When I’m consciously aware that I am taking an evolutionary leap I find it comes with a fair amount of chaos and confusion. Lots of questions. Really, can doing nothing get anything done?
There comes a time in the lives of dedicated spiritual practitioners when “doing” takes a back seat and “Being” starts driving the bus. We find ourselves in a realm of “I don’t know” and “I need do nothing.”
It’s a scared space in which doing transforms into non-doing without the interference of our minds and with the consent of our hearts. I’m sticking my big toe in that realm.
Doing nothing. I lead silent retreats. I’m “Heavily Meditated” like it says on my tee-shirt. It seems to me that doing nothing should be a natural thing. It isn’t.
I got my feet knocked out from under me by a hospital stay and lengthy recovery period in which I could, without challenge, do nothing. The major part of my waking day was spent on claiming perfect health. Now that I sense healing has happened, I notice my mind planning four projects and many more travel possibilities before the end of the year. Doing is about to engage.
Why is it such a challenge to do nothing? Is the answer found in the pauses that keep showing up every day? The pauses like the one I took to appreciate the Divine in the view outside my living room window: a doe and two fawn grazing in my neighbor’s yard on their daily trip back up Mt. Sequoyah at dusk.
I rest in the pauses for longer moments these days, as if the pauses are the answer to my question.
My mind can’t imagine a moment in time when doing is not taking place. It is so confused. My heart knows Being and is confident.
I’ve made an intention and commitment to three Unity projects: 1) the completion of the bylaws rewrite, 2) the re-emergence of the EarthCare Team, and 3) Attending Unity South Central Region’s annual conference in October and I’m reading the book “New Monasticism” in preparation.
There’s more. I’ll be on the cooking team for Marilyn Harper’s crystal digging retreat in Mt. Ida the end of August. Thirty people will attend. And then there is my travel possibilities – Houston, Dallas, Colorado, Austin and two places in Missouri – all before the end of 2022. How will non-doing get any of this done?
I am certain these are God-sent doings. My heart sings when I visit the idea of each project or trip. Joy is there and playfulness and a gratefulness for the company of those who bring their passions to these projects or are at the end of the long road trips. For me, joy and playfulness are signs that God has put these in my way.
Even so, how does no-doing get any of these done? I don’t know. I’ll let you know when I know. Until then I’m going to work my way deeper into the realm of “I need do nothing.” I hope to move from my toes up to my knees at a divine pace. I’m certain the transformation has something to do with these pauses that are showing up in my life right now. I intend to rest in them a bit.
Lovenough, katherine #7