guest post by John van de Laar,
I’m not what you would call an ‘outdoorsy’ sort of person. I love technology, screens, and spending time in my home studio writing and recording music. But I love being connected with the natural world and its creatures. The constantly changing environment speaks to something deep inside me. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the world I encounter on the hikes I share with my wife or the small world of the garden outside my window, something about all this life that carries on with little regard for me feeds my soul in ways that nothing else can.
Right now I can feel the seasons changing. In South Africa where I live, the winter is losing its grip on the world. I can feel the sharp edge of the freezing Johannesburg mornings becoming dull. And the first signs of the life that will awaken in Spring are starting to show. Things aren’t really visibly different yet, but there is definitely a sense, a spirit, in the world that reveals the imperceptible changes that are happening in the earth.
Aligning our lives with the seasons can be a life-giving and healing spiritual practice. When we ignore the cycles of change in the natural world, we lose a sense of rhythm in our lives and our souls grow cold and empty. In the Northern Hemisphere, the liturgical calendar parallels the natural change of the seasons and offers an easy way to connect our spirits to creation. In the Southern Hemisphere, it takes some creativity and thought to engage with the seasons more deeply—but it’s not impossible to make it work.
THE SEASONS AROUND US
I have found it helpful to identify the gifts that are most meaningful for me in each season. With this in mind, I can prepare more mindfully as the seasons change and set my intention for the new season that is emerging in my corner of the earth. For example, right now I am contemplating themes like renewal, creativity, hope, and newness as I prepare for Spring. I am exploring ways that I can embrace this opportunity for renewal in my self-care, work, and relationships. I am investigating new avenues for creativity, and I am reminding myself of all the signs of hope around me.
When the season begins to shift toward summer, I will prepare myself for the abundance, sharing, celebration, and playfulness that always accompanies living under the hot African sun. Then when the leaves begin to change colour and herald the coming of Autumn, I will prepare to say goodbye to the warmth and nurture a healthy practice of letting go. I will give thanks for the gifts of the year and prepare for the coming cold and darkness. Finally, as winter returns, I will turn inward and reflect on the things that need to die within me and in my life. I will affirm my faith in the resurrection that will come in Spring, and I will make time to rest and allow my body and soul to draw strength in quieter, less energetic activities.
Following the seasons in this way creates a wonderful sense of rhythm for my spiritual and physical life, and it nurtures a deeper sense of wholeness and connectedness with the cosmos.
THE SEASON WITHIN US
This practice of preparing for new seasons as they arrive has taught me that it’s not only natural seasons that require mindfulness and preparation. The internal seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter don’t always happen in accordance with the seasons of the natural world. But they are equally important and need just as much preparation and careful practice as the more predictable seasons of the natural world.
For most people across the globe, the coronavirus pandemic has been an extended winter of loss and grief, and it’s still a long way from releasing its hold on the world. The challenge was that we weren’t able to prepare—no one saw this coming when it did. But now we can practice mindfulness and intention to keep our souls healthy as we navigate this crisis and process our grief. But some of us have found ourselves in a Springtime of hope and possibility as the pandemic disrupted our normal routines and attitudes. We have discovered new ways of being and have recaptured values and dreams that may have faded under the pressure of what we used to call ‘normal life.’
Just as we take note of the changing seasons in the world around us, so we find aliveness and wholeness in noting the changing seasons within us. And the more mindfully and intentionally we can do this, the more meaningful and abundant our life becomes, no matter what may be happening around us.
A SEASONAL SPIRITUALITY
So, what’s happening outside of you? What’s happening within you? And how do these two seasonal journeys relate to one another in your own life? What changing of seasons, both internally and externally, do you need to prepare yourself for in the days and weeks ahead? And what do you need to do to be more mindful and intentional as you navigate the ever-changing seasons in your life?
A seasonal spirituality is a mindful one. It is a healthy one that recognises that every season has its place and role to play in our lives. And it is one that enables us to grow, create, play, rest, enjoy, and learn.
Bio for John van de Laar
John van de Laar is a musician, theologian, liturgist, writer, and community facilitator. His passion for spirituality and worship led him to create Sacredise.com almost two decades ago. Since that time, John has been helping progressive communities around the world to design moments of worship with deep theological roots and inspiring experiential wings.
