Poetry refreshes my soul. I wouldn’t have said that a new years ago but have discovered both reading and writing poems awakes something deep inside of me, stirs my creativity, bonds my love to play with words and actually helps me capture moments of my life I may have missed otherwise. Poems heal. Our Bible is full of poetry. The Spirit is very poetic. On my table next to where I sit with God with morning is a collection of poetry books from Mary Oliver, Macrina Wiederkehr, Maya Angelou, Joyce Rupp, and Padraig O’Tuama. I have long been a fan of Robert Lewis Stevenson and Robert Frost. Every day I get an email from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer with a new poem. I am in awe of new young poets like Amanda Gorman. Here’s one of my favorites, for an example: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plentyof lives and whole towns destroyed or aboutto be. We are not wise, and not very … [Read more...]
Word of the Year – 2024
Word of the Year practice can be a driving force in deepening our self-knowledge, in finding clarity and meaning, and in growing closer to God. I have both enjoyed and been stretched by this spiritual practice for more than 10 years. Here is a graphic I created for all my past (and my new) word of the year: If you look right in the middle, you will see what word emerged to accompany me in 2024: WELL The past few years I seem to learn more from simple words, though last year I complicated my journey with a phrase. The two years before, All and Go, were great companions. WELL jumped into my heart as I listened to a poet friend from South African share his newest poem. “Let me answer YES to the lightness of being, that I live well and love well, that I listen to my heart’s desires, living life fully human, fully alive.” I love Stanley’s inspirational words yet that day the simple, ordinary word – well – echoed deep within me. WELL holds so much … [Read more...]
Examen – Looking Back on a Whole Year
Examen is a reflective practice. The Examen is an ancient practice that can help us see God’s hand at work in our whole experience. It originated with St. Ignatius. Practicing the examen usually looks back onto the current day. For example, I use this practice most often as I drift off to sleep – asking God to help me see today through divine eyes, what am I thankful for and where did I see God’s presence that day. What a wonderful way to fall asleep being with God. Dennis Hamm called this practice “Rummaging for God: Praying backwards through your day.” Isn’t that a wonderful description? Here is an article he wrote about the prayer of examen. But examen can also be used to look back reflectively over any period of time as in a yearly review. Last week I shared with you some thoughtful questions to ask, but since then read this article from Ignatian Spirituality website about examen for the whole year that is well worth your time to read. Here is a summary of its … [Read more...]
End of the Year Questions to Ponder
Questions are a powerful tool for spiritual growth and practices. I love the exploring and wondering that can be done any time of the year, but is especially helpful with a year-end review. Next week I will further explore this year end practice of annual examen. I love this time of year. I slow down. I worship. I breath in the Christmas story. I sit quietly by the lights. I rejoice in the music. I listen and behold. One ritual I do every end of December is to reread my journal and write a summary page of highlights, quotes and learnings from the year that is ending. In early January I take the time to write dreams, hopes and what I feel God is leading me onward into as the new year begins. Capturing these moments in time grounds me, creates spiritual markings along my path, and helps me hear God often in times I am not sure of her presence. In 2015 I shared a post with a list of some of the questions tugging at my heart and opening my heart towards the new … [Read more...]
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas. This is a little early but getting close. I am taking a few weeks off from writing full blog posts as the year ends. Creating space to be with God and my family. To take time to savor this precious season and the gift of life. Time to reflect on the past year and dream into the next one. May God bless you with peace, joy and hope this year and into 2024 and beyond. Here is a prayer written by Henri Nouwen. I love his raw honesty in his words and the personal intimacy he speaks with God. May it be so for us too. O Lord, how hard it is to accept your way. You come to me as a small, powerless child born away from home. You live for me as a stranger in your own land. You die for me as a criminal outside the walls of the city, rejected by your own people, misunderstood by your friends, and feeling abandoned by your God. As I prepare to celebrate your birth, I am trying to feel loved, accepted, and at home in this world, and I am trying to overcome … [Read more...]
As a Year Winds Down, Pondering Time
As a year winds down, I become more reflective. I look back on the gifts and challenges of 2023. I dare to start a list of words that might guide me into 2024 plus hopes and dreams that might emerge. I really do like this time of year of pondering and planning. I tend to want to declutter, clean and rearrange as if a new guest would be arriving. Welcome 2024 – did I impress you with my organizational skills? HA! I guess all this rearranging, micro-managing and future detailing is my way of trying to control the passing of time. Wind down is a funny phrase, isn’t it? It usually means something that gradually ends, though on December 31, 2023 will suddenly disappear at midnight. Wind down reminds me of the ticking of the clock - ever present, moving and showing the reality of time progressing. The slowing of moments crawling to a standstill. But time doesn’t stop. So we wind down the past year and wind up the next one? Makes 2024 sound tight and … [Read more...]
Creator of the Stars of Night – Advent Hymn
Different hymns are featured in our church’s hymnal based on the seasons of the church year. Right now, we are tipping into the familiar ones from Advent: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel and Hark, the Glad Sound for example. This week I discovered a new one: Creator of the Stars of Night. This tune is a plainsong and the lyrics are based on a 9th century Latin hymn. Do you know what a plainsong is? I didn’t. A plainsong is a simple chant sung in Christian worship, like the more familiar Taizé or Gregorian chants. Many times these melodies are sung without instruments. “Creator of the Stars of Night” was originally written as an evening hymn for Advent somewhere between the 7th and 9th centuries. The text remained relatively consistent for several hundred years and could be found in dozens of hymn books from Rome to England. This changed in the 17th century when Pope Urban VIII modified this and other hymns in the 1632 edition of the Roman Breviary. What a long history this hymn … [Read more...]
Four Somethings –Late Fall Edition
Four Somethings is the spiritual practice of remembering, reviewing, and savoring life’s lessons and sacred moments in our lives. So occasionally I share bits of wisdom in four categories. Do you believe we are heading fast to the end of the year? Pausing, beholding, and cherishing our moments is a grounding practice for busy times and gathering these Four Somethings provides a framework for this practice. Here are my late Autumn “somethings.” Something Wise Steve Lawson from the Monk Manual shared this in their newsletter. I never thought of walking like this before – what a new insight and way to reflecting: “Walking is just the practice of intentionally falling forward. The mechanics work as follows. Our body weight shifts forward, we move our foot, fall ever so forward, and then catch ourselves. We have done it so many times that we don’t even notice this basic process that is used every day. Those who progress most in their journey to full(er) living … [Read more...]