Skip to content
Infinitely Precious

Infinitely Precious

You are. Everyone is. Everything is.

  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Practices
  • Videos

Tag: little things

A Moment in Crimson

December 23, 2023 ~ James ~ 3 Comments

Against the grey of a cloudy day,Where shadows dance and drift away,Beside the twisted limbs of the huckleberry tree,Rough in bark, wild and free. There, in stark and vibrant red,A cardinal perched, its majesty spread.Its feathers a flame against the somber hue,A burst of life in the morning dew. I sat enamored, silent, in awe,In … Continue reading A Moment in Crimson

The Joy of Walking

September 16, 2023 ~ James ~ 2 Comments

How often do you walk or run? I enjoy walking. On my best days, I walk twice: I walk in the afternoon for exercise and then in the evening for pleasure with my wife. Both walks enrich my life. In recent days, the evening walk has been regular; the afternoon walk has been more sporadic. … Continue reading The Joy of Walking

A Day Without Agenda

September 9, 2023 ~ James ~ 1 Comment

How do you relax? Sabbath. Every Friday is a day set aside for personal rest. The key to keeping it relaxing is to keep myself from forming some list of items that must be accomplished on that day. Relax and release are closely related words for me. Most of the days of my week seem … Continue reading A Day Without Agenda

Joy of Being Thankful

September 1, 2023August 30, 2023 ~ James ~ Leave a comment

I find it meaningful to begin my day in gratitude. So I have a gratitude practice. Gratitude Practice (summarized) Open my journal. Close my eyes and “breathe myself here.” Open my eyes and say, “I am thankful for…” Write name by name what arises from that statement. When I reach a “stopping point,” repeat out … Continue reading Joy of Being Thankful

Life As It Is and Could Be

August 29, 2023 ~ James ~ 1 Comment

What TV shows did you watch as a kid? There were three notable shows that immediately come to mind from my childhood. The first was Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, a show about nature and the realities of animals. I remember looking forward to the show weekly even when it was a repeat. Marlin Perkins … Continue reading Life As It Is and Could Be

A Good Failure at “Little Things”

June 13, 2023 ~ James ~ 1 Comment

I spent the last several days spinning in frustration. After all, I have had a meditation practice for more than 10 years and little things are not supposed to trip me up. Hadn't I arrived at some deeper place? That is what happens when I start to imagine I have arrived and move from a … Continue reading A Good Failure at “Little Things”

  • 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
Follow Infinitely Precious on WordPress.com

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
Blog at WordPress.com.
  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Infinitely Precious
    • Join 707 other subscribers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Infinitely Precious
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
Loading Comments...