Good Things Happen.
Love is Real.
We Will Be Ok.
These three statements make up a mantra, which encapsulates my relationship with my wife. We come back to this mantra during challenging times in our relationship and individually. It’s become a tether which brings us back to earth, back to each other if one finds themselves drifting in the world of preoccupation or anxiety.
What is your mantra? What is a word or phrase that grounds you in daily life? When I think of a mantra, I liken it to the first stage of prayer, which is vocal. We repeat over and over, a word or phrase sacred to us, which draws our attention away from surrounding buzz and fixes it towards the moment.
It’s hard to believe that 2020 is almost over. I’m sure for a lot of us the last phrase of the mantra, “We will be ok,” is something that hits home. It’s a consolation that we do not have full control of how things turn out in life. Rather, all we are left with is the choice to believe that something good can happen, that God brought us to this moment for a reason.
As we approach the Fourth Sunday of Advent, that mantra for Christians is “Emmanuel,” the light which comes to overcome the shadows in our world. We call out to Jesus in prayer, especially during times of hardship. Today, in a time of pandemic, we all experience a multitude of hardships. Furthermore, it seems these hardships continue to pile up.
Yet, in the midst of this, we are called to cry out “Abba, Father!” Mantras, said in repetition, become a form of prayer in of themselves. As mentioned, mantras are tethers that keep us grounded. The words or phrases that comprise the mantra articulate values and meaning that are essential for us.
I invite you to think about your mantra. Write it down. Keep it somewhere close so that you can return to it. Commit it to memory. Finally, own it!
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