Open to the Unexpected
This week, in the midst of everything moving through our community, I was gifted a piece of spiritual wisdom that felt both timely and timeless. So first, I want to say thank you to our former Board President for sharing this with me—it was exactly the spiritual food I needed.
The words come from The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo, and they speak to something we are all being invited into right now: life doesn't always unfold according to our plans. In fact, it rarely does.
Nepo reminds us that in the middle of everyday life, rushing, planning, trying to hold it all together, something unexpected can enter in and shift everything. A moment, a conversation, a challenge, even a disruption, and suddenly, we are no longer where we thought we were.
He writes that moments of interest, pain, or adversity have a way of surprising us into a larger experience of life, breaking open what we thought were our limits and inviting us to become something more. That line stopped me. Because if we're honest, that's what many of us are feeling right now. Not just disruption, but being opened. And while that doesn't always feel good, there is something deeply spiritual about it.
Nepo goes on to remind us that we can never be fully prepared for everything life brings. In fact, trying to over-prepare can actually wall us off from life itself. Instead, what we can do is prepare how we respond. That's where our power is, not in controlling what happens, but in choosing how we meet it.
And then he offers something so simple, and so powerful. A few gentle practices:
1. Center yourself and be open to what is unfolding.
2. As you exhale, soften your resistance to the unexpected.
3. As you inhale, make space for something greater than you.
4. And then… enter your day.
No fixing. No forcing. No choosing sides. Just presence.
For those who may be feeling pulled, stretched, or even unsettled right now, you are not alone. It's okay to not have all the answers. It's okay to feel uncertain. It's okay to simply sit, breathe, and be. Because sometimes transformation doesn't come from figuring everything out. Sometimes it comes from allowing something deeper to unfold within us.
What if this moment—however it feels—is not here to divide us, but to deepen us? What if it's inviting us to grow, not by reacting, but by becoming more present, more compassionate, more grounded?
So this week, I invite you into a simple practice. Before reacting, pause. Before deciding, breathe. Before choosing sides, come back to your center.
And then… enter your day.
Because even now—especially now—something sacred is unfolding.
And together, we will grow through what we go through.
Join us this Sunday as Rev. Dr. Martha Creek shares her message “Sacred Responsibility: Spiritual Accountability & the Flow of Giving”
With love, Rev. Bobby
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