Good morning…
Our daily blog has noticed slivers of light in the dark of night since 2015. Last week, our website shut down for nine quiet days. We wondered if our large file of archived writings had exceeded its limit. As experts worked on the problem, I was forced to wait and to wonder, “Is God inviting me to be done discerning these middle-of-the-night messages?”
Seeking God earnestly, I received a sensation. Peace. I felt peace. I felt deep down peace. I could be done blogging or not be done blogging, according to God’s own desire. Actually, I truly did not know which answer I would prefer. More importantly, my preference did not matter. Effortlessly, somehow seamlessly, I had happened upon a place that Saint Ignatius of Loyola calls holy indifference.
Holy indifference is a foundational concept in Christian spirituality referring to radical spiritual detachment, a state of holding all of life’s circumstances with open hands, a genuine experience of preferring God’s will over our own personal desires. The Suscipe Prayer, from Ignatius himself, captures beautifully this concept of surrendering everything to God.
“Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all I have and call my own. You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me.”
In his book Sacred Pace, Terry Looper identifies another name for this surrendered state of being. He calls it getting neutral. On page 99 Looper writes: “There are plenty of ways to describe it. Here are just a few:
- Removing yourself and your emotions from the situation
- Getting out of your own way
- Wanting God’s answer more than your own
- Walking by faith, not by sight
- Detaching from whatever is influencing you
- Giving up your rights
- One mentoree of mine knows he’s at that important getting neutral stage as soon as his attitude becomes, ‘Options A, B, C, D – all are okay with me.'”
Upon reading this list, I sensed in my soul: “Blogging daily or not blogging daily – either is okay with me.”
Then I found Stephen Spiewak’s article entitled Spiritual Detachment and Holy Indifference. In it he explains, “When we practice benevolent detachment in our prayer life, several beautiful things happen:
- We experience greater peace, knowing outcomes rest in God’s hands
- We become more attentive to God’s voice rather than our own
- We develop greater trust in divine providence
- We create space for God to surprise us with unexpected blessings
- Perhaps most of all, detachment offers us a freedom that we cannot enjoy if we are too attached to things other than God.”
I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace] (Philippians 4:13, AMP).
Being unplugged from our website for nine consecutive days, a new truth becomes my prayer: Blogging daily or not blogging daily, God, either is okay with me.
…Sue…
