Late Summer Patchwork
Stitched together tidbits of a spiritual life
I’ve been thinking a lot about my voice and how I use it. There are big questions of how I take action in times of political upheaval and seasons of war but there is also the question of how I offer my words which are precious and few these days. I am trying to listen more and speak less. I crave silence especially with little girls in our tiny apartment in the city so that this devotional resonated deeply. I’m not always sure what to write or even if I should use my words.
Still, something inside me struggles toward beauty. Something longs to find meaning and I don’t know what else to use but words to communicate that desire.
When I was preaching regularly, I was accused that my sermons sounded too much like poetry. Some of my directees scoff in the same way when I bring yet another poem to center our time together. (They are the same folx that I muse with about the limitations of words sometime later in that same session.) I like how words fall over each other and create something beyond themselves and what I wanted to play with words again like that. So I’m changing things here on Prayer Threads without making any promises about what will be but simply allowing creating some space to find my voice again.
Here are a few things that I’ve been practicing along the way this summer.
Most of my summer days were spent in the midst of travel. We went back to the USA for the first time in three years to spend (not enough) time with family. I didn’t get to see all of my friends nor was it possible to do so but it’s amazing to connect again with places that have been sources of renewal and be with the very people who made that very place dance with wonder.
I’ve always heard it said that there are mountain people and beach people. I’ve never been certain I want to pick a side but being near water restores my soul which is apparently a scientific fact. It’s called Blue Mind and I was fascinated to discover this TEDx Talk unpacking this thing I’ve experienced so deeply again and again.
While home between our many summer travels, I picked up Dacher Keltner’s Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life which is pushing me to think about how I may overuse the word wonder.
As the summer days were nearly gone, I began savoring Cole Arthur Riley’s This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us which has been sitting on my bedside table forever and is such a delight to dive into.
I also discovered the work of
through this powerful poem that I used for the centering in a spiritual direction session this summer. It was a powerful word to begin with and inspired so much richness in all of the paradoxes we hold within us and has made me reflect on the contradictions in my own soul. Thanks to for sharing it with me!
We went back and forth from the beach across our travels and that sense of calm didn’t stay with me once I left the seaside. Not even one of those times. I’m keenly aware of my own restlessness and seeking greater connection to God through centering prayer and more and more body scan meditations.
Though I usually opt for quiet while I busy myself with other tasks, when I have wanted something in the background to distract me from the thoughts swirling through my head, I’ve been listening to this wisdom all summer.
Sometimes a spiritual life is more about intention and seeking than actually doing. Or so I am telling myself. I set an intention in my summer values that I wanted to paint boldly and I haven’t created as much was I hoped. We all are works in process. Still, here are a few pages from my sketchbook this summer.
As you reflect on this summer (even if it feels far away now), here are some questions to ponder.
Where are you finding your own courage?
What are you hearing from outside of you that gives you strength?
What has most allowed you to rest and restore this summer?
How are you carving a new path for yourself as the calendar turns to autumn?
Love this post. So glad to hear your time with family was good, and grateful to see those snapshots from your sketchbook!