Beneath Frustration

It takes a period of silence and solitude for you to uncover a wonderful reality. All you need to do is pay close attention to the moment, moment by moment, and to allow the Spirit within you to reveal itself, coming from deep down inside, beneath all the stories you continually tell yourself, beneath all the issues and your thoughts about those issues. Dive down through these things and don’t let them trap you and keep you from the inner journey.

Go beneath all the criticisms you have of others and also of yourself, beneath all your worries and fears, all your emotions, beneath all your awareness of your imperfection, all your sins, all your guilt, all that wicked voice that tells you that you are not worthy. Here’s a hint: You.Are.Worthy simply because God has allowed you to exist.

Focus on this God, hidden deep within yourself. Focus on He unlimited mercy, His unfathomable love, on His ardent desire that you will one day live in the heaven He has prepared for you.

Find yourself---your real, true and eternal self, that place where you are hidden with Christ in God. Breathe deeply. You don’t have to think about it. Simply become aware, simply let it bubble up from inside of your even for a brief instant. Focus, but don’t think. Simply rest. Stay as long as you’d like if you can.

Read these words of Richard Rohr (“Immortal Diamond”):

Any ideological, angry, or fear-based process will only reinforce the False Self. The ego always has an opportunistic agenda. The soul has no agenda whatsoever except to see what is—as it is—and let it teach you.

And so when you are caught in one of those opportunistic agendas, angry, frustrated, annoyed, fearful and preoccupied, remember that those thoughts and feelings belong to your false self. Quiet yourself down and dive beneath it all, just as you would dive beneath strong waves that threatened to engulf you. Dive deep beneath where the calm can be found, and taste your inner reality.

It takes practice. See the next bout of aggravation as an opportunity to practice. You will naturally get better and better at it, so be patient with yourself. You can do it. It will enfold within you.

God bless you.