Job Hunting

This job hunting business is difficult and at times disheartening, a real test of reliance on God. In the spirit of the original purpose of this blog, let me focus on the positive.

Reestablishing myself in the world of work, hopefully in the area of my experience and chosen career path, is a big part of this whole-life transition. It has been clear to me in the past that God has guided me in my work endeavors and has placed me where He wanted me to be. I trust this process continues. I've had experiences of just having jobs practically handed to me out of the blue and of ardently praying and then receiving an answer laid out before me which required detailed and persistent follow through. One job seemed so directly arranged by spiritual forces that the initial interview for that job remains one of the most vivid spiritual experiences of my life. I am letting these past experiences serve as an assurance in times of doubt.

I'll just keep praying and knocking on doors. I will cherish the moments of encouragement I receive and let them inspire me, even when they don't pan out the way I might want. I'll keep my heart and mind focused on work as worship; by serving mankind I serve God. I'll be open to the guidance and strength to carry out what I come to believe is God's will for my work life.

Children

This quote expresses my deepest feelings about my children. I used to have a cassette tape that had these words set to music. I lost it and have since searched for it from time to time. EVERY SINGLE TIME I listened to it my eyes welled with tears and I felt the burning and brilliant shining of love in my heart.

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

~from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran



It's the last line that touches me most deeply. I feel my love for my children and know something of God's love for them. Then, I am assured He loves me even as He loves them. I know this is an infinite love because I know that's the kind of love I have for my children. How much greater must God's love be?

image from outsider-artists.net

A Moment of Clarity

Walking the labyrinth must have created a focused meditative experience, for a couple of days later, an insight came to me totally beyond what I had expected, and totally beyond the issue upon which I had meditated. I experienced a moment of clarity which infused me with joy. I was given both a visual image and the words to help me stay focused, especially in times of tests. Upon returning home, only a few minutes after this experience, I opened the mailbox to find notice of some unexpected news which I would have been spiritually unprepared to handle had I not just experienced that moment. As it was, I accepted calmly what life handed me and felt assured that God was with me in that moment and for whatever I will face in this matter. The image is in the form of a seed labyrinth with four quadrants and words associated with certain key spots. The image provides cues for the thoughts that lead me to a great calm.