More recently, John launched an inclusive online spiritual community (EvoFaith.com and EvoFaithTribe.com) for spiritual seekers who are struggling to find a home in traditional religion.
Along the way, John has written three books including The Hour That Changes Everything, and has produced three albums of worship music.
John lives outside of Johannesburg, South Africa with his wife Debbie, and they have two adult sons.
Join us for live sessions with Christine Sine and Lilly Lewin beginning on August 25, 2021 at 9 AM PST through Godspace Light Community Facebook Group. If you cannot make it live, watch the recording on Christine’s YouTube channel.
by Lilly Lewin,
It’s been a long week… and I’m feeling the weight of all the things I cannot control but would like to fix.
Things like the tragedies unfolding in Afghanistan and Haiti… the Covid-19 Variant and conflicts over masks.
It’s time to give all these heavy things to Jesus to hold for us. This prayer practice is a part of our thinplaceNASHVILLE gatherings and has helped me during these trying days. It might be a practice you can use daily.
To begin, cup your hands like you are holding something and pray with me.
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
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post and photo collage by June Friesen 2021,
Psalm 91 is my go-to Psalm when I am in the midst of a struggle. It has been the Psalm that I go to if and when I have to get up during the night and once again this past week, it was the Psalm that I have read. Let me read it to you.
1-13 You who sit down in the High God’s presence,
spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow,
Say this: ‘God, you’re my refuge.
I trust in you and I’m safe!’
That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps,
shields you from deadly hazards.
His huge outstretched arms protect you—
under them you’re perfectly safe;
his arms fend off all harm.
Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night,
not flying arrows in the day,
Not disease that prowls through the darkness,
not disaster that erupts at high noon.
Even though others succumb all around,
drop like flies right and left,
no harm will even graze you.
You’ll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance,
watch the wicked turn into corpses.
Yes, because God’s your refuge,
the High God your very own home,
Evil can’t get close to you,
harm can’t get through the door.
He ordered his angels
to guard you wherever you go.
If you stumble, they’ll catch you;
their job is to keep you from falling.
You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes,
and kick young lions and serpents from the path.
14-16 ‘If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,”’says God,
‘I’ll get you out of any trouble.
I’ll give you the best of care
if you’ll only get to know and trust me.
Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times;
I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party.
I’ll give you a long life,
give you a long drink of salvation!’
When I was in British Columbia, my sister-in-law (Dorothy) gave me a book of daily meditations as an early 70th birthday present (this was 2018) and I chose to start reading it from the date that she gave it to me. I do not think that was an accident. The readings have been about change.
Change happens – yes, 10/29/18 caused a shift in focus – what may be – or what may not be – one never knows for sure.
One is encouraged to continue to live – to live and embrace the moment as I love to say – –
So, when a shift happens – move with that shift –
Move is change –
Move is good –
Move is growth –
Move is – well sometimes move is a metamorphosis –
And one is born into a new life.
(Such as the worm/caterpillar is wrapped in darkness for days/weeks before emerging into that beautiful butterfly).
So – it may be a place of darkness for one – for self – for many –
It may be a place of death –
For someone, something or self or many –
It may be a place of birth –
For someone, something or self or many –
It may be a place of change(s) –
For someone, something, for self or others –
It may be a place of light
For someone, something, self or others –
Change – sometimes welcomed but usually not so much –
Change – one known reality is this –
God does not change.
However –
He allows change –
And could it be that because so long ago, humankind chose to change God’s original plan and do things their own way? (Genesis 3)
C – Challenge
H – Huge
A – Analyzing
N – Negotiable (or not so much)
G – Growth
E – Expected
The disciples faced change over the three years they walked with Jesus. The challenge of change became rather radical in about the last 45 days of Jesus’ earthly life. He was their earthly leader. Somehow, someway they struggled through – Gethsemane, the betrayal, the denial, the arrest and trial of their leader, the crucifixion, Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection….Jesus tried to also prepare them for His ascension back to heaven. They struggled to find their way through this change – trying to be obedient yet hesitant, fearful, denying, – and probably many other feelings/reactions.
Today I struggle with my feelings –
Vulnerability –
Powerlessness –
Brokenness –
Yet my hope is in God.
