Click HERE to view Rev. Stacy’s guided meditation during the service.
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
During this message, Rev. Stacy Macris Ros wrapped up the series inspired by the Pema Chödrön book, “Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change.”
She began by bring together the book’s three commitments:
- Accept and relax into uncertainty and change. When we feel overwhelmed by what’s going on around us, we can pause, stay present, and notice what is happening—and also what we are telling ourselves about it. By allowing our feelings without adding a story about how things should be, we make room to respond with greater clarity and peace.
- Care for one another. We do not have to heal the entire world; we start by offering love, compassion and support to the people in our own little corner. Together, all of these “little pockets of light” become a greater light.
- Embrace the world just as it is. As we accept life and care for others, we also commit to our own healing. That inner work helps us extend compassion more freely and “manifest basic goodness” within ourselves and with others.
Chaos can feel like a difficult passage between an ending and a new beginning. Yet that very uncertainty can open us to possibilities we couldn’t see before. Spiritual awakening is found in how we meet everyday irritations, painful conversations and larger struggles: noticing our reaction, acknowledging and feeling our emotions, and choosing how to respond. Everything in our lives can become a vehicle for growth.
Our thoughts and choices contribute to the collective consciousness that shapes our shared world. When we cling to our opinions as though they define us, we create more division. But when we loosen that grip, we can see the divine goodness in others—even those with whom we disagree—and meet them with greater understanding and compassion.
This is why our inner healing matters. The peace we cultivate within ourselves changes how we respond to the people and circumstances before us. Each compassionate response can ease someone else’s pain and invite them to do the same for another. We can begin wherever we are: stay present, do our inner work, care for one another and let the good we express ripple outward.