by June Friesen
When you read the title what was the first thing that came to your mind? For me I have so many memories of play from my childhood and even now. Oh yes, I still play and if you do not believe me I can have several people give witness to this. From time to time when my husband and I were dating and even after we were married he would ask me, “Why do you do that?” Or “Don’t you know that only children do that?” Would it surprise any one of you to know that even in my mid seventies my grand daughters as well as all of my children in our church family know that if no one else will play with them – I will? As a church fellowship we meet in a park once a month for food and fellowship and sometimes someone brings entertainment for the children. My husband has been known to take videos of us ‘having a good time.’ The first two photos are when my grand daughters were young – we would find ways to play together and explore creatively. Now their creativity is found in baking as well as sports.
Psalm 127
127 1-2 If God doesn’t build the house, the builders only build shacks.
If God doesn’t guard the city, the night watchman might as well nap.
It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late, and work your worried fingers to the bone.
Don’t you know he enjoys giving rest to those he loves?
Here in this Psalm even though it does not talk about play it talks about rest. Have you ever been busy doing something for an hour or more and you just say, “I have to sit down and rest?” What do you do when you sit down and rest? I have a number of things that I do when I sit down and rest. Sometimes I read, sometimes I play a game, sometimes I have been known to take a nap, but the main thing is that one needs to take time away from what one does for work. Now if you are one whose work requires much reading, thinking, processing and even writing you may not want to sit down and read a book to relax or play. When my husband and I were young adults, and he was in college, we would go hiking and/or play games. We didn’t always have a television so watching it was not an option. Now we have a television but we may have a sports game on yet we are relaxing/playing and only watching intermittently. Sometimes we may even take a nap as the brain is weary and needs revitalization. There are times when it says that Jesus also withdrew from the crowds – he was known to go off into the hills/mountains by Himself. Other times he would get into a boat with some or all of His disciples and they would go out onto the Sea of Galilee. There are times when one may feel they are indispensable because of so many duties at one’s hands to do – but taking time to rest only enables one to function more efficiently and effectively.
Another thing that comes to mind is vacations. In today’s world for the most part everyone takes time off from their daily work, daily duties etc. to do something where they can relax. For some it means going to visit family and friends who live some distance away, for others it means going and visiting a part of the country/world to enjoy different cultures/nature’s environment, or it may be to attend a special conference etc. Some people choose to go to places like Disneyland, SeaWorld etc. Others may choose to go camping along with fishing, boating, hiking etc. Yes, vacation should be a time of play in that it gives one an opportunity to break the routine of a regular work schedule plus caring for family and others needs. I would like to suggest that when one does take a vacation it is important to make time for playtime for all who are involved as it makes the experience more wholesome and personally rewarding for each one. Let us look at one more Scripture.
Psalm 33:1-3
33 1-3 Good people, cheer God! Right-living people sound best when praising.
Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs! Play his praise on a grand piano!
Compose your own new song to him; give him a trumpet fanfare.
Here you see a photo of a piano that I still have today. It was my grandmother’s piano that her father bought her for her 16th birthday in the early 1900’s so it is well over 100 years old. When I was very young my grandfather gave my family this piano as he bought my grandmother a brand new one. I, as well as my three siblings, took piano lessons on this piano and about 40 years ago my father showed up with it at my door in Phoenix because no one else wanted it. Now one of my favorite playtimes from the time I was probably third and fourth grade was to sit down and play the piano. I could play for hours. In my adult life playtime for me can still find me at a piano and/or keyboard. I have also written songs, sometimes using well known melodies and sometimes I have written my own music.
So as you can see playtime or play can be so many things. I would define it in my own definition as ‘something that gives opportunity away from the normal activities of one’s daily work/life that brings refreshment to the body, soul, and or spirit or all three.’ How might you play today to celebrate and embrace ‘playtime’ into your life and schedule? I will respond when this is posted as to how I chose to play this day – can I challenge you to do the same?
Happy Playtime to All!
Writing and photos by June Friesen. Scripture is from The Message Translation.
