Don’t beat yourself up. That’s a waste of time and emotional energy. Just re-connect. Don’t even spend too much time analyzing what happened to throw you off course. You may gain helpful insight eventually, but first and foremost, go for connection. Even now as you read these words, turn your interior attention to God. What do you want to say? Need to say? What might God have to say to you?
Pursue what makes you feel more alive to God. What are these activities? Do you enjoy walking in nature? Cooking? A certain artist’s work, or even a color? Does achingly beautiful music soothe your soul? What about working out? Or playing with a toddler? Make a list of ten things, giving yourself permission to explore God in all of life, not only in more traditional spiritual practices. Then, pursue them. One friend told me of an evening recently when he noticed a beautiful sunset and abruptly changed his plans for the entire evening to take a bike ride on a nature preserve path nearby. He also spoke of the very tender ways he sensed God communicating with him, actually challenging him strongly, during that ride. To think what he would have missed if sunset watching and bike riding didn’t “count” as ways to connect with God …
Do a little soul-searching every day. It might be as little as 10 or 15 minutes, but take time to reflect specifically on the past 24 hours, looking for—catch this—your sense of God’s presence with you during the various “episodes” or “scenes” of your day. Without judgment, being careful to notice graces and divine gifts along the way, recall the various parts of your day and speak with God about what did or didn’t happen. I usually do this exercise in the pages of a journal, which helps me stay focused and finish the process. The benefits of this brief prayer are many, but especially in a season of feeling “off track,” the process of observing ordinary days can—with God’s help—show you which parts of your life are most apt to throw you off course. You may notice that interacting with certain people or dealing with certain kinds of work-related challenges or even temptations causes your sense of God to evaporate completely. Why is that? I don’t know, but I’m guessing God does. Ask away … and the truth might just set you free.
