The 20th of May is Endangered Species Day, another of those days put on to calendars to help one focus on something else. But I wonder how often we see ourselves as an “endangered species,” especially when one sees the cries coming from certain Christian elements in the US around the potential lifting of the laws to allow abortion.
That is extreme but I wonder how often when we see polls saying numbers of church attendance is decreasing, an increase in various ethnic groups, and a rise in the voice of LGBTQ groups, that some think that we are endangered. When we feel endangered we act in fear, panic and anxiety. It does not make us nicer to be around but makes us harsher.
The focus is meant to be about endangered animals, insects, flora and fauna, with the hope that we will care about our earth, our environment more. But if we are feeling endangered then we won’t want to do that. We will want to build our walls higher, make our voices louder, our weapons stronger.
Yet Jesus tells us that when we feel threatened we should “turn the other cheek”[Matthew 5:39], that we should “love our enemies”[Matthew 5:43-48]. He tells us not to be afraid and to trust God in all things. As Francis Spufford says in ‘Unapologetic‘ [and I paraphrase], one of the hardest things about Christianity is that it isn’t about following rules but about our heart attitude. And our hearts need to be trusting God, need to not be filled with fear or anxiety, need to be open to God and listening fully.
When the natural world is endangered it cannot get itself out of the mess humankind has got it into. It needs that self-same group, humankind, to make the change. But also sometimes with other people, they need to shout to be heard and need to get other people to help with the changes. So when we hear people of different “tribes” to our “tribe” shouting loudly because they need to be heard instead of shutting our ears, building our walls higher, etc we need to stop and listen. We need to really tune into what they are saying, listen to their fears, but also listen to our fears about why we have reacted as we have; of why we want to not listen, feel fearful, want to push the oppressed group down further.
Unlike the natural world we are the ones with the power to change and to make a better world. We do not need to react. We have the God-given power to act and act in a way that is beneficial for all. But only if we stop hardening our hearts, unblock our ears and really listen to the world – human and natural – and follow God’s true leading in how to act.
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These beautiful prayer cards available for download include 11 prayers by Christine Sine and watercolor succulent design with contemplative imagery crafted by Hilary Horn. Each card provides a prayer on the front with a photo for reflection as well as a scripture and suggested meditative response to the prayer. Allow yourself to relax, refresh, and commune with God through each prayer. Immerse yourself in the reflection as you give yourself space to enter into God’s presence. You can find Prayers for the Day in our shop, as well as Pause for the Day – a sister set of prayer cards with morning, evening, and general prayers to pause and contemplate.
words and pictures by June Friesen
Many years ago I did an extensive study on bees, particularly honey bees. I gathered material from several places, one place being the state that I grew up in, North Dakota. I have very early memories of honey bees as well as honey being removed from honeycomb and processed for sale. You see my grandfather had honey bees and having a dairy farm he grew a lot of alfalfa for hay. Every spring he would move some hives close to his alfalfa fields and as the bees produced honey, he removed it, and my grandmother and he would process it. When they were processing the honey the house had a distinct sweet smell. I also remember the pride I felt if I saw some of my grandfather’s honey in the store being sold. But enough on my reminiscing – the other thing was I knew to stay my distance from those hives.
In the photo above you can observe the bee is all covered with pollen – his entire body. If you ever have the opportunity to watch a bee at work inside a flower, it is very fascinating. They often roll around in the center of the flower and become covered with pollen. Then they somehow work to get that pollen into some little sacs on their back legs – and those little sacs look as if they will burst. And then they are off to their hive to dispose of it inside the hive where some becomes food for them and some becomes honey.
May 20th was chosen to celebrate World Bee Day because it is the birthdate of Anton Jansa. He was born in 1734 in Slovenia and he is the pioneer of beekeeping. The United Nations approved this day in December of 2017 with the purpose of acknowledging the role of bees and other pollinators in keeping nature healthy.
