When I was given the word “meditate” this week this verse came to mind:

 It is from the book of Philippians, chapter 4, verse 8:

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

I’ve been thinking of the dark cloud that has been hovering just out of sight. 

I have a lot of negative things cluttering up my mind.

1.Worry about the health and welfare of someone I love.

2. Without a consistent place to put my art, how will I have any income?

3. What does the dark cloud hold?

4.When will it reach me?

There is a lot of concern in our country right now. That is probably the one thing that unites us all. The uncertainty of “what will happen if the “other” candidate becomes President?

I have realized that my body has been tense. 

By the end of the day I ache all over, and I am exhausted.

Two days ago I started doing yoga stretches before bed to help me relax enough to sleep.

And then I realized that this verse was trying to tell me something.

I’ve talked before about the power of our minds.

That whatever we focus on comes to us.

So when I am focusing on the dark cloud, it is becoming bigger and closer to me. 

That is the last thing I want.

In the Bible verse above, Paul is talking to the Christians in Philippi.  He was originally named Saul, and following Jesus’ murder, he was one of the Jewish leaders who was rounding up the new Christians and helping to stone them to death. One day as he traveled to Damascus a bright light blinded him and a voice asked him, “Why are you persecuting me?”

"Who are you?" he asked.

It answered, “I am Jesus, who you are persecuting.”

 People were being arrested, tortured, and killed. They were hiding and afraid. They met secretly and had a special signal to each other that signified they were Christians. Then they could talk freely and encourage each other.

Paul wrote letters to the communities of believers from his prison cell where he was chained to the wall. Then those messages were smuggled out and taken to different towns where groups of followers were living.

In this letter, Saint Paul was telling the people of Philippi to focus on only good things. All good things come from God. And by focusing on all that is true, right, pure, lovely, and admirable they become part of us.

Paul believed that God had their best interests at heart. He encouraged them to focus on their faith, on the love from God and each other, and on becoming more like the God they followed. 

Life is hard sometimes. 

There are dark days.

And there are brighter days.

There is hope, there are blessings.

There is joy and laughter.

We do not need to hide in basements to meet with friends who believe like we do.

We aren’t rounded up and put in prison for posting to Facebook or speaking against something we don’t approve of. 

So we have much to be thankful for.

I also think we need to seek out facts so we can separate truth from lies and manipulation.

We need to support what is right and admirable.

We need to encourage each other to be pure of heart and spread love, compassion, and understanding.

Becoming angry and judgmental won’t attract anyone to our own truth.

No matter what happens in the future, we need to remember that there is strength when we love and support each other, and when we stand up for those who are vulnerable and targeted with ignorant hate.

So as this week is progressing I am going to remember to embrace the love and truth I believe in. I’m going to encourage everyone to support each other and spread true facts, rather than anger, judgement, hatred, and fear.

We are all loved equally.

We all are worthy of love and success in all that we do.

And we are stronger together.