Prayers for the Day ~digital download
These beautiful prayer cards include 11 prayers by Christine Sine and crafted by Hilary Horn with watercolor succulent design and contemplative imagery are available for download. 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.
by Christine Sine
Welcome to August and what promises to be a very busy month. Today in many northern cultures is Harvest Festival, called Lughnasadh in Celtic tradition or Lammas from Anglo-Saxon tradition. This is regarded as the start of the harvest season. It certainly is in our garden. Last week we picked almost 30 pounds of peaches from our tree. I love Fiona Koefoed-Jespersen’s suggestion that we celebrate this week is by baking a loaf of bread and then contemplating Jesus’s parable of the kingdom of God being “God’s kingdom is like yeast that a woman works into the dough for dozens of loaves of barley bread—and waits while the dough rises.” (Matthew 13:33 The Message) What is that yeast of divinity in your life? And how might you work it through every part of your life? How might it nourish your community? Thank you.
Fiona also made me aware of a celebration on August 22nd that I have not heard of before – the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief. We have all, knowingly or unknowingly collaborated in the violence done to people who hold different religious beliefs than ours so this is well worth thinking about.
My own thoughts this week, in Meditation Monday: The Spiritual Practice of Walking revolved around my increasing focus on the importance of walking as a spiritual practice. It can bring inspiration, healing, and wonder or be used as protest or exploration. It is based on my reading of Mark Buchanan’s book God Walk: Moving at the Speed of Your Soul, and then diverges to my own learning during my daily walks as well as inspiration from a series of articles recently in the New York Times. I love Mark’s suggestion that we should view God as a three-mile-an-hour God, a God who loves to move slowly, is never in a hurry and enjoys the journey as much as the destination. It is revelatory.
I love that we have poets all over the world who regularly contribute to Godspace light. Jenneth Grazer, writing from South Africa, in Like a Tree Planted reflects on Psalm 1:3 “That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.” one of my own favourite scripture verses to reflect on.
I was also inspired by Lilly Lewin’s Freerange Friday: Discovering Holy Moments, Rituals for Families in which she helps us think of new ways to connect to the holiness of all things. She always has wonderful practical ideas to share with us. In her post Tell of the Kindness Jenny Gehman encourages us not just to be kind but to share the stories of kindness which often inspire others to be kind too. It is a wonderful post. Last but not least, in Seasonal Spirituality, Diane Woodrow writes from England suggesting that we take time to contemplate the seasons we are in. Her post is full of beautiful stories and suggestions that are good for all of us to take notice of.
As I mentioned last week, I am preparing for three virtual retreats in the coming season so make sure you have these on your calendars. September 2nd – Rhythms and Seasons, October 14th – Living in Gratitude, and December 9th – Advent Quiet Day Retreat. Next week you will be able to sign up and register, and if you sign up for all three there is a very special discount price!!! I hope you can join me for this series. Each will be a stand alone retreat but the series together, I think will enrich our lives, nourish us through the rest of the year and prepare us for a busy new year coming.
Once again I want to mention my need for help organizing and launching my podcast The Liturgical Rebel. I need technical and graphic design help to set it up. If you would like to help me launch this exciting new venture, or if you know someone who might like to help please let me know. I am really excited about this new direction and hope that you will help me make it happen.
And to end, the poem that was inspired by my reflections on walking this week
Now I walk
Through the wonder of God’s world.
Perhaps a forest,
perhaps a beach,
a waterway,
or through an urban street.
Now I walk,
with my three-mile-an-hour God,
Creator of the universe,
who loves to move slow,
never in too much of a hurry
to enjoy the unfolding journey.
Now I walk,
paying attention, noticing, awed,
through familiar landscapes,
that deepen my appreciation,
Yet always revealing something new.
Many blessings
Whether you are praying the stations of the day, in need of resources for rest, hoping to spark joy and find wonder, or simply want to enjoy beautiful prayers, poetry, and art – our digital downloads section has many options! Christine Sine’s book Rest in the Moment is designed to help you find those pauses throughout the day. Praying through the hours or watches, you may find inspiration in our prayer cards set Prayers for the Day or Pause for the Day. You may find your curiosity piqued in the free poetry and art download Haiku Book of Hours. All this and more can be found in our shop!
by Christine Sine
I am currently reading Mark Buchanan’s God Walk: Moving at the Speed of Your Soul. I was intrigued by his idea that whereas many spiritual traditions have a corresponding physical discipline, Christianity has none. “Hinduism has yoga. Taoism has tai-chi. Shintoism has karate. Buddhism has kung fu.” he says, but Christianity has nothing…. or does it? His belief is that once Christianity had a spiritual discipline, the discipline of walking that was so central to the way that Jesus interacted with his disciples. Even in the creation story God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden.
