Ecologie 02: Living Mindfully as God’s Beloved, in Daily Life

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The Challenge In Daily Life:

Living Mindfully as

God’s Beloved


 

Photo Pixabay, Free Use

If despite our grave sins against the earth, God still chooses to show us His unwavering Mercy, how in turn, do we choose to correspond with Him in caring for our world?

Let us bring a renewed intention of mindfulness into our lives:

  • through our consciousness,
  • though our words, and
  • through our actions.

 Perhaps, it might help to set as our horizon for reflection this three-fold question from the First Week of the Spiritual Exercises (# 53):

What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What ought I to do for Christ?

1 - Through our consciousness

  • I embrace my dignity as a person loved by God, and my unique place in God’s Creation. (e.g. Affirm my capacity for compassion for those who suffer. Recognize my capacity to forgive and be forgiven.)
  • I integrate into everyday consciousness God’s merciful regard for me.
  • (e.g. Make time each day to imagine how God lovingly looks at me.)
  • I name the aspects of my life that block my collaboration with God in caring for Creation. (e.g. Being too busy, not slowing down, etc.) 
  • I recognize the personal tendencies I have which contribute to ecological sin. (e.g. Complacency, staying in my comfort zone, etc.)
  • I become aware of how all these affect my relationship with God, others, creation

2 - Through our words

  • I challenge myself to choose encouraging, empowering, life-giving words in referring to myself, others, the world, Creation. (e.g. use words like “You are courageous.” ; “They are doing their best.”; “We are all in this together.”, etc.)
  • I speak of and share more intentionally about my experience of God’s mercy. (e.g. Write these stories and/or share them personally with family, friends)
  • I make use of truthful, healing words as a way to counter harmful words spoken around me. (e.g. Discern positive engagement in social media)
  • I utilize my power of speech to encourage others into creative ecological consciousness and work. (e.g. Take the opportunity to share with small groups on how they can make a difference for the sake of the environment.)

3 - Through our actions

  • I employ respectful and consistent self-care as a way of reminding myself of my God-given dignity. (e.g. Schedule times of rest.) 
  • I offer a particular talent/treasure for the collaborative work with God in the care for the environment. (e.g. Help organize a clean-up drive in your family/community.) 
  • I exert every effort to give priority to environmental concerns over my personal interests. (e.g. Assess how shopping behaviors impact the environment.) 
  • I carefully “make do” with what I have in order to make a stand against the unmindful and unhealthy culture of consumption. (e.g. Re-use, recycle re-purpose and/or repair instead of buying new things.)
  • I actively look for ways to be a healing presence in my family, community, society. (e.g. Choose constructive dialogue in times of conflict.)