The Journey (a poem by Mary Oliver)

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This poem has meant a lot to me over the years. It’s a powerful reminder of the transformation that happens when we listen to our own soul.

Join me in being moved by this poem, over and over again.

Start by taking time to read the poem a few times and then take some time to consider what this poem has for you today.

Feel free to download the FREE printable PDF and post it somewhere where you can refer to it often.

The Journey by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice --
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voice behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save
the only life that you could save.

A New Year's Blessing

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As the calendar turns, always beyond our control,

May we embrace the deep fragility we feel

As we watch time tick on.

And may we release our grip with all the faith we can muster

So that we can receive the unfolding days ahead with grace.

 

As the midnight hour approaches,

May our hearts toast the loves and losses

Of these past days.

And may our glass be overflowing with hard-won hope

For what will come.

 

As we close the complicated chapter of this year that was,

May we open to the new story

that is set to be written.

And may we hear the invitation to bravely author and craft

a plot of love.

 

As the ball drops and we say goodbye to the year we’ll never forget,

May we remember (as it will surely slip our hearts),

that faith for better days is the hope that grounds us through.

And may this hope be like a kiss of mercy to help us say hello

to this next year with the open arms of love.

Goodbye | Hello - Year in Review

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Why not take some time to say a proper "goodbye" to the year that was,

and a hearty "hello" to the one to come

What a year you’ve had (again).

Whether your year has been peppered with unexpected joys, tempered with real grief, or a likely combination of both, let’s make time for some soul-full reflection and bring some light and support into your new year.

Each year that passes is unique.

Individually, and collectively, we all go through the 365 days of the year bravely, never knowing what tomorrow holds.

Your own individual path has held profound moments since the turn of the calendar year many months ago - moments that have shaped your present and will shape the year to come.

It’s no wonder that so many of us have an impulse to reflect on the events of our year, how they’ve shaped us, the lessons we’ve learned, and taking time to intentionally imagine the year to come.

In this DIY online experience, Christa will thoughtfully guide you through soul-centered reflection and experiential exercises that will give you the tools to process your year, know yourself better, and take your next right step for the year to come.

You’ll walk away with calm-clarity and centered-hope for the days ahead.

This online experience is designed to refresh you and help you:

  • REVIEW: Identify your own key soul-shaping moments from the previous year

  • REFLECT: Take time to discover what truly moved you and its impact on you

  • REFRAME: Address this year’s disappointments, challenges, and pain with gentleness & ground yourself in what is most true

  • RECLAIM: Make a realistic ‘plan’ to re-align and find resilient ways of living well in the year to come

Pausing with the Winter Solstice

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Good things come from the dark…

  • a baby forming in the warm womb will be born to the delight of many

  • a bulb buried in the cold ground will rise and bloom

  • a dream emerging from the depths will enlighten and guide

With the longest night approaching in the Northern Hemisphere, marking the beginning of the Winter season, taking time to pause with the Solstice can be a helpful ritual to bring presence to the cycles of our lives - the ones that feel bright, and the ones where darkness surrounds.

And, it’s come at the perfect time.

Tuning into the rhythms of nature is a much needed gift to our contemporary heart & mind. The bustle of the season, and the 24/7 modern conveniences make it almost impossible to notice what our species have cared deeply about for millennia.

You don’t need to be afraid of rituals that honour the natural world. You don’t need to see it as competing with your faith traditions, or intellectual prowess. You don’t need to hold it at a cerebral arms length as if it doesn’t have anything relevant or sacred to show you.

In fact, the moment we see how irrevocably connected we are to the natural world, healing will begin - for ourselves and for our planet.

The Winter Solstice teaches us that the dark is an unseen place for something new to be born. It’s a resting place to gather strength. It’s a quiet place to cultivate creativity. And yet we have a general aversion to what’s unseen, what slows us down to rest, and the quiet that’s required to experience deep sacred silence.

We have to practice these things - they don’t come naturally for us modern folk. Joining in a ritual is a way of practicing - a way to allow something from the ordinary, to reveal something extrodinary.

So, why not take time to pause…even if for a few minutes to reflect on the gifts of the dark, the natural ebb & flow of life, and the sliver of hope that is always within our grasp.

Ideas to Consider:

  1. If celebrating the Winter Solstice is new to you, go ahead and do a simple google search to learn a bit more about it. This year (2022), the shortest day and longest night is on Wednesday, December 21.

  2. Consider going for a walk for an hour where the sun sets roughly halfway through the hour. If you can safely walk in a quiet park or wooded area, all the better. For example, if the sun sets at 4:47pm, try to head out around 4:30pm and notice the following:

    • What do you see? Notice how quickly the light and shadows change. Consider the natural colour palette around you and how different it is to the other seasons. Notice the lights around you and how they illuminate the darkness. Any seasonal festive lights twinkling around you? How are they different then the big fluorescent street lights?

    • What do you hear? Are there any birds singing? Is it quiet? If you’re walking on snow, what does it sound like? How is this different from the same time of day at the Summer Solstice in June?

    • What do you smell? Can you describe what “cold” smells like? Do you smell any wood fires burning?

    • What do you feel? Notice the temperature. How does breathing in colder air feel? Find a pine tree and touch the needles, and place your hands on the trunk of a tree and notice the temperature.

  3. If you can’t get out for a walk, can you find 10-15 minutes to sit and watch the sun set? Perhaps you can just sit in the dark before turning on your lights for the evening and consider how the dark is an important place to embrace.

