Discernment accompanies many of my interactions with others in spiritual direction. Directees seek where God is touching their lives. They listen for his guidance, his presence and often they hear their own voices in what needs tending. What is Discernment? For me discernment is discovering and articulating how God is moving in our lives. We listen deeply together to identify how the spirit is guiding us in our daily steps and major life moves. Discernment is the sorting/sifting through all our desires, voices, wants, and needs bombarding our soul and choosing what is best draws us towards God. I believe we all want to make the best decisions whether they are significant life changing ones or discerning how to best live in everyday life. Facing a difficult time of indecisiveness and confusion twists our guts and fogs our faith. How can we live and thrive and grow as discerning people? Discernment is more than decision making. To discern in Latin means to discernere –dis = … [Read more...]
Stillness – An Essential Ingredient for Prayer
Be Still and Know I am God. Stillness – this essential ingredient in prayer does not come naturally to me, to many of us. How can we practice more stillness in our time with God? With 2018 being the year of prayer here on the Healthy Spirituality blog, in April we are looking at the keys of slowing down to spend time with God in stillness, slowness, solitude and silence. Each month this year on the Tending the Holy Thursdays there will be a focus on an aspect of prayer. On my Thursday posts, I pick one theme (or person of faith) to explore deeper. I call this series Tending the Holy Thursdays. I updated a handout I used in 2016 called "Slowing Down to be with God" and this will be this month's free guide for you. It contains ideas, resources, and questions to consider when getting off the busyness treadmill to abide, to be with God in prayer. You can download this free guide by clicking the button at the end of the post. Stillness The greatest blessing … [Read more...]
Seasons of Prayer
What season are you in? How does your season affect your prayer life? With 2018 being the year of prayer here on the Healthy Spirituality blog, this month we are looking at seasons of prayer and of life. In January we explore the definitions of prayer and last month discussed why we pray. Each month this year on the Tending the Holy Thursdays there will be a focus on an aspect of prayer. On my Thursday posts, I pick one theme (or person of faith) to explore deeper. I call this series Tending the Holy Thursdays. What is Your Season? Seasons can be defined in different ways. This following list isn't complete, but may give you more than one way to describe where you are right now. What season are you experiencing? Season by Age Childhood Teenage Young Adult Middle Adult Young Older Adult Getting Older Adult Older Adult Over the Hill – Ha! Season of Life Births/birthdays Baptism Confirmation Driver's License College … [Read more...]
Overwhelmed? Simply Take the Next Right Step
Vacation was delightful. The trip home uneventful. I didn't even gain weight this time, so rejoiced at my Weight Watcher meeting. Then the "overwhelms" engulfed my world. Sickness. Deadlines. Immediate needs/expectations from others. Longer than anticipated meetings. A crowded, unrealistic to do list. I felt overwhelmed, beaten, and swamped last week. When stress floods my soul, I procrastinate – putting me even further behind. Anyone else react that way? My frustration mounted until I remembered the wisdom of only focusing on the next simple step. Simply Take the Next Right Step Feeling overwhelmed arises from the sense of not being in control. I can't control everything, especially from others and situations filled with viruses and bacteria. But I can control my attitude. I can decide what is the next right step and choose to focus only on getting that step done. What reminded me of this good advice was the following video about dominoes. Please take the time … [Read more...]
The Color of Lent – Purple
My church changes the colors of the paramounts to correspond with the church calendar season. Right now purple drapes the altar, lectern and pulpit – purple announcing it is the Lenten season. Why is Purple the Color of Lent? Purple is typically associated with Lent, suggesting repentance and solemnity. Purple, as all colors, is full of symbolism. Its deep dark richness invites us to slow down and consider the sacrifices Jesus did for us. The Bible tells us that the garment the guard put on Jesus during his trial and beatings was purple. Thus, purple symbolizes pain, suffering, and mourning and penitence. “The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their … [Read more...]
Holding Tightly or Lightly?
Are you holding tightly or lightly? As I grow older, I want less stuff. I am decluttering my basement, my closets, my collections, and my life. I wrote about the weird-sounding new trend called Swedish Death Cleaning on this post and when I saw the following quote, I thought once again about living a life more unattached than attached and living in an age of accessing vs possessing. "A reporter for TechCrunch recently observed, “Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provide, owns no real estate. Something interesting is happening.” Indeed, digital media exhibits a similar absence. Netflix, the world’s largest video hub, allows me to watch a movie without owning it. Spotify, the largest music streaming company, lets me listen to whatever music I want without owning any of it. Amazon’s Kindle … [Read more...]
Amma Syncletica – Kindling Divine Fire in Prayer
Do you know Amma Syncletica? With this being the year of prayer, I want to feature different people throughout 2018 who lived lives of prayer. Beside exploring spiritual practices here at Healthy Spirituality, I love to present various people of faith who lives hold lessons for us and words give insight to our own spiritual journeys. Meet Amma Syncletica – our featured person of faith for February. She is one of the best-known Desert Mothers. The Desert Mothers and Fathers lived in the 3rd and 4th centuries. As Christianity became accepted as an approved faith and no longer opposed by the governments, Christians continued to hunger for a deeper relationship with God. Groups of men and women lived in the desert or just outside of the cities in the Middle East and became known as the Desert Mothers and Fathers. Many of them lived like hermits, living in caves but did gather into communities periodically. Others sought them out to learn from them so many of them were rarely … [Read more...]
Why Pray – Completion
Why do you pray? This has been the theme we have been exploring in February in our year long discussion about prayer. Today is the completion of Why Pray and is also the one of the reasons to pray – in order to be complete. 2018 is the year of prayer here on the Healthy Spirituality blog and last month we explore the definitions of prayer. Each month this year on the Tending the Holy Thursdays there will be a focus on an aspect of prayer and of course a monthly free download. On my Thursday posts, I pick one theme (or person of faith) to explore deeper. I call this series Tending the Holy Thursdays. This month we've looked into our reasons to pray. I am excited about this month’s free download “40 Bible Verses about Prayer,” You can get this resource free by clicking on the button at the end of this post. I hope these verses help you explore the many reasons why we pray. We began this series by looking at why we pray by pondering how we are both commanded to pray and called, … [Read more...]