Heather Miller (our new Minister of Children, Youth & Familes) shares some thoughts on meditation as a practice
About one year ago I started meditating. My sessions last exactly ten minutes and are not as frequent as I would like them to be. I wiggle and scratch my nose. I let my thoughts wander way too often. But at least I am doing it which has to be better than not trying. I began meditating because I felt stuck. I thought I knew the exact direction I wanted my life to take but I just couldn’t see the path to get there. I had tried a variety of different things and nothing seemed to help “unstick” me. Completely adrift and unsure of how to move forward, I decided to try meditating. I find my meditation sessions to be like a quiet prayer session; a time for me to stop asking God to help me with what I think I want and to just listen. Most of you don’t know me yet, but sitting still is not one of my finer qualities. The act of sitting still and listening for ten minutes a day began as a somewhat torturous experience that I wasn’t convinced was worth my time. However, throughout the year I began to notice small shifts in my thinking and in my life. I took an opportunity to work with my niece doing online learning and discovered how much I had truly missed teaching. I began to listen to my gut and to make some tough decisions that I had been too fearful to even think much about, let alone confront. I took a risk applying for a new job and then accepting it and opening myself up to a whole new community. I look now at the changes that have occurred in my life since March and they are not at all what I would have planned or even prepared for, but they are good and they are fulfilling and I am once again reminded of the power that God is constantly working in my life if only I take the time to listen. I am still meditating, but not as often as I should. I still wiggle and scratch my nose but I no longer wonder if what I am doing is worthwhile. God’s voice is ever-present and the changes I have had the strength to make are because I took the time to listen. I am where I should be and forever grateful for where God leads.