The World Bee Day theme for 2022 is “Bee engaged: Build Back Better for Bees.” We may wonder how it is that we can make life better for bees. There definitely are struggles involved as there are people who are allergic to bees and also people who do not see the value of bees and their pollination gifts. We can be active in helping bees in a few ways. First of all, we can be alert for bee activity. If it is in a place where they may cause a problem, we can get in touch with someone who actually can come and move them to a safe place where they can build a hive or become a part of a beekeeping farm. It is important that we do not poison them or attempt to destroy them as they are not as numerous as they once were. Another reason to be alert for bee activity is if they are in a public place, they could pose a danger to those who may be allergic to a bee sting. Getting them removed to a safer environment for them to carry one their lives is helpful and important. This is all about building a better environment for the bees as well as for you and me. Another way to be helpful to the bee population is to plant flowers or even vegetables and fruit trees. These plants are very important for them as it is where they find their food which helps them grow and produce more bees as well as make the honey that many of us enjoy as food. Honey also has a medicinal effect on some people with allergies. Eating local honey can often build one’s immune system and help them not to have as many or as severe allergy issues.
There are a few references to honey in the Scriptures. One of my favorites is:
Proverbs 24:13 NLT My child, eat honey, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to the taste.
14 In the same way, wisdom is sweet to your soul.
If you find it, you will have a bright future, and your hopes will not be cut short.
Here the writer encourages us to eat honey because of its sweetness. In ancient times, honey was one of the ways which they used to sweeten foods as they did not have refined sugar as we do today. I like that it likens honey to wisdom – and it tells us that wisdom is sweet to our souls.
Have you ever wondered at the way we as humanity struggle because of the way we choose to talk to, about or with each other? Many years ago, someone said that we attract more people with sweetness like honey than with the sourness of vinegar. I tend to believe that there is a lot of truth in that phrase, and for myself I have tried to make it something that I practice. It has served me well in building and maintaining relationships. God challenges us often in the Scriptures to think about our actions and behavior with others and towards others. Proverbs encourages us to embrace wisdom as it is something that brings sweetness to our spirits/souls. This week I have pondered quite deeply about how it would be in our country/communities/world if we would begin to embrace and practice wisdom, particularly godly wisdom. When we claim to be followers of God it would seem to me that people would rather see us as someone who has the sweetness of honey from the bee rather than the sting that the bee can inflict. So, as we consider the importance and care of bees as insects because of all the benefits we gain from them may we also be challenged to consider our importance for God by sharing godly character with others around us.
I have given some ideas for how we can improve and/or help the bee population to survive and grow as well as talked about the importance of it in our lives.
I am sure that some of you are thinking that you have no way of helping and/or improving or promoting the lives of bees. I challenge each one of us to think of ways we may help. If you see bee activity and it is in a place where it could be a problem alert a bee keeper/bee removal company. Second, plant plants that encourage bee activity. Sometimes they are plants that may be very important and even needed by bees. One plant we may not be aware of as needing bees is corn. It is pollinated by bees, wind and maybe some bird activity. I can remember also having to self-pollinate corn in order to get ears of corn because of a lack of bees. So, bees are even helpful even to plants we may not realize depend on the bees. Maybe do a little research for your own area as how you may plant for bees. As each one of helps the bees we in turn help each other.
BUILD BETTER FOR BEES/BUILD BETTER FOR HUMANITY
Build a flower garden, small or large for the bees,
Plant a garden of vegetables for yourself but also for the bees,
Plant fruit trees for the harvest of fruit but also for the bees,
Yes, let us build a better nature garden for the bees and it will also be a better life for each one of us as well.
Build a godly life – in whatever capacity you can,
Share godly character in your family home as well as in the world,
Plant positive seeds into the lives of others providing the nurture of a godly friendship,
Yes, let us build godly relationships – it will not only benefit us as individuals but it will improve out families, neighborhoods and communities as well.
Editor’s Note: World Bee Day is this Friday, May 20th! How will you celebrate?
