Monday, April 15, 2013

TUESDAY TAP: Prayer tapping on not enough time to do everything


There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2     a time to be born and a time to die,
   a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3     a time to kill and a time to heal,
   a time to tear down and a time to build,
4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
   a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
   a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6     a time to search and a time to give up,
   a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7     a time to tear and a time to mend,
   a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8     a time to love and a time to hate,
   a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do workers gain from their toil?--Ecclesiastes 3

Ecclesiastes (aka: The Preacher) did not believe that time was on his side. Nor did he have the feel good vibe of The Byrds hit, Turn, Turn, Turn echoing through his soul. For Ecclesiastes, TIME was at the whim of God (folks in E’s day believed that everything was at the whim of God!) for better or for worse. The differing times and seasons were going to happen no matter what we did, no matter how hard we toiled, so we might as well just hang on and enjoy the ride...well, the parts of the ride that went in our favor. For every other time, there was endurance and complaint.
Still, we try and manage time. We set our watches. Check our calendars. We note the changing seasons and try to get a handle on this elusive fact of life. Often, we are frustrated by our inability to keep up with it. We fall behind and worry that we are running out of time. We fret that there is not enough of it in a day to get everything done that needs to be done...to what end, I am not sure...but that’s what I read on facebook (the Ecclesiastes of our time).
I don’t agree with blaming God for our time issues. It seems to me that there are choices we make and choices others make that cause life to feel frantic.
  • The dog runs out of the house as you’re leaving for a meeting.
  • Your child announces that she has to use the potty just before you leave for work.
  • A classmate has an accident on his way to pick you up for school.
  • Somebody get’s a cold and can’t make the performance.

BOOM! You are late. Behind. Trying to catch up with your day. I can’t imagine the Divine watching over us with a stopwatch and shouting, “Mark, Set, GO!” and then taking pleasure as we fail.
So what do we do with our feelings of not being able to get everything done? If we can’t blame God perhaps we can call on God to help us feel better about the time we are living in, no matter how unmanageable it may feel.

Try saying, “I don’t have enough time to get everything done today.” On a scale of 0-10, how true is that statement? Write that number down. It is a Subjective Unit of Distress (SUD) and you can use it after you pray to help identify how God’s spirit has been working through your concern. If you are new to prayer tapping, read this article about the basic recipe for tapping prayer.
When you are ready to pray, please take responsibility for your participation in tapping prayer, and let’s pray:

Karate Chop: I don’t have time for this prayer, God. You know it. I know it. I’m already late and starting to freak out. My SUD is at a …... and there is no way that this is going to help things. I’ll just get farther behind in my schedule. And I KNOW that Todd says, “it’s not God’s fault” but let me tell you, I’m not too sure about that tapper guy right about now. Alas, here goes (just so I can check it off my list of things to do today...)
Even though I don’t have enough time to get everything done today, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God. Even though this prayer is taking up my precious time, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God. Even though I’ll never get everything done today, God completely loves me and accepts me.
Top of head: I don’t have enough time.
Eyebrow: I have so much to do.
Outer eye: The clock just keeps ticking.
Under eye: I’ll never get it all done.
Under nose: I just don’t have enough time
Under lip: tick tick tick tick
Collarbone: I can’t keep up with my schedule today.
Underarms: I’m feeling overwhelmed because I don’t have enough time in my day.
Wrists: I have SOOOOO much to do and SOOOOO little time to do it in.

Top of head: Even though I may not get it all done today, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.
Eyebrow: Maybe I could do some of the things on my list.
Outer eye: Maybe I can’t do anything on my list.
Under eye: I wonder which things are most important to do.
Under nose: I have so little time to do the things I need to do.
Under lip: I wonder what would happen if I did less?
Collarbone: The things I have to do are important.
Underarms: God took a day off.
Wrists: The things I have to do must be more important than what God has going on, and I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Top of head: I have so much to do and I am deeply and totally cared for by God.
Eyebrow: I wonder if I could say “no” to some things today, and save them for tomorrow?
Outer eye: Even if I don’t do everything on my list today, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.
Under eye: I could use some of my time to take care of myself and the people I love and I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.
Under nose: I could go shopping for tweezers and I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.
Under lip: I can choose to let some things go for today and I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.
Collarbone: I may disappoint someone with my choices, and I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.
Underarm: Maybe I can forgive myself for the choices I make. Maybe I can forgive those who will be disappointed with my choices.
Wrists: I don’t have enough to time to get everything done today.

Top of head: Even though I don’t have enough time to get everything done today, I am completely loved and deeply accepted by God.

Take a deep breath....and, "thank you God for taking your time to be with me today."
Check your SUD on “I don’t have enough to time to get everything done today.” How true is that statement? Has the number gone up? down? stayed the same? If it is not down to a 0-2, try and identify the issues that are keeping it at a higher number. Write those issues down, and then try and identify a person or event that each issue reminds you of. Give that person or event a SUD, and resume prayer tapping until you experience deep peace around, “I don’t have enough to time to get everything done today.” Chances are, you’ll have just enough time to do this.
Ecclesiastes didn’t take into account the random nature of living. Despite his wisdom, he missed the fact that sometimes life throws us curve balls that are not at all in keeping with God’s desires for us. The great thing is that with God’s help, we can discover time that goes beyond our perception of time, and in the process, experience a Holy peace for ourselves and others around us.
Peace,
todd
ps. Check out Thursday’s Thump when I address “ fear of change” with tapping prayer.

1 comment:

  1. I am still laughing at "I don't have time for this prayer today". I did not expect that opening line and had a good laugh because it is how I feel. Good to have perspective.
    Carla

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