Life is forever initiating us into Itself. This is a process that includes much love and laughter but also grief and sadness, and the fear of entering unknown worlds. If we can cultivate a mindfulness in our center, we can see that even amid struggle, a principle of progress is there to move us forward if we let it.
[00:00:01] Hey, this is Josh Reeves. You're listening to the Mile Hi Church Podcast. On Friday, October 23rd, we're thrilled to welcome Lissa Rankin and Jeffrey Rediker. They're going to be speaking on the topic of their new book, Relationsick, and it's about how toxic relationships can affect our health. The next day, Saturday, October 24th, they're going to bring all their great healing wisdom that we've read about in their many books to a workshop from 9am to 12. So you can get tickets
[00:00:29] to one or to both these events on our website, milehighchurch.org. There was a woman who was once on a hike with her spiritual teacher and she fell and skinned her knee. And she grabbed at her knee and her teacher said to her, don't grab your knee, grab your breath. Don't grab your knee, grab your breath. And it speaks to something of the human condition.
[00:00:58] That so often we run to where the pain is. We absorb ourselves in the injury, be it physical, psychological, emotional. We can run into the chaos, the drama, the franticness. So I like this advice.
[00:01:22] Don't grab your knee, grab your breath. Doesn't mean don't stop the bleeding. But when we grab our breath, we're embodying our mindfulness. We're embodying a kind of soul awareness that doesn't allow the pain to possess us, but allows us to possess it. I think it was Voltaire who said that medicine
[00:01:49] occupies the patient while nature cures the disease. In the same way, when we own our wholeness, when we can get back to our breath, we can allow nature to work through and help us heal our pain, heal our broken hearts. Don't go where the pain is. Go to your breath. Don't go where the injury is.
[00:02:17] Go to your breath. Breath is the perfect analogy for mindfulness. I also like this word breath with a D in it, which means to make order of. What our broken hearts often need isn't smothering,
[00:02:39] but space to burn. Our pain doesn't need our smothering. It needs space and breath to work itself out, to heal. We just need to hold ourselves in sanctuary. Speaking of the breath and of mindfulness, the great Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh said, breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness,
[00:03:04] which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again. Use your breath as a means to take hold of your mind again, your life again, your soul again. You are that powerful. However, if you are like me,
[00:03:29] just paying attention to your breath can be challenging. I'm easily distracted. My mind is in a million and one places. So I want to share and invite you into actually practicing with me a few ways to practice breath as mindfulness for today. The first practice I like to do with my
[00:03:52] breath is to breathe in and out in awareness that when I am doing so, I am cultivating harmony between my outer reality and my inner world. Sometimes those aren't in connection. And so how I like to do this,
[00:04:14] I like to breathe in life as it is, I breathe out myself as I am. Breathe in life as it is in this moment and breathe out yourself as you are. I breathe in life as it is. I breathe out myself as I am. Life as it is, myself as I am.
[00:04:39] Life as it is, myself as I am. And as I continue to do this, all of the stories, the narratives, the judgments, the labels fade away. There is nothing else but this life that is and this me that I am. And I think if you do this long enough, you'll begin to experience a harmony. You will return yourself from that which you have given away
[00:05:07] yourself away to that no longer serves you and find your soul awareness again in this breath. A second practice is to bring as much attention as possible to this subjective intelligence that is breathing your breath. A uniting of two minds, the conscious mind and the subjective mind.
[00:05:34] And I don't know about you, but my conscious mind gets humbled when it runs into this intelligence. This part of my being without conscious control that breathes my breath all the time, without me even having to give it an inkling of attention. This intelligence that is within me, feel that intelligence that's within you.
[00:06:03] And it's the same intelligence that's in this whole sacred earth, managing the seasons, moving the water and the rivers along, holding the stars in their places. This intelligence that's within me is in all of the universe. And my conscious attention humbles itself in relationship with its nature.
[00:06:31] And what happens for me is my conscious attention, as opposed to thinking it's this isolated, trapped thing, separated from the world, I realize that there's some of that intelligence and that conscious attention too. Oh, thank God, I can be myself again. Lastly, an analogy for breathing is oneness.
[00:06:57] All of us here in this physical sanctuary today are sharing the same air. And I know in COVID times that would freak us all out. How wonderful it is to be alive with all of you. And yet how incredibly vulnerable each of us is. But in sharing this breath together, we are intrinsically one.
[00:07:25] There is no space between us. There is only breath and awareness. And so I can close my eyes and I can take a deep breath and I can give thanks for the person or person sitting around me. I am so grateful that we share the same air. We are one. You can think about someone you love that's not in this physical sanctuary today. Someone in your life that maybe you miss.
[00:07:56] And you can affirm you breathe the same air into your lungs as I do. We are one. You can think of someone who's bothering you that you don't like and recognize we are one because we share the same air. Bless you. Bless the lungs that receive that air. Social psychologist Barbara Fredrickson shares,
[00:08:19] The passage of oxygen from the nearby air through your lungs and then into your beating heart and bloodstream is the most basic and constant connection between you and the world around you. This simple act of breathing knits together all that is within you with all that lies beyond your skin. Each new breath creates a unity of life as all people share the nourishment that the earth's atmosphere freely offers.
