Awakening to Wholeness is a series of prompts, reflections, and teachings about how holding the tension of opposites can help us to heal division and experience wholeness. If you feel moved to share your own reflections, we invite you to email us with the subject line “Wisdom of Opposites” or tag us on social media with #EHoPWisdomOfOpposites.
I give thanks for the gift of creation, including my inner world. Sometimes, when my inner world feels awry, and I search within for meaning and purpose, to no avail, I can simply look out, and the tremendous beauty of some aspect of creation anchors me from the abyss of my inner world.
The conversation can also go the other way around. When I am overwhelmed by violence and discord and the crabby people of the world, I can simply look inward, and the memory of peace, calm, and love assures me that all is not lost in the big, bad, world.
The back and forth between the inner and outer worlds of my reality is sacred. The dynamic dance between the two is a third thing unto itself. The sacred movement keeps me not only from being sucked too far inward, but also from flying too far outward—in either case, getting lost. The dialogue between the inner and outer worlds works like sonar, one force bouncing off another force, consequently helping to locate and ground me more fully in reality.
Given the many layers and deep interconnectedness of reality, the dance between inner and outer is a helpful guide. When I find myself feeling stuck in either world, may the dynamism of the dance lure me back toward the fullness of wholeness!
Contemplative Questions
We offer the following questions as prompts to help you reflect on the presence of opposites in your spiritual practice and your life.
- How would you describe your experience of your inner world? How does your inner world support you through the stress and upheaval in the outer world?
- How would you describe your experience of the world outside yourself? How does the outer world offer comfort and meaning when your inner world is awry?
- How do you find balance between the two? How does your experience of each world, inner and outer, inform your experience of the other?
Join the conversation! If you feel moved to share your reflections, we invite you to email us with the subject line “Wisdom of Opposites” or tag us on social media with #EHoPWisdomOfOpposites.
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Christine Luna Munger
Christine Luna Munger, PhD currently serves as the director of the Episcopal House of Prayer. She previously served as Coordinator of the Spiritual Direction Certificate and Professor of Theology at St. Catherine University. She regularly writes, teaches, and leads group prayer sits at EHoP.
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