A way to view one's spiritual life: a set of concentric circles. In the very center is our soul: our inner world, our dreams, the landscape of memory, the trap of personality. As we move away from the center, we find spiritual practices. Activities like meditation, centering, yoga (in the Westernized sense, not its original purpose). This might be where one could find astrology, divination, tarot reading. It's a world of symbols and signs. Further out from…
I've been reading The Gift of Wonder: Creative Practices for Delighting in God by Christine Aroney-Sine over the last month or so. The book is about recapturing the joy of God, not the "very serious, workaholic type of God" many of us are used to hearing about in church. At the end of each chapter, she has a small practice for the reader to participate in to tangibly connect with joy, imagination, playfulness, and more things that…
Do you sometimes have thoughts pass through your mind that start with, "If I was a completely different person..." or "If I had a different life..."? I'm a daydreamer, and I see the possibilities in everything. So, these thoughts come often for me. In one case, I was at an outdoor concert watching some friends play in a band in an emptied out barn. I sat on a three-person van seat that had been placed on the…
Each week (roughly), I'm posting my reflections on a chapter in Devotions for Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas. You can read all of them here. This week is about setting a good example for our children in our lifestyle. Thomas asks us to consider what morals we're teaching our family and what type of legacy we'll leave behind. Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge.Proverbs 14:26 I…
I love Joan Didion's quote, "I don't know what I think until I write it down." I find writing, and especially journaling, a great tool to form actual ideas and thoughts from the mass of swirling emotions, memories, and images in my mind. Do you journal? I encourage you to try it today. It's a helpful tool to get in touch with and process your emotions. In our search for mindfulness, writing things down can bring your…
Each week, I'm going through a devotion in Devotions for Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas. This devotion focused on how we may feel inadequate as parents or that we don't have "what it takes" to be a good parent. We all deal with self-doubt, especially in our capitalist society, which generally places our self-worth on what money, time, or skills on what we can contribute. Thomas encourages us to remember that God is sovereign and they* have…
I got the book Devotions for Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas for my birthday (thanks, Ryan!). There are 52 devotions, so I plan to do one every Friday and write up a post of my reflections over the weekend. This week started off with these verses from Psalm 139: "Where can I go from your Spirit?Where can I flee from your presence?If I go up to the heavens, you are there:if I make my bed in my…