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by Carol Dixon
(Photo: Whittingham Vale looking towards the Cheviot Hills ©. GT Photos Alnwick Used with permission)
I recently discovered to my surprise that in the Northern Hemisphere summer officially starts on 1st May! Perhaps where I live the seasons haven’t realised it – as my grandmother used to say ‘Ner cast a clout afore May is out’ (Never change into summer clothes until after the end of May).
Until the Industrial Revolution and its inauguration of Workers Day, May Day was always celebrated as an Earth festival, and people tried to give creation a helping hand by marking the beginning of the month as a turning point in the changing seasons. Early May was originally a time of celebration of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers heralding in the summer. The early Celtic peoples linked it to Beltane when domestic animals were driven through fires built with old wood taken from trees to encourage new growth (known as greening) before being taken to the summer pastures. The Germanic settlers added aspects of St Walpurga’s night on 30 April which was also celebrated with bonfires and dancing and the Roman Catholic church linked it to the Virgin Mary whose statues were often decorated with a crown of flowers on 1 May.
I find that early May is a good time to enjoy the beauties of the natural world and to praise our Creator God who has entrusted us with the stewardship of our Earth. Living in the county of Northumberland in North East England with its beautiful coastline, wild moorlands and rolling hills makes it a wonderful place to experience the wonders of God’s creation. I was brought up in Alnwick from where it was easy to look across to the Cheviot Hills which form part of the border between England and Scotland. On the top of one of the Cheviots – Yeavering Bell – are the remains of an old hill fort and in Anglo Saxon times it was the summer palace of the kings of Northumbria including King Oswald who later became a saint.
One Sunday morning as I was driving to take a service at the church I had attended as a child, I stopped to look at the wonderful view across Whittingham Vale towards the hills (a favourite view of my Scottish father) and was inspired to write a hymn based on his favourite metrical Psalm (121) ‘I to the hills will lift my eyes.’ I like to raise my eyes to the hills from time to time – to those summer pastures which remind me of the ancient landscape which has been watched over by our Creator even before the earliest Celtic Christians came to spread the Word of God in Northumberland. I invite you to join with me in praising God in word and song as we welcome the coming summer.
Hymn: Towards the hills
Towards the hills my eyes I raise,
The Lord my God comes to my aid,
He gives me strength, I give him praise,
And I shall never be afraid.
Towards the sea I lift my voice,
Above the rolling breakers’ roar,
Proclaiming God shall be my choice,
And with the gulls my spirits’ soar.
To God alone I give my heart,
In verdant pastures with him rest,
And he and I shall never part,
In him I am forever blest. © Carol Dixon
* * *
Prayer: In sun and shade
Glory be to God in the world around us;
In sun and shade, day and night,
And the rhythms of the seasons.
* * *
Glory be to God!
Glory be to God
In the community in which we live;
In love and laughter, sorrow and joy,
And the patterns of human living.
Glory be to God!
Glory be to God in the way we live our lives;
In giving and sharing, thanking and knowing,
And in all that makes us Jesus’ disciples.
Glory be to God!
Glory be to God in the world;
In the search for justice and peace,
In all that makes us one human family,
Glory be to God!
Glory be to God In the smallest of things;
In tiny creatures, fleeting moments,
The smallest seed of faith new-growing,
Glory be to God!
Glory be to God in greatness and majesty;
In the tallest mountains, the highest cloud,
The awesome dance of the whole cosmos,
Glory be to God!
Glory be to you, God
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Now and forever. Amen. © Richard Sharples
One of my favourite Bible readings tells of Jesus love of the natural world (Matthew 6 v 25-30 JB Phillips) 25-30 “That is why I say to you, don’t worry about living—wondering what you are going to eat or drink, or what you are going to wear. Surely life is more important than food, and the body more important than the clothes you wear. Look at the birds in the sky. They never sow nor reap nor store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you much more valuable to him than they are? Can any of you, however much he worries, make himself an inch taller? And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the wild flowers grow. They neither work nor weave, but I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was never arrayed like one of these! Now if God so clothes the flowers of the field, which are alive today and burnt in the stove tomorrow, is he not much more likely to clothe you, you ‘little-faiths’?
