simply beating

Much as I’ve enjoyed this summer season which is fading from view, I’m welcoming the change of season- settling into a simpler rhythm of autumn. (I can hear some of you with school age children refuting this perspective! [Think soccer, gymnastics, dance lessons, cross country, football and marching band practice, homework, etc.])

Since late May, there's been an irregular rhythm; of getting ready to go away, being gone, coming back home, catching up, and doing it all over again. I need a predictable rhythm in my life or the chambers of my spiritual heart simply don’t function to their fullest capacity.

It seems that all this coming and going has put me in some type of spiritual Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib)

Physiologically speaking, A-Fib is an irregular heart rhythm that affects the upper chambers of the heart (the atria). In A-Fib, the atria quiver rather than beating in a normal manner - going into a life-threatening, dysfunctional pattern. This condition is characterized by a lack of coordinated atrial activity - a loss of organized atrial contraction which can lead to a myriad of clinical scenarios… As this condition progresses, ventricular tachycardia may set in and the activity of the heart becomes chaotic - beating too fast to effectively pump blood. At this point, a decisive intervention by way of defibrillation has to be applied or the heart will fail – resulting in death.

Paralleling the clinical assessment and evaluation of A-Fib, I’ve taken a serious look at my spiritual vital signs. Applying this to my inner life, there are some very clear symptoms that point to Spiritual A-Fib.
Figuratively, my heart rate is irregular and racing. Oxygen saturation is diminished due to insufficient respiratory activity. This has led to wheezing and diminished breath sounds. Venous pressure has built up in my head and neck. Other symptoms include tenderness, edema and over reactive reflexes.


Posting this blog entry has given me pause to apply a portable Defibrillator to my heart; allowing it to return to a productive heart rhythm. As I settle into the autumn of this year, it is time to return to some of the spiritual practices that have fallen by the wayside over the past few months – and breathe.

I’m so grateful for this reminder to keep it simple and focus on God’s goodness and abundant provision. As I think back to the inception of this blog, there was an intentionality of expressed gratitude and sharing of the practice of spiritual disciplines.

Simple reflection has given me a direction to take in future blog postings. If you choose to journey with me, I invite you to consider implementing some spiritual practices to your own life that will help keep your heart beating in a regular rhythm of love to the ONE who is faithful and ever present in your life.

Stay tuned for a book giveaway that celebrates a specific spiritual practice.

Until next time,
Grace and peace,
Honey Girl