Dear Lord,
Be with me during this time. For years, but more strongly in the last few weeks, I've had a strong desire to de-clutter my material possessions, and as a hoped for extension of, a lot of my mental baggage. I want to feel better and lighter in general, but ultimately I want more room for You.
Lord, my focus on You has waned as of late. Please help me to refocus on what's most important in my life. I think I feel myself going back in that direction, but I ask that you enter me in a bluster. Inhabit me with your Holy Spirit, Lord. Light me on fire, and help me to crowd out temptation and sin. Sin of sloth, of lukewarmness. Sins of concupiscence. Sins of pride and arrogance. Sins of cowardice.
Lord, I love You. You are my greatest joy, and I know it in my mind, but I'm not feeling it in my heart. It's not stirring me, and I'm allowing myself to back away from You. Lord, arrest this process through my invitation, and impel me back to You per my invitation. I ask for Your divine assistance.
Lord, reading Marie Kondo's book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up was well timed. I mean, it's not like it floated across my radar without me looking in the direction of simplifying and tidying up, but I already owned a copy of it, which I'd forgotten. And not to mention, it came back to me at a time after I'd gotten deeper into my own Christian faith.
It's true that Kondo uses a lot of her own spirituality to describe things, she being a Shintoist or at least having been influenced by Shintoism. And it's also certainly true that a number of her beliefs about spirituality are not in-line with Christianity. On the other hand, much of what she says that has something to do with joy and spirituality seems to point to the divine. For instance, she talks about thanking your items for their service. Now she believes that items have spirits, however I think the act of spending a moment with each item and being mindful about how it's has been useful in your own life is a good thing. For instance Kondo says whether an item is something you use and truly enjoy frequently, or whether it's something that was a bad purchase which you've never used in the years you've owned it, but it taught you something about what you don't actually like, or what doesn't suit that it was, indeed, of use. It served you in some way. She says thank the item, I say thank God. Vastly different in an academic sense, but I'm not an academic and I think Kondo's sentiment is good if not 100% on target.
There are many such moments in the book, and I think as long as you're mindful the book can easily be adapted to Christian theology subconsciously as you go. No need for a decoder ring.
The Visualizing:
Holy Spirit, please guide me for this next movement. Kondo says it is important to envision, "the ideal lifestyle you dream of." I interpret this as seeking Your divine assistance on working toward the goal You want for me Lord. My ideal lifestyle is the lifestyle the Father wants, for it's what will bring me the most joy. It's the lifestyle that will predispose me to the most faith, hope and charity. Holy Spirit, please show me what the Father wants for me. Inspire me in the best direction. Holy Spirit, please help me to get started. I'm not sure where to begin. I'll start thinking and typing and hopefully it curves toward the proper target.
Many of the saints talk about simplicity being a necessity when working toward the goal of service of You, Lord. It opens them up. Well.....what services do I already know I'm supposed to be performing? I know that I'm first and foremost a family man here on earth. I'm to do what I can to build the Domestic Church, and get my family (and me) to heaven. This entails not just spending more time in prayer with the family than I currently am, but also entails just spending more time with my family members. It entails serving them by helping to keep the house clean and organized. A tidy and clean house is soothing, so it automatically leaves hearts and minds open. That openness can lead to many things, but most importantly to You, Lord. It removes some perturbation, and leaves the mind fertile. Sometimes that open clarity is enough. Just the peace and being thankful for it would be a good activity to engage in. But it's quite possible that it would lead to cooking together, playing more board games together, doing some other activity together. Perhaps it would make nighttime routines less prone to angst and conflict because of a general lack of perturbation.
Clean + tidy = more peace and openness to God. Not having to work quite so hard for patience.
I think having a prayer space and prayer equipment would be good for the family. I know the kid would be absolutely open to doing her prayers while kneeling. I actually think I could entice Rachel deeper down the prayer trailer, and into her faith using the kiddo. The kid is very open to these things.
Having a prayer space with furnishings (e.g. kneelers, rosaries, prayer cards, etc.) to make the habit of family prayer less awkward and more durable.
--Pawz 11/30/2024
--Resu 12/01/2024
Holy Spirit, please continue to inspire this prayer. I invite you into this moment. Help me to focus, stir my heart, help this prayer to be for you, Lord.
As of late, I realize that physical health is exceedingly important. It helps prevent much temptation, and gives me the mental and physical determination and energy to serve more willingly and vigorously, Lord. It can also help to make me more patient and loving because I'm just generally more positive and optimistic.
Lord, perhaps I'm wrong, but I feel like my need for physical activity might be greater than many others' need for physical activity. Specifically for exercise. I can be quite active, but it seems to me that if it's not of a sustained moderate cardio level type, it's really not affective at all the things I mentioned above. Even if I'm lifting heavy objects and digging holes for hours in the yard, it doesn't seem to be the key. At least at my current level of fitness. The fact that I can't sustain the type of work I'm doing in the yard indicates to me that I might be working too hard. It was certainly overtaxing some of my muscles, and I think it was wearing me down. It was most definitely cutting into my time for exercise, specifically.
Lord, this aspect of my life is certainly part of my "desired life." I think it's an absolute necessity. No. I know it's an absolute necessity. It recently pulled me out of a serious, and sinful slump. I think my diet is also really harming me. No. I know my diet is harming me. It's creating a lot of physical discomfort in the form of acid reflux and/or indigestion, but I think it's also making me a bit dopey. It's robbing me of mental energy because of how much and how frequently I eat. I reach for food for comfort. I need to moderate.
I understand fasting and even moderation are supposed to be a sacrifice, but I also think they need to be manageable. They need to not gnaw at me to the point I can't do my normal desk work. It's easier to fast when I'm up and around, but it's really hard when I'm sitting down, and not in a flow state.
Holy Spirit, I'm not sure what I need for this. I do think having a clean, well organized, and "tidy" home would clear up a lot of mental space. What do I need? Holy Spirit guide me on this, please.
Lord, it seems like for the moment, I've got the space and equipment I need to exercise. I believe I can regularly make the time, as well. The best time will be in the morning, during prayer, or sometime midday, depending on the day. Midday might be best until I am in good enough shape for working out not to make me extremely tired.
Holy Spirit, what about my diet? What do I need to do in order to get myself out of a slump? And by slump, what I mean is, how can I get myself back to moderation?
Having a well organized, curated kitchen with tools that are easy to access so.............