I love the phrase, "beautiful boundaries." Too often, our boundaries frustrate us because we misunderstand the deep meaning of freedom. The freedom that God offers us is the freedom to simply be. Our quest to do everything is not freedom, but rather the opposite. Ultimately, we find ourselves bound too tightly by our ego's hunger, with no room for love. Lent allows us to practice releasing what is keeping us from a fuller life in God, and hopefully this is not just a once a year project. God calls us to be who we are, where we are. A potter cannot create something beautiful and meaningful when the clay keeps jumping around the room. The vessel will never hold.
"We can't do everything. In our fast-paced, technology-driven, hyper-connected times, it's increasingly apparent that we can't do everything that comes our way, even if it appeals to us. There is simply too much. We must become 'masters of determination' who skillfully wield the inner sword of discernment to cut away non-essentials in order to focus on essentials. As we live full lives, it's easy to say yes to too many opportunities and not make appropriate boundaries. Pretty soon our lives are full, but not necessarily full of what truly matters to us. Truly fulfilled living requires us to continually and clearly discern our 'yes' and our 'no' - the beautiful boundaries that support focusing on what is ours to do and letting go of what is not."
Ellen Grace O'Brian, The Jewel of Abundance, Finding Prosperity through the Ancient Wisdom of Yoga
"Let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no."
Jesus, Matthew 5:37
photograph: San Leandro, February 2020
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