{"id":24985,"date":"2025-03-27T10:26:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T14:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=24985"},"modified":"2025-03-27T10:41:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T14:41:21","slug":"week-thirteen-centering-silence-and-stillness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=24985","title":{"rendered":"Week Thirteen: Centering, Silence, and Stillness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Andrew Ripp - Loves Got A Way (Official Lyric Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-V3vOXLyf9g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Light That Sustains<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Community activist Rosemarie Freeney Harding (1930\u20132004) describes her experience of contemplative awareness\u2014what she calls \u201cthe Light\u201d\u2014and how it sustained her throughout her life:&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can\u2019t say exactly where the Light entered, where it started from. Suddenly, it was just there with me. A white light, bright enough that it should have hurt to look. But it didn\u2019t hurt. In fact, as the Light grew and enveloped everything in the room, I felt the most astonishing sense of protection, of peace. It surrounded me and I was in it, so joyfully. I don\u2019t know how long I was engulfed by this Light, this space. But when I came out of my room my family was looking at me oddly, like there was something different about me they couldn\u2019t quite name\u2026.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had come in from work and greeted everyone awhile. Then I went into my bedroom to rest. I was just lying on the bed. Maybe dozing. And then I was in the Light\u2026.\u202f\u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Light became a kind of touchstone in my life. It was so much love. Like an infinite compassion. At the same time it was something very precious and intimate. It awed me, really. And when I walked out of the room, everything looked different. Clear. Even later, outside the house, in my classes and at my job, everything looked sharper. It was like a heightened sense of presence. Almost a shine.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Freeney Harding honors numerous paths that can lead to the deepened spiritual grounding that \u201cthe Light\u201d provides:<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I do believe that whole experience put me on a path. And the Light stayed with me a long time. It gave me a sense of security and deep internal connectedness to God, I would say. All these journeys I\u2019ve been on, these spiritual practices and traditions\u2014from the Mennonites to Bawa Muhaiyaddeen and the Dalai Lama\u2014the meditation, the prayers; I\u2019ve been trying to sustain what the Light gave me. What it awakened and showed me. I guess that\u2019s what the definition of \u201cspirituality\u201d is for me: whatever sustains us like the Light sustained me for years. Is it similar to the Light?\u00a0<em>Is it the Light<\/em>?\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As I moved away from my family and struggled for years with the unexpected strains of my marriage, I needed the grounding and shelter and strength of that Light. There is something in there, in that profoundly embracing energy, that allows you to come out with a kind of forgiveness, an absence of animosity. It\u2019s like the Dalai Lama says, there\u2019s nothing we can\u2019t go through. We can live through it all with compassion. I want to tell you that this Spirituality of Compassion, if we can call it that, can come through very ordinary people\u2026. There are so many ways\u2014some people go through <strong>Vipassana<\/strong> meditation; some say they have seen Jesus; or that they\u2019ve met the Buddha. However they describe it, they\u2019ve met \u2026 Help. Encouragement. A deep deep encouragement in this life. For me, it was the Light.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sara Young Jesus Calling<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jesuscallingdailydevotional.com\/2019\/03\/jesus-calling-march-25th.html\">Jesus Calling &#8211; March 25th, 2025<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Jesus Calling: March 25th<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Let thanksgiving temper all your thoughts. A thankful mindset keeps you in touch with Me. I hate it when My children grumble, casually despising My sovereignty. Thankfulness is a safeguard against this deadly sin. Furthermore, a grateful attitude becomes a grid through which you perceive life. Gratitude enables you to see the Light of My Presence shining on all circumstances. Cultivate a thankful heart, for this glorifies Me and fills you with Joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RELATED SCRIPTURE:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1st Corinthians 10:10 (NIV)<\/strong><br>10 And do not grumble, as some of them did\u2014and were killed by the destroying angel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additional insight regarding 1st Corinthians 10:10: Paul warned the Corinthian believers not to grumble. We start to grumble when our attention shifts from what we have to what we don&#8217;t have. The people of Israel didn&#8217;t seem to notice what God was doing for them &#8211; setting them free, making them a nation, giving them a new land &#8211; because they were so wrapped up in what God wasn&#8217;t doing for them. They could think of nothing but the delicious Egyptian food they had left behind (Numbers 11:5). Before we judge the Israelites too harshly, it&#8217;s helpful to think about what occupies our attention most of the time. Are we grateful for what God has given us, or are we always thinking about what we would like to have? Don&#8217;t allow your unfulfilled desires to cause you to forget God&#8217;s gifts of life, family, friends, food, health, and work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hebrews 12:28-29 (NIV)<\/strong><br>28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our \u201cGod is a consuming fire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additional insight regarding Hebrews 12:27-29: Eventually the world will crumble, and only God&#8217;s kingdom will last. Those who follow Christ are part of this unshakable&nbsp;Kingdom, and they will withstand the shaking, sifting, and burning. When we feel unsure about the future, we can take confidence from these verses. No matter what happens here, our future is built on a solid foundation that cannot be destroyed; instead, build your life on Christ and his unshakable Kingdom.<br>(see Matthew 7:24-27 for the importance of building on a solid foundation -&gt; 24 \u201cTherefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additional insight regarding Hebrews 12:28: Here are five ways we can be thankful: (1) We can be thankful that God answers our friends, (2) We can be thankful for God&#8217;s provision for our needs, (3) We can be thankful for God&#8217;s blessings, (4) We can be thankful for God&#8217;s character and wondrous works, and (5) we can be thankful for our brothers and sisters in Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today&#8217;s Prayer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Heavenly Father,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Teach us to let gratitude temper all our thoughts. Keep us in touch with You, guarding against grumbling and despising Your power and goodness.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grant us a grateful attitude, Lord, that becomes a lens through which we perceive life and helps us see the countless blessings. Help us to see Your presence shining in all circumstances.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Cultivate within us a thankful heart, God, for it glorifies You and fills us with joy.&nbsp;<\/em><em>In Jesus&#8217; perfect name, Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Light That Sustains Community activist Rosemarie Freeney Harding (1930\u20132004) describes her experience of contemplative awareness\u2014what she calls \u201cthe Light\u201d\u2014and how it sustained her throughout her life:&nbsp;&nbsp; I can\u2019t say exactly where the Light entered, where it started from. Suddenly, it was just there with me. A white light, bright enough that it should have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24985"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24985"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24989,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24985\/revisions\/24989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}