Scripps Sunday #48

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 I came across this prayer this week and thought it would be a welcome gift for you in this last week of finals.... 


The Welcoming Prayer (by Father Thomas Keating)
Welcome, welcome, welcome.
I welcome everything that comes to me today, because I know it's for my healing.
I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions.
I let go of my desire for power and control.
I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval, and pleasure.
I let go of my desire for survival and security.
I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person or myself.
I open to the love and presence of God and God's action within. Amen.

Some thoughts on the “Welcoming Prayer”
The “Welcoming Prayer” can be done in a moment, in a breath. It is about “letting go.”
When we welcome “what is” in our life, it doesn’t mean that we don’t want or need change or
growth. It means that we accept what comes our way and invite God into it. In His presence we
bring to Him our needs, our desires, our thoughts, our emotions, and our circumstances. Instead
of fighting these things and those around us, we welcome them and God in them so that WE can
be transformed as we consent to His presence in all areas of our lives. To fight against our
reality, to demand and to grasp onto our desires, is one way of denying that God alone is our
Source of Life, that God is our Source for Love and Power.
When we “cling” to our needs and our desires or demands that “what is” be different we are
attempting to control. When we “let go” and meet God in our reality, then we actually do
become free and experience His presence – which does heal, provide our needs, transform us…..
If we grasp and control our lives we will inevitably create “substitutes” for a genuine resting in
God and His provision. What are your substitutes?
 
Christ in you, the hope of Glory: The path of mystery, which is the Christian life, is one where
we experience God within, defenseless, open, consenting to His presence in everything that
comes our way. This is the true self that knows experientially that he or she is secure, protected,
and loved. When we live in this new creation that God has given us – the True Self – we can let
go of our need to control – ourselves or others. In this place we are connected to God’s Love and
Power.


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