Poem: ‘Consider the lilies’
To walk in silence
Is to walk with God,
To see the smallest flower
Is to see with God’s eyes.
To revel in the glory of the sky
Is to share God’s joy in creation.
To love the unlovely
Is to hold others in God’s heart. © Carol Dixon
As a youngster in church I remember an old lay preacher telling us ‘The Easter season comes every day as we savour the gifts of our God who gave us this beautiful Earth. All he asks is that we take care of it for him’.
Hymn: Praise God for Easter flowers (Tune Rhosymedre; Organ played by Rob Charles, used with permission) https://youtu.be/HIA5G-3mNCU
Praise God for Easter flowers
that cover all the earth,
their vibrant glowing colours
a promise of new birth.
Praise God for all his love and care,
His glory displayed everywhere,
His glory displayed everywhere.
Praise God for morning dew
that sparkles all around,
with myriad shimmering hues
refreshing thirsty ground.
Praise God for all his love and care,
His glory displayed everywhere,
His glory displayed everywhere.
Praise God for risen life
with each and every breath;
and praise the living Christ
who conquers fear and death.
Praise God for all his love and care,
His glory displayed everywhere,
His glory displayed everywhere. © Carol Dixon
Blessing:
The blessing of the quiet earth,
Upholding you, strengthening you.
The blessing of the wind that blows,
Inspiring you, strengthening you.
The blessing of the fire that burns,
Warming you, refining you.
The blessing of the water that flows,
Delighting you, refining you.
The blessing of the God of life,
Whom we come to know in Christ,
And who lives in us through the Spirit,
Be yours this day, and always. Amen. © Richard Sharples
(Prayers by Richard Sharples and Easter Flowers hymn from Summer publ. by the Iona Community Wild Goose publications. copyright © WGRG, Iona Community, Glasgow, Scotland. www.wildgoose.scot. Reproduced by permission.)
Available as an online course, sign up here to gain 180 days of access while you work through this retreat at your own pace. Join Lilly Lewin and Christine Sine in the awe of the broad array of summer symbols that can gain spiritual significance for us when we stop and think about them. Everything from beachcombing to putting on suntan lotion can be the inspiration for practices that draw us closer to God.
Ground yourself in the earth and its summer season where you live and find the ways that God is speaking through it – all the details can be found here!
When you come into rhythm you come into a different sense of time” John O’Donohue – Beauty the Invisible Embrace
This quote came to mind as I reflected on the beautiful photo that Lilly Lewin sent me from Iona a couple of days ago. This labyrinth is located at Columba’s Bay where St Columba and his followers are thought to have landed in 563. In some ways this is a timeless place, definitely a thin space, that still bears the footprints and invites us to walk to the same rhythms as this great man. It is now a special pilgrimage destination for many who visit Iona. The labyrinth is a fairly recent addition, but it still beckons us to a pathway of slow walking and reflection. Like all labyrinths, it teaches us the rhythm of a different sense of time.
We often walk without thinking about our steps, but here at Columba’s Bay and even more so as we walk a labyrinth, we are aware of every step that we take. When we walk a labyrinth, we settle into the rhythm of walking one step at a time. There are no wrong turns. Yes the path twists back on itself, but if we trust where our next step will take us, the pathway leads unerringly to the centre, a spacious place to pause, pray and reflect before beginning the journey back again and out into the world. If we look too far ahead or take our eyes off the path we get confused and might stumble and fall.
Walking is the fastest pace for noticing I once read, and this is certainly true of a labyrinth walk. We notice every step, the stones or plants that line it, the pebbles or grass under our feet. Even the thoughts that lodge in our minds are something to be noticed, savoured and reflected on.
A labyrinth walk – this slow rhythm of one step at a time – can make us feel as though time is suspended. We walk in slow motion, each step bringing us an awareness of what exists now, in this present moment. It is here that we learn lessons of trust, attentiveness, awareness of the inner presence of God as well as the wonder of the Eternal One whose mysterious essence fills all matter. Here we release our need for control, our craving for certainty and our fear of failure.
