Lightworks One/3:1a (Isaiah 40:1-5)

By the way, if you are new to reading this,  Lightworks is a portion of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola developed by Joseph A. Tetlow. Lightworks One is four exercises, Lightworks Two is seven exercises, and Lightworks Three is three exercises. They can be done separately or all together for a total of fourteen weeks. Love them. It is also known as the 18th Annotation of the Exercises. Ignatius was super practical and knew that the full exercises (20th Annotation in a 30+ day retreat format and 19th Annotation usually over 30+ weeks) might be too much for many people. Tetlow recommends 30 minutes of prayer (Ignatius recommended 1 hour).

So, on to the FREEWRITE FIFTEEN

I started this morning off with Examen prayer. I am really grateful for how my class subbing went. I had not been to this class since January 2, and they were so warm and welcoming! YAY! That was meaningful to me. I also loved my LONG walk over Glen Eden with a newlywed whose marriage is going great. Thanks be to God. That was the second time we had done pre-marriage counseling, and I thought it went much better this time, and I prefer face-to-face over Skype! 

Today's meditation was on Isaiah 40:1-5. It was supposed to be 11 verses, but I love verses 1-5, and it sent me into Handel's Messiah raptures because it is part of that libretto. Meditating deeply, I feel God saying so kindly that my warfare has ended. I feel so much more interior freedom since doing the full Exercises this time around. Rejoicing that he has truly made crooked places straight and rough places smoother. I don't ever want to be in my 20s again! Most of the 20 somethings we are around these days are so much farther along than I ever was at their age, and it bodes well for the future. Seeing people in their late 50s, early 60s unravel has been a bit sad for me, but my closest friends in that age range are doing well. 

As Isaiah 40:1-5 indicates, the glory, majesty, and splendor of the Lord will be revealed (indicating the coming of Jesus). Praying that he will reveal his glory, majesty, and splendor through my own life. That is my desire as I work and play and go by the way!

On another note, I woke up very early this morning. I could feel my hip was out again. So, I lay there in bed and trigger pointed my psoas muscle on the left side. SO MUCH TIGHTER than the right. I held and massaged, and then I felt a tingling all over my hip area. There was a release, and I got out of bed, and the hip joint had fallen back into place! That was so good to feel. I literally could feel it moving. I have been looking at my quadratus lumborum and serratus posterior inferior muscles as culprits, but I think the psoas is the major culprit that messes those up too. I really think it is because that leg is shorter than the other and so there is a muscle imbalance where that psoas has to work harder on that side to flex my hip (being part of the hip flexor complex) than the other side. I am wondering if maybe my lift in that shoe is a little off OR I need to constantly be wearing that inside the house. I spent a LOT of time last month walking inside because my allergies were so bad, and much of that walking was barefooted. So, I keep saying I will wear shoes indoors, but I love being barefooted! 

I have one minute and fifty seconds left. I have been working getting this prayer party schedule together, but it has not been stressful. I am grateful for that. I have to work with two other people that have toddlers. So, I have taken on more of the work. I am wondering if this will be the last year of doing this. I might need to totally let it go. It is always fun, but I am not much of a recruiter and the reality is, many are not super committed to intense prayer. I don't mind if it is a small party though.

BYE!