Holy is the place I stand

to give whatever small good I can.

Grab a cup of tea, settle into a comfortable seat, and allow this song to be your prayer today.  Blessings!

A full copy of the lyrics is below the video.

Holy As A Day Is Spent

Holy is the dish and drain
The soap and sink, the cup and plate
And the warm wool socks, and the cold white tile
Showerheads and good dry towels

And frying eggs sound like psalms
With a bit of salt measured in my palm
It’s all a part of a sacrament
As holy as a day is spent

Holy is the busy street
And cars that boom with passion’s beat
And the check out girl, Counting change
And the hands that shook my hands today

Hymns of geese fly overhead
And stretch their wings like their parents did
Blessed be the dog
That runs in her sleep
The catch that wild and elusive thing

Holy is a familiar room and the quiet moments in the afternoon
And folding sheets like folding hands
To pray as only laundry can

I’m letting go of all I fear
Like autumn leaves of earth and air
For summer came and summer went
As holy as a day is spent

Holy is the place I stand
To give whatever small good I can
The empty page, the open book
Redemption everywhere I look

Unknowingly we slow our pace
In the shade of unexpected grace
With grateful smiles and sad lament
As holy as a day is spent

And morning light sings “providence”
As holy as a day is spent

Here is a response from Marcia Wakeland on our Work of Christmas post.

When you asked Who and How can I help, I smiled to think I was given that opportunity through an invitation from Project Homeless Connect at the Egan Center on Wednesday Jan. 27th. Perhaps others are interested.. the contact is ppb@gci.net or 907-346-1991 to sign up or get more info.

Click here to see a great video and find out more about what Project Homeless Connect does.  This is a pretty simple way to do the Work of Christmas this January.

Blessings!

Rebecca

She also offers the following blessing which deeply blessed me on this day of Light and new beginnings.

The Map You Make Yourself
A Blessing for Women’s Christmas

You have looked
at so many doors
with longing,
wondering if your life
lay on the other side.

For today,
choose the door
that opens
to the inside.

Travel the most ancient way
of all:
the path that leads you
to the center
of your life.

No map
but the one
you make yourself.

No provision
but what you already carry
and the grace that comes
to those who walk
the pilgrim’s way.

Speak this blessing
as you set out
and watch how
your rhythm slows,
the cadence of the road
drawing you into the pace
that is your own.

Eat when hungry.
Rest when tired.
Listen to your dreaming.
Welcome detours
as doors deeper in.

Pray for protection.
Ask for guidance.
Offer gladness
for the gifts that come,
and then
let them go.

Do not expect
to return
by the same road.
Home is always
by another way,
and you will know it
not by the light
that waits for you

but by the star
that blazes inside you,
telling you
where you are
is holy
and you are welcome
here.

—Jan Richardson

Blessings of Light!

Rebecca

This year I did the work very mindfully.  This was actually helped by the fact that between last Christmas and this Christmas we replaced our carpet with hardwood floors.  No longer could we drop any delicate ornaments and have a hope of them surviving.  Each fragile piece required my care and attention.  So, each ornament was removed lovingly and with gratitude for all of the gifts of Christmas, all of the gifts in my life and the hope that I would see all of these old friends in the shape of Christmas decorations again next year.

And what now?  Is Christmas over for another year?  Two thoughts arise.  One comes from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol of which I saw a terrific performance in Anchorage by the Perseverence Theater.  At the end of the play it is said of Scrooge that he “knew how to keep Christmas well”.  It seems clear that the author is not simply referring to the 12 days of Christmas but some way that Ebenezer carries that spirit throughout the whole year.  How is the energy and love of Christmas planted in my heart?  How do I carry it throughout the year?

My second thought came to me first through Facebook and then was reinforced in the sermon offered at my church on the Sunday following Christmas.  It is a poem from the theologian/poet/mystic Howard Thurman entitled The Work of Christmas.

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.

The Christmas season is nearly passed, many of us have made our New Year’s resolutions to get in shape, lose weight, or break some habit.  Today, on the eve of Epiphany, I invite you to ponder or pray about how you will keep Christmas this year and how God’s love might be revealed through you in 2016.  For me, God is inviting me to the difficult work of Hope in the midst of so much strife, struggle and overwhelming odds. I am also invited to keep my eyes and heart open as I go about my daily life.  Who can I help?  How might I help?

Many blessings to you for 2016.  May it be a year of peace, love, and hope.

Rebecca

Here is a link to a beautiful musical benediction of the above poem if you would like to listen.

Please leave a comment or share with the community about how you will be keeping Christmas in 2016.

It is an interesting phrase, to “catch our breath”.  After all, where could it possibly go?  How could it get away from us?   And yet the phrase lets us know that it is very, very common for us to lose track of the breath, that part of us that we know intuitively will lead us back to presence, to stillness, to God and to ourselves.

Attending to our breath is one of the most simple spiritual practices and it is also one of the most important (or possibly THE most important) and effective practices that we will every adopt.  It can be done any time, any where, in any activity, and in any state of mind.  It doesn’t require silence, a candle, music or a yoga mat although all of those things may be helpful.  It simply requires us to remember to breathe or watch our breath with intention.

Here is a very simple practice that I encourage even longterm practitioners to try right now.

Close your eyes.

Become aware of your breath.  Just watch it go in and out for several cycles.

Now begin to breathe intentionally.  Breathe in for a slow count of three.  Notice the pause at the top of the inhale.  And then breathe out for a slow count of three.  Allow the pause at the bottom of the exhale to be a point of rest.  Notice that when the breath goes out of your body your shoulders come down, your muscles relax, you settle deeply into your seat or your feet if you are standing.