  4. Light a candle in a dark room, or add a string of twinkly lights to “decorate the dark”. If you’re curious to learn more about this idea of “decorating the dark”, I’d suggest this podcast.

  5. Gather round a fire. Whether you light a fire outside, or in your hearth, being in the presence of fire on the solstice is a practice that has you joining the ancients! Consider writing down a few things that you want to “burn” or “purify” from this past year and for the year ahead.

  6. Journal with these questions:

    • What has the dark times of your life birthed in you?

    • If going “dark” has some generative qualities, how can you embrace the darker emotions of grief instead of pushing them away? How can you stop producing in order to slow down, find quiet, and take a real rest even when it feels uncomfortable?

    • Our impulse is to always find the “light” ( the happy, convenient, easy, path of least resistance). How have you seen this to be true in your own life? What potential can be found when you turn away from those things and sit in the “dark” for a while longer? How might this actually lead to the light?

    • Consider all the light and dark you’ve experienced of the past twelve months. How might this natural ebb & flow encourage you today is this “pandemic darkness”?

    • Change is the most predictable thing there is. Daytime turns to night, and then night turns to day. What hope does this cosmic cycle bring to your very particular life today?

  7. Order a book and consider reading it over these dark winter days. I’d suggest “Wintering” by Katharine May, or “Learning to Walk in the Dark” by Barbara Brown Taylor.

  8. Consider writing a poem or prayer the express what the Winter Solstice might mean for you this year. Here’s one I wrote about several years ago. Enjoy!

D a r k e s t d a y .

W h e r e l i g h t i s i n s u c h s h o r t s u p p l y ,

a n d w a r m i n g g l o w f l i c k e r s a w a y ,

t h r e a t e n i n g t o a s h q u i e t o u r v e r y b r e a t h .

W e a c h e w i t h o u t w o r d s .

W e l o n g f o r w h a t w a s .

W h a t c o u l d b e .

W h a t w i l l b e .

I n t h e s i l e n c e , i n t i g h t n e s s o f c h e s t ,

I n t h e c o l d h o l l o w , w e s i t o n t h e s e a t o f d e s i r e .

F o r a n e w d a y .

A b r i g h t e r o n e , a n d w a r m e r .

O n e t h a t t a k e s t h i s s p i r a l o f f e a r a n d s a d n e s s a n d

r e s t l e s s n e s s .

A n d p u t s i t t o r e s t .

D a r k e s t d a y .

Y o u a r e b u t j u s t o n e .

Y o u a r e d a r k e s t , a n d t h e n y o u a r e n o t .

F o r d a y b r e a k s a n e w , a g a r n e t s l i v e r o n e a s t h o r i z o n

a m e s s e n g e r h e r a l d i n g l i g h t ,

w a r m t h ,

a s w e e t c h o r a l o f h o p e .

T h e r e i s n o p l a c e t h i s c a n o p y o f D a y d o e s n o t c o v e r .

N o c o r n e r t h a t r e m a i n s h i d d e n a n d b l a c k .

W h a t c o u l d b e i s h e r e .

W h a t w i l l b e h a s c o m e .

T h e L i g h t h a s a r r i v e d a n d i s w i t h u s .

Coping at Christmas

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How to handle the holidays when you’re too sad to celebrate.

For some of us, there’s a thick blanket spread out over December.

 It’s the kind that suffocates and darkens the twinkle of the season. We wish it wasn’t so, but it hangs heavy on so many of us - it’s impossible to ignore. 

And this Christmas is bound to feel uniquely heavy for so many.

 Do you know what I’m talking about?

  •  Maybe you are a patient in pain wondering if you’re health will take a turn

  • Or, over this past year, you've lost someone you loved deeply - the empty chair at the table reminds you of all the happy traditions never to be the same again.

  •  Maybe your relationship seems so broken beyond hope of repair, everything about this time of year reminds you of better days.

  •  Perhaps you’re a mom with little ones that demand more than you have to give, and you are at the very end of your rope. This season drains and seems to mock you.

  •  Or you've lost your job, and this month makes it particularly hard to feel joy.

  • And let’s be honest… every one of us has lost a sense of control and freedom, and the naivete of pre-pandemic days. This Christmas will likely have its challenges.

 Whatever the circumstance, you find yourself facing the holidays with dread and the sting of loss. You’re not alone.

Author of the best-selling book, Life’s Great Dare, Christa Hesselink adapts her most-read blog post into a thoughtful and helpful workbook for those suffering the pain of loss during the holiday season.

An Advent Blessing

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An Advent Blessing

 

May your desire remind you of what you really need,

and may this hope carve out a cave in you

for something beautiful to be born.

May you wait attentively and notice the One

who longs to make an arrival in you.

May the chill of your life be swaddled in peace,

so that your soul can find rest in the warm breast of God.

And may this peace be passed to

your neighbour, the stranger, and to your enemy,

so that they may be soothed soundly this day.

May your attention be drawn

to the breath of this very moment,

so you can enjoy the Reality that you are never alone.

And may this joy enliven you to live

in full participation and partnership

with Spirit who joyfully fills you with life.

May the light that is waning dim around you

be pierced with the steady flame of love.

And may this love soften you

and melt the shadows of fear

that threaten to make your heart go dark.

May you await in hopeful anticipation this month.

May you allow peace to penetrate and pervade your days.

May you attend to the joy that is found in the moment.

