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Guest author: Liz Ellmann, MDiv
Shift Happens
I walked across the street in the rain to get a cup of coffee. After stirring the cream in my coffee, I saw that some cream had dripped to the floor and against the waste basket.
I noticed the witness in me pause and choose. There was a pause. Contemplative practice helps us notice the pauses when we can choose the next action, rather than let the next action choose us.
Once upon a time I would have seen if anyone were looking and cleaned up for their kudos.
Once upon another time I would have seen if anyone were looking and quickly walked away, as if I didn’t notice the cream on the floor.
Today, I witnessed myself cleaning up the cream, as if the floor had asked me to make it clean again. Did the coffee shop need me today? Did I need the coffee shop today?
In Tom Shadyac’s new film called I AM: the Shift is about to Hit the Fan, Tom tells his story of waking up to a shift that happened to him after a tragic bicycle accident. He was forced to pause from his career as he recovered. The pause created a shift that moved him away from living in Hollywood luxury while directing crazy comedies like Bruce Almighty and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective toward creating a documentary that connects science and spirituality by interviewing luminaries like Desmond Tutu and Noam Chomsky. Now Tom lives simply in a trailer park, riding his bicycle to work. His talent as a successful movie director is inviting mainstream moviegoers to pause and reflect on the actions we might take next on behalf of humanity and the environment.
Tom came to Seattle, Washington, USA for the film launch (pictured above) and met hundreds of mostly university students who showed up for the opening. During the question and answer period after the film, Tom listened intently to students’ concerns about the environment and how to find meaningful work. My favorite moment was when a student—way in the back of the theatre—raised her hand up high. When Tom called on her, she relinquished her turn to another younger woman who had patiently been holding up her unnoticed hand for a very long time. Her generous gesture caused Tom to pause with a big grin, as if the universe were affirming his choice of new work. The collective joy in his pause filled up the whole theatre.
Reflect
- What is your experience with pausing before action?
- How does the contemplative practice of meeting regularly with a spiritual director help you pause?
Please share your thoughts and comments.
03/01,2011, at 14:39
Sometimes I pause to contemplate the expedient, and whether I can get away with it. Fortunately I have other parts that cajole me to reconsider, then self has its moment.
03/01,2011, at 17:16
Thanks for sharing this experience. it is very inspiring and teaches the there is always an potentiality of opportunity in every acts you do, shift happens and it happens for the best.
03/02,2011, at 00:04
Conscious co-creation...the call and yet such a difficult undertaking. To be truly present and accept the multitudes of opportunities to pause and be conscious in what we create. To trust ourself and Our God is supreme joy. Joy which is contagious. To just be in the instant of the pause and to know ... I am connecting with the One who created the universe but also found supreme joy in creating me...this makes the next step easy and makes my heart smile. This is what I know to be truly living.
03/02,2011, at 13:17
"Contagious" is the perfect way to describe the way the joy spread in the theatre during the pause that Tom Shadyac create when someone gave her opportunity to engage with Tom to someone else. It was beautiful to behold and made me think, "how might I be more aware of opportunities to be this awake to joy unfolding?" That for me is when spiritual direction can be so helpful, it keeps me awake.
03/02,2011, at 18:19
It's so easy to be reactive in situations... to speak without listening; to act without thinking... to move abruptively without recognizing the step we are going to take. To wait a moment and find the Spirit lingering, or present, or taking the action on our behalf, is the gift in the pause.
03/02,2011, at 18:49
Your story reminded me immediately of a three-day silent retreat I took at the home of a Catholic teaching sister. We started the retreat with a meal, planned the perameters of the retreat, and then did the dishes. I couldn't help but notice her careful use of water, even watering the flowers with the cold water that comes out of the tap while it is warming up. The following morning I drove to a look out point for a time a contemplation - and found it trashed by partiers from the night before. My first reaction was to turn the car around and head back - but I paused. After the silent witness of her care of the environment when she did the dishes, I knew what the Sister would do. So I parked the car, got out, and cleaned up the mess. My disgust evaporated into deep care for those who had created the mess. I was fundamentally changed. And I am thankful.
03/03,2011, at 08:32
So true, four years ago I suddenly went blind in my left eye. This had me bedridden with head at 45o angle for two months in total darkness.I discovered tapes and CD's and spent the days and nights on a quest for more brain and spirit inspiration. Mornings of meditation and direction, afternoons of learning and evenings of murders ( British ) and then more meditation and prayers. It all passed so swiftly and my entire "being" became illuminated with happiness in life. I regained my sight over a two year period of shots and patience and humor-made new friends and never again will take anyone's health for granted.
03/03,2011, at 09:12
When I pause I become aware of my emotions and honor them before deciding what next. Having a spiritual companion supports me on this path. It is such a gift to share the journey.
03/07,2011, at 14:00
When I "pause", I am making a purposeful response to an action, thought, situation. I become intentional, I live with purpose, I am conscience of efforts made, not for my good but I pray the good of others. When I "pause" I choose to repond, not react, with positivity and love. In spiritual direction, I am reminded of living intentionally and providing response to the life I'm blessed with.
03/08,2011, at 10:29
My favorite part of spiritual direction is being a part of the shift happening. It is a delight to be with a directee, sometimes for years, and suddenly be present to the shift - the epiphany when the other discovers Oneness with The Holy - the pure simplicity of it is astonishing. Nothing else matters. All is well and all will be well.
03/10,2011, at 01:57
I am lucky to be down in Sebastian, Florida by the Indian River Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean. I love to walk the beach... And today the water was rough But, into the waves I went....not too far. They almost got me a couple of times. The swells were 8-10 feet high about 50 yards out. A wall of water. I felt so tiny against the power of the sea. Back in the Marine Corps eons ago, I was on Atlantic maneuvers in a Landing Ship Drydock, which had a flat bottom. In rough waters, when the ship was in the trough of a swell, the water was a black 40 foot high wall all way round. Scared the Living Wonder out of me. But I stayed on deck out of awe. In a later moment, my son and I were enclosed in the Eye of a Hurricane: Sound and fury all around. Blue skies above. And Utter Silence within the Eye. And I knew in a very real way that an Indescribable Mystery was behind the power and beauty around me. I rarely respond to mass mailings. But someone, somewhere prompted me. So here I am and thanks again. To the cleansing of Lent. The Cross. The Rising. We all know them deep down. Heaps of blessings upon your head.