[00:08:51] October is our adventure in faith. Spiritual practices for today is our theme. A fresh take on ancient practices. And do you want to know what the leap of faith I want to challenge you into this month is? It's that these ancient practices, they need buffering. They need reinventing. But these practices are all that you need to face the challenges in your life
[00:09:19] and all that we collectively need to face the great challenges that we face in our society today. Can you buy into that? Today is mindfulness for today. A renewed kind of mindfulness. And I don't know about you, but when I think of the problems of the world, I get a little overwhelmed. I want to grab my knee. Right? But we have to remember to grab our breath.
[00:09:49] Global warming, seeing the climate change around us. We have to remember our breath and our sacred earth and our stewardship of it. In a political climate that's based more and more on the politics of othering and the politics of victimhood, a lack at times of responsibility as a virtue in government, we have to get back to our breath. Remember our values, our oneness, our virtuousness, our citizenship.
[00:10:20] Looking at these algorithms that speak to us through social media that immediately at first make us feel connected. But as we dive down the rabbit hole, they disconnect us. They bring us increased anxiety and isolation, losing ourselves in the process. We have to rediscover and learn to use not artificial intelligence, but our authentic intelligence to get back to the life that we live.
[00:10:45] There will never be an artificial breath when it comes to this intelligence that is in every cell of our being. Use it. Use it. Use it. We have to return to our breath, which again is a kind of soul awareness that can help pull us through all obstacles. I know that many of us here have something that we're struggling with. Anyone have anything you're struggling with?
[00:11:16] I want to say from the soul level, congratulations. You're doing it right. I'm thankful not for the struggle or the content of your struggle. I am not thankful for that. What I am thankful for is the availability of this soul awareness that says even though you may be growing as a human being, you are also always evolving as a soul.
[00:11:42] Sometimes the best question when facing a struggle isn't what to do, but who am I called to become? Mary Feldman, my spiritual mama and mentor, she asks herself the question sometimes, God, what are you initiating me into? Spirit, what are you initiating me into? It doesn't matter the condition, and I'm all for getting rid of it so that you can move forward, but struggle, this natural act of being human, nothing to be ashamed of.
[00:12:10] It just means that there's a greater you that's being called into becoming. Identify that, and you will find exactly what you need to move through the challenge that may be before you. The mindfulness for today that I'm speaking of isn't just the passive mindfulness of watching what's happening to you. Oh, this hurts. Oh, ow. Ow, I'm being mindful.
[00:12:40] Ow. Ow. Oh, it still hurts. Ow. Ow. It's not that kind of mindfulness. It's the mindfulness that realizes that we are always at choice. The power of returning to the breath soul awareness, mindfulness, gives us the opportunity to choose who we will become in light of anything that may be before us. There's no greater power in this world.
[00:13:09] I think it was Marshall McLuhan who said, nothing is inevitable as long as one is willing to be conscious of what is happening. Nothing in your life is inevitable as long as you are willing to be conscious of what is happening. You have the ability always to make a new choice. It's kind of like life is the restaurant. Experience is what we consume.
[00:13:37] And mindfulness is what we choose on the menu. Mindfulness is what we choose from the menu. And it's also how we respond to what shows up on our plate because they're not always the same thing, are they? How many of you are go-to people when it comes to what you order from the restaurant? You order pretty much the same thing all the time. Anybody? I go to McDonald's. I want two regular hamburgers and a Sprite. I go to Olive Garden.
[00:14:06] I want the breadsticks and the salad and that soup with the sausage and the potatoes in it. What's that called? I like it so much I never cared to learn the name. That's what I always... Thank you. So wise audience members. We all have our go-tos. And there can be something really powerful about ordering the same thing up every day. There's something magical about routine. There's something great about consistency. And if you understand it from a conscious level, it's never the same thing.
[00:14:36] The ancient philosopher Minestrone said, you can never eat the same soup twice. Don't look that up. Don't look that up. So there can be freshness and newness in ordering the same way and enjoying your same meal in this thing called life on a daily basis. But we also know the danger is falling into mediocrity, falling into a kind of normal where we're living in our version of the universe
[00:15:04] when there's this whole other universe waiting for us, calling us to live in a greater way. I've been doing a practice this year. I don't do it all the time. But when I can, it's all built around this question. When the waiter or waitress comes, I find the courage to ask the question, what's delicious? What's delicious? There's something exciting about that question. And sometimes, you know, they're going to point you to the specials and upsell you.
[00:15:34] So you've got to use some discernment. But they might say, you know, I just had it yesterday. There's this baked salmon that we put upon penne pasta and a pesto sauce, and it's got some capers on top. And oh, it's so good. What's delicious? That question can begin an adventure to a new experience of life that inspires you, fills you, and makes you want to have it again and again. If you ask this question when you're at a table of friends or loved ones,
[00:16:03] you'll notice how excited everybody gets. There's this potentiality. And we can apply this to our days as well. As opposed to waking up in our meditation time, organizing and ordering the same thing up for ourselves again and again, let's ask life, what's delicious? What is available for me to step into to experience that's new, exciting, that returns my vibrancy and makes me feel truly alive?