And, may you accept that Love

is with you, in you, and is groaning for it all.

Perhaps you’re looking for something more this Advent?

What if this Advent & Christmas season could feel a bit different this year?

What if there was a bit more slow. A bit more quiet.

What if there was a bit more depth to your experience of the peace, hope, joy, and love that is highlighted all month long.

Could you give yourself the first gift? Could this Advent season really be about experiencing some comfort & joy? What if tuning into all of your senses, and surrendering to the Reality of your life leads you to an awakened connection and appreciation for yourself, others, God, and the natural world.

Whether you’re brand new to the season of Advent, or this season has been a meaningful part of your year for a long time, you’re invited to take some reflective time this month to reset, refresh, and restore.

You’re invited to participate in these do-at-your-own pace reflections designed to keep you centered and not overwhelmed. They are simple, and will help you:

  • slow down, listen deeply, and be present to the season

  • ground yourself in Love so you’re giving from the heart this season

  • draw closer to the loving heart of God through thoughtfully curated Advent prayers

  • learn of the history and meaning of this beautiful Christian season of hope

  • help you process, pray, and appreciate the closing to another year

  • find renewed meaning in the season of Advent as a beautiful preparation for Christmas

  • discover new ways to experience this month with hope, peace and joy

  • learn some spiritual practices to help you centre yourself during the hectic pace of December

…and you can take as much or as little of the resources each week you’d like. You’ll have access to these resources year over year.

A Summer of Presence

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Summer is a great time to ground yourself, renew what has gone dormant, and restore the parts of yourself that have been lost over the past few years.

One might argue, that it’s imperative to take time over the next few months to come back to yourself. Perhaps the greatest gift you can give yourself and others is time to slow down and tune into your life.

Here are a few suggestions and free resources to support you.

Your Personal SUMMER SOUL-O!

If you’re looking for a summer of soul-full abundance, these 6 self-guided mini-retreats will lead you toward more health, happiness, and vitality.

Think of it like a spa for your soul all summer long - anytime, anywhere!

We will explore six themes (see below) that mirror the movements of the summer season so that when September arrives you will have a new perspective and gratitude that you long for.

You can use one, two, or all six of these retreats. The choice is yours!

Each of the 6 mini retreats will include:

  • a short video by Christa exploring the theme, offering wisdom for the season ahead

  • curated practices that help bring more play to your soul!

  • Journal Reflection questions to help you dig deeper and notice the movements of your inner life

  • poetry, music, podcasts, and videos to support your experience


This will be a unique experience that is designed to restore you, and not overwhelm you.

These gentle DIY and easy to use-at-your-own-pace resources will always be available to you - anytime (truly…anytime, anywhere!). Even after the summer ends, you’ll have access to these resources.

Here are a few other options to consider:

Soul Care Kit: poems, prayers, and practices for your soul

This post is found on the SoulPlay ‘Soul Care Kit’. There are loads of resources at your fingertips. Most of the offerings in the kit can be used any time of year. Of course, there are a few that are seasonally based, but enjoy our time leisurely wandering through the options.

A Summer Day by Mary Oliver

This sublime poem is a must-read and you’ll find your own gorgeous free printable PDF so you can enjoy the wisdom day after day all summer long. Head on over here to read it and get your free download.

The Summer Slow-Down Syllabus

Don’t miss these helpful tips and tricks to really slow down and be present this summer. There are 8 simple ways to help you get the most out of the season…and your soul. Check it out here!


A Personal Retreat

The world needs more people who know how to slow down, reflect, and see reality for what it really is. Finding time (whether it be a few hours or a few days) alone, in solitude, slow, and quiet can be an unbelievable resource of rejuvenation, clarity, and calm. Yes, it can be a bit unnerving too, but this 15-page free PDF will help you prepare well for a personal retreat.

Weekly Inspiration: Quotes, Reminders & Questions of the Week

Have you checked out SoulPlay’s social feeds? Need something to cleanse your timeline while it cleanses your soul? Every week, all summer long, you’ll receive a weekly question to help you tune in, a gentle reminder of what’s most important, and a quote to inspire you right through the weekend. Go ahead, follow along.

And while you’re at it…why don’t you check out some other opportunities to help you slow down and wake up to your soul.

Imaginative Prayer

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“I became conscious of the fact that the only way to live was to live in a world that was charged with the presence and reality of God.”
— Thomas Merton

Imaginative Prayer is a contemplative way of praying with scripture. This practice has certainly been around for as long as people have, for our imagination is a special and unique function of being human.

Within the Christian tradition, Imaginative Prayer has been made popular by Ignatius of Loyola who founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in the mid 16th century. Most notably, the “Spiritual Exercises of Loyola” are a series of deliberate and particular passages of scripture and area of focus where people are encouraged to use this method of imaginative prayer to understand themselves and God better.

By allowing our imagination to be used by God, scripture is enlivened as you place yourself in a passage of scripture imagining all of your senses engaged in the scene. Without being concerned about how your imagination may be “playing” with the story, you discover new insights about yourself, and the scripture story yourself, making your time in prayer a very personalized and powerful experience with God.

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Here are a few tips to consider:

  • Before you begin, take time to “dispose” yourself to God. Bring your attention and awareness to the present moment and present to God. Consider the particular grace you are looking for in this prayer time and ask God for it.

  • Read a passage of scripture a number of times slowly. There is no need to rush the reading, and as you do, take all the details in. Consider a short to medium length passage. Often people find the Gospels particularly powerful because of the evocative stories full of people, places, and events with Jesus.

