The Spiritual Discipline of Wonder

Beauty and the Five Senses from Three Bridges West on Vimeo.

The Next Best Thing to Being Next to the Ocean - YouTube and Google Chrome

For Christmas last year, our son and his family gave us a Google Chrome device.  Basically, it is a small thing that you plug into your TV so you can watch things from your computer on the TV screen.  We have used it with Netflix to watch movies, but yesterday I had the idea of putting up an ocean video from YouTube.

That may sound really corny, but it is amazing how just sitting, watching, and listening to a video can be a prayer practice.  The real ocean would be much better, but when that is not possible, a video can be the next best thing.

The weather here has been cool for this time of year and rainy.  The forecast this week calls for rain every day.  I like rain, but I am feeling the need for a little sunshine and warmth too.  Imagining being on a beach helps.  Meditation and prayer also helps calm my anxiousness.  There is something about the movement of the tide washing ashore that assures me of God's steady and non-ending love.  No matter how I feel, and no matter what the weather is like, I can rest in the presence of my Lord and Savior.


Here are some YouTube links for videos of nature and water:
The Shore Shown Above
Watching the Ocean from Above a Rocky Shore
Tropical Beach
Woodland Stream
Woodland Waterfall

What Keeps Me From God?

I always consider Lent a time to reassess my relationship with God.  It is a time of new beginnings for me.  It is a time when, as the Benedictines say "Always, we begin again."  (However, with the Benedictine Rule, that is a saying that applies to every moment of life.)

Sometimes I feel that I am asking God to forgive me for the same things over and over again.  Sometimes I even decide that I am going to give up and not even ask.  I am sick of myself, and I figure that God must be sick of me too.

Reading this book, The Willpower Instinct, has helped me look at my unwanted ways in a new light.  By understanding how and why my brain says and responds to the statements--"I will," "I won't," and "I want"--I am better able to see how I can control my temptations.

As I mentioned in my last post, listening to an audio book has presented me with a few challenges in itself.  I realize that I am most definitely a visual learner.  Listening is really a challenge to me!

At first, I tried to scribble down a few messy notes while listening and walking on the treadmill.  I soon realized that why I was writing something down, I was missing what was being said next.  My penmanship was also lacking.  (It is hard to write when you are walking.)

I know that I am missing things by choosing to listen to the book in the audio format on the treadmill, but I know that I am not only exercising my body.  I am exercising the audio portion of my brain, which needs some help.  After I finish the book in the audio format, I plan to read it as well.

A Lenten Devotion Using a Non-Religious Audio Book Focussed on Willpower?

For some, this choice for a Lenten devotional might seem very unorthodox and even sac-religious.  There are no bible verses to refer to.  (At least, I have not heard any yet.)  There is not even any mention of God.  (Accept for one mention that some might consider epithetical.)  So, why would I even call it a devotion for a Christian Liturgical Season of the year--namely Lent?

When I started listening to this book, I did not consider it a Lenten devotion even thought I started it yesterday, which was Ash Wednesday.  However, when I read a devotion today that I receive daily via email from the Upper Room, I began to look at the book a bit differently.

The email talked about taking on something vs. giving up something for Lent.  It talked about taking on something that brings restoration and direction in preparation for Easter.  This book was not on the list of suggested options in the email, nor was it even close.  But, it is certainly something that I am taking on that will give my mental and physical health restoration and direction.  If we believe (as I do) that our physical and mental health can definitely affect our spiritual health, the idea of using this book for a Lenten devotional might not seem so far out.

During my yearly physical (the day before Ash Wednesday this year), my doctor mentioned he was listening to in an audio version of the book My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind.  I had heard the author interviewed about the book on NPR a bit ago, but I had forgotten about it.  I was also interested because I had thought about getting a book on tape to motivate me to walk or get on the treadmill.

When I got home, I looked up the book My Age of Anxiety on Amazon and noticed that this other book had quite a few stars.  The title of the other book was: The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It.  It is written by a Stanford professor and he has also offered the contents as a class.  Reading the overview, I decided it was a book I wanted to read or hear, for that matter, so I signed myself up for a free one month trial of Audible and and received my free audio copy of the book.  (You get two free books, so I also downloaded My Age of Anxiety to listen to later.)  It took me a bit to figure out how I could listen to the book, as it did not seem to work on my iPad.  However, it does work on my iPod.

One of the first things I noticed when I started listening to the book is that I have no way to see how much is left of a chapter, which makes it a little lesson in letting go of control.  The other thing that is interesting is walking on the treadmill listening to an audio book that talks things in your body that you are currently experiencing, like exercise for instance.  (Note that the book is about much more than exercise.)

Another interesting thing I found is that I actually stayed on the treadmill longer than I planned because I wanted to hear the whole chapter.  Hmm…I can see it will be an "interesting" journey for me this Lenten Season.  I think God is going to be teaching me in a very different way.

A Photograph Prayer

A Facebook friend of mine shared this post from The Episcopal Church page today.  I loved not only the words of the prayer, but how the photograph seemed to speak the same words.

Advent - A Season of Longing and Desire

After my post last night, I have been pondering the connection I feel with longing and desire this Advent.  When I was a child, that longing and desire was displayed through circling all my favorite things in the Sears Christmas Catalog in hopes that my parents would buy them for me for Christmas gifts.  As I grew up, I felt that kind of wanting was childish and selfish, so I tried to burry it.

This year I am not longing for a list of material things, but I still feel that sense of wanting something.  And I want to feel it even more.  I never associated this song with Advent, yet it speaks to those deep embers of desire I want to turn into a flame 'Til all that I want All I desire is You - All that I need All that I require is You - Consume me.

A Christian Menorah: The Second Night

Does anyone else have a favorite musical version of a Psalm?  I do.  And unfortunately, when I try to find another one to take its place, nothing seems right.  The Lord is my Light and My Salvation (Psalm 27) by Gary Miles is like no other to me.

I found an MP3 version, but it is only a very short sample.  It does not even include my favorite parts.  Still, it is the link I have decided to post for tonight.  Maybe you have another favorite version.  If you do, please post a link.

www.communityofcelebration.com/zen-cart/media/The_Lord_is_my_light_and_my_salvation.mp3

A Christian Menorah: The First Night

For the last couple of years, I have had a desire to follow the Jewish celebration of Chanukah by lighting a Menorah.  I am new to the practice, so I had to do a little reading on the tradition.

One thing that I thought was interesting and significant with the songs that have been going through my mind tonight is that a menorah is lit from right to left, like one reads Hebrew.  However, when a menorah is placed in a window, it should be lit for whoever is outside.  That means it is left to right from the inside.

That is meaningful to me as I think about, and pray for all those outside my house at the moment.  As Chanukah coincides with Thanksgiving this year, I remember and pray for all those in need and at the same time thank God for all I have been given.

Above is a list of the songs that I have found meaningful this first night.  Below are a couple links to a website that I found helpful.
www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Winter_Holidays/Chanukah/chanukah.html
www.hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Holiday_Blessings/Chanukah_Blessings/chanukah_blessings.html

Listening Prayer - Libera - Deep Peace

A Blessing for the Senses