Get yourself settled.
Let's begin with the bell.
Just dropping in.
Noticing any anxiety or discomfort you might have with meditation.
That seems normal.
It is an unusual thing to do with your time.
Noticing any distractions you have.
We all have anxieties about the future,
Fantasies about the past,
Regrets,
Fears.
Sure,
They belong here too,
But you could put them aside when you're ready.
And then they'll crop up again.
They'll arrive in your mind and you'll just let them go again.
All these distractions.
It's the nature of the brain to fire its neurons.
Thank God it does.
You need it just as much for breathing.
Now notice your breath where it is with generous awareness.
Okay,
That's where you are right now.
Maybe you're tight or constricted.
Maybe you're already breathing free.
Maybe you're lopsided.
I don't know if that's possible with two lobes of a lung,
But it must be.
And then extend.
Drawing the breath in deeper and exhaling slower.
Just slowing down.
Feeling time and gravity take over.
You don't have anything to do right now.
Listening to the weather or the birds or your pets or noises in your home,
Noises outside,
Crinkly sounds in your own body or clothing,
Rumbling of a stomach,
Beating of a heart,
Your house settling.
Just use your ears.
It's a good focus to draw you into this moment.
What's happening right now and again right now and so on.
Breathing deeply,
Slowing down,
Slowing down,
Just being quiet,
Coming more still.
And enjoying that capacity and this time that you give to yourself.
We're going to meditate on the process of awakening to the world's struggle and joining in the effort.
The four-part process as described in Genesis 22 of acknowledging suffering our own or someone else's,
Of asking the question of why we might exist,
Of turning the question over in faith to what we understand God to be,
A higher power,
The universe,
The mystery within.
And then joining in the work of redemption.
Because once we recognize the world's brokenness,
We are obligated to help repair it.
So we're going to meditate on that.
And when at any time this becomes uncomfortable for you or you get distracted or you fidget because it doesn't feel right,
That's okay.
You don't have to do what I'm talking about.
You could just breathe and sit with me.
There's not much required.
This is your time.
I suppose if it works for you,
You could knit while I meditate.
It's all up to you.
So we're breathing,
We're going slow.
We're inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly,
Listening,
Getting quiet.
And noticing what's not right.
Something in you,
Something close to home,
Something in the news,
Person you drive by every day on the way to work who is struggling,
Something that you worry about,
Something that keeps you up at three in the morning,
Something that makes you mad with moral outrage.
Or you could just notice the feeling of it,
That possibility of indignation.
There is a problem.
Parenthetically,
There are many problems,
But let's just pick one.
And it's not right.
It's not fair or okay.
It's morally unacceptable.
Someone's illness,
Someone's homelessness,
Someone's struggle with their mother,
Clergy abuse,
Something in the news,
Whatever you pick.
You don't even have to name it.
You could just sense a wrongness nearby in the world.
Just breathe into it with some acceptance,
That it exists,
That it is real and valid.
And as you breathe,
We'll transition into the next phase of asking why.
Why do we exist like this?
Why is this the nature of the world or the universe?
Why are we fragile and incomplete?
Why were we created?
Let it come up.
It's a very scary question,
I know.
Let it float by.
There's a grasp at it.
Just let it float by.
Why?
What's the point?
Loved ones get sick and die.
What's the point?
Why?
Why are there problems?
Where do you feel that in your body,
That irritation,
That grit,
That wondering and doubt?
Breathe into it.
Notice it.
Just the wrongness,
The doubt,
The questioning.
Where do you feel it?
What does it mean?
How do you sit with it?
As you breathe,
Deep inhale,
Slow exhale,
Slowing down.
Not getting too wrapped up,
More observing the questions.
In the next phase,
We're going to share those problems,
Those questions,
Handing them off to the universe,
A loving God as you understand God,
Higher power,
Mystery,
The creation,
Your friends,
Your journal,
Just handing them off with a degree of faith that they can be solved together.
They aren't permanent.
Nothing is impossible.
Ask the universe for help.
Maybe there are even resources close at hand.
Just wonder.
Wonder what's out there to help you heal the brokenness.
Just breathing.
Settling into brokenness and potential.
In a world that can come to your aid.
And all of the powerful questions that do in fact make life worth living.
A chance to exist and ask the questions.
Breathing,
Settling,
Even when you get distressed or ruffled.
Just slowing down.
You're still with your body.
You can still listen to my voice.
The world still moves on and carries you with it.
And finally,
Now that you know there is a problem,
Problems.
Now that you've begun thinking about why,
Why you're here.
Now that you've begun to extend yourself for the help of the universe in faith.
Now you can't look away.
Now it's yours to,
To hold,
To grapple with and to mold,
To be candid about.
The fundamental work we have as humans to participate in the world's suffering,
To bring healing.
Breathing.
Acknowledging your part,
Good and bad,
Weak and strong.
You have a part to play.
Breathe into it for the remainder of this meditation.
What is yours?
Blessings.
