I thank You and I trust You.
Jesus, I surrender myself to You. Take care of everything.
Jesus, I trust in You.
Let your Mercy be upon us as we place our trust in you.
Thank You!
Above are five aspirations (Latin aspire means "to breathe") or short prayers which we can say gently, easily with a single breath. I invite you to slowly read each of them. As a prayer. See which feels best to you. That can be your aspiration for today. You can repeat it habitually throughout the day: while you walk, run, rest, ride the bus.
Aspiration is one of the best forms of prayer. It is SOOOO easy. You simply, quietly, slowly, meaningfully say a few words while in your heart you make a most wonderful ACT.
As you see these five all have to do with THANKS and TRUST.
The pathway to Joy is thanks or gratitude.
The pathway to Serenity or interior peace is trust or surrender.
Let's work on thanks first. Stop for a minute. Close your eyes and thank God for the first 10 things that come into your mind. They can be very small or very large. Anything. Do it slowly, quietly, thoughtfully. Count the 10 on your fingers. Go!
As you come out of your gratitude list or litany how do you feel? My bet is that you feel better. That you have a touch of joy. This is because you have made contact with 10 beautiful, true, good things in your life and with the Great Giver and Lover who is their source.
When you are feeling down, depressed, sad...here is your tonic: your gratitude list. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and say "thank you for...." ten times. It is something marvelous, but is not magic.. As this become habitual you will gradually feel an increasingly sense of well being, safety, and delight. This will permeate your life...your work, study, sports, friendship, family...and be a source of joy and inspiration to others.
Not absolutely of course...total joy comes only in heaven. But already you are living "paradise on earth" in an increasing manner every day.
If thanks connects you with God in your good stuff, trust connects you to him in your stress, problems, challenges, anxieties, sufferings. For this you might use "Jesus I trust in you" or "Jesus I surrender myself to you. Take care of everything." If you feel overwhelmed by many things you might like the second, especially the "everything" part.
Okay. Let's pause again. What is your biggest worry or concern right now? Given that, are there others as well? What are they? After you identify one or more worries, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and repeat one of the aspirations you like above. As you do so realize you are giving that problem to God; you are releasing it; you are trusting that He will take care of it; you are relaxing. The problem is no longer yours; it is His; and you can breathe easy and peacefully respond to His promptings. Do it several times as you breathe slowly. Go.
The beauty of these aspirations is that you can do them all day. They become habitual. With all the gifts received you are thanking the Giver and growing in your appreciation and receptivity as well as union with God so peacefully, quietly, joyfully. With every challenge, difficulty, anxiety, and suffering you are surrendering in trust, giving yourself a relief, waiting with expectant hope, and joining yourself again in communion with God.
Of course this is not magic: it is not that you can wipe out sadness and fear. In our flesh we are always vulnerable to pain and anxiety. We know life can be arbitrary and cruel. On this earth there is no final relief from pain and stress. But with these spiritual acts of the will you will be strengthened to endure suffering and stress with a deep underlying patience, peace and joy.
May you grow every day, more deeply in thanks and trust, more passionately, quietly, intimately in love with God!
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