Finger labyrinth and serpentine stone from Columba’s Bay (c) Christine Sine
I couldn’t do a labyrinth walk on Iona this week, but I did pull out one of my finger labyrinths and a stone I picked up at Columba’s Bay several years ago. I walked the labyrinth at that slow noticing pace, rubbing the stone in my hand, and it did feel as though time was suspended. “Learning how to bring ritual into our lives helps us face whatever arrives at our door” (The Geography of Sorrow – Francis Weller on Navigating Our Losses – by Tim McKee) and this short ritual bringing together the rhythm of slow movement, remembering and attentiveness I feel is doing just that for me.
Take time this week to walk a labyrinth or perform a short, slow moving ritual, noticing ritual that helps prepare you for whatever you might face this week.
Join Christine Sine and special guest Elaine Breckenridge on Wednesday, May 18th at 9 am PT for a discussion on Restoring Rhythms and Seasons. Live on Facebook in the Godspace Light Community Group. Can’t join us live? Catch it later on youtube!
A contemplative service with music in the spirit of Taize. Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756 with additional notes below:
“Što Oko Ne Vidje” By the Taizé community, copyright 2010, all rights reserved by GIA/Les Presses de Taizé
“Atme In Uns”, “Nothing Can Ever” Copyright and all rights reserved by GIA/Les Presses de Taizé
“Litany of the Beatitudes” Text and music by Kester Limner, 2022, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY)
“Wisdom of Saints” Music and lyrics by Kester Limner, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY)
Thank you for praying with us! www.saintandrewsseattle.org
Editor’s Note: As we explore our current theme of Restoring Rhythms and Seasons, finding ways to connect to the season you’re in is part of it! Did you know we have several resource pages that can help you with that? No matter what meteorological season you are in, you will find pages, products, and posts to ground your spirituality in God’s gift of creation on our Creation Spirituality resource page. Creation care, gardening topics, and other resources found here are designed to help you connect practically to the earth and its care as well as find grounding spiritually.
We also have another page chock-full of ways to connect to the rhythms and seasons you are in – our Seasons and Blessings resource page. Covering specific blessings as well as holidays that fall outside of church purview, this page also features resources for Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. By way of example, for those in the Southern Hemisphere as of this posting, our autumn resources may be more relevant for you.
Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we are currently experiencing the gifts of spring. Please enjoy this repost of one of our most popular spring posts, originally found here. Christine and Tom are anticipating this gift soon, though the garden strawberries aren’t ready yet this year!
The Gift of Strawberries
I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. (John 15:16)
These words that Jesus spoke to his disciples really caught my attention the other day. Last week, I picked our first strawberries for the season and each day now, I go out hoping that there will be more. Tom and I relish the fresh berries I pick each day from the garden when the season is in full swing.
First strawberries
At the moment, there are only enough strawberries to whet our appetites – just one or two a day, but when the strawberries are in full season in a couple of weeks, I will need to pick them every day because strawberries only last a few days at their best. They are meant to be savoured and enjoyed in the brief few weeks of the season. Yet we want them to last. Not only do they taste good, but they are nutritional powerhouses containing not only high levels of vitamin C but also the mighty antioxidants anthocyanins, ellagic acid, quercetin and kaempferol, which all have been shown to have protective effects against certain types of cancer.1
Hoping for strawberries galore
What does “fruit that will last” really mean? It occurred to me as I picked my strawberries that they may only have a short life span but they last as long as God intends them to. They last until the next berries – usually the blueberries – are ready for harvest. They give us that spring boost of energy our bodies need, at the time that we need it. Yes we can dry them, freeze them or make preserves which maintain a goodly portion of the nutrients, but they never taste as good or provide as much nutrition as when they are in season.
What is your response?
Visit your local farmers’ market if you can, and buy yourself a basket of whatever fruit is in season. Sit and contemplate the basket of fruit. Smell it. Handle it. Eat it slowly, relishing the sweet, fresh flavour of it. From a spiritual perspective what do you think it means to bear fruit that will last? How long do you think your fruit is meant to last – a week, a month, a year? Are you like a strawberry, providing an intense but short lived seasonal burst of flavour, or are you more like an apple, able to be stored naturally without chemicals for several months?