[00:16:32] What's delicious? So there's how we order up our lives, and then there's how we respond with what shows up on our plates. I have a confession to make with you. Today, Mile High Church, it's not a Jimmy Swaggart kind of confession. Don't worry. It's that I don't like cheese.
[00:17:01] I don't like cheese. I can feel some of the judgment coming up on stage here right now. Every once in a while, someone gets me an out. Oh, so you're saying, not that you don't like cheese, but that you're lactose intolerant. No, I really just don't like cheese. I can't go to a church where the minister doesn't like cheese. Honey, I'm out of here. And so when I order things without cheese my whole life, and a lot of you who have dietary restrictions
[00:17:30] understand this too, it teaches you to set boundaries for your life. A lot of those chefs, they go, no cheese? Nah, he can't mean that. Let me put some cheese on there. And it shows up, and I kind of have to humble myself and say, you know, sir, miss, I can't eat the cheese. I'm going to go hungry. Can you change this for me? And for some of us, that's a hard thing to do. And it's true in our lives as well. We want to order up our experience, but whatever shows up,
[00:18:00] if it's crossing our boundaries, it's time to send it back. It's time to send it back in the kitchen and say, God, cook me up something else. This isn't working for me. It's not about dealing with what's on your plate, no matter what. It's having this courage and the conviction to say, there's a reason it showed up on my plate. I can get into that later. Let's get it off my plate. Let's open back up to what life wants to bring renewed into my life again.
[00:18:29] The other thing that can happen is we can order something and something totally unexpected shows up. This can be challenging, but this can also be what's delicious. My girlfriend and I were having dinner and we ordered what we thought was a California roll. And what happened was this stacked high plate of sticky rice with all sorts of fish pieces and things on it. I would have still preferred the California roll, but it was delicious. Life can be like this,
[00:18:57] especially when we're in trust that a mind greater than our own is at work, bringing us what our soul needs for its greatest becoming. I know it's a grand thing to compare to food at a restaurant, but it's really that simple as well. Are we willing to do that work in consciousness that invites in the new and the profound into our lives? John O'Donohue, the great Catholic mystic, was once at an art show
[00:19:26] and he saw a sculptor's work and so admired it. And he asked her the question, who is your favorite sculptor? And she responded, the divine sculptor. He goes on to say, the divine imagination has infused the things of the world with secret depths. We are neither strangers nor foreign bodies in a closed off world. We are the ultimate participants here. The more we give ourselves
[00:19:55] to experience and strive for expression, the deeper it opens before us. Don't grab your knee, grab your breath. Stop the bleeding, but know that the pain isn't greater than you are. The heartbreak isn't greater than you are. Move to that place of soul awareness that can perceive yourself in loss, in anger,
[00:20:25] in sadness from a place of your wholeness. And that will allow that new sun to shine on your life and healing to take place. Practice a mindfulness for today that is not just aware of what you're experiencing, but is a co-creator and what you're ordering next for yourself. Be committed to the experience you want to create,
[00:20:54] but stay open that this grand chef called life wants to bring forth for you just what your life needs. All the nutrients, all the sweetness, all the great filling items that help you live in the fullness of your being. Carl Jung asked us that question, the central question for each and every one of us, am I related to something infinite or not? By recognizing and moving
[00:21:24] to that soul awareness, we realize we're related with something infinite and we can allow it to work in our lives in incredible ways. Let us welcome in that divine sculptor and take in all that it has to offer us. And when our mind gets scattered or lost along the way, bring it back to that breath. I love a simple but profound statement our founder Ernest Holmes made. Perfect spirit within, which cannot be mistaken, acquaint my mind.
[00:21:55] Perfect spirit within that cannot be mistaken, acquaint my mind. As we move into prayer and I invite any of our incredible prayer practitioners to stand and join me knowing they're available for prayer after this service. Let us build a rapport with the perfect spirit within us. Perfect spirit within me, illuminate my vision so that I can see the truth in all things.
[00:22:27] Perfect spirit within me, heal those places in my life that are broken or that I have perceived as broken to restore and bring forth your wholeness in all things. Perfect spirit within me, reveal the harmony of my divine connections with everyone I love and everyone who loves me. May the perfect spirit within be the guiding breath
[00:22:55] of each loving encounter. Perfect spirit within me, illuminate my mind with clarity, wisdom. Remind me of the depths of who I am. Perfect spirit within me, the eternal whole of me. Thank you for your guidance, your love, your openness. I return that openness
[00:23:24] and love to you, opening my life to that divine creative impulse that seeks to bring me and the best in all things, allowing this to be and become we let it be. And so it is. Thanks for listening to the Mile High Church podcast. This podcast is made possible by the generous contributions from listeners like you. To make a donation,
[00:23:54] please visit milehighchurch.org.