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Tag: intention

A Life Celebrated

March 21, 2026 ~ James ~ Leave a comment

Today, I went to the celebration of life for a young woman I had known since before she was born. What a precious, life-filled person she was all her short life. I sat in a room filled with people who were mourning her: her parents at whose wedding I was officiant, both sets of grandparents, … Continue reading A Life Celebrated

The Power of Setting an Intention

March 12, 2025March 10, 2025 ~ James ~ Leave a comment

We have entered the season of Lent, a time in the Western Christian tradition marked by forty days of preparation for Easter. This season is often characterized by self-reflection, self-awareness, and sometimes self-denial. Last week on the podcast, I talked about this, and today, I want to explore a specific practice that has helped me … Continue reading The Power of Setting an Intention

More than Proximity

October 18, 2023October 18, 2023 ~ James ~ Leave a comment

What makes a good neighbor? The English word “neighbor” has its origins in Old English meaning near-dweller. It was proximity that defined the neighbor. My first thoughts go to folks adjacent to me. After that initial thought, however, I realize there are bigger implications to the word. The world is getting smaller What defines distance … Continue reading More than Proximity

Inspire Me!

October 13, 2023October 13, 2023 ~ James ~ 3 Comments

If you had a million dollars to give away, who would you give it to? What organizations will get my money? The question is best answered with another question: What organization or cause inspires me? If I have money, not imaginary extra money to give away, I can be inspired to part with it. There … Continue reading Inspire Me!

Not My Place, Not My People

October 6, 2023 ~ James ~ Leave a comment

Tell us about a time when you felt out of place. I arrived for my first day of the first-grade. Ms. Key was my teacher. I did not know her; I did not know anyone in my class. I did not like riding the bus. I did not like much that day. Thus, I began … Continue reading Not My Place, Not My People

Returning to Thanks

September 27, 2023September 27, 2023 ~ James ~ 3 Comments

Some mornings- like today!- I cannot get aligned or grounded in my morning practice. My mind is wandering everywhere even as I sit my meditation/centering prayer. I cannot “draw” or release myself back to the moment. I let go and let go and let go and let go. I may rationalize that this is building … Continue reading Returning to Thanks

More Walks with Intent

September 26, 2023 ~ James ~ 4 Comments

What could you do more of? For ten years of my life leading up to the pandemic, I walked daily between three and five miles. There is so much to experience on a walk. The world slows down and flowers come into focus. Birds become more than sounds from the foliage with fleeting glimpses of … Continue reading More Walks with Intent

Let Your Yes Be Yes

September 14, 2023September 14, 2023 ~ James ~ Leave a comment

What's your favorite word? My practice for these daily prompts is to sit with them a bit to see what rises in me. I pause. Then I begin to write whatever arises. Today, I was surprised- as I often am- when the blogging prompt brought forth this word: Yes. I must add this disclaimer: “Yes” … Continue reading Let Your Yes Be Yes

Holding Tightly to Past Wrongs

September 7, 2023 ~ James ~ Leave a comment

Are you holding a grudge? About? The word “grudge” immediately brings to my mind savoring the perceived wrongs, intentional and unintentional, that have been done against me. There is even a sour flavor I can almost taste when I remember some of the grudges that shaped periods of my life. And shape my life they … Continue reading Holding Tightly to Past Wrongs

  • Ripening Awareness: The Space Before We React
  • A Creed of Holy Mystery
  • Ripening Effort: Gentleness in What We Bring
  • A Grace-filled Creed
  • A Sabbath Creed
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You are infinitely precious and unconditionally loved for the gift you already are.

James Henry

Ripening Awareness: The Space Before We React - Infinitely Precious

In week seven of the Ripening series, James Henry turns to one of the quieter but most transformative dimensions of spiritual growth: ripening awareness. Building on the series' central metaphor — that transformation is less like achievement and more like a fruit slowly receiving what it needs to become what it already is — James explores what it means to notice a reaction rising in you before it becomes your automatic response.Drawing on his own practice of Centering Prayer, James describes how sitting in twenty minutes of silence, releasing thoughts as they arise, trains the same muscle needed in everyday conversation: the ability to catch a reaction — anger, defensiveness, the urge to walk away — in the split second before it takes over. He talks candidly about the amygdala's role in this process, the evolutionary logic of fight-or-flight, and why so many of our modern reactions aren't actually about survival at all, even though they feel that way in the moment.This episode offers a gentle, practical invitation: you don't have to react to everything that rises in you. Through simple practices like breath and pause, James shows how ripening awareness creates space — not to suppress what we feel, but to choose, with more freedom and presence, what we do with it.In This Episode:Why James chose the word "ripening" over "growth" for this seriesHow Centering Prayer trains the mind to notice and releaseThe role of the amygdala in reactive, self-protective responsesThe difference between needing to react and wanting to reactA simple breathing practice for creating space before respondingHow ripening awareness deepens presence with others
  1. Ripening Awareness: The Space Before We React 12:18
  2. Ripening Effort: Gentleness in What We Bring 12:53
  3. Ripening Release: Loving Without Grasping 16:02
  4. Ripening Enough-ness: I Am, and That's Enough 13:02
  5. Ripening Action: The Ripple You Never See 12:46
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