What are you struggling with today? This week? What has been the change you have encountered in this past month, year, or recent years? What change may you not yet be aware of – yet that is often thought worrying needlessly and I tend to agree. May I encourage each one of us to place ourselves in the Spirit’s presence in times of uncertainty as well as certainty? Some things we know will change as the season changes and we embrace them. Life is like that too, there are seasonal changes. Birth, toddler, teenage, young adult, maturing adult, aging adult….
God – please come and hold my hand today. There is uncertainty in the air around me. It causes uncertainty to rise within my spirit at times too. As I walk hand in hand with you let me feel your security so that I can embrace each moment as it comes. Amen.
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Gearing Up for a Season of Gratitude
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by Jeannie Kendall,
Have you ever noticed that the more you concentrate on not doing something, the more likely you are to do it? St Paul said something to that effect….
This week I was painting an awkward piece of woodwork around our garage door, which was white, in contrast to the blue garage door. It is also on a slight incline, and the one thing I did not want to do was knock over the small tin of white paint onto the surrounding concrete.
You know what came next, don’t you? Sure enough, that was exactly what I did. Fortunately, other than a small splash, it was caught on the paper it rested on. Huge relief.
But this capacity to do the one thing we try to avoid is not actually the topic of this blog. Instead, it is what happened next.
The first words out of my mouth, spoken only to myself, were ‘You stupid woman’. At the time, I gave it little thought, too occupied with trying to catch the creeping white paint before disaster struck. But later, I reflected on it, and indeed on the way in which for decades I have spoken both about and to myself, almost always self-deprecatingly. It is something about which friends and colleagues have sometimes challenged me.
There are many spiritual disciplines – prayer, study, fasting, simplicity, and so on. For the first time this week, it occurred to me that perhaps this negative self-talk, which I had simply laughed off for so long, might give birth to another one? What if to work at speaking accurately about ourselves in a way that accords with God’s view of us were to be seen as a part of worship and growing in Christ, instead of some kind of arrogant self-indulgence?
What I am suggesting is not about self-inflation but to begin to ask God to show us how he sees us and to speak to ourselves – and in time, about ourselves – in that way. As a starting place, we know theoretically but so often fail to carry in our hearts that we are first and foremost loved children, who he views with the compassion we so seldom gift ourselves.
So this next season I am going to try, recognising that like every discipline it takes time to become truly ingrained, to use self-talk which honours God because it recognises that he made me, and always, always, sees me through the merciful eyes of Jesus.
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post and photo by Diane Woodrow,
Llanddulas beach walk which I did when a writing group I run had been cancelled due to only one person showing up. Intentionality written in pencil!
I was reading Lisa’s blog post on Musing From a Sacred Summer, of how she is being intentional with the things she does before leaving Seattle, but that so often we don’t know what is round the corner. If these past 18 months have taught us one thing, it should be that we don’t know what’s coming. Every January we sit and plan, roughly, our year so that we’ve at least got some idea of what is going on. Even as February 2020 came into being and rumours were starting about this new virus we still went ahead and booked a trip to see my son’s flat and a couple of other events later in the year. For us here in the UK, March 23rd was the “end of the world as we know it” day. Lockdown day!! The signs were there. It had been coming. But I don’t think anyone really believed it would be as it was.
So things will change but does that mean we don’t plan anymore? I don’t think so. But it is how we plan that will help to keep us sane.
I am trying to make my whole day intentional. I am a writer and, as most writers know, unless you carve out time, then you don’t get to write. In fact, I think that is probably true for most self-employed, creative people without deadlines. I don’t have a publisher waiting round the corner for me to produce my next book, next collection, but I do love to write. I have published a book. I would like to publish again. But there won’t be anything if I don’t intentionally set aside time to write. So I am putting aside time in my diary. I also live in a big house that needs cleaning regularly. It is easy to keep clean if I intentionally set aside time to do it. I have paid projects that I need to be doing too.
Some people write their plans in stone. Some people don’t write them at all and wonder why things don’t get done. But I am planning on writing my plans in pencil. Not because I don’t take them seriously but because things can change. Take, for instance, my cleaning routine. I had it all planned out and then heard from a friend that someone she knew was going to be homeless for a couple of days, so a quick change, replan and they’ve got rooms ready for them. Or this morning, I had a list of what I was going to write. One of which was to finish off a blog post to share on Godspace but as I was writing it, I put in a reference to this blog, that I hadn’t written at the time so thought I’d best get it done!!!
