It is now Summer which brings us to a time of the year with a couple of dueling ideas. It is time to relax in the yard but at the same time its time to run around. This is no time for summer stress
I chose a random quotation regarding summertime priorities. So, she says “The summer season often forces us to balance competing goals: the desire for spontaneous fun versus the need for productivity, and the urge to travel versus the necessity of maintaining personal routines. Successfully managing these opposing priorities requires strategic planning, setting firm non-negotiables, and embracing flexibility.”
Summer Stress
This does indeed seem to encompass much of what we feel during the summer. But it is these competing forces which do something else. It really increases the stress and instead of taking the time to enjoy the moments. We simply are moving so quickly into the next fun thing to do or worrying if our productivity is up to snuff. It is times like these when I think it is time for prayer. We note in the description, no mention of any guiding force or focus above.
What we do see are corporate boardroom snippets…grabbing outward to something we individually want… and a goal of determining a plan for us to get that goal… We then go on to completely engorging the goal… and then keep moving on. Prayer or discernment is not introduced… or even at its most basic form any type of morality or reasonableness… A prayer to God though gives us a time to ask for daily guidance, for strength and renewal. The Holy Spirit works alongside of our total selves to refresh and develop into the person God wants us to be.
Our Heart Mind and Soul work in Unity
So, as we look towards summer and our competing desires, we can get anxious. The good news is that there are things which we can do by ourselves or with friends where we can enjoy the life we are being given. But we should of course put these ideas into the overlying concept of Our Heart, our mind and our souls. So first let us take a look at our mind. When we are faced with some sort of anxiety what actually happens to us?
We have two part of our nervous system which is controlled by our hypothalamus. This hypothalamus puts out hormones when a threat or emergency occurs. It also puts out different hormones when the threat is gone and we can calm ourselves a bit. We call these parts the Sympathetic Nervous System and the Parasympathetic Nervous system. The former revs us up in a dangerous or threatening situation… after the threat is gone our parasympathetic nervous system helps calm us down. This allows us to us other human functions other than self preservation, such as creative skills or reflection and meditation.
Ways to relieve stress
So many of the items we do to relax and slow down work directly with our parasympathetic nervous systems. Long before we had the fancy names for our reactions we had learned through our faith how to deal with these things. Breathing and meditation help us in removing our body’s reaction to perceived threats, physical or mental.
This is the way we feel more relaxed reading Scripture and the words of Jesus. Why Paul can open up our imaginations and make strong connections between people 2000 years ago and today. As our bodies calm down, our imagination and creative processes can work… Generally, these thought processes are not needed when in a high stress dangerous environment.
But there are occasionally fantom dangers. These are times in which we can create our own emergency alarm bells that our bodies are reacting to. In Matthew 6:34, Jesus reminds us to anchor our minds in the present rather than fretting about what’s next. By leaving yesterday’s regrets and tomorrow’s uncertainties behind, you free up the mental energy to handle today’s tasks. The right here and now give us plenty of mental gymnastics without us adding more to our plate unnecessarily.
What does Jesus mean
So, Jesus’ message is of course excellent Spiritual advice… but also extremely practical. We can do nothing about the past. It is only our current actions which can influence the future, but we can only control so much as there are 7 billion others also influencing things… and most of our actions we do not even think about. We should be intentional with our actions, but there is a limit as well.
As we are walking down the sidewalk, we could become overwhelmed focusing on every minute detail of what we are doing… If we worry too much about that… oops there goes our sympathetic nervous system. Do we really need alarm bells going off as we walk down the sidewalk? The answer is of course no… however we should recognize there are people who do have to manage this issue throughout the day.
Heart mind and Soul
Let us now open our hearts minds and souls and prepare ourselves for prayer and in doing so we bring back to life a very important part of any liturgy a time of sacred silence. This sacred silence is meant for us to prepare ourselves. In Mass we are to prepare ourselves and get ready for the next important part of the Liturgy. There is that time between the Alleluia and when the Deacon says, “The Lord be with you”. Sometimes the times of silence can become so quick we may not recognize they are even there.
We should not be in that big of a rush especially during the Mass. This time of silence is a time when we can set ourselves apart and focus on those things we need to… clear our heads and open our souls. So let us take a moment now to take a few deep breaths in exhale slowly and prepare ourselves.
How to put this into practice at Mass
The second thing that happens is there is a few moments of sacred silence. This gives us time to reflect on where God is taking us for the next part of the Mass. Any anxiousness or fear can be eased away during these moments as we can reorient ourselves toward our trusted friend Jesus. It is very easy for this part of any community event to get lost. The constant beat of the secular world is to finish your current task and get on with the next.
Obviously, that is not what you should be doing in Church… and honestly it is not what you should be doing anytime. in Church we are worshipping God. And every once in a while we need to be called to take a moment and relax.. so the leader calls out The Lord be with you….. this is the time for the parasympathetic system to be called into action.
Our Daily lives
So one of the best ways of doing this is basic breathing techniques. When we see these breaks and times for sacred silence, be it in Church or during our everyday routines, we should take a few moments to breathe in slowly and exhale while doing a short mental prayer.
We can use any short prayer, the Jesus Prayer (Lord forgive me a sinner) or “My Lord and my God” or “Jesus I trust in you.” This does two things, it helps relax us and remind us that we are to Love God at all times. Once your mind is acclimated to thinking about God, it really helps us to relax throughout our entire lives. That is what Jesus means in Matthew 6.
Breathing techniques are great but there are a number of other techniques that can be used throughout our day. I will be introducing or reintroducing these to you in the next couple of articles. Many of us have heard of Lectio Divina, but how about Visio Divina. The technique I mentioned above is called breathing Prayer, but there are many others, most going back with their origin long before Christ came to Earth. We will see you soon
God Bless
Deacon Dave
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