What to Let Go Of and What to Keep

Thanks to a friend of mine for mentioning it, I've been Praying the Hours (well, attempting to anyway - I am able to focus on 6am and 9am but once I get to 12pm it can be hard to remain disciplined).The book Seven Sacred Pauses has been a wonderful guide along the way.

At 3pm, I focused on this prayer:

O Ancient Love...  In the evening of our lives send calming angels to shelter us and take away our fears. Lead us to "the Old One," who lovingly waits for us to embrace our deepest and truest selves. Teach us to die before we die so that our final death will be a great healing, drawing us into deeper life. Show us the face of surrender that we may know at the end of each day what to let go of and what to keep. O Soft Light of the Waning Sun, teach us the beautiful art of dying. Fill us with your own wisdom.

And now I find myself...

...letting go of my frustrations at living in such a cool climate (don't laugh - that's a real one for me) and I'm keeping the memory of watching from my living room window the sun setting into the ocean.

...letting go of my tiredness from a nearly sleepless night (a total of three bodies in a twin bed makes sleeping nearly impossible) and keeping close to my heart the perfectly right moment of two warm babies curled up around their mama's body - safe, trusting, and full of peace.

...letting go of all those little annoyances and keeping the spirit of joy, in all things.

I end my mid-afternoon prayers of transition and move on to the evening prayers of serenity.  Gratefully, I let go of all that hinders me and move forward with hope and peace and life.