QUIETLY SITTING WITH. . .ME

                              
      It is early morning and I am sitting here quietly with . . .ME.  Does this sound strange?  For what ever reasons I woke up this morning realizing I needed just a little time with. . .ME.  I have been on overload with my thoughts about the world, my family and my friends.  I know how important it is to worry about them but on this particular morning I am giving myself permission to sit quietly with. . .ME.
As I sit quietly, I feel myself emptying a lot of excess baggage.  There are packages on my life’s platform I have never opened.  I see these unopened packages and wonder what’s in them?  Why have I not opened them?  Why am I just now noticing them?  It was not until I was sitting quietly with me that I realized they were there.  I have spent too much time feeling guilty about taking time for ME.  What’s up with that?
Am I not entitled to sit quietly with . . .ME?  Well, had I not I would not have noticed the unopened packages on my life’s platform.
I will not go so quickly to open these packages. I must be willing to wait.  After all they have been left unopened all of this time and I had not noticed them so why the rush?  Now that is my first clue?  I am always rushing to something or  to someone or to somewhere which is why I hadn’t noticed the unopened packages in the first place.  Sitting quietly with. . .ME I discovered I am wondrously made.  I have been truly blessed.  I am living in my own time which is a good thing.  Why do we keep beating ourselves up about who we are?  Why do I keep worrying about every one else except ME?  In the quietness of this morning I am giving myself permission to sit quietly with. . .ME.
The mystery of the unopened packages left on my life’s platform still haunt me.  Not in a negative way but positive.  I think I already know what’s in those unopened packages and that excites me.  You see, I lost some of my excitement.  All the time I was being overwhelmed by the chatter of other people.  I had forgotten to sit quietly with. . .ME.  In my quietness I see myself passing by.  I see the hand of God holding my own.  I see the beauty of a cathedral built on the site of a church destroyed by U.S. bombs in world war-the photo was sent to me by Jim Johnson who is in Japan. I could see what Jim saw as he sat quietly in that beautiful cathedral.  As I sit quietly with …ME I remember the words of the song “I’m so glad trouble don’t last always.”
Please take time and sit quietly with yourself. It is a wonderful and healing experience and I encourage you to try it.  I close with what Howard Thurman writes and for you to ponder:
    
 “The awareness that the universe is dynamic gives the individual the quiet assurance that wherever he may be located he is in immediate candidacy for the strength that comes from a boundless vitality. . .the blessing of self-consciousness makes possible a deliberate resourcefulness out of which arises all of the joyous overtones of human relations.”
I dare you to sit quietly with yourself!  And so it is. 
Dr. Paul

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