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WEDNESDAY MEDITATION
Being Fully Present — Mind, Body, and Soul — Requires All of You
Not just your mind but your body and soul, too
Spirit, teach me how to be present with all of who I am so that I may know all of who You are in every situation.
There is a Latin term — statio — that means “position” or “station,” but as a Christian monastic practice, it is known to mean “the moment between moments.” It is being fully present with all of who you are — mind, body, and soul.
Statio means you are intentional to the moments between the moments with all of who you are. You bring all of yourself to each moment, breathing in with all of who you are, exhaling with all of who you are — no matter where you are or what you are doing.
As Donald Altman explains in Meal by Meal, “You already experience this several times a day, for example, when you are figuring out what to do next or when you take a momentary break to regroup.”
It can be as you are walking to a meeting or driving to pick up the kids or waiting in the doctor's office, etc.
Bringing your whole self to all situations takes practice and time. Be patient with yourself as you explore this.
As you continue this spiritual practice, you will begin to notice the subtle shifts that begin to happen within you — more grace, more mercy, more love, more wonder, more kindness, etc.
Allow yourself time to soak all of that in.
Reflection
Reflect back on a time when you were present — mind, body, and soul — to an experience. For instance, standing at an overlook, looking out at the expanse of landscape. What was that like as you drank in the view with your eyes, listened to the rustle of leaves and birds, sipping in each parcel of landscape bit by bit?
