The dispositions, offered here … point to a way where we come to our true selves by going beyond ourselves, discovering who we really are through awareness, love, responsibility and commitment.
Practising resurrection: an invitation to enter into a way of life that leads to life. It is not about trying harder: it is not about achievement or success. These precepts are practical and practised ways of living in a grounded and real way, and they include the following ground-rules:
Is, not should: reminding us how deadening the “should” and “oughts” in our lives can be
Drawn, not driven: hinting at the authentic and gentle movement of the Spirit of God, rescuing us from the tyranny of our addictions and compulsions
Now, not then: moving us away from the grip of regret about the past and anxiety about the future
What, not why: helping us focus on the reality or the facts of life rather than being lost in the endlessness of the often futile question “why?”
Me, not you: allowing us to move away from competitiveness and defensiveness into the grace-filled responsibility of learning to live out of our truth.
Holiness means assuming total responsibility for all that we are and not simply for how we appear to other human beings.
Donald Nicholl
“Response” is at the heart of the meaning of responsibility. Just as everything is gift, so all genuine life is responsive.
Is your attitude or behaviour loving,
just,
good news for others,
and care-full of your own needs?
How open and free are you in adopting this stance?
Can you tell the difference between a reaction (sometimes called a disproportionate response!)
and a response?
How we are (as distinct from how we appear) speaks of the heart – the inner core or essence of a person – which the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures tell us is what God sees.
For a printable PDF of the text of this meditation please click on the link below.