Well of course they walked you may say, that was the only way the common person could get around until recently. However Buchanan suggests that there is more to it than that. I love his suggestion that God is a three-mile-an-hour God, a God who loves to move slowly, is never in a hurry and enjoys the journey as much as the destination. Walking deepens the familiar and yet keeps revealing the new he says. He talks about several different ways in which walking benefits us – not just as exercise, but as friendship, healing, remembering, suffering, prayer. There were a few he left out that I felt were important – walking as protest, walking as pilgrimage, and of course walking as awe and wonder being the most obvious, but generally speaking I liked what he wrote and it certainly had me thinking and then going out for a walk.
I love walking and have since I was a child when I would often sneak away and wander the neighbourhood alone, much to my mother’s concern. Now I am not so secretive about it. I often tell people that over my life I have bush walked in Australia, tramped in New Zealand, trekked in Norway, rambled in Britain and backpacked in the US and Canada. Now, as you know, I love my awe and wonder walks which have become a very much alive spiritual discipline for me. They are the place in which I both welcome and interact with God. However, it had never occurred to me that this is God’s preferred pace of walking and interacting. That it is as much a pleasure to God as it is to me.
Over the last few months I have read several interesting New York Times articles that helped me understand these broader perspectives of walking and their importance both for our lives and our faith. They did a five week series on walking extolling the virtues of awe and wonder walks, walking as conversation (think Jesus on the Road to Emmaus) walking as exercise (which includes a great Spotify walking playlist) and walking as adventure. The overall conclusion from these articles is that walking is good for us in more ways than we can imagine, not just as individuals but as a community. Maybe it is good because when we walk God always walks with us. Unfortunately walking spaces are not as common as they once were. Another interesting New York Times article The Right to Roam in England, talked about the challenges that walkers in England have faced over the years with gaining access to paths that cross private land. It made me very aware that here in the U.S. that is rarely an option. Fortunately a growing number of city councils have gained rights to lands along waterways and through forests that do allow all people to enjoy these wonderful nature trails. Perhaps all of us would become strong advocates for this kind of access if we saw walking as a spiritual discipline that was central to our Christian faith.
In The Next Walk You Take Could Change Your Life, Francis Sanzaro, suggests that what walking is asking us to do is to pay attention to the stuff of the place in which we walk. We should not be asking what can get out of a walk, rather what a walk can get out of us. Walking as spiritual discipline should change the way we navigate and experience the world around us. Attentiveness, noticing, listening, feeling, revelling in all the sensations even the noise and the unpleasant odours of an urban stroll are at the centre of what walking is meant to be about. When we open ourselves to fully experience the walk, even if it is something as mundane as taking out the garbage, the world becomes alive in ways we never expected, and that in itself is a revelation of God. Sanzaro encourages us to prepare for any time of walking by saying “Now I’m walking.” He rings a bell in his mind and gets prepared. No matter how trivial the walk, he knows he is walking, breathes in the atmosphere and immerses himself in the experience. What a wonderful spiritual discipline that opens us up to both God and the world God created.
At the end of God Walk: Moving at the Speed of Your Soul, Buchanan talks about walking as a metaphor for Christian faith and repeatedly uses the phrase and the going is slow. I spent quite a bit of time reflecting on that and as I did I found myself slowing down, relaxing not just my walking pace, but my soul pace too . To view God as a three-mile-an-hour God, a God who loves to move slowly, is never in a hurry and enjoys the journey as much as the destination, is revelatory. So my recommendation to you today is – go out for a slow walk around your neighbourhood. Prepare yourself by standing on your doorstep, taking a deep breath in and out and saying “Now I am walking”. When you come home reflect on what you experienced.
Now I walk
Through the wonder of God’s world.
Perhaps a forest,
perhaps a beach,
a waterway,
or through an urban street.
Now I walk,
with my three-mile-an-hour God,
Creator of the universe,
who loves to move slow,
never in too much of a hurry
to enjoy the unfolding journey.
Now I walk,
paying attention, noticing, awed,
through familiar landscapes,
that deepen my appreciation,
Yet always revealing something new.
(C) Christine Sine 2023
All of your leaves fall from your
branches, one by one, as forgiveness drifts
to the ground in such triumphant colours.
Finally ready for winter, emptied of grief,
you sleep, in a softening of snow…
until the sounds of water
awake you from the root.
You delve deep, drinking from
living rivers
and allow yourself to
blossom, on a sudden day.
You allow the fragrance to
fill the air, the inner you
to come out in festoons of flower,
green, birds and light shadows.