With every cycle of breath you draw yourself into presence and also give your body and mind a moment of rest. Do this for two or three minutes which may seem like a long time.

When you are finished feel the gratitude in your body and heart.  Say a thank you to God and to your amazing body that carries you all day every day.

Take this practice with you to the grocery store, to the post office, into the midst of the busy holiday traffic, in the shower, in your quiet moments at home,  or as you settle into your seat for Christmas Eve service. Be present in this beautiful season.   Catch your breath and be at peace.

Blessings of the season to all,

Rebecca

Your soul alone has the map of your future,

therefore you can trust this indirect,

oblique side of yourself.

If you do, it will take you where you need to go,

but more important it will teach you

a kindness of rhythm in your journey.

―John O’Donohue

Recently I was assigned the spiritual practice of daily writing down what it is that I value.  I have been amazed at how often the word kindness has arisen in my lists.  I have long known of the Dalai Lama’s assertion that “kindness is my religion” and yet this word has just never felt big enough to me.  Isn’t compassion better than kindness?  What about justice?  Holiness?  Enlightenment?  And yet, the more that I settle in with this gentle little word, kindness, the more I experience the depth of its power.  Kindness feels like something that you DO.  I can do it almost all day long, whether I am alone or with others, remembering to begin with kindness toward myself, often the hardest place to begin.

Trust your soul.  Trust the geography of your destiny.  Journey in a rhythm of kindness for yourself and the whole world.

If you would like to explore more of the inner journey and geography, consider contacting a spiritual director.  Or forward this to someone who you think might be interested.  You can find several directors throughout Alaska listed here:  Spiritual Directors

Blessings on the Journey!

Rebecca

SDI member Christine Luna Munger has developed a terrific comparison chart of relationships designed to nurture mental and spiritual wellbeing that is available on the SDI website. Use this chart to determine which modality is right for you or those you companion!

I also wanted to share some reader responses to my post on Reverence:  Please spend a moment with each person’s awareness.  Their sharing deeply blessed my own practice.

Reverence (and everything else that practice entails) appear when I sit for meditation, when I feel my breath after a few awkward ‘hello there, breath.’ And definitely, when I walk, when a scene or image calls me, when I sit to draw or paint it, while I am in the act of drawing and painting, and after it, when I look at the result of my communion with Reverence.

As directee, I experience Reverence during an SD session between me and my SD.

The practice of paying attention is what I try to develop and cultivate in me. Drawing helps on that because it helps me see what I do not normally see. I would love to see like Thomas Merton –

“Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts, where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time.”

I often sense a ” call to reverence” in my body. My head turns gently for no known reason……
and I am made aware of the Presence of the Sacred. This sensation is almost always wrapped in silence……and I simply sense it is an invitation into reverence.

I experience reverence when I am kind and gentle to myself and stop pressing so hard. As a professor said recently: God is enough for me and I am enough for God. If I/we “get” this then life becomes more tender and we abide in God in a way that feels more loving and reverent.

Autumn blessings to all!

Rebecca

Like all the practices in this book, paying attention requires no equipment, no special clothes, no greens fees or personal trainers.  You do not even have to be in particularly good shape.  All you need is a body on this earth, willing to notice where it is, trusting that even something as small as a hazelnut can become an altar in the world.

The practice that has captured my heart and attention deeply through this book is the practice of reverence.  It resonates with me because it is such an integral part of my inner and outer life and yet, I had never named it as reverence before.  I thought of terms such as wonder, awe, and beauty.  Those are also present, but the quiet presence of reverence is a near constant companion.   I don’t always practice it perfectly, but I very frequently notice it. I frequently notice it when I am listening deeply to any human being’s story but particularly within the practice of spiritual direction, both as a director and a directee.  A brief definition of reverence is “a feeling of deep respect, tinged with awe”.  Yes.  In spiritual direction, in prayer or meditation, in the outdoors, in the presence of another soul, in poetry, art and music.  Do you feel the reverence?

Here is a beautiful quote from John O’Donohue:

When we approach with reverence, great things decide to approach us. Our real life comes to the surface and its light awakens the concealed beauty in things. When we walk on the earth with reverence, beauty will decide to trust us. The rushed heart and arrogant mind lack the gentleness and patience to enter that embrace.”
― John O’Donohue, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace

• If you are a spiritual director, what is your sense of reverence in your practice, in your daily life?
• If you are a directee, do you experience reverence for your own inner life and spiritual experiences?
• For all of us:  How might we more deeply notice and nurture the experience of reverence in our every day moments?

I would love to hear your thoughts and comments.  Please respond below.

Autumn blessings!

Rebecca

This is the “impossible” for me.  Turning around climate change.  It is a task right up there with achieving world peace.  We all want it, but have no idea how to get there.  And yet, I know that I am called to act.  To DO something.  What is that something?  I am not sure.  But, I have allowed the overwhelming nature of the issue to let myself off the hook.  To think that I can’t change anything.  I will be praying with these words from Parker Palmer over the next many days and see where things might lead.

What about you?  Please share with the rest of us what the impossible task is that is calling to your heart and soul.

Click on the article below to read the full text.  If the Facebook post doesn’t show up on the email you can go to the Blog HERE.

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When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse

to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measle-pox;

Each time I read this poem, tears rise to my eyes as I deeply long to live this way.  To see the world this way.  To love this way.

What about you?  What is the intention that you might set so that when this day is over you can say that you inhabited the time and space fully rather than having just visiting?  What could “taking the world into my arms” look like in your life?  Where have you been amazed?

I would love to hear your thoughts or responses.  Comment below.  And if you know anyone who would like the blog or might be interested in spiritual direction, please forward this email.

Blessings!

Rebecca