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Tend the Inner Life · Still, Here

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is still here.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: A quiet moment to remember what is true.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: You can take care of an astonishing number of things in a day and still forget
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: to ask how you're doing inside.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: The messages get answered.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: The errands get done.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: You notice what everyone else needs.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: You handle the problem in front of you.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: And somewhere underneath all that activity,
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: your own heart is carrying feelings you've barely had time to name.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the first sign is small.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: You're more irritated than usual.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: A harmless comment feels like criticism.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: You agree to one more responsibility even though you're already exhausted.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Later, you wonder why you responded the way you did.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Often there is more going on beneath that reaction than we recognized at the time.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: There may be fear,
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: grief, fatigue, or an old habit that has become so familiar we hardly notice it.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: The book of Proverbs chapter 4 verse 23 says,
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: I hear an invitation to take our inner life seriously.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Not because every feeling is a problem to solve,
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: but because what is happening within us eventually finds its way into what we say,
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: how we listen, and the choices we make.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: The heart is not a locked room we are meant to police.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: It is a living place that needs our attention.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: I like to think of it as tending a garden.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: You don't stand over a young plant demanding that it grow faster.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: You notice the soil.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: You water what is dry.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: You make room for light.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: You remove what is choking the life out of it.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: And tomorrow you return.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: You don't expect everything to be finished in a single afternoon.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: I've learned that people can become very hard on themselves when they recognize
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: an unwanted pattern.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they find themselves withdrawing in conflict or agreeing too quickly
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: because they fear being rejected.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes those patterns began years ago when they helped a person survive a difficult season.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: We can be grateful that something protected us then while recognizing
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: that it may be restricting our life now.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: God can meet us with compassion as we learn another way.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: So, if you notice defensiveness,
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: impatience, or the need to be in control today, don't begin with condemnation.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Begin with curiosity.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: What is happening in me right now?
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: What am I afraid of?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: What might I need?
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Then give yourself a little space between the impulse and the response.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: That pause might allow you to listen instead of interrupting,
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: say no without anger, or admit that you need rest.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to repair your whole inner life before the day ends.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Spiritual formation is often quieter than that.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: It happens as the Spirit helps us notice what is growing and choose what makes room for love.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: Tend what is within you.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: It matters to the people around you, and it matters to God.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Take a moment for this prayer of presence.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: Lord God, you see what is happening in me, including what I haven't understood yet.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Help me pay attention without judging myself harshly.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Show me what needs care, what needs to be released.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: And what you are patiently growing.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: When my old reactions rise, give me room to choose from the life you are forming within me.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: As you leave this quiet moment, carry this prayer with you.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Help me tend what grows within me.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Help me tend
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: What grows within me?
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Help me tend.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: What grows within me?
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Help me tend.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: What grows within me?
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, stay steady, stay open, stay present.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: You are still here.
• 5:24
  [music]