Harvesting apples
Strawberries herald the beginning of the season with lots of other berries and perishable fruit soon to come. We don’t need them to be stored for long periods of time, unlike apples and pears which are harvested in the autumn, at the end of the harvest season. They can be stored as food for the long months of winter when there is no new fruit to be harvested. Historically, fruit that could be stored would hopefully last throughout the hungry seasons of winter and early spring when no new fruit was produced.
In a world that picks green and sprays with chemicals to extend the shelf life of everything from strawberries to apples, the significance of fruit that will last is often lost on us. So much of the “fresh” produce in our supermarkets, is not fresh at all. It lasts far beyond its intended lifespan because of the artificial chemicals that have been added. Some of it is injected with sugar and even vitamins to make it taste more “natural”.
I wonder how often we do the same thing with our spiritual fruit. We think that “fruit that will last” means it will go on for ever and so we do all we can to artificially preserve it beyond its natural season.
What is your response?
Now visit your local supermarket and buy a basket of fruit that is not in season. Sit and contemplate your basket of fruit. Handle it, smell it, and eat it slowly. Does it taste the same as you remember it tasting when it was in season?
Sit quietly in the presence of God and think about your spiritual life. What fruit have you borne that you have tried to preserve beyond its natural God ordained season? Is there fruit that has become tasteless and nutritionless because it is out of God’s season for it? What is God asking you to do with this fruit?
Listen to the song below, but instead of “breathe new life in me” substitute: “Breathe new fruit in me”
Join Christine Sine and special guest Elaine Breckenridge on Wednesday, May 18th at 9 am PT for a discussion on Restoring Rhythms and Seasons. Live on Facebook in the Godspace Light Community Group. Can’t join us live? Catch it later on youtube!
Editor’s Note: Lilly Lewin is traveling still, and would like to introduce us to her friend and collaborator Archie Honrado!
This painting invites us to pause deeply and try to see beyond what is being shown.
I was about to write this article when I heard about the Supreme Court Draft Opinion on Roe v. Wade leaked to the press. My knee-jerk reaction to this news was determined by my politics and theology on abortion. Someone in me wants to say something different; I went to my prayer practice called Welcoming Prayer, but at first I was not aware that I was allowing my Welcoming Prayer practice to steer my reaction. I didn’t even realize this when I wrote the first draft of this article. This welcoming prayer helped me consciously to not go into my politics, my cultural constructs, or even in my theology. Instead, I could go to my heart on this divisive issue or any issues.
But, wait, our hearts are formed by our culture, politics, theology and other things of this world, right? Yes, we are the fruit of the world we live in, but even at our best self, this person, the old Adam, our false self, as Fr. Richard Rohr would say, is still just the best version of our false self. There is a mysterious heart in us. It constantly passes ephemerals and moves into the true center of our being, our true self – the beloved one of Christ.
This mysterious center (where our false and true self lives) is our heart, mind, and soul united in Christ. There is an inner mystic-self in all of us where a Philippians 4:8 way of seeing lives. This way of seeing is like a seed planted in us but unless cultivated and worked on, it will lie dormant.
To crack this dormant seed, we have to listen to our unconscious (the depths of the soul if you will) so our minds can be nudged to welcome what movement the conscious-self is going through and be open to give praise, and glory to Jesus.
To make my way to my unconscious, first, I have to stop by the door, stand on the ‘Welcome Mat’ to welcome my emotions and thoughts that exist in my consciousness and be indifferent (suspend my reaction) towards my impending judgment and my opinion on the issue at hand. This welcoming posture takes me into a thin place. This thin place is a bit different from a thin place where the presence of God can be felt so close, this thin place is a place of holy tension- imagine Jesus sorrowful in the Garden of Gethsemane. To be in this thin place, this liminal space is to practice kenosis, (dying to self, or Jesus saying: “not my will be done but yours”) and to be aware of the Presence of the Holy.
