Soul-Searching PLAYshop

Where is my purse? Where are my keys? Where is that water bottle I just had in my hand?

We have to search for what is urgent.
If we can’t find our keys, we can’t go to work; so we search.

We even search when we don’t really know we are doing it.

We listen to a report on the news about an issue.

We search our hearts and our minds instinctively to decide how we feel about that.

At Playshop session three, we searched.

We searched for ways that we could connect with our Spirits. We searched inside to begin to find out what we believe about spiritual things. It may not seem like an urgent thing. You can go about your day with out doing it. But whether we realize it or not, we are instinctively searching our souls throughout the day. Those decisions we make about the issues are tied to what we believe about God. The messages we are telling ourselves about ourselves are tied to what we believe about who we are created to be. Soul searching is urgent.

Those of us who have begun the search can promise you that.

And speaking of promises, you may just remember some that you have forgotten, and you may just be surprised to see how some of the promises of your heart are beginning to come true as you live in the truth you come to know in the Spirit.

We also painted.

We stopped our minds from racing with thoughts of our to-do lists even if only for a minute or two. We learned from each other. We left with new tools to use so that we can begin to listen to something other than the surface static that tends to fill our minds.

We had fun.

Who says searching has to be boring?

Remember going to slumber parties and having scavenger hunts. Playshop session three is like that. It’s like a slumber party for a few hours where you go on a scavenger hunt to find items that are inside you. Everybody wins, and everyone ends up with a prize.

waiting for the kettle to boil

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Yesterday, I spent some time pondering the Serenity Prayer. It is always a relevant prayer, but in this time in my life, in the lives of those I know and love, and in the current status of Unwritten Travels, it is a time of waiting. And it does feel similar to hovering over the stove waiting for a pot of water to boil.

So, I made a list in my lovely little journal. Three lists, actually.

List One: All of the things for which I am asking God to give me oodles of peace. These are the things I can do nothing about. You know I can not do anything about them. I know I can't do anything about them, but the act of confessing with my mouth and heart that they are not mine to control brings me much freedom.

List Two: The things I need courage, discipline or strength to face. I have been give the power to make choices, to stand up and speak truth, to love unconditionally. There are small things I can do today to move my life forward on it's path. As I begin to own these things, I am filled with a sense of purpose in my day.

List Three: the longest list. Dozens of concerns, questions, fears, and hopes that are tightly pulled between the certainty of either serenity or courage.

Grant me the wisdom.

Not only the wisdom to know the difference, but the wisdom to accept that I may never know.

Sometimes, I am simply called to wait.