WE MUST FEEL THE FEAR TO RELEASE IT

Father Richard envisions the Holy Spirit as the loving immensity of God’s presence within us.,,,You must contact this Immensity! ...You must know that this Immensity is already within you. The only thing separating you from such Immensity is the ego. -- "Father Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation," May 27, 2026

I am again at the place of intense anxiety (that always feels like the first time)...fear on the hoof, galloping free rein within me. It tells me to fall back, go for cover, hide...all the while I am knowing from my eyebrows up that I must go further. 

I must feel the fear and do it anyway. The "it" is my life just as it is presenting itself to me Now.

I keep being whisked back in memory to me, living in my first five years which is fairly close to my feeling today.  Solid fear...anxiety up the gump-stump, which, with God as my Guide, I walked through. 

 

You must contact this Immensity...there it is, my marching orders which are seldom as I envision them. I must contact this Immensity...go to God for God and that is all. 

I feel no peace, my heart beats harder, my breath comes in gasps...this is panic on the hoof. There are no shortcuts to God's will, God's way...and it takes as long as it takes.

All this I must feel all the way through to the other side...to my Immensity. Feel the fear and do it anyway.

You must contact this Immensity!

Thank you.

GRATEFULLY, WE GO TO GOD FOR GOD

So, dementia, with the grace of gratitude and just for today, I leave you to God. If you are God's will for me, then you are my will for me. No doubt, we'll visit again tomorrow...."With Grace, We Welcome the Unwelcome," my blog of May 19, 2026 

Such good advice, so difficult to do. 

It is akin to the quiet word we once received, i.e., we go to God for God, and that is all. 

Again, we note that is a toughie...when we are feeling pea-green-purple terrified, we know the specific that needs lifted, banished, erased from our life, from our consciousness. The idea that we need to welcome it feels like the devil doing his dance in our ear.

There it is, why we spent so much time and effort on our still more spiritual growth. When blind-sided by self-centered fear, the holy whisper is there for us...it is our choice to go with It or stay with fear. 

Hard lesson learning: It is God that makes our choice...only God knows when we are truly ready. We are comforted with the reminder to resist not evil for God uses that, too, for our benefit.

Gratefully, we go to God for God, and that is all.

Thank you.

FEAR...GOD'S GIFT TO ME

Blinding flash of the obvious: Fear is God's gift to me for it turns me to Him faster than thought.

I am still living in the anxiety attack I've written about this past week. Clearly, it is not an attack which I think of as quick and terrorizing in the moment. 

Ah, I am living in anxiety from which I got my BFO... ergo, good and of God.

It is comforting to realize these truths, but they do not slow my fast-beating heart... a God gift that holds my feet to the fire to ensure I stay to learn His will, His way for me. 

It is clear that I am given to running the other way, but God ever has better for me. I go to God...dragging foot but moving forward. God is so good to me.

Thank you.

TO WANT TO WANT GOD AND THAT IS ALL

...until we know and rely on [God], and until we call upon, share, and love [God], we’re just going along for the ride. --Fr Richard Rohr. "Daily Meditation," May 24,2026  

According to me, we can't want God in order to fulfill our material needs...we must want God for Itself and that is all.

That is and has been my hardest reach. 

I want to want God and only God, but it seems there is ever an urgent "need" that steps in front and demands attention. Even my self-determined spiritual growth is not purely of God being self determined. 

Blinding flash of the obvious: When self is driving the bus, self is first on the bus...God is first one welcomed after.

Mercy, that's a sobering flash...but not new to me. What else have I been striving for all these years but the God of my own understanding...and that is all. 

Thank you. 

SIMPLIFY, SIMPLY SIMPLIFY, I

[The following is a slightly reworked reprint of my post of May 26, 2019.]

Boy, did I get a blinding flash of the obvious this morning: Keep it simple. Simplify. Stop with the trying to make Shinola outta s**t. 

When Meister Eckhart said the answer is in subtracting, not adding on, he was talking simplify...simply simplify. When we are told that the answer is in detaching all that means is SIMPLIFY. 

Keep it simple, stupid, means keep it simple, stupid.

And then I read Fr Richard Rohr's "Daily Meditation" with the Word: Remember, the only thing that separates you from God is the thought that you are separate from God!

Thank you.

ACCEPTING THE GIFT...AH, THERE IT IS

Each moment is an opportunity to practice contemplation, to see things as they are, and to receive the gift of divine presence. -- Father Richard Rohr, "Daily Meditation," May 22, 2026

We are given the opportunity...ah, but how often do we accept the gift? What is the first thought we have on being the opportunity to practice any new thing?

Being given that opportunity often brings the feeling of trepidation...fear of failure, looking the fool. That is ego on the move; just knowing that does not stop ego. That is usually our first stumbling block...when confronted, ego often speaks louder than good sense.

To quote Amy Frykholm, the practice of 'beholding' anything takes desire and discipline -- and what is 'beholding' but contemplation or deep reflective thought?

Ah, we know these truths, but how well do we live them? 

I have learned to give credit for every second that my mind is reflecting God's will, God's way...too often that is just a second, but it counts!

We go to God for God, and that is All.

Thank you.

ALL IS WELL...NOW TO LET THAT BE MY TRUTH

Julian of Norwich: All will be well, and all manner of things will be well.

I feel like I am suffering the tortures of the damned...high anxiety or fear of dementia? or, blinding flash of the obvious, high anxiety from fear of dementia.

Lord, hear my prayer: Thank You.

Thank you.