Living Well, Loving Well

Love is patient. Love is kind.

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.

Our struggles equip us to live life well and to love well.

I pray I may recognize opportunities to find God’s peace and stillness, Christ’s rest and strength, and the Spirit’s freedom and courage. Here we are. Each of us. Living in mind, body, and soul. I like to think of our triune selves as a reflection of the Holy Trinity. We exist in mind (God the Father), body (God the Son), and soul (God the Spirit).

I think a lot about the hero’s journey. The great journey of life as well as the smaller journey within the season of life. And from each journey or mission, we accept a call, leave our familiar world, face challenges, and seek treasure. A gift we can share as we return home from our journeys. I think about those gifts and treasures and how successfully navigating our challenges takes those qualities.

Finding PEACE as we battle resistance as we live and act with purpose. Seeking the STILLNESS of a calm mind and an open heart. Finding time for REST and recovery along the journey. Building STRENGTH with each new challenge, moment to moment and day to day. Knowing that it is for FREEDOM that we have been set free to test and approve. And living with COURAGE as we step forward into the mystery of life, “change the things we can.”

This final thought from the Serenity Prayer, reminds me that if I wish to change the world, I must begin with MY world. Beginning with myself, then my neighborhood. I see this as the whole point of the hero’s journey. To die to our old selves and be renewed. Self-actualizing day by day so we can serve heroically, in love.