RevGals Friday Five Meme: Spiritual Disciplines Edition
Mary Beth, over at RevGals offers this Friday Five Meme:
For today's Friday Five, please share with us five spiritual practices or disciplines from your experience. They can be ones that you have tried and kept up with, tried and NOT kept up with, ones that you flirt with at various times, or even practices that you have tried and found are definitely NOT your cup of tea. Let us know what's worked for you...and not.
1. Silent prayer/meditation: My primary spiritual discipline, one I have practiced since I was 19 years old (so, uhm, 35 years, give or take a few years when I gave it up because I didn't think it helped me - only to find out it does help me feel focused, grounded, and clear-headed.)
2. Walking: When I am preparing a sermon or need to think something through in a deeper way I take a walk. Often I walk my dogs. My most favorite was walking my dogs at a big dog park in Chicago that had woods, fields, and a pond. My spiritual director used to comment on the section of Tobit 6.2:and the dog came out with him and went along with them. So they both journeyed along.
3. Yoga: I have practiced yoga for twenty five years. Sometimes my yoga practice is regular and consistent, and other times I set it aside for a year or so. Eventually I return to it and find it a wonderful way to stretch and strengthen as well as relax the tension I hold in my body. My spirituality is centered on holistic care of mind, body, and spirit. Prayer/meditation, reflecting on scripture, being attentive to the concerns of the world around me, and yoga help me with this.
4. Reflecting on scripture: reading in general is something I like to do and because what I read feeds my soul, reading is a spiritual discipline. But more specifically reflecting on scripture and preparing a sermon for Sunday morning is one a spiritual discipline that continues to open me up to the power of the Word to transform me.
5. Knitting Sometimes my knitting is a form of prayer - I pray while I knit. So far I have not made prayer shawls, but I have knit scarves/stoles for a mom whose son had brain cancer. My thought was that she could carry/wear the prayers with her to appointments and the hospital and whenever she needed to feel held in prayer. The scarf is made in a loose stitch with ribbon and a mixed texture yarn in her purple, her favorite color. She can wear it with her everyday clothes. And I knit prayer socks for the son who was struggling with chemo-related narapathy in his feet.
For today's Friday Five, please share with us five spiritual practices or disciplines from your experience. They can be ones that you have tried and kept up with, tried and NOT kept up with, ones that you flirt with at various times, or even practices that you have tried and found are definitely NOT your cup of tea. Let us know what's worked for you...and not.
1. Silent prayer/meditation: My primary spiritual discipline, one I have practiced since I was 19 years old (so, uhm, 35 years, give or take a few years when I gave it up because I didn't think it helped me - only to find out it does help me feel focused, grounded, and clear-headed.)
2. Walking: When I am preparing a sermon or need to think something through in a deeper way I take a walk. Often I walk my dogs. My most favorite was walking my dogs at a big dog park in Chicago that had woods, fields, and a pond. My spiritual director used to comment on the section of Tobit 6.2:and the dog came out with him and went along with them. So they both journeyed along.
3. Yoga: I have practiced yoga for twenty five years. Sometimes my yoga practice is regular and consistent, and other times I set it aside for a year or so. Eventually I return to it and find it a wonderful way to stretch and strengthen as well as relax the tension I hold in my body. My spirituality is centered on holistic care of mind, body, and spirit. Prayer/meditation, reflecting on scripture, being attentive to the concerns of the world around me, and yoga help me with this.
4. Reflecting on scripture: reading in general is something I like to do and because what I read feeds my soul, reading is a spiritual discipline. But more specifically reflecting on scripture and preparing a sermon for Sunday morning is one a spiritual discipline that continues to open me up to the power of the Word to transform me.
5. Knitting Sometimes my knitting is a form of prayer - I pray while I knit. So far I have not made prayer shawls, but I have knit scarves/stoles for a mom whose son had brain cancer. My thought was that she could carry/wear the prayers with her to appointments and the hospital and whenever she needed to feel held in prayer. The scarf is made in a loose stitch with ribbon and a mixed texture yarn in her purple, her favorite color. She can wear it with her everyday clothes. And I knit prayer socks for the son who was struggling with chemo-related narapathy in his feet.
Comments
Do you know the della Robbia rendering of the group? The dog is quite wonderful!
Thank you for this, this morning!
I forgot to add walking to my list, which I am about to do right now. Sadly, my dog is now too old for anything beyond maybe half a mile.
thanks for mentioning knitting, also. Great!
Also getting a simple book that talks about the purpose of yoga practice and poses will help you understand the blending of movement and breath, of stretching and holding poses, of stregthening and releasing...
Love what you have to say about walking and knitting. It just calms me...though I often knit prayers for a person I'm knitting for into it like...um...spells. Oh, dear you have some special hug knitting and how important that is that the son and mom can feel you with them as they walk that journey as Christ around them. So important.