It is always good to have the opportunity to learn something again. It builds the humility muscle and sets you on track for the next patience marathon. For me these learning opportunities often have to do with things like time and my ‘tiny control issues’ as Anne Lamott writes so beautifully. Being able to be present to what is rather than forcing my wicked step-sister big foot into a tiny Cinderella shoe of what I want to make happen can have me eating bowl after bowl of humble pie. In the arena of planning and goal setting I have had to learn over and over again that, most often, the way things unfold or are created, have their own wisdom about how to make their entrance into the world. This, of course, runs counter to every five step plan for a fabulous future workshop that you have ever attended.

More than two years ago I began work on a book which consisted of edited versions of many of the blog posts found on Pause. Over the course of the summer of 2013, I spent time rewriting and making additions of practices readers might find helpful to incorporate in their daily spiritual walk. The book’s intention was to provide short, devotional pieces to encourage staying awake to this amazing living we are invited to each day. A publisher was interested and I turned over the manuscript. Knowing that the publishing process is a slow one, I settled in. Over time rewrites were made, endorsements received, permissions for other’s quotes were denied or accepted. I learned much.

What I re-learned is that there is a force at work in the Universe that has its own time. It is not dictated by my, or anyone’s, goals or bullet points jotted down for ‘how to get it done.’ There is a slower, wiser movement at work that wakes us up to our own illusions of control. This lesson learned once again reminds me of all the times I want to force something to happen right now. This lesson also reminds me of the many visual sources of wisdom at work in Creation that teach us of the slow, patient work of God……bulbs burrowed in frozen ground doing their winter work….trees standing tall, leafless and yet holding the buds that will burst forth green in the spring…..babies moving from being cuddled to crawling to running to eventually moving on into a world that waits for them……yeast rising in dough to make bread to nourish our bodies.

None of these things can be rushed. None of these acts of becoming can be forced into fruition before its time. And so it is with every creative project. Perhaps our real work in all we create is to hone a way of being present to the growth and wisdom that already exists in whatever process or creation we are birthing. Perhaps our real work is holding the space for what is waiting to come into the world through us.

What is being birthed in you these days? In these first days of a new year we all hold hopes and dreams, perhaps even goals, for 2015. How is it possible to both move with those desires for the future while holding them lightly enough so they can emerge in their own good time? It is an act of humility and patience and trust. But we have the model of this amazing Creation that teaches us over and over if we allow it.

The Practicing Life: Simple Acts. Sacred Living was finally birthed and placed in my hands on December 22nd. At the busiest time of year. In the midst of countless other happenings. It arrived in the world through the grace of many people. It arrived with many lessons learned. It arrived in its own good time.

Lesson learned again…..for now.