“Say yes, and leave the details to God,” is what American Trappist monk, writer, mystic and poet Thomas Merton calls “deep consent.” Each time we “let go and let God,” we get ourselves out of the way. Getting ourselves out of the way allows for our capacity to be willing to emerge.
My everyday morning prayer is, “I will to will the will of God.” This prayer intention creates the atmosphere for me to begin my deep consent for the day.
Prayer is a time for each of us to move from our head to our heart where each of us meets the God of our own understanding. Prayer creates a shift in our consciousness, and consciousness precedes experience.
Leaving the details to God allows our thoughts to come from faith instead of fear. Worry, I have come to learn, is the greatest misuse of imagination.
Faith-filled thoughts acknowledge that God is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient. Faith-filled thoughts engage our deep consent. God is our source of possibility, prosperity and peace. The Law of Mind Action tells us that thoughts held in mind produce after their kind.
As we shift our thinking we come to rely on God. Scripture tells us to “Prove God now.” I invite you to prove God as often as you can each and every day.
Each person’s faith is something that must be quickened within themselves. It is the foundation for revealing our attitudes and the way we show up. I am sure you have heard that attitudes are contagious – the question is whether yours is worth catching?
Saying “yes” motivates us to go within – to create a time each day, even several times a day, to be present to the moment.
This time might include music or be in the quiet. It might mean sitting in the lotus position or it could include walking outside.
Taking time apart to honor our relationship with God creates the perfect scenario to saying “yes.” Our hardest task will be to dissolve the critical, crippling, negative self-talk that might be trapping us, wherein we think we are only human.
We are spiritual beings having a human experience right here, right now. Each intention we have that is filled with an awareness of God encourages our deep consent to live from and as our divinity.
Letting go and letting God assures a right-thinking perception of all situations and interactions, helping to eliminate ego-filled reactions and projections. Believing is seeing.
Our personal dedication to being mindful of our thoughts and making time for a closer walk with God manifests in our lives as a life of deep consent.
Say “yes.” And let it be.
Rev. Therese Donlan Lee is the senior minister of Unity Spiritual Center on Hilton Head Island. revthereseunityhiltonhead@gmail.com