  • Begin the prayer by gently allowing yourself to “be found” in the passage. Set the scene. Consider what the sights, sounds, smells are, and where you are located in the passage. Are you a particular person? Are you an onlooker?

  • As you continue praying, do not worry if things emerge in your prayer that are not a part of the formal story in scripture. What are you saying and doing in the story? What is Jesus saying and doing in the story? What are others saying and doing in the story? And, how does all of this feel? What emotions are arising for you?

  • If your mind wanders, see if you can stick with it. Try and return to an “energetic” part of the story - the place where you found the most energy and animation. Give yourself time to let your imagination pick back up again.

  • Let your prayer come to its natural end. Then, take some time to review what happened in your prayer? What is standing out to you? What questions remain? What are the predominant emotions?

To begin, make sure you have no distractions, take a couple of deep centering breaths, invite the Holy into this time and begin. Take about 20-30 minutes to go through all the steps outlined above – take your time not to rush!

Welcome Prayer

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“To the degree that we are transformed, the world is transformed.”
— Phileena Heuertz

The Welcome Prayer is a contemplative way of bringing your stronger emotions into prayer, particularly at the moment of being triggered. This attention to how our emotions can be welcomed, felt, and let go of, can be a powerful and healing way to pray.

One of the founders of an organization called Contemplative Outreach, Mary Mrozowski, developed this form of prayer. She says, “To welcome and to let go is one of the most radically loving, faith-filled gestures we can make in each moment of each day. It is an open-hearted embrace of all that is in ourselves and in the world.”

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As we authentically focus and feel our emotions, we are able to do two important things:

  • Identify the ways our false self is triggered, and what our coping strategies/programs for happiness are.

  • Allow God to heal the emotional wounds we have accumulated and remain present in our physical bodies. The body keeps score, and by welcoming and letting go of these emotional wounds, we are able to heal.

God is known as Healer in many traditions, and the Welcoming Prayer supports this healing presence in the particularity of our everyday lives, particularly when we are triggered into strong negative emotions.

We can follow three simple steps:

  • Identify the emotion and feel it. Take time to sink into the difficult emotion that you're feeling. Focus on the feelings, the thoughts, and the sensations in your body. Notice it all and try to stay with it.

  • Welcome the feeling and invite the Divine into it. As you stay with the emotions, body sensations, and thoughts, welcome them, and welcome God into the very heart of it by saying “Welcome __(emotion)__”, “Welcome God”, “You are welcome into my ____”. Welcome God into each part specifically.

  • Let it go. With each feeling, thought, sensation, repeat (either out loud or to yourself), “ I let go of my desire to change this_______”, “I let go of my clinging to control”, “I let go of my grasping for security.” Etc.

Stay with this surrendered posture until there is some release in the strong emotions, thoughts, and sensations.

Audio Divina

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“Contemplation is taking a long loving look at the Real.”
— Walter Burghardt

Audio Divina (Divine Listening), is a contemplative way of paying attention to how our soul is stirring and how the Divine is moving within us as we prayerfully engage our sense of hearing.

This practice is modeled after the more popular Lectio Divina (Divine Reading) which, in the Christian tradition, we see this approach in the third and fourth century with the Desert Mothers and Fathers. They spent a great deal of time developing a contemplative approach to life – a way of “seeing”, of putting on the mind of Christ. We can assume that Audio Divina would have been a part of their practice.

By employing our sense of hearing, we are focusing ourselves to hear God in everything. We pay attention to what is capturing our attention and we sit with it. You can listen to the bird-song or urban traffic, the flow of water, a song, or the hum of conversation in a coffee shop. Absolutely everything can be a portal to connecting with God.

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There are four simple steps. Provided below is the Latin root and the English meaning.

AUDIO (Hearing) | Take time to identify what you are going to listen to. Notice what is stirring within you as you go for a walk, or turn on a piece of music. What elements are “jumping out”, or “shimmering” to you. Is it a part of the melody or harmony? Is it the pace or the way an instrument sounds? What images, feelings, memories, ideas are coming up for you as you spend time listening? Spend as much time as you’d like. If it is a song, make sure you repeat it a number of times. (Note: if you use a piece of music, it might be best to choose an instrumental piece rather than one with words).

MEDITATIO (Meditate) | Take note of what was coming up for you as you listen. Here, we move into a time to meditate on these images and feelings and see how they connect to your specific life. Is it reminding you of a relationship? A struggle? Something you’re thankful for or anxious about? Simply asking yourself the question: why is this particular thing jumping out at me and how does it connect to my life today?

ORATIO (Speak) | This is where we bring our conscious thoughts we’ve been meditating on into our relationship with the Divine. You can speak your prayer out loud or to yourself, but it is your conscious time of prayer, bringing your thoughts into your relationship with God.

CONTEMPLATIO (Contemplate) | Here we rest. We let our thoughts and conversation with God fall to silence, trusting we have been heard. We enjoy just being present with Presence, instead of doing anything. You are not expecting to hear anything back from God. You’ve experienced this in your human relationships… there is something sweet in being in the quiet company of someone you trust - words fall away and just being with one another is where your heart is content.