You allow the season to work
through the fruit, until you ripen
and share with the children,
letting go of the gift,
and the sap
is secretly flowing through your
branches all the while, as you
grow a new ring –
ever widening circles
ripple around your heart.
“That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.” Psalm 1:3
Listen to I believe in Springtime – by John Rutter – YouTube
Celtic Prayer Cards include 10 prayers inspired by ancient Celtic saints like Patrick or contemporary Celtic writers like John O’Donohue. A short reflection on the back of each card will introduce you to the Celtic Christian tradition, along with prayers by Christine Sine and beautiful imagery crafted by Hilary Horn. Celtic Prayer Cards can be used year-round or incorporated into various holidays. Available in a single set of 10 cards, three sets, or to download.
It seems like we all struggle to make space for “Holy Things” in our regular lives, but maybe we’re making things too hard. What if the Holy things, and opportunities are already all around us? We just need to see them and then name them.
What if everything is Holy?
Jesus used the things he saw along the way to teach his followers about God’s way of “living and being” in the world. He used sparrows and lilies to remind us that God takes care of us, and we don’t need to worry about our lives.
Matthew 6:25-34
Do Not Worry
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,[a] or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?[b] 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God[c] and his[d] righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:25-34
I believe that with Jesus, everything is sacred, and the things you do regularly can be sacred practices and even rituals.
But, what is a ritual?
According to Wikipedia, “a ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or revered objects. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community.” Wikipedia
You might already have a family ritual of having tacos on Tuesday nights or saying a prayer together before a meal or before bed, or reading the Christmas Story on Christmas Eve, The Celtic Christians had prayers for doing everyday things, like lighting the fire before cooking breakfast, or saying a prayer for their family members as they made up their beds, or praying for the day as they walked to the fields or milked the cows.
Most of us don’t have to light a fire for cooking, or milk the cow for breakfast, but we can use everyday tasks as prayer practices. These actions can become part of your family’s spiritual practice or rituals.
Start with what you already do, and add meaning to it. It can be something you already do together. Sometimes it can be as simple as taking time to notice what Jesus is doing and giving him credit. Or taking time to be grateful, thanking Jesus for a beautiful sunset, or the much needed rain. You could take time to thank Jesus for the people who grew your food as you prepared dinner, or make lunches together. And taking time to notice and honor the abundance we have in simple things like electricity and running water! I am grateful each day for my dishwater and washing machine!
Rituals can be as simple as lighting a candle or saying a prayer. This could be done around the table or at bedtime or even each week on Taco Tuesday!
Ideas:
Light a candle. Have a candle for each member of your household to light as they share. Ask:
Where did you notice the Light and Love of Jesus today? Take time to say thank you to Jesus. Where did you feel close to the Light and Love of Jesus?
Where did you feel or notice being far from Jesus? Say you’re sorry if you need to.
And finally; how do you want to experience more of the Light and Love of Jesus tomorrow?
Driving somewhere in the car ….Silence and Celebration
Turn off the tunes and phones and practice silence together for 3 -5 minutes. You can add on to your time as you develop the practice. Set a timer on your phone and when the timer goes off break the silence and talk about what you noticed in the quiet. What did you see, hear, experience? You can do this in your home too.
Or…
Pick a song in the car that is your family can sing along to, that brings you joy and celebration. Play it each day and celebrate in joy! Maybe let each member of your family pick a celebration song! You can build a family playlist too.
Praying for others:
Brushing your teeth….if you use a regular tooth brush you can use a sharpie marker and write the name of two or three friends to pray for every time you brush your teeth. Pray for these friends to know the love of Jesus as you brush your teeth. 2 minutes of praying.
Create a prayer wall for you family with post it notes. Mine is near my coffee station where I make my french press everyday. This gives me at least 4 minutes to pray for friends and family every morning.
You can create a “stained glass window” using post-it notes…one window might be a “thank you God for…” adding things you are thankful for each day.
Another could be a “prayer wall” or window in your kitchen or family room where you will see it everyday…add post-it notes for people you are praying for, needs you have, prayers for people and places. Everyone gets to add to the wall.
A Family Prayer or Blessing:
Write a family blessing. Something you can pray each day over each person or together as a family.
You are/I am greatly loved by the Creator of the entire universe. Help me/us (name the child or person) to live boldly in that love. And help me to love others extravagantly today.
Help _____to notice you today Jesus, Help ____to pay attention and be surprised by your love and the beauty around them. Give her/him/them eyes to see and ears to hear your voice and know that they are greatly loved.
