core! Sooooo…..we fight them, resist them and create an energy field around them of nervousness, even if they are bringing some good news. Go figure. Personally I bounce back and forth between these two reactions. I am learning to spend more time thinking about the blessings the surprises might bring, but I really have to stay awake and watch my automatic responses to them. I am really a list maker and pretty much everything I do throughout my day is on a list. (I know, I know, the first step to healing is admitting I have a problem) So guess what I do when a surprise pops up that is not on my list. If something comes up unexpected during the day that was not on my list, I will attend to it..... and then go back to my list and write it down…..just so I can cross it off the list. Virgos of the world unite!
No matter how we look at surprises, there is a spiritual goodness to them if we can just surrender to them. Surrender doesn’t mean to just fall back, do nothing and let it bowl you over, but it does mean to embrace it and not fight the change of direction and/or focus. Because no matter how we react, surprise is an opening, or perhaps a reopening of a channel, a doorway, and a connection to the God within. Our response doesn't change the goodness that is available to us in the midst of the surprise but it can block our vision and blind us to the good that is available.
Many of us go through life unconsciously, asleep to the many blessing, the goodness and the opportunities that are all around us until a surprise comes along that jars us out of our sleep and wakes us up. Then we see what we didn’t just a moment ago. Suddenly we are connected to being alive in a way we weren’t just a moment ago. Suddenly our body feels enlivened when just a moment ago it felt lethargic and tired. Due to surprises in my life I have become much more conscious of everything in my life. How many of us have ever had a near accident on the road? What happens for weeks afterwards? We become much more conscious drivers, totally aware of our surroundings, not in a fearful way but in a way that keeps us awake at the wheel; in a way that keeps us safe. The same is true spiritually. When we fall sleep at our spiritual wheel, we get that little wake up call that reminds us to stay awake. There are road signs all along our lives guiding us to places of peace, rest, blessing and goodness, that also steer us away from potential dangers. If we are not awake enough to see them we could end up somewhere we don’t want to be. Thank you God for the surprises that help me to be aware and awake to those spiritual road signs. If I look back in my life at times when surprises (no matter how I labeled them, good, bad or otherwise) popped up, it’s easy to see a clear road map of blessing. These surprises were instrumental and key points in my life that define who I am today. Each one of them caused me to access my spirit, wisdom and strength at a deeper place. They caused me to turn within to that place of oneness with God to a much greater degree.
By having surprises in my life, I have built up a resiliency to change. They have helped me develop a set of emotional/spiritual tools so that I can keep control, composure and grace in the midst of almost anything that comes my way. (I still have my moments but they are fewer and farther between) It use to be that I would live my life heading out for a music job and I couldn’t handle even the slightest surprise in my neatly planned out way of getting from point A to point B. Road work, traffic delays, forgotten pieces of equipment, friends in need, detours, surprise visits or flat tires could literally ruin the rest of my week, not to mention the gig. I would be tied up in knots the whole time I was playing or singing and it really effected the performance. Although at the time I cursed these moments of disruption I can see now that they aided me in building up a resiliency that make me a better and more focused musician/person/minister now. In truth, the quickest and most efficient way to get from point A to B is hardly ever a straight line. Life takes us on surprising courses on this earthly journey and unless we can learn to be fully present during each twist and turn we will never be fully conscious when we reach our destination.
Surprise also causes us to access the faculty of our imagination like nothing can. It’s amazing how creative I can become when a surprise hits. My best songs have come when there was a very sudden need for a song that didn’t already exist. Surprise! My experience tells me to always be ready when working with ministers, when inspiration hits they usually want a new song……yesterday! Each one of them has helped me dig to the depths of my imagination to create some wonderful songs.
So how do we stay poised and ready for surprises in our lives?
Here are a few pointers.
A. Keep an ear out for the whispers that come before the surprises. The voice of Spirit is always speaking to us. It’s soft and gentle but it is there if we can stay in tune and conscious.
B. Say yes to things that are out of the ordinary for you. Shake up your world a little and go a different way home from work. Try a new food you’ve never tried before. Try a whole different way of approaching that annoying person at church. Be spontaneous and do it consciously.
C. Make spiritual deposits. Be prayed up now so you have a practice in place when something shifts in your life. Remain spiritually prepared by keeping that spiritual bank account so full that you don’t panic when a detour pops up.
D. Start noticing how you respond to little things that rock your world and make the adjustments needed with a conscious attitude of peace and grace. Start with the small stuff and when the big things happen they won’t seem nearly as big.
E. Find ways to let go of control and surrender to a higher calling. Intentionally step aside and let someone else lead. (Virgo’s, keep breathing)
F. Develop a mindset that sees the “bigger picture” and doesn’t just focus on the immediate needs or emotions. There is always a grander design behind it all if we are willing to stop, look and listen.