Slow Down

You may have seen the bumper sticker that says, "If you lived in your heart, you'd be home now." Now normally, little bumper stick thoughts, especially spoken to me as wise spiritual advice, enrage me. I listen nicely, while fantasizing about poking a fork into the person's head, like a baked potato. But whenever I see this bumper sticker, it spritzes me into hope. It reminds me that there is a place in me that is warm and safe and gentle, unlike my usual pinball mind explosion of fear, judgment, doom, blame, and corrective thoughts on how other people should behave better, and a structured plan for how they can begin to do that.

                                                                                      Anne Lamott

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Sometimes we just need to slow down,

Take a few breaths

And settling into our hearts

Snuggling down deep into the fabric of our being

Much like we snuggle down in our favorite chair

With a good book

This is the place God lives

This is the warm and safe place

This is where

Everything quiets

All the fear,

All the anxiety

This is where I can hear

More than my own voice

More than the voice of that bully who lives in my brain

More than the voices of my critics

Here in this still place

I can hear God

Gently whispering in my ear

“I love you”