My friend pastor Meta Herrick Carlson has some great blessing books you might check out.
Ordinary blessings for parents
Chapstick Blessing. Brittany Sky of Eastend UMC here in Nasvhille, uses chapstick lip balm to draw a cross on the hand of her toddlers each morning when they leave her Sunday school classroom as a blessing to remind them they are loved by Jesus. Now, the kids are taking the lead and passing on the blessing using the chapstick to bless one another.
Learn the Lord’s Prayer in a new way:
Pray it together. A great way is to learn the Lord’s Prayer as a body prayer practice.
Aaron Henry & Mac Niequist teach us to pray the Lord’s Prayer with gestures. They would pray this each night as a family.
Lord’s Prayer with gestures at Mars Hill from A New Liturgy on Vimeo.
Don’t do all of these, just pick one that seems doable, interesting, and fits where you are. And don’t forget; these are practices, so they will take practice.
Summer is a great time to try new things with your kids and your grandchildren.
I”d love to hear about some of your own family prayer practices and rituals.
Feel free to share them in the comments! Lilly
“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” – Matthew 18:20
“God communicates with us by way of all things. They are messages of love.” – Ernesto Cardenal
“The fullness of joy is to behold God in everything.” – Julian of Norwich
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
Originally published Youthfront Family Blog
By Jenny Gehman
In a world where you can be anything, be kind. So says the tee-shirt I just bought at our local thrift shop.
“We tell the story of your kindness all the time,” I relayed to Alberto in my email. “You are now famous.” To which he replied in broken English, “I did never imagine that something as simple as going for a run with your son would have that effect.”
Alberto, who is from Spain, lived with our little family almost twenty years ago. He was not only a businessman who came to learn English, but an athlete training for the New York City marathon. Everyday, he would lace up his shoes and head out on a run. And everyday, our 12-year old son, Ryan, who was on the autism spectrum and being homeschooled at the time, would watch him with fascination.
One morning, after about a month of witnessing this routine, Ryan asked me if he could join Alberto on a run. My reply was a fast and firm no. While Ryan had boatloads of energy, he lacked any and all physical coordination at that time, and had never run before. I didn’t want him to bother our new friend.
Ryan promptly ignored me and, possibly with an inner knowing that I lacked, marched up to Alberto. “Can I run with you?” he asked. Not yet having a command of the English language, Alberto simply smiled, said, “Si, Si,” and off they went, Ryan in his velcro shoes!
Seven miles later they returned. Seven miles! And Ryan’s life has never been the same. Alberto returned to Spain and then flew back to the US for the marathon, arranging for us to join him in New York. At the age of 13, Ryan was afforded the opportunity to watch, in person, the marathon he will now run in a few short months. It will be his 5th one and, God-willing, far from his last.
Ryan is now a sub-elite distance runner with the goal, and very good chance, of being a 2028 Olympic trials qualifier in the marathon. He tells others all the time how running has saved his life, and how Alberto’s kindness opened the door. He has made Alberto famous.
Another person now made famous for her kindness is a little old lady I met during local elections a year or so ago. When I went to our neighborhood polling place to vote and stepped up to the registration table, she was on the opposite side. After finding my name on her roster, she looked up at me, spoke my full first name, Jennifer, and surprised me by asking, “Do you know what your name means?” Before I could answer, she told me, “It means gracious gift from God.” And kindness was bestowed upon my head.
I wrote a column about this woman and how she named me, in which I explained that she got it all wrong. Gracious gift is not what my name means (I googled it many times over). My name means “Fair One.” However, that night, she named me new and it was holy ground. I felt like bending, like bowing, like removing my shoes.
When a man from Kansas by the name of Al read that column, he set about making little wooden coins emblazoned with the words, “Gracious gift from God.” He wanted to give them out to others, to carry on the kindness. As I write this, the story of that sweet woman’s kindness to me has gone out to over 10,000 people. And those coins Al makes have been placed into the hands of women living at a shelter, a highschool youth group, 79 people at a family reunion, a group of graduating seniors, a group of ex-cons, and a young girl freshly rescued from sex-trafficking. All named as gifts. As grace. And I wonder – to what effect? I bet this precious little lady would be astonished to know the impact of her kindness.
