Divine Timing 1
January 14, 2025
Elijah and the Still, Small Voice
Divine Timing Part 1
We invite you to join us for the Daily Reflections. This week's series is on "Divine Timing."
Let's face it—we need to operate with set times for everything. After all, schedules keep us organized and on point. If our timetables are erratic and unpredictable, we're in chaos. The more people in turmoil, the more chaos there is in the world.
On the other hand, schedules can be tedious, rote, and life-draining. They can lock us into set patterns. And as if we were on conveyor belts, schedules take us to their destinations, but on the way, there is little, if any, spaciousness, adventure, experimentation, or curiosity. Sometimes, we close our eyes and experience nothing until everything on the schedule has been checked off. George Gurdjieff spoke about this type of disengagement as a shut-down of conscious awareness and described it as sleepwalking through life. So how do we have organized lives that are open to Divine timing?
Divine timing and temporal timing are not a duality. Divine timing does not disavow temporal schedules. Instead, it accepts and uses them, but with three conditions:
1. That the schedule never gets rote, dull, lifeless, or unconscious.
2. The schedule adapts to the present, where we are in tune with and listen for the still, small voice.
3. When we hear the still, small voice telling us to follow a timeline other than the prescribed schedule, we follow the still, small voice.
I count on schedules. Without them, I could not have been a psychologist who sees people all day. Yet, I am more apt to make mistakes when following the schedule without also being attuned to the inner voice. There are times I need to say, "I must cancel today to attend to something personal," "I will get back to you on that because I do not have an answer right now," or "I am running late because of circumstances beyond my control." But sometimes when I am too busy to be in tune, I do not say these, because I am programmed to go by the book and stay on task. Therefore, I keep the schedule, regardless.
The results are always better when I pause to be in tune with the still, small voice. That voice wakes us up, calls us to consciousness, and considers what is best for everyone concerned, including ourselves.
Spiritual practice: What timeline or deadline may be squeezing the life out of you? Can you go inside yourself and listen to the still, small voice? What does it tell you?
Self-inquiry: How do you know whether or not you are friends with your still, small voice?
Dear God,
I pray to stay on track without becoming a lifeless locomotive. Amen
