The Way of Vulnerability
Welcome to the fifth installment of my LoveFoward blog series, in which I explore the seven ways of living in Divine Love that I describe in my book, The Divine Heart. They are: Receptivity, Delight, Expansiveness, Vulnerability, Acceptance, Mystery and Gratitude. This week, we step into “The Way of Vulnerability.”
Vulnerability: Becoming Open-Hearted
I’d like to share the quote I put in the opening page of my chapter on vulnerability. “The work of the Spirit is to keep you vulnerable to life and love itself,” writes spiritual teacher and author Richard Rohr. I find this both challenging and illuminating because to be vulnerable isn’t easy as we all know, and yet Rohr tells us “it’s the work of the Spirit to keep us vulnerable.”
Can we welcome vulnerability, trusting that it leads to a deepening of love and intimacy? Being vulnerable, letting our guard down and being held in the vast container of love when we’re strong and when we’re weak takes courage. We can develop an inner stance toward vulnerability by taking more risks in love, allowing ourselves to be truly seen, and being our authentic selves more with God and with others.
How are you being invited to welcome more vulnerability in your heart and in your life?
- Take a few breaths and let yourself arrive in this present moment. Relax with each inhalation and exhalation. Invite yourself to feel a sense of ease.
- Slowly repeat this mantra a few times: May the door of vulnerability be open in my heart.
- In prayer, in the depth of your heart, ask the Divine what this means for you at this time.
- In your journal explore where you are being invited to be more vulnerable—in relationships, in prayer, in a creative work.
May you have a week filled with tenderness and trust as you live the way of Vulnerability, until next week when we will explore Mystery.
Together with you in the circle of love and vulnerability,
Colette