Jesus made someone famous, too. In Matthew’s gospel (chapter 26), we read about an unnamed woman who came to Jesus with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, and proceeded to pour it on his head. When the disciples grew indignant over this costly act of kindness, Jesus came to the defense of the woman. Not only did he tell the curmudgeonly disciples to leave her alone. Not only did he acknowledge her gift to him as good. But he went on to say, “Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her” (Matthew 26:13 NRSV).
Tell of the kindness, friends. Tell of the kindness!
“I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord,” the prophet Isaiah proclaimed. “The deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us—yes, the many good things he has done for Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses” (Isaiah 63:7 NIV).
Practice the kindness. Proclaim the kindness. Pass the kindness on.
*Reprinted with permission from Anabaptist World magazine, AnabaptistWorld.org.*
Christine Sine’s book The Gift of Wonder
“Can you imagine a God who dances with shouts of joy, laughs when you laugh, loves to play, enjoys life, and invites us to join the fun? I couldn’t until recently. I grew up with a very serious, workaholic God. Even when my theology changed, I struggled to live into my new way of thinking. Then Jesus words, ‘Unless you become like a child you cannot enter the kingdom’, began to resonate in my head.”
[Photograph is of my friend, Tessa, who loved life. This was taken by myself 3 months before she died. The UK November weather decided to be unseasonally sunny so she could enjoy her last trip to the seaside]
In the UK we love a good moan about “seasons”. We bemoan the summer when it gets too hot, too wet, too windy, too cold. We bemoan the winter when it doesn’t get enough snow, too much snow, rain, wind. You get the picture. We Brits love a good natter about the weather and how it isn’t doing what it’s meant to be doing for the time of year. I think the only time there was joy rather than whinging was the spring of 2020 when we went into lockdown and the weather was warm and dry so we were able to get out in our gardens, go for the allotted walks we had permission to do, and in rural areas maybe extend those walks.
I wonder too if we moan about “seasonal spirituality” – as in Christmas is too busy and comes round too soon, the “Church” doesn’t do Easter like it used to, in X denomination they don’t do X-season as well as Y church that we don’t attended because …..
But what does seasonal spirituality really mean? Or at least what does it mean to me?
At the moment I’m not regularly attending a congregation and my husband has had to accept that this is the season I am in. But I do co-run a Christian youth group; although that has not taken place since May due to the majority of our young people being busy. We only have 5 young people so if 3 of them are busy and others don’t want to come because their friends aren’t coming then it doesn’t happen. Myself and my co-leader have to accept this is the season our group is in.
For me seasonal spirituality means not just going with the seasons of the land – spring, summer, autumn, winter – but going with the seasons of my heart, of what I believe God is saying to me, of what I have the energy to do. It is trusting that inner voice, checking that it isn’t just me being obtuse [as in with the not going to church] or people pleasing [as in with the going to church/getting involved with church based activities], and checking in with God to really know what God wants of me in this season of my life.
Talking of seasons, I am now in my early 60s and so I look at life differently to what I did in my early 40s even, and definitely differently to how I looked at life in my early 20s. I need to explore this new season of my life not just rush boldly forward doing whatever. And I think that is the same with spirituality – we often don’t pause, take time out to feel that change of season, but rush forward either doing the same old same old or often getting busier and busier.
Life changed in 2020. There were a lot of prophecies about “perfect vision” and I still believe lockdown, Brexit here in the UK, mass migrations, climate change, the war in Ukraine, and other things are part of the reviewing of the world. And I think we need to pause, to look, to really see what God is really seeing.
Jesus talks about “those who have ears let them hear” and about people being “always seeing but never perceiving” and yet if we don’t take time out to see what the spirituality season is that we are in then we will not hear God’s voice, will not see what God is doing, will not perceive our role in this.
So are we willing to take some time to contemplate what season we are in? To not grumble that it is too busy/quiet/fast/slow/wet/dry/revival/not/etc? And will we just wait until we can really hear what God is doing, really perceive what God is doing and really know our part in all of this. And maybe it is as Christine said the other day our work is loving the world just as it is. How about giving that a god for a while?
Whether you are praying the stations of the day, in need of resources for rest, hoping to spark joy and find wonder, or simply want to enjoy beautiful prayers, poetry, and art – our digital downloads section has many options! Christine Sine’s book Rest in the Moment is designed to help you find those pauses throughout the day. Praying through the hours or watches, you may find inspiration in our prayer cards set Prayers for the Day or Pause for the Day. You may find your curiosity piqued in the free poetry and art download Haiku Book of Hours. All this and more can be found in our shop!
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