Centering Prayer

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“By consenting to God’s creation, to our basic goodness as human beings, and to the letting go of what we love in this world, we are brought to the final surrender, which is to allow the false self to die and the true self to emerge.”
— Thomas Keating

Centering Prayer is a contemplative way of praying and is quite different from other prayer practices. This is a meditation practice where we aim to let go of thoughts, feelings, and sensations as they arise. This practice is a practice of consent to being in the presence of God that is beyond all words, thoughts, and emotions.

In the Christian tradition, we see this approach coming out of the Desert Mothers and Fathers in the 3rd and 4th century and again highlighted in the teaching of the anonymous author of the Cloud of UnKnowing in the 14th century.

This can be described as an “apophatic” (or non-conceptual) practice – we are not in a prayer practice where we are trying to connect with something specific, known, or felt about God, but rather a practice where we consent to communion with God beyond words.

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  • To begin, make sure you have no distractions.

  • Find a comfortable seated position, ensuring that your back is straight and supported which allows your heart space to be open.

  • Close your eyes and take a couple of deep centering belly breaths, moving your attention down from your head, through to your heart which is in your body.

  • Bring to mind your sacred word or image. This is one word or image that is used as a sign of consent to God that you will use throughout this prayer practice. The same word should be used every time you pray in this way. Some would encourage you to use a word from another language that doesn’t have any particular meaning to you (ie. “Maranatha” from scripture) because the sacred word you use is simply to bring you back to consenting to the presence and action of God – not to focus your mind on a specific thought.

  • Begin your Centering Prayer coming back to your sacred word, image, or your breath every time you find your mind has wandered to a thought, feeling or sensation.

  • Start by doing this practice for 5-10 minutes and work your way up to 20 minutes.

The fruit of the practice is not found in the practice itself. Of course, it can be relaxing for some, but the fruit is found in the playing field of your life – more peace, self-control, perspective, etc.

Most often, people who commit to a Centering Prayer practice say that they feel nothing in particular (other than being reminded how active their mind really is!). There is a deep trust that God is doing what only God can do in the deepest parts of ourselves as we give our consent.

Today, there are two popular “movements” that support practitioners. Father Thomas Keating founded Contemplative Outreach, and John Main (now Lawrence Freeman) lead the Worldwide Community of Christian Meditation. There are also a number of apps that can support this practice, including Insight Timer & Centering Prayer.

Body Prayer

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“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
— Pierre Teillard de Chardin

Body Prayer is a contemplative way of bringing your body more consciously into your prayer life. Christianity is an incarnated spirituality where matter, matters. Our bodies are vessels, not simply designed to hold Spirit, but are living, breathing miracles infused with God. We are Christ-soaked in mind, spirit, soul, and body.

Our five senses are the best portals to experiencing God. The experience of our body matters and body prayer helps us consent to, receive, imitate, and live for God.

You can create your own body prayer simply by moving your body in a way that responds to the presence and action of God in your life. However, you can also use certain passages of scripture and create body movements to align your heart, mind AND body into your prayer. For example, how would you move if you were to pray “The Lord’s Prayer”?

In the fourteenth century, a now-famous teacher and mystic in the Church, Julian of Norwich, developed a body prayer, to connect to her loving God in dark and turbulent times.

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Begin by grounding yourself, expanding toes and rocking gently to feel center of gravity. Take at least three belly breaths, bringing mind-body-spirit to this moment with the intention of centering down into God’s presence in this present moment.

AWAIT | Hands at the waist, in cupped position Posture of waiting as a vessel to allow the presence of God to come.

ALLOW | Reach up, hands open and outstretched posture of receiving God’s presence, to come in whatever form God may come or not come.

ACCEPT | Hands placed on heart centerPosture of acceptance, taking what comes, accepting what comes or does not come, releasing feelings of control, and accepting what is here and now.

ATTEND | Hands outstretched forward, palms up posture of attention, willingness to move into the call, willingness to act or refrain from acting, based on what is given.

End by taking several deep breaths or relaxing sighs, noticing what has moved in you, what has changed or not changed, what was challenging, or what posture was most inviting. Breathe deeply again with gratitude of God’s presence within and without, and end with Julian of Norwich’s prayer:

"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well."

Breath Prayer

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“The soul is covered with a thousand veils.”
— Hazrat Inayat Khan

Breath Prayer, also known as the “prayer of the heart” or “The Jesus Prayer” is a contemplative way of praying as we use our breath to bring focus, devotion, and worship.

To this day, this remains a more popular form of prayer in the Eastern Orthodox tradition and can be traced back to the Desert Mothers and Fathers of the fifth century. This form of prayer was an interpretation of Jesus’ call to “go into your inner room to pray” (Matthew 6:6) and the Apostle Paul’s instruction of ceaseless prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

The prayer is a simple sentence: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

(INHALE: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, EXHALE: Have mercy on me a sinner.)

The aim is not to obtain peace, a passive calmness, or any particular kind of experience. The goal is communion with God, and to train our attention on GodTo grow in deepening union with God we must evolve in our mental habits & programming.

This breath prayer helps us to train our mind and thoughts to single-minded devotion as any good meditation practice can. Using your breath over and over again may lead to a “ceaseless” praying within ourselves. Christ is present to us (we can know this in our mind) and we use our breath to bring physical embodiment of this knowledge in prayer.

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Some adaptations to use, or create your own variation that has personal meaning to you:

  • Light of the World | Illuminate my heart.

  • Mystery of God | Give me the conviction of things not seen

  • Man of Sorrows | Ease my suffering

  • Bread of Life | Feed me.

  • Living Water | Deliver me from my thirst.

