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. Gathering Four Somethings makes me aware of all the blessings often hidden under busyness, worries, and distractions. These “somethings” become markers in our spiritual journey. With so much pivoting and uncertainty in our lives right now, being grounded in a simple practice like this guides my way. Something Wise “Holiness comes wrapped in the ordinary. There are burning bushes all around you. Every tree is full of angels. Hidden beauty is waiting in every crumb. Life wants to lead you from crumbs to angels, But this can happen only if you are willing to unwrap the ordinary By staying with it long enough to harvest its treasure.” Macrina Wiederkehr Something Wonderful I was studying the spiritual discipline of seeing beauty and learned a new to me … [Read more...]
Taking My Word of the Year on Retreat
I leave later this week for a four-day silent retreat. The practice of attending a retreat at least yearly is life-giving for me and essential for my walk with God. I believe so strongly in this discipline I share a blog post every year about retreats (here are a few here and here) and even wrote a book, Spiritual Retreats: A Guide to Slowing Down with God. Each year I remind myself to pack simply: just the essentials, my Bible, my journal, pretty pens and highlighters. I am careful not to bring along too many distracting books. Less stuff the better. The most important item to pack is an open and willing heart. My word of the year is one of those necessary items to bring along. Retreats create silent space to allow my word(s) room to be heard and known exponentially. Like a good soup, my word slowly simmers, revealing wonderful, unexpected tastes. Like a plant, its roots dig deeper and life springs up its stem to produce fruit. Spiritual retreats nourish and allow … [Read more...]
Ash Wednesday Facts and Quotes
I can’t believe it is almost time for Lent to begin. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday marking the first day of solemn repentance for most Christians as we turn our hearts and minds toward Good Friday. Then we can celebrate with full gusto on Easter Sunday. Ever wonder about Ash Wednesday? On Ash Wednesday, many churches hold a special worship service where the people are blessed with ashes, typically marking their foreheads with the sign of the cross. The blessing typically comes with a reminder that we all come from ashes, and to ashes we all will return. The ashes used on Ash Wednesday are meant to represent dust. When receiving ashes on their foreheads, the worshipper hears, "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return." This is a reference what God says to Adam when exiling him from the Garden of Eden (in the Christian Bible, Adam is literally formed from dust). What a humbling reminder. The marking of the forehead has been a known custom since Pope Gregory … [Read more...]
Word of the Year – Peeling One Layer at a Time
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. Peeling off the layers of our words takes intention, observation, reflection, and maybe some wrestling with our words. I just spent several hours in my journal and Bible exploring my phrase this year – “Honoring the thirst deep within.” I feel like I am coming up for air after concentrating and listening actively to what the Spirit is teaching me. John O’Donohue wrote, “Longing is the voice of your soul.” I am deeply listening for this voice. Like peeling an onion, this process comes off one sheer section at a time and perhaps with a few tears. And this is only the start of the unraveling of this adventure into these words. Right now, I hold more questions than answers – and maybe that will stay true throughout this process. Each layer contains lessons. A few tidbits of what I am noticing: Dear Friends, I hope this … [Read more...]
Pondering the Pillars of a Healthy Spirituality – Be Awake!
What are the pillars of a healthy spirituality? In 2023 I plan to explore different building blocks, components, the essential nutrients that support a vibrant strong life with God. I hope to learn, study, and share thoughts about these various aspects and hope they bring fresh insights to all of our earthly journeys as God continues to shape our souls. This week I am pondering being awake. Being awake “Just being awake, alert, attentive is no easy matter. I think it is the greatest spiritual challenge that we face.” Diana L. Eck Anthony DeMello tells this story:“A group of tourists sits in a bus that is passing through gorgeously beautiful country; lakes and mountains and green fields and rivers. But the shades of the bus are pulled down. They do not have the slightest idea of what lies beyond the windows of the bus. And all the time of their journey is spent in squabbling over who will have the seat of honor in the bus, who will be applauded, who will be well … [Read more...]
Four Somethings
Four Somethings is a regular blog post where I feature bits of wisdom in four categories. Gathering Four Somethings makes me aware of all the blessings often hidden under busyness, worries, and distractions. These “somethings” become markers in our spiritual journey. With so much pivoting and uncertainty in our lives right now, being grounded in a simple practice like this guides my way. As I began this practice last year, I listened to my heart and to God and narrowed down my four categories and use them to frame these life lessons: Each one reminds me to pay attention to these qualities in my life as gifts from God. Something Wise Kate Bowler shared this New Year Blessing on her web page. So fitting for all of us and a wonderful prayer to accompany my words of the year: Honor the thirst deep within. A blessing for when you want to change God, I carry around this incompleteness, this drive for fulfillment that always seems just around the … [Read more...]
The Power of Writing Things Down
When you write things down, articulate your dreams, goals, and prayers, struggle to find just that right word or phrase that describes a deep desire, God breaks in with power beyond our understanding and our lives become more meaningful. I noticed again this power in writing things down as I prayed, discovered, wrestled with my word of the year. Then I sense its presence in my annual rereading and summary of my journal and the listening and recording of where I felt God leading me in 2023. God appeared in sticky notes of ideas and in notations in my Bible and journal. I felt his strength and clarity as the ink dried and with each click of the keyboard. Is it my muse or the Holy Spirit? I like to think of them as one source.“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.’” Jeremiah 30: 2. Writing things down invites God’s wisdom and clarity to how we think, speak, and live. I am the type of person who doesn’t … [Read more...]
Word for the Year Wavering
My word for the year wavers this year. I have done this practice of exploring and pondering one word throughout the year for more than 10 years. A word for the year is a rewarding, deepening, guiding discipline. But I struggled this year with discovering the word that best fit my soul. I started in November listening, watching for words that shimmer, resonate with potential to be guiding stars. The list grows, then narrows to a few candidates for prayer and “second interviews.” Does the word stretch my imagination, contain enough mystery to invite me deeper, touch a hunger within my soul? I read what others were discovering and learning. Listening, looking, seeking a new word for 2023. The past few years spoiled me with a clear winner. A strong word that taught me lessons and brought me closer to God. This year that hasn’t been true. Yes, I watched for key words. Yes, I wrote out a list. Yes, I began to narrow the list down to a few possibilities. … [Read more...]