Like most students in the San Antonio area, our 10 year-old son, Mateo, started school again last week.  Yahoo! That's great for a work-from-home parent like me. And yet... going back to school brought new challenges, too, such as our new action-packed morning routine for waking/eating/packing lunch/finding shoes/driving/arriving before The Bell rings.  Among other things, it means that my beloved hour of early morning meditation time got swallowed up and disappeared overnight.  Sure, we'll get more organized soon.  But we haven't.  And sure, I could have started getting used to this new schedule weeks ago.  But I didn't.  And of course, I could just get up an hour earlier to have my quiet time.  But, I haven't.  Frankly, I'm a creature of habit and not much given to struggling through such physical discomforts as changing schedules overnight. In another week or two, I will (probably) have worked my way toward that goal, a bit at a time.  But, for now, I find myself really missing that contemplative hour of silent movement and meditation.
 
So instead, I do what I can to slip in a few extra quiet, prayerful moments, throughout the day.  To become more aware of the many opportunities to be conscious of the free flow of Spirit right now, rather than waiting till I can spend a long, uninterrupted time In The Silence again.  To acknowledge the Holy in whatever I'm doing:  Toweling off from the shower, I welcome the newness of the day.  Making toast, I savor the smell of good bread and feel gratitude for this food; pouring tea, I inhale the jasmine-scented tea into every cell of my being.  Fully enjoying our little family ritual of hugging in the driveway before going off in our separate directions, rather than taking it for granted.  Letting the phone ring one extra time before answering, just long enough to get centered in Spirit before saying hello.
 
Sure, it's still much easier to Forget than Remember.  But "what you focus on expands" - and I chose to focus on Remembering...
 
So there I was yesterday, rushing across town for an appointment, when the crossing guard lights started flashing at the railroad tracks just ahead.  My first instinct is to mash down on the accelerator and make a mad dash to beat the train, but sanity prevails, and I stop instead.  Feeling stuck, I reach for the radio to drown out the sound of my Monkey Mind complaining about being late.  Suddenly I remember: this train hasn't robbed me of anything, but given me an unexpected gift of quiet time instead.  Why not sit back, relax and listen to the Silence - and the soothing, rhythmic clickety-clack of the wheels on the track for a few minutes?  Ahh... 
 
No, I don't have any great mystical experience to report from that incident.  No Great Insight or Big Message from Spirit.  It was nothing special at all, really.  Just some quiet time spent parked near the railroad track, centering in the Presence to the best of my ability...   But that's precisely my point.  That's all it takes.   No big deal.  Just a little time and a little willingness to surrender for a while, whenever you can, wherever you are.  Maybe even right now, for instance?   Ahh...
 
Wishing you a happy, healthy and relaxing Labor Day Weekend!