  • Author and Perfecter of Faith | Help my unbelief

  • True Vine | Make me fruitful.

  • Wonderful Counsellor | Give me your wisdom.

  • Prince of Peace | Grant me your peace

  • Holy One | Receive my praise.

Or, you can use your inhale to use the name of God you prefer, and on your exhale, make your specific request. Another variation that people find quite beautiful is on the inhale to consider what God is naming you today, and on the exhale the particular message of love God has for you.

To begin, make sure you have no distractions, take a couple of deep centering breaths, bring your attention to the Holy. At first, try this form of prayer for 10-15 minutes. When you get distracted, bring your attention back to your breath and prayer sentence. See if you can bring to mind this same inhale/exhale pattern of prayer as you walk, drive, do household chores, etc.

The Labyrinth

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“In the wheel of prayer, in the center of the wheel is stillness. If we can experience the stillness at the hub of the wheel, we will find wonderful transformation of our lives.”
— Lawrence Freeman

The labyrinth is a contemplative way of praying with our feet.

We see the labyrinth in Greek and Roman architecture from thousands of years ago and has been used in many traditions including Christianity.

A labyrinth is an excellent tool for prayer because it is a physical experience that emulates the interior journey of being human. The labyrinth is meant to lead a person, while a maze is meant to confuse. There are no dead ends, only a circuitous path that leads to the center and back out the same way.

Made popular in the middle ages, labyrinths were built into churches as a way to support the practice of pilgrimage for those people who could not travel to Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago, Assisi, and other pilgrim destinations. The most popular is the one located in the Chartes Cathedral south of Paris.

The labyrinth can be used as a tool of meditation, discernment, reflection, surrender, gratitude, and can be used as a solitary experience, or with a small group. “You can never step into the same river twice” (Peraclytis), and so it is true with walking the labyrinth. You can come back to it again and again.

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To begin, stand at the entrance to the labyrinth and remember that this path is not something to achieve or accomplish, but to experience.

If possible and appropriate, take off your shoes. It is both is a symbol that every step you take is on holy ground, and it also enables you to feel the path in a very physical way.

Take three deep centering belly breaths. If you can maintain this deep breathing while you walk, you activate your parasympathetic nervous systems (rest, digest, heal) vs. your sympathetic (fight, flight, freeze).

Let the Labyrinth walk/prayer unfold naturally. Here are some ideas to help you focus and bring intention to your walk:

  • On the way into the centre, think about “letting go.” On the way back out focus on receiving. You may want to walk with your hands open and at your side.

  • Find a mantra, word, or verse and recite it over and over again while you walk.

  • Focus on your breath – use your breath to communicate a prayer without words (longing, contentment, thanksgiving).

  • Walk with a question you have. Hold the question in your mind as you walk. You may want to carry a stone as a symbol.

  • Create an intention for your walk. In what style and spirit would you like to walk with God (this may influence your pace).

When you reach the center, take a moment. Do what feels natural. Perhaps you will bow, kneel and prostrate yourself, or look in all four directions (North, East, South West) over the path you just walked and are about to return on.

If you walking with others, keep your gaze to yourself, and let others pass slowly and quietly by.

Find one near you: LabyrinthNetwork.ca and LabyrinthLocator.com

Lectio Divina

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“The soul is like a wild animal…and contemplation is anything that pierces illusions so we can touch Reality.”
— Parker Palmer

Lectio Divina (Divine Reading), is a contemplative way of paying attention to how our soul is stirring and how the Divine is moving within us as we prayerfully read a text, either from sacred scripture or another source.

This is not “bible study”. As we connect with a passage we are not analyzing its cultural context, its historical significance, the author’s intent, or any other aspect of critical thinking. This is a more prayerful interaction with the text, allowing God to use it on a more personal, emotional, and psychological level.

In the Christian tradition, we see this approach first in the third and fourth centuries with the Desert Mothers and Fathers. They spent a great deal of time meditating with scripture in a contemplative approach. Lectio Divina was made much more popular in the fifth century with Saint Benedict.

Some have likened Lectio Divina as letting the scripture “work on you” like any good meal does as it is digested and metabolized. We “eat” and absorb the text, taking time to savour all the flavours and trusting the feast will nourish us as we need it.

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There are four simple steps. Provided below is the Latin root and the English meaning.

LECTIO (Read) | Read a short section of scripture (not too long), or another text like a poem, song lyrics, a number of times out loud (3-5 times), noticing what is stirring within you. What words are “jumping off the page”, or “shimmering” to you. What images, feelings, memories, ideas are coming up for you as you read?

MEDITATIO (Meditate) | Taking note of what was coming up for you as you read, we move into a time to meditate on these words, images, and feelings and see how they connect to your specific life. Is it reminding you of a relationship? A struggle? Something you’re thankful for or anxious about? Simply asking yourself the question: why is this word(s) jumping out and how does it connect to my life today?

ORATIO (Speak) | This is where we bring our conscious thoughts we’ve been meditating on into our relationship with the Divine. You can speak your prayer out loud or to yourself, but it is your conscious time of prayer, bringing your thoughts into your relationship with God.

CONTEMPLATIO (Contemplate) | Here we rest. We let our thoughts and conversation with God fall to silence, trusting we have been heard. We enjoy just being present with Presence, instead of doing anything. You’ve experienced this in your human relationships… there is something sweet in being in the quiet company of someone you trust - words fall away and just being with one another is where your heart is content.

