Do you have to let it linger?
tapping into feeling vs. thinking - a different way to practice the presence of God; a poem; and collage
Some thoughts on clarity
We listen to a lot of lies. Many, we tell ourselves.
You know those times when you’re in the middle of CLARITY and everything is different?
the soundtrack of your thoughts,
your understanding of TRUTH, BEAUTY, and GOODNESS and its divine source,
the knowledge of the matchless love that surrounds and embraces every inch of your being, thus the way you see your worth, purpose, and offerings in this world
that everything, all of it, is grace and love,
how you respond to anything…
Clarity is a game-changer for how you choose to live your life.
But how do we remain in it? How can we walk away from those moments of CLARITY and carry its fruit with us wherever we go, in whatever we do, and in every thought we think and keep the lies from infiltrating our thoughts and actions?
We must learn to linger in it.
Clarity of mind means clarity of passion, too; this is why a great and clear mind loves ardently and sees distinctly what it loves. - Blaise Pascal
A few definitions of linger:
to remain or stay in a place longer than is usual or expected, as if from reluctance to leave
to dwell in contemplation, thought, or enjoyment
to be tardy in action; delay
to walk slowly; saunter along
to draw out or protract1
Do we have to let it linger?
With over 62,0002 thoughts a day, lingering on clarity is a lot harder than it sounds.
Like anything else, lingering takes practice. And in some cases, such as with professional athletes who want to linger on clarity to ‘stay in the zone’, professionals are paid to help - sports psychologists or therapists - but even still, these athletes must learn to practice these techniques out on the field or court.
There is one phrase I say to my children all the time: “You get good at what you practice (so be careful what you are practicing).”
(I won’t ask what you’re practicing…or where you may be currently lingering…you can do that work on your own.)
To practice lingering, you don’t necessarily have to stay in front of your Bible, or pray, or journal any longer than you normally do. You also don’t necessarily need to repeat a well-timed scripture over and over again3 .
Something that has been helping me (and I am still practicing) that I want to share, has come from the somatic work4 I’ve been doing with my therapist. She has been helping me FEEL again, with the idea that trauma remains trapped inside our bodies, and allowing ourselves to feel our emotions, allows a necessary release.
Thus, connecting with the feeling I experience while in that moment of clarity, and not just the logical part (such as that relevant passage of scripture) has been key for me to practice the art of lingering.
You know how alive you feel when you’re worshipping your heart out? Or when a truth finally connects with you in a fresh and exciting way and you finally know how to apply it to your life? Or when the message the pastor delivers lights a fire in you?
Tapping into THAT is what I’m talking about. Carrying those feelings (excited, worthy, courageous, grateful, creative, content, free, confident, loved, accepted, seen) helps us linger in this elusive clarity longer.
Still, nothing breaks up a party faster than a pack of lies. Gaggle of lies? Bunch of lies? Perhaps a ‘murder’5 of lies seems the most fitting here since lies murder truth. I’m curious how many of those 62,000 thoughts are lies?
We need help. And often. Yes, the Holy Spirit is an excellent helper, but sometimes our own wounds and lies keep us from receiving the help he brings. We need little cues placed all around to remind us of these feelings and his goodness so we can enter and linger in the clarity of his love for us. Good news! Fortunately, out of Christ’s abundance of grace and love, he has done just this! It’s his BEAUTY!! Christ’s beauty is available in nearly any and every place our eyes can behold.
So next time we see something beautiful (this is an entirely different conversation - what is beautiful?, but you may need to think outside the box here), and we need to reorient our thoughts to enter into this holy lingering and this clarity that we desire where we tap into these FEELINGS, we can use beauty as part of the practice.
Notice Christ’s beauty + Use it as a cue to tap into your feelings of clarity = Lingering into Christ’s love
I’m sure you’re used to appreciating beauty, but can you linger in it and allow it to transform your thoughts to a place of clarity? It takes practice and here is a simple breath prayer you may find helpful:
BREATHE IN: This beauty is from you, for me.
BREATHE OUT: I feel your love right now
The next time you hear that Cranberries song, “Do you have to let it linger?6” You know how to answer. Yes. Yes, we do.
“One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.”
Psalm 27:4
Practicing the Presence of God
Perhaps you are familiar with the work of Brother Lawrence and what he has shared about practicing the presence of God. If you aren’t, here’s a brief summary but you can read more here:
Brother Lawrence was born Nicholas Herman around 1610 in Herimenil, Lorraine, a Duchy of France. He was homeschooled and taught by his parish priest, Lawrence. He was devoted to God and lived a spiritual and monastic life until his death. Through his personal practice of inviting God into everything he did, he discovered and exercised a simple way to walk continually with God’s presence. He did this by conversing with God all day long, inviting him into decisions and his thoughts.
In many ways, practicing the presence of God is similar to lingering in this elusive clarity about which I’m writing. But the main difference is that it is not practical to live our modern-day lives completely removed from all things that distract us from God. If we lived a monastic life, sure, but we don’t. We encounter distractions everywhere. But we undoubtedly encounter beauty, even among the distractions, so we can use beauty as our cue to tap into this holy communion. Brother Lawrence pushed all things away to linger on God. I’m proposing we practice lingering on God amongst all the things. After all, God’s temple is all around, and not just in the quiet spaces of our morning time.
// An Open Invitation to Linger //
You are invited
to linger in beauty -
arrive when your heart is open
and there is no end time.
No gifts please,
but be prepared to receive.
Do come comfortably dressed;
you’ll want to stay awhile.
Anything you could ever need
will be provided.
Respond, if you please,
to the monochrome,
glassy reflection
of the tall pines
on the path by the bench.
And please,
instead of looking up and out,
look down and within -
will you?
This is your ticket
to linger there,
within sacred places,
in your clarity,
among your dreams,
in perfect peace,
and in hope;
in this great love
from the Author of Beauty.
It’s OK if you’ve never been.
It’s Ok if this is your first time,
or it feels uncomfortable to stay.
It may take practice
but you are always welcome,
always invited
and there is no end time;
it’s an open invitation
To linger.
OK, so maybe I will ask you…
What are you practicing these days (and getting good at) that you may need to stop?
What are you lingering on and should you be?
Taking a thoughtful guess, how would you categorize the 62,000 thoughts you have in a day?
How would you describe your feelings when you ‘come alive’ in Christ?
unless of course, that is an effective method for YOU