Breathing In and Out #2

Last week I wrote about breathing in and out, taking in the Spirit of God and then acting in the world out of that Spirit. To do that we must first become aware of what attitude we’re expressing in words and actions at home, at work, and wherever we go. Am I loving? Were those words kind?  Am I always complaining? Do I have a hidden agenda? It matters how we say something. it matters what our attitude is. It matters what we do in the world.

As I write this, outside it is pouring rain and I am getting an image of the Spirit inside us pouring love and forgiveness on our “sins” and washing them away. This is how it happens: as we become aware of our attitudes and why we say and do what we do, as we spend time every day in the presence of God, as we lift up our very humanness every day, the Holy Spirit gradually washes away what stands in our way of being loving and forgiving and patient towards others.

As these parts of us that are not loving get washed away, what gradually emerges is the whole person we were created to be. And then what we do in the world is more and more what we were created to do. The more authentic we are to our creation, the less tension, anxiety, fear and anger—all things that block love–we’re likely to express, because what we do comes so naturally.

There are many ways to express this: being our true self, living from our soul, doing what we are called to do, being born again, or surrendering our lives. These express the same essential truth about us: we are being true to our deepest self, true to God who created us.