No Bible today - I’m going seasonal. Coming into a summer holiday weekend is a good time to consider how the gifts of summertime can help us refresh our connection to God.
The long days and warm weather which most Water Daily readers are enjoying, based on our location, offer occasions for spiritual connection, on our own and in groups. I don’t know about you, but my spirit is fed and expanded by being outdoors, feeling a breeze, watching the sunlight play on leaves, admiring the strength and beauty of trees and flowers, observing the antics of animals large and small. The form of praise called exaltation rises in me more readily, and gratitude becomes a more dominant theme in my prayer.
Summer offers more time for spiritual activities as well. Whether we sit outside or enjoy a long walk after dinner (or before breakfast…), we can enter into conversation with God because we’re not rushing as much. Long dinners with friends allow time and space for the conversation to get spiritual as well. May I commend a few spiritual practices to try on during this season?
Mindfulness walks – take a walk in the woods or in a meadow or by a river or anywhere that you find beautiful. Pause before you start, to breathe deeply and to attend to each of your senses, ending with the eyes. What do you hear? What do you feel on your skin? What do you smell and even taste? Finally, what do you see? Take your time to tune each of these senses, and as you walk, try to notice and appreciate without engaging your thoughts – when you find your mind is busy, come back to the now by noticing with your senses again.
Gratitude journal – if this is not already your practice, try it for a season. Choose a time each day to sit, preferably outside, and note what you are thankful for. Write it down if you can. Does anything you write prompt you to want to go deeper in prayer? Sometimes noting what we’re grateful for reveals to us a deep yearning – talk to God about that.
Feasting – I love summer eating, and since I’ve expanded my appreciation of vegetables and fruits I find making food and eating it, alone or with others, an increasingly delightful adventure. Food makes real the incomprehensible abundance and variety of God’s creation, and variety and abundance are particularly vivid in the summer.
Make a spiritual activity of planning a menu, acquiring the ingredients (especially if it can involve a garden or farmer’s market), grilling if you like that. I love to sauté on my grill’s extra burner, even chopping the vegetables outside; my yard becomes a kitchen and dining room all in one. Praise the Creator with each phase of preparation; invite Jesus to join you as you eat – he was no stranger to dinner tables or kitchens, or picnics. Savor the richness of fine food with good friends – and know that God is in the middle of it all.
There are many more spiritual practices that are particularly wonderful to embrace during the summer, but those three are enough for today. As we move into the vacation season, I pray you will have many opportunities to draw near to God and experience the presence of the Spirit this summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment