prepare to prepare

-
The Season of Advent is just around the corner, and as usual, I am ready to begin the blue season of expectation. I'm ready to begin this new Adventure.

For me it is a season of introspection and anticipation of what the new year will bring. It's also a season, for me, to consider my spiritual practices.

I usually find some churchy thing to follow each year; a pamphlet or podcast series from a seminary. This year I'll be watching the short, daily videos from SSJE Brothers. They show up in my email daily, and the Brothers offer rich wisdom.

I know from too much experience that when I neglect my spiritual practices, my energy and focus drop, and I tend to get grumpy. I don't have the reserve to do the things I need to do in my day to day life.

I have also learned in recent years, the importance of allowing my spiritual practices to evolve as they need to evolve. I started keeping a journal in high school, and began writing in it more often after college. Somewhere along the way, a mentor suggested I start writing down my dreams. In the last couple of years that has become one of the most important spiritual practices I have, and I've become more disciplined about journaling my dreams. Most mornings find me sitting in a chair writing a dream down, or some other early-morning thoughts if I can't remember a dream. Recently, I happened to get up at 3 to write because I didn't think I would remember the dream at my normal wake-up time. My morning prayer time also usually includes some reading. How much I read depends on what time Eli, my 4 year-old, wakes up.

The other important spiritual practice for me recently has been running. Running usually fulfills my evening prayer time or maybe noonday prayer, depending on how my day goes. Running allows me to exercise, be in nature, and perhaps listen to music--a multisensory experience.

Pittman McGehee, in his book The Invisible Church offers seven spiritual practices, or "seven ways we have traditionally experienced God and the transrational realm. Both are beyond knowing and naming, but we can find them in ways that include nature, art and creativity, ritual process, relationships, suffering, our bodies, and dreams." As we begin the ritual process of circling the Advent Wreath, preparing our hearts and minds to receive the Incarnation, you might be playful in experiencing a new spiritual practice, perhaps one of the ways Pittman suggests. Pick a new one for each week of Advent; try something fresh to help your soul get connected to God and be ready for Incarnation.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

plastic: a spiritual perspective

-
Image
Plastic bag in front of Trinity by the Sea On a recent trip to Austin, I was surprised and delighted not to be handed a plastic bag when I checked out of a grocery store. I wasn't buying much, so I was able to carry out my things without remembering to bring in my reusable bags. For some time now, I've gotten in the habit of turning down plastic bags in convenience stores when they try to put my humble bag of sunflower seeds, lonely, in another bag. The plastic grocery bag has become like a handshake at the end of the deal: it seems to make the shopping experience complete. It is such an ingrained habit, that the person behind the cash register sometimes gets a suspicious look when I ask for no bag, as if thinking, "This yahoo is threatening our way of life!" I think about habits a lot, as a Christian of the Episcopal persuasion. Our practices and our experiences in everyday life shape the way we understand our relationship with God, with others, and with ours
Read more

movin' the tide

-
Image
I recently saw a performance by Shinyribs Russell and heard him tell the background story on his song, " Who Built the Moon ." He told a funny story about a conspiracy theorist's idea the moon was built by someone. I like the song for what it is, never mind the conspiracy. That song went through my head again and again this weekend as the Super Moon rose from the gulf horizon, sailed across the sky, and set over the bay. The moon, "hangin' in the sky, shakin' the oceans, and movin' the tide" has long shaped our human lives. It has helped us mark time, it can guide us in our fishing habits, and it inspires artists, musicians, and fireside philosophers. Life looks different in the moonlight. On Sunday morning, as I finished writing my sermon, I took a break to walk outside to see the Super Moon set, and I caught it hanging in the porch of the church. That night, Laura, Eli, and I went to the beach to watch it rise again. Someone told me it's t
Read more
-
Image
For the past three years, I have preached the Gospel Easter Morning including a pop song. The first year it was Widespread Panic's Diner . Last year Prince's I Would Die For You , and this year, the Grateful Dead's Ripple. Music is so inspiring to me, and it is an easy connection to relate to God, Resurrection, and new life through some of my favorite songs, even when they don't use traditional church language. Easter Morning 2023 My earliest impression of the Grateful Dead was as a pre-teen, staying the night at long time friends of my parents and sharing a room with Monroe their son. Earlier in the day Monroe had sent me down a fairly steep hill on his old bike which had no brakes. I managed to stop by veering off the road into the open arms of a magnolia tree. Monroe was so cool. So that night, after having some Neapolitan ice cream we watched MTV. If you remember MTV, you’ll understand how excited he was that a music video of one of his favorite bands, the Grateful
Read more