The Examen

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“We cannot know God only by thinking thoughts. Unfortunately, for much of Christianity, faith largely became believing statements to be true or false (intellectual assent) instead of giving people concrete practices so they could themselves know how to open up (faith), hold on (hope), and allow an infilling from God (love). Contemplation opens our heads, hearts, and bodies to God’s living presence.”
— Richard Rohr

The Examen is a contemplative way of reviewing our days and noticing when we move with and towards God, or when we move against and away from God – even in the most subtle of ways.

Developed by Ignatius of Loyola in the mid 16th century, this form of prayer was intended to be done daily and supported people’s desire to notice the Spirit’s specific movement, train themselves to respond to the nudges of God, and to bring everything (every thought, feeling, word, action) into conversation and communion with God.

This form of prayer can be done daily, weekly, monthly, but the more specific and particular the details we can recall, the more effective it becomes in noticing what Ignatius calls the consolations and desolations in our life.

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This five-part version is a nice way to remember how we consent to God’s action in this prayer. This specific approach was developed by Jesuit, Mark Thibodeaux.

RELISH (the moments that went well and all the gifts you have received) Begin by giving thanks for all the things you are grateful for. Let your mind wander over the big and small things. It takes the human brain fifteen seconds to really grasp the positive in something (versus less than a second to latch onto the negative).

REQUEST (the Spirit to lead you through your review of the day) Ask God to help you have an honest review of your day. Ask God to show you the moments of your day when you didn’t act so well (you were moving away from God versus towards). Ask for help in not denying anything, but also that you won’t move into any self-loathing.

REVIEW (your entire day in as much detail as possible) With the Spirit guiding, review your day and noting the ways you have failed and succeeded in moving towards God.

REPENT (of any mistakes and failures) Ask and receive the love and mercy and forgiveness of God as you desire to turn and change.

RESOLVE (in concrete ways to live tomorrow well)Continue to pray with God about how tomorrow might go. Imagine the things you’ll be doing, the people you’ll be with, the decisions you’ll be making. Invite God into your next day.

Consider using the very helpful app called: Reimagining the Examen. It’s full of unique ways to personalize your practice of using the Examen Prayer.

Visio Divina

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“The thinking mind is good, but it has a professional hazard. If it is not engaged in its primary task of reason, given half a chance it fizzes and boils with obsessive thoughts and feelings.”
— Martin Laird

Visio Divina (Divine Seeing), is a contemplative way of paying attention to how our soul is stirring and how the Divine is moving within us as we prayerfully engage our sense of sight.

This practice is modeled after the more popular Lectio Divina (Divine Reading) which, in the Christian tradition, we see this approach in the third and fourth centuries with the Desert Mothers and Fathers. They spent a great deal of time developing a contemplative approach to life – a way of seeing, of putting on the mind of Christ. We can assume that Visio Divina would have been a part of their practice. Lectio Divina was made much more popular in the fifth century with Saint Benedict.

By employing our sense of sight, we are focusing ourselves to gaze at God in everything. We pay attention to what is capturing our attention and we sit with it. In some ways, the “picture is taking us”, rather than us taking a picture. Whether it be a blade of grass, or a painting, a strawberry on a plate, or the veins in our hands, absolutely everything can be a portal to seeing God.

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There are four simple steps. Provided below is the Latin root and the English meaning.

VISIO (Seeing) | Take time to identify what you are going to gaze at. Notice what is stirring within you as you go for a walk, or look at a picture. What elements are “jumping out”, or “shimmering” to you. Is it the colour, the way it moves, its shape? What images, feelings, memories, ideas are coming up for you as you spend time gazing at the specific thing? Spend as much time as you’d like gazing at the item. A minimum of five minutes is a good place to start, and this will feel like a long time at first!

MEDITATIO (Meditate) | Take note of what was coming up for you as you gaze. Here, we move into a time to meditate on these images and feelings and see how they connect to your specific life. Is it reminding you of a relationship? A struggle? Something you’re thankful for or anxious about? Simply asking yourself the question: why is this particular thing jumping out at me and how does it connect to my life today?

ORATIO (Speak) | This is where we bring our conscious thoughts we’ve been meditating on into our relationship with the Divine. You can speak your prayer out loud or to yourself, but it is your conscious time of prayer, bringing your thoughts into your relationship with God.

CONTEMPLATIO (Contemplate) | Here we rest. We let our thoughts and conversation with God fall to silence, trusting we have been heard. We enjoy just being present with Presence, instead of doing anything. You are not expecting to hear anything back from God. You’ve experienced this in your human relationships… there is something sweet in being in the quiet company of someone you trust - words fall away and just being with one another is where your heart is content.

Earth Day Practice

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There’s an important poet who deserves to be invited to an Earth Day Practice. His work as an eco-theologian-poet-activist is worth savouring. And on Earth Day, a day when the wilderness of our inner landscape is threatened because the wild gifts of all living things on the planet are in peril, the gift of these words is an invitation to open and receive.

Enjoy this poem and a blessing I’ve written inspired by it. Take a moment to read this poem through three times slowly, savouring the words, and slowly allowing them to metabolize in you. Notice which word or phrase moves you the most.

“The Peace of Wild Things” By Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

This poem is an excerpt from The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry 

A Blessing Inspired by Wendell Berry’s “The Peace of Wild Things” by Christa Hesselink

May we allow the darkness in our reality to rise

so that we will

lie down into the Light.

