Back to basics is often the first step in September when the kids return to school. Teachers take the time to assess each student’s status and what next steps are needed to best help them. Back to basics can work periodically for our spiritual journeys too. September is often called the second new year – a time for fresh starts and reenergized actions. What are the essential practices that nourish my soul? Am I honestly making the most of them? What are my next steps? Our spiritual practices don’t evoke God, force God to come or really have much power at all. But regular disciplines slow us down and align our heartbeat to sync with the Divine. God is always present; it is our attention that wanders off to the edges. Practices center us and bring us home. Stop and identify what are the basic practices that resonate with your spirituality? These are the basics that September invites us to enter deeper. For me, my essential practices are gratitude, … [Read more...]
Revisiting my Bookshelf – My Final Reread Surprised Me!
This month I have been revisiting my bookshelf, spending time with “old friends” and seeping in their wisdom. On the August 8 blog post, I shared this wonderful quote about the value of this practice: “A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.” – Robertson Davies Today I will finish with a book that I didn’t originally consider, but leaped into my heart for rereading after revisiting my bookshelf. My own journals! Harvesting my Journals Harvesting my journals is my practice of rereading past entries, highlighting thoughts, and noticing patterns and lessons. Asking questions is another powerful tool to harvesting a journal. What lessons did God teach me this year? Does a single word or phrase jump out? Is there a recurring theme, such as discouragement or anger and is there any insight to this repeating affliction? Has something been left … [Read more...]
Meeting God in Scripture – Revisiting My Bookshelf – Part Four
“Meeting God in Scripture” by Jan Johnson is the next book to reread, to immerse myself into its wise words over this summer. What fun I have had perusing my shelves, listening to their invitations. To be honest, sometimes many of the books shout, “Pick me!” so I pause and listen quietly to which voice resonates within my heart. I have been revisiting my bookshelf this summer and decided to make this a series in the month of August. Each week I will rediscover an old friend, reread its wisdom and share a title, its theme, a few quotes, and a small reflection/application. Meeting God in Scripture This book offers 40 guided meditations in the style of Lectio Divina. Lectio Divina is sacred reading grouped by reading a passage four times, once to read, next to reflect, then to respond, and last to rest, contemplate and listen to God. The unique gift of this book is its set up for easy to find, read, study, and even use in a small group. Most readings are 2-3 pages with … [Read more...]
The Cup of Life – Revisiting My Bookshelf, Part Three
The Cup of Our Life is a wonderful image to hold, ponder and be a conduit to lessons from God. I hunted for this book by Joyce Rupp the other day, wanting to drink again from its wisdom. I smiled at all the sticky notes, underlining and tattered edges of this loved book. Words once again inviting me to reread. What would stand out to me this time? I have been revisiting my bookshelf this summer and decided to make this a series in the month of August. Each week I will rediscover an old friend, reread its wisdom and share a title, its theme, a few quotes, and a small reflection/application. The Cup of Our Life Joyce Rupp is one of my favorite authors. Most of her books sit on my shelf so it didn’t surprise me that at least one of them jumped into my pile to reread. Joyce reminds us that a cup is a powerful teacher and metaphor for spiritual growth. She writes, “I have learned that my life holds stale things that need to be discarded and that sometimes my life feel as … [Read more...]
Discernment – Revisiting My Bookshelf – Part Two
I have been revisiting my bookshelf this summer and decided to make this a series in the month of August. Each week I will rediscover an old friend, reread its wisdom and share a title, its theme, a few quotes, and a small reflection/application. When I slowly took the books from the shelf it felt like I was holding treasure. I can’t help to think that wisdom in these pages call to me for this particular time. And the excitement of possibilities! “A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.” – Robertson Davies Hearing with the Heart - Debra Farrington Discernment is an essential spiritual practice for all of us. Hearing with the Heart was one of the first books I read about discernment and still continues today to be a resource of wisdom and guidance. “To discern means more than to understand or to make a decision, Discern comes from the Latin … [Read more...]
Hassles Happen
When you travel, hassles happen.When you don’t travel, hassles happen. I was thinking the other day about some of the glitches that occurred on our vacations. Moments of frustrations. Change in plans. Disappointments. Then I remember snags, detours, and mishaps occurred on almost every trip – some I remember, but often most fade behind the good memories. But hassles happen even when we don’t travel, right? Those everyday nuisances, interruptions, glitches. Internet that won’t work. Dead batteries. Missed appointments. Too many things to do. Dishes break. Forgotten birthdays. Misplaced items. Hassles happen. Glitches are a part of life, home or while traveling. Now I am not referring to major life events – a troubling diagnosis, a failing marriage, a job loss, or unexpected death or injury. But when I step back and look at life, it is the little annoyances that many times drain our spirits. Ever notice how these tiny gremlins accumulate? That is when I lose my patience … [Read more...]
Practice of the Presence – Book Review
Practice of the Presence is a new translation of the writings by and about Brother Lawrence. Carmen Acevedo Butcher is the author and I love the way she works with his words and brings them alive in our century. She includes her notes, so the reader also has a deeper understanding of her reasons for choices for translation. I have known about Brother Lawrence for quite a while, yet this new book animated his spirituality. I highlighted, journaled, and took copious notes. I didn’t just read this book, its practices seeped into my life. Brother Lawrence, birth name of Nicolas Herman, was born in1614. He lived in the time of the Thirty-Year War (when he was injured, a disability that he suffered with the rest of his life), bubonic plagues, poverty, and famine. When he was 18, he received “a profound awareness of God’s kindness and power there never left his soul.” He failed as a monk, but re-entered a monastery in Paris as a lay brother in 1640 when he received his new … [Read more...]
Empty
Empty. Simple thoughts stirring in my soul. Empty is a word unfolding in my heart lately. Holding space within me and for what will be, not full of my plans and to do’s. I become an empty cup. Empty of me.Empty of words.Empty in anticipation.Empty to receive. “God cannot fill what is full. He can fill only emptiness – deep poverty – and your “yes” [to Jesus] is the beginning of being or becoming empty. It is not how much we really “have” to give – but how empty we are – so that we can receive fully in our life and let him live his life in us. In you today – he wants to relive his complete submission to his father – allow him to do so. Take away your eyes from yourself and rejoice that you have nothing.” Mother Theresa I suppose being empty could also imply spiritual drying, times of not experiencing God. Loneliness. Fear. But this time empty is more of an invitation to feast, not a wilderness to wander. To be loved, not lost. More God, not me or the world. Letting … [Read more...]