As I’ve mentioned before, I intentionally put an Artist’s Date in my diary, where I go for a walk and write. I was planning to do that today but in the end, went yesterday because there was a space. I am so glad I did because today there is sideways rain crashing down. Even the dog only got a 15 min walk. Intentionality written in pencil.
Hopefully, this will make me more flexible, more trusting in God and the Universe, more able to do what I have to do. So I put things in my diary, make my to-do list, and hold everything lightly, and trusting that what I get done for that day, be it writing, cleaning, working on a project, emailing, seeing friends, or all the other myriad of things I love to do, will be what I am meant to do for that day.
Intentionality written in pencil!!!
by Diane Woodrow
Taken from the original post at Aspirational Adventure.
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by Christine Sine,
Do you ever feel that you should be happy but it eludes you? Do you find negative thoughts always crowd out the positive and negative emotions send you spiralling downward when you should be happy? Evidently, you are not alone. According to a recent Medium article, Your Brain Doesn’t Want You to be Happy. It Wants You to Be Safe, 90% of our thoughts are negative because it is usually our negative thoughts that historically prepared us for change and kept us safe from predators.
The good news is that we can change what our brains focus on. We can choose to be happy to see the good in the midst of the bad, to see light when others see darkness. And as the seasons change and so much challenging news faces us each day, it is a good time to think about how to get ready for a season of happiness not of despair. As I look to the future I realize it is all about intention. We can control where our brains focus. As the article goes on to say
Choosing the bright side isn’t always easy, but it’s more fun. This isn’t about faking smiles or toxic positivity but about making the most of your life.
So what are the practices that help us to focus on the bright side? Here are a few that I find helpful.
- Begin the day with rituals that focus you on the good and the positive. This might be something as simple as reading a psalm, lighting a candle, or saying a breath prayer, but it reminds us – we welcome this day of God’s creation in expectation of joy and delight. Similar rituals can be performed alone or with others not just in the morning but at any time of the day. I love the centering prayer practice that Jenneth Graser does with her kids. So enriching for all of them.
- Pause deliberately before you begin a new task and either repeat your morning ritual or create another one. Perhaps you need to make a cup of tea or coffee, stop for a stretch break, or to admire a flower on your desk or in your garden.
- Indulge in regular gratitude breaks. This is one I am not good at but I keep trying to improve. At the least, end your day by reflecting on what you are grateful for.
- Pause to remember not just what you have done during the day but the people you interacted with during the day, and all who make your life special in some way. I have quite a few photos of friends and family around my house and love to look at these as a way to remember.
- Take time to play. In The Gift of Wonder, I reminded us that play lights up the brain like nothing else and is probably God’s greatest gift to humankind (54) yet adults rarely play and I must confess I still don’t play as often as I should. I am not very good at it. But I know how much better I feel when I played or laughed during the day.
- Rethink your day’s story with a positive twist. The impact of how powerful this practice is was brought home to me last week while reading Howard Thurman’s autobiography, With Head and Heart. In 1935, he took his young daughters back to Daytona Beach Florida where he grew up from Virginia where they are now living. In Daytona, beaches and playgrounds were segregated and the children could not understand why they should not use the swings. Here is how he explains:
It is against the law for us to use those swings, even though it is a public school. At present only white children can play there. But it takes the state legislature, the courts, the sheriffs, and policemen, the white churches, the mayors, the banks and businesses, and the majority of white people in the state of Florida – it takes all these to keep two little black girls from swinging in those swings. That is how important you are! Never forget, the estimate of your own importance and self-worth can be judged by how many weapons and how much power people are willing to use to control you and keep you in the place they have assigned to you. You are two very important little girls. You presence can threaten the whole state of Florida. (With Head and Heart, 97)
Isn’t that powerful? His daughters could choose to become bitter because of their exclusion, or they could feel inferior but he made them proud.
None of us can be happy all the time but we can control where our brains spend most of our lives. What could you do today to make this a happier day not just for you but for someone else as well?
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