May we rest by still waters

and sink into the peace

of our shepherded wilderness.

May we wait well with the stars overhead

and listen deeply to their illuminating voices, saying,

“All is well here in your wild dark.”

May we discover the pulses of hope

surrounding us, reminding us

that we are truly free.

O Vulnerable One, We Wait With You - A Holy Week Poem

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This Holy Week is a profound time of following the vulnerable footsteps of the One who knows and waits with us.

The path to new life is a path of descent - of surrender, letting go, and waiting.

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O Vulnerable One, We Wait with You -  by Christa Hesselink

 

O Vulnerable One, in the face of  your ANXIETY, you loved.

And we are anxious now.

Help us in our ANXIETY to show love.

 

O Vulnerable One, in the face of your ALONENESS you loved.

And we are alone now.

Help us in our ALONENESS to show love.

 

O Vulnerable One, in the face of being BETRAYED you loved.

And we feel betrayed by life now.

Help us in our BETRAYAL to show love.

 

O Vulnerable One, in the face of your FEAR you loved.

And we are full of fear now.

Help us in our FEAR to show love.

 

O Vulnerable One, in the face of your ANGER you loved.

And we feel anger for our new reality

Help us in our ANGER to show love.

 

O Vulnerable One, in the face of being STRIPPED DOWN AND SHAMED you loved.

And we are being stripped down and ashamed by parts of our own lives

Help us in our SHAME to show love.

 

O Vulnerable One, in the face of  WAITING FOR WHAT WAS TO COME you loved.

And we are waiting and waiting and waiting for what is to come

Help us in our WAITING to show love.

 

O Vulnerable One, in the face of WHEN YOU FELL you loved.

And we find ourselves falling out of our “old lives” of control and easy freedom.

Help us IN OUR FALLING to show love.

 

O Vulnerable One, in the face of being TORTURED you loved.

And we brush against our own tortured lives these days.

Help us in our TORTURE to show love.

 

O Vulnerable One, in the face of your DOUBT you loved.

And we feel DOUBT & FAITHLESS now.

Help us in our DOUBTING to show love.

 

O Vulnerable One, in the face your SADNESS AND SAYING GOODBYE you loved.

And we feel sad for all the goodbyes we are living right now.

Help us in our SADNESS to show love.

 

O Vulnerable One, in the face of feeling FORSAKEN you loved.

And we feel forsaken now.

Help us in our FORSAKEN places to show love.

 

GOD, help us, for we do not know what we are doing.

Forgive us, for we do not know what we are doing.

 

And here, it is so dark.  In your own darkness and in ours:  in the anxiety, aloneness, betrayal, fear, anger, shame, waiting, torture, falling, doubt, sadness and forsakenness –

 

We wait with you to sing a new song.  We hope with you for a new song to form and rise in us and all around.

 

But today, we are vulnerable, together, with you in this darkness.

And, we wait.

Personal Pandemic Evaluation (your own PPE)

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Lots will be said about the pandemic this week.

What do you have to say?

If you live in North America, there's a good chance you've got a date in your calendar this week to mark, "the one year" of your COVID-19 life.

Perhaps the greatest gift you can give yourself and those around you is an honest appraisal of where you’ve been and where you’re going at this profound moment in the pandemic.

Why not use this FREE "Personal Pandemic Evaluation" on your own, round the table with family, the bonfire with friends, the zoom meeting with colleagues, or your small group.

Our ability to slow down, and wake up to our transformed lives at the one-year mark of this pandemic will help us love well. How could it not? A gentle tuning-in can show us just how remarkable we all are for enduring these last 12 months, and help point the way for the days ahead.

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PERSONAL PANDEMIC EVALUATION

1.What pandemic "lifelines" have become part of your "lifestyle"? Any of these you should keep? Any you'd like to adjust or let-go of one year in?

2. As you think about your relationships, how has the pandemic improved, stalled, or dissolved them?  Is there anything you'd like to see happen in these relationships? Any next steps you could take?

3. What have you lost this year? How are you paying attention to, and expressing your grief? Who is bearing witness to this with you?

4. What have you gained this year? How are you expressing gratitude and celebrating? Can you see any connection between your grief and your gain?

5. What mental/emotional/spiritual muscles have grown this year? What has atrophied? Can you be gracious to both your strength & weakness today?

6. What area(s) of your life will there be expectations to "return to normal" that you do not want to return to? (ie. schedule, commitments, affiliations)

7. What good pandemic habits will be threatened once things "open back up"?

8. What qualities and characteristics have you observed this year in yourself and your community that you admire? Is there a way you'd like to invest and cultivate these moving forward?

9. What aspects of the future are you really looking forward to? List as many things you can think of! What expectations of the future might you be invited to hold more loosely today?

10. Who has had a much harder pandemic experience than you? (Think of three people... you might know them, or not). What can you do today to acknowledge this and provide some support?

FILL IN THE BLANKS

1. If I could describe my pandemic year in five words, they would be________________.

2. A year ago I __________, but now I __________.

3. The biggest surprise of this year has been ____________.

4. If you would have told me a year ago that ___________, I would have ___________.

5. If I could do this year all over again, I'd ____________.

6.  One of the biggest lessons I've learned about myself this year is ____________.

7. In March 2022, one year from now, I'd hope that _____________.

8.  For the next three months, I need _____________.

9.  The first thing I'd like to do once my community and I are vaccinated is __________.

10. My prayer for the global human family is ____________________________.