This process of discernment, indifference, and welcoming I mentioned are practices I’ve learned from Ignatian spirituality and the contemplative Welcoming Prayer teaching. Here’s a Welcoming Prayer practice to try: (condensed from Cynthia Borgeoult book: “Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening”, 2004, Cowley Publications)
Here’s the simple Welcoming Prayer process:
- Focus and Sink in
- Welcome
- Let Go
Let’s work on Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade issue:
- Focus on what upsets you about this issue, feel the sensation in your body, or your emotions. Do you feel angry, fearful, disappointed? Can you feel present to these emotions, how are your emotions manifesting – jaw clenched, stomach in knots, breath short?
Don’t try to change anything, just stay present without psychoanalyzing yourself, lest you risk repression.
- Welcome– Be ready for this seemingly counterintuitive instruction. Focusing on your emotion, you are now steeped in roiling emotion and yet, you begin saying: “Welcome anger” (or whatever the emotion is), by welcoming the emotion we create an atmosphere of inner hospitality. This is where awareness and surrender converge, at the center of your being where we are united with Christ. This is the space aligned with Christ and your centered self, where you can decide what you will do with your issue at hand and you will be doing it from consciousness, not reactivity. Remember what we are welcoming is not the issue itself but the feelings triggered by the issue.
- Let Go- Take your time on this step. Gently go back and forth to the Focus and Welcoming steps until you feel some tenderness arising, then you say a “letting go” for now on whatever emotion arose or what decision you made about the issue. Finally, Say Mary Mrozowski* prayer at the end of the third step:
I let go my desire for security and survival.
I let go my desire for esteem and affection.
I let go my desire for power and control.
I let go my desire to change the situation.
*Mary Mrozowski created the Welcoming Prayer found in Cynthia Borgeoult’s book “ Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening”
Evelyn Underhill, the great 20th-century English mystic introduced the idea of practical mysticism. Underhill’s insights and her prophetic voice reverberates today in our world. Evelyn Underhill lived between two horrific world wars that gave her the courage and stamina to walk the darkness of the soul believing that the way to see and to be human does not end in the dark.
This darkness we are now familiar with is light, like Underhill, we are facing the same walk in the dark and the same hope that invites our faith to be awakened. Why is practical mysticism needed today? There’s a deluge of self-help ways that carry the same proposition as the mystics offer, but the Self-help movement’s promise of finding one’s authentic true self comes up short. Today’s self-help way of seeing leads to a dark tunnel that appears to be a dead end. With self-help no matter how much we try to live our authentic true self, if we are unaware of this thin and dark place, the soul’s journey will be like a walk into a dark tunnel that appears to come to a dead end. Then, it may appear that I only existed in my false-self, and conceivably reaction to issues that arise at a given moment would be pure human instinct leaving the divine breath living-in-us out. Can you imagine what that would be like? And, yes, there is a way of seeing and being in such a thin, dark place where darkness is light, where darkness becomes Light.
* * *
Archie Honrado is a spiritual director, prayer retreat guide serving urban youth workers and a certified substance abuse counselor. Archie was part of Youth Specialties Soul Shaper Board and Soul Care Team together with Lilly Lewin. Archie and Lilly for over a decade have collaborated and co-curated prayer sacred spaces for the National Youth Workers Convention. Archie lives in the Redwoods, the land of Yurok Indigenous people in Northern California with his beautiful wife and two young boys.
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Pause for the Day – find a pleasant focus in this downloadable set of prayer cards inviting you to pause and restore. This set of ten prayers include three morning, three evening and four general prayers for the day. Each prayer is paired with a photo to help you focus and enter into that still place where you can hear God’s voice. On the back of each card is a short reflection or activity to deepen the impact of the prayer. This is a downloadable pdf. You may also enjoy its companion set of Prayers for the Day – 11 more prayers by Christine Sine paired with beautiful imagery by Hilary Horn.
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Thank you for supporting Godspace in this way.
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