waiting at the base of the tree of our own lives.

Entering into the communion your soul seeks

We are always invited to that place.
We feel that tug on our heart. Sometimes it’s so easy to ignore. Other times its pursuit is relentless.

We submit. We know we were drawn there.

We know we are wanted.

“Spiritual leadership emerges from our willingness to stay involved with our own soul—that place where God’s spirit is at work stirring our deepest questions and longings to draw us deeper into relationship with him. Staying involved with our soul is not narcissistic navel gazing; rather, this kind of attentiveness helps us stay on the path of becoming our true self in God—a self that is capable of an ever-deepening yes to God’s call on our life. But right away this presents us with a challenge. For one thing, the soul is a tender thing, and leadership can be very dangerous.

As Parker Palmer says, “The soul is like a wild animal—tough, resilient, resourceful, savvy. It knows how to survive in hard places. But it is also shy. Just like a wild animal, we know the last thing we should do is go crashing through the woods yelling for it to come out.”

The settings in which many of us are trying to provide leadership are places where everyone is crashing through the woods together, harried and breathless, staying on the surface of intellect and the ego while all things soulful flee deeper into the woods. … in silence we give up control and allow God to be God in our life rather than being a thought in our head or an illustration in a sermon. In that place of our seeking we listen for the still, small voice of God telling us who we really are and what is real from a spiritual point of view. Then we are not quite so enslaved by the demands and expectations of life in leadership…”

- Ruth Haley Barton

I first read these words a few months ago, yet they also pop into my mind when I know something is out of balance, or that there is so much my soul has yet to say.

It reminds me of my need for solitude and what God does in that place. A place where we must wait for our souls to make an appearance, so He alone can speak and meet us there.

"Someone has said, You’d be surprised at what your soul wants to say to God.” For those of us who are in leadership, it is often hard to find space that is quiet enough and safe enough for the soul to be as honest as it needs to be. We don’t often take the time to sit quietly by the base of the tree of our own lives and wait for the wild animal we seek to put in an appearance. Here is an invitation to sit quietly for a few moments for the sole purpose of allowing your soul to say what it needs to say to God. Don’t try to force anything or work to make something happen. The soul runs from such attempts. Just sit quietly in God’s presence and see what shows itself. This may take time but when your soul has finally said that thing that it has been waiting to say, you will know. If you sit long enough, you might also be surprised at what God wants to say to your soul.”

- Ruth Haley Barton

These words completely transformed what solitude meant for me and utterly my relationship with God and were a blessing to me yet again tonight as I realized my soul had much it has been wanting to say. It just needed space and it just need a safe place.

A place only found in the shadow of the almighty.

- Excerpts in bold from Ruth Haley Barton's, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership. A must read for anyone desiring more of God.