The stress and strain of constantly being connected can sometimes take your life -- and your well-being -- off course. GPS For The Soul can help you find your way back to balance.
GPS Guides are our way of showing you what has relieved others' stress in the hopes that you will be able to identify solutions that work for you. We all have de-stressing "secret weapons" that we pull out in times of tension or anxiety, whether they be photos that relax us or make us smile, songs that bring us back to our heart, quotes or poems that create a feeling of harmony, or meditative exercises that help us find a sense of silence and calm. We encourage you to look at the GPS Guide below, visit our other GPS Guides here, and share with us your own personal tips for finding peace, balance and tranquility.
The events of our lives and of the world can present a challenge to faith -- our faith in humanity, our faith in God(s) -- as our spirits feel worn down and our sense of community is discouraged. Pastor and author Rachel G. Hackenberg offers these seven tips for keeping your faith:
Pastor Rachel Hackenberg's GPS Guide
1. Let God Be God(01 of07)
Open Image Modal“We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning . . . an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.” (Archbishop Oscar Romero)
2. Look Up(02 of07)
Open Image ModalWhen stress and doubt preoccupy our spirits, we tend to focus downward on the ground and tasks immediately before us. Simply shifting our gaze - squinting at the horizon, tilting our heads back to watch the clouds, looking at the people we pass throughout the day -- is invaluable for giving our spirits perspective.
3. Play(03 of07)
Open Image ModalAt least once a day, engage the world with curiosity and without agenda: make silly faces at a baby, splash water, read fiction, marvel at a tree bending in the wind, fold a paper airplane.Personally, I love to play with words. There are simply too many linguistic options to merely describe these daisies as “pink,” for example; they have borrowed the rose’s blush, or they are warm with summer love. Creativity encourages faith’s imagination.
4. Ache(04 of07)
Open Image ModalCompassion for others is a necessary element of faith, regardless of your particular religious tradition. Choose not to hide from the people and stories that cause your heart to ache, even to break. Strive for goodness in another’s life . . . not for your own sake, not for the sake of deity or doctrine, but for the sake of Incarnate Love and Healing where it is needed most.
5. Love Deeply(05 of07)
Open Image Modal"No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us.” (1 John 4:12)
6. Watch For New Life(06 of07)
Open Image ModalFaith, like the natural world, has its seasons, and a season of hibernation is not incongruous with the life of faith. Do not lose heart when your faith experiences winter. Watch for the spring! “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.” (Julian of Norwich)
7. Practice Faith(07 of07)
Open Image ModalRachel G. Hackenberg is a United Church of Christ pastor, soccer mom of two, and the author of "Writing to God" and "Writing to God: Kids' Edition". She blogs at Faith and Water.
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