Tag Archives: Spiritual Practice

Soul & Solace: Winded

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We walk a neighborhood hill that, I swear, gets steeper as the temperatures climb. I powered up it one morning and, at its crest, found myself winded.
 
Winded. A word I come across in books, but rarely in conversation.
 
Yet the word shot into my mind as I paused at the crest, bent over, hands on thighs, hauling in breath. And it named more than my lung fatigue.
 
We live on a planet stained by pandemic and, despite our efforts to scrub it out, a faint tinge remains. Every cough is suspect; we face a lifetime of annual shots in the arm. More than that, the after effects stare at us through empty business windows, empty (or overpriced) store shelves, empty chairs. Leaves us winded.
 
Across the globe, war drags on: civilians taking up arms, hundreds of thousands killed, citizens tortured, children kidnapped. All for a hunk of land. Leaves us winded.
 
Yet another school shooting. Yet another community horrified and grieving. Parents of slain children comforting the most recent parents of slain children. How do we describe the tragedy? Vile? Obscene? The new normal? Leaves us winded.
 
Great art banned or labeled pornographic. Winded.
 
Add to that a spate of natural disasters, stress at work or school and/or home, personal loss. Definitely winded.
  
With all that taxing our air supply, how can we draw breath?  These practices can send good O2 coursing through our souls. Choose what suits you. 

  • Sing! Singing literally helps us draw breath. It also lessens depression and enables us to express our emotions. Who cares if we’re pitch perfect or know all the words? Let’s just crank up the music and belt it out!
  • Journal: Whether we journal in words, illustrations, or items glued onto a page, a journal is our breathing space. We find clarity and cleansing between the covers of our journal.
  • Good Growing: Whether we plant a garden, take a wildflower road trip, or tend a succulent, attending to the health and hope of living things helps us breathe deep.
  • Advocate/Volunteer: We can do something to alleviate a hardship or wrong that has us winded. Send a get-well card, foster or adopt a rescue animal, sign a petition, attend our Banned Book Speakeasy…. Whatever action we take, however small, for the good, is a breath of fresh air. At the same time, we need also to…
  • …Care for Self: Be it a daily rest time, a good book, a walk in nature, or a creative project, caring for ourselves is vital when we’re winded.
  • Savor Surprise: Like a resurrection, fresh starts can come as a surprise. Let’s gather breath and hope for great amazement in days to come. When it comes, however unexpected, let’s savor it!

Spring is here, with its promise of fresh air and fresh starts. We, at A Spacious Place, hope for you experiences that fill and thrill your soul with bracing, fresh air.  
 
How does “winded” feel to you? How do you find soul breath in hard times? Share your thoughts with us at contact@aspaciousplace.com.

Soul & Solace: Reframing Faith

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I don’t know about you, but I get worn down praying. I’m maxed out on prayers for pandemic relief, for the people (especially women and children) of Afghanistan, for equal voting rights for all citizens, for Ukraine to be free from violent assault. Add to that a lengthy list of personal requests
 
            …followed by the three blinking dots of a God text message.
 
I’m worn with waiting and with continued, determined hoping. We’ve entered the Christian Lenten season: a time of introspection and asceticism in hopes of deepening our relationship with God. This season, I’m struck by the number of Scriptures begging God to remember, to help. I think we need to beg God to save the people of Ukraine, to help us vote in leaders who serve the public good rather than themselves, to empower those fighting in word and action for the God values of justice, equality, freedom, and love.
 
I once read a thinker who suggested the only purpose of prayer was to align our minds with decisions God already made. Okay, sometimes, yes. To that, I also offer the example of Abraham praying for Sodom, Moses praying for the Israelites, and the psalmists turning all their creative powers to snag God’s attention and beg for help.
 
We may not have considered prayer, or God, in this way. I think it’s worth a look, even if it discomforts. Lent is an uncomfortable season, because faith grows when challenged. And we sorely need a growing faith now.
 
Join us at A Spacious Place in praying that God, by whatever name you choose, attend to the pain and violence in the world, and then to act as only God can. We may feel maxed out, but let’s keep on trying. It’s what we can do in a world of hurt.
 
What are your beliefs on prayer, on God, on faith? We would love to hear from you. Share your Soul & Solace thoughts with us at contact@aspaciousplace.com

Soul & Solace February 2018

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Getting Down and Getting Real

A well-intentioned speaker recently promoted volunteerism as a cure for depression. As a person who has, throughout my lifetime, struggled with what Winston Churchill called “the black dog,” and who volunteers regularly, I wanted to offer a different perspective: the possibility of living with depression as spiritual practice. And the same goes for volunteering.

Depression. Depression does not represent a lack of strength or a flaw of character. It’s a treatable condition. One that some pretty awesome people have shared, including Winston Churchill, Martin Luther, John Bunyan, and Howard Butt—founder of the HEB grocery chain and Laity Lodge. And, while potentially devastating, depression can actually be an opportunity. We learn to know ourselves deeply, to practice self-care, and to accept others’ in their woundedness. I would be pleased to visit with you further about the challenge of depression, if you wish.

Volunteering. How can volunteering be a spiritual practice? We can…

  • Stand in another’s shoes. Imagine living through a day as a person with whom you volunteer. If that person is in a wheelchair, how does he get to appointments? How does she prepare meals or practice good hygiene? What does the world look like from his eye level?
  • Get real. Actually loving someone—when they’re cranky or despondent or ungrateful—challenges us to clear away our rose-colored glasses version of what it means to love. Acting for the good of another takes (and promotes) clear spiritual vision.
  • Pre-feed our souls. Volunteering can taste great for the volunteer. But if that’s our sole reason for volunteering, we’re out the minute the cuisine goes stale. And where does that leave the person we’re volunteering with? Instead, we feed our souls before volunteering (because we all need and deserve it), then share from the abundance.
  • Connect face to face. Looking a person in the eye, listening with our full attention is a powerful gift. Fair warning: it also makes us vulnerable. But seeing another—and being seen by another— reminds us that we’re all human and we’re all connected.

What are your thoughts on depression? On volunteering? We’d love to read your thoughts.

April 2011 Soul and Solace

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Getting Hit

Thanks to the ingenuity of a neighbor, at this time of the year our community receives “hits” from the Mafia Bunny. A few volunteers begin the “hits” by filling baskets with goodies and, when no one is looking, depositing them on the doorsteps of unsuspecting neighbors. Those neighbors tie yellow ribbons on their doors to signify that they’ve been hit, then refill the baskets with goodies of their choice, and “hit” other unsuspecting neighbors.

Two years ago, Easter was a hard season in our home: unemployment, illness, and broken hopes had pretty thoroughly vanquished us. We awoke one morning, opened our door, and found ourselves “hit.” I watched my husband’s eyes light up and I felt a resonant light in my own. That basket was much more than the trinkets nestled inside its cellophane grass. For us, it was a basket full of hope.

What if, as our spiritual practice this month, we “hit” some unsuspecting persons with gifts of hope? It could be a handmade card or some home-baked bread, or a bottle of water for a guy standing in the heat. And if we can do it on the sly—get away with our “hit” unseen and unsuspected—so much the better!

Have you experienced being “hit by hope?” We’d love to hear about it!

 

October 2010 Soul and Solace

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Touch

The past couple of decades have placed needful emphasis on “bad touch”: touch employed to objectify, demean, abuse, or in any way other way, disrespect another. Knowing how another is not allowed to touch us empowers; it gives us permission to value ourselves enough to say “no!”

Recent references to healing and therapeutic touch, remind me that “good touch” is needful for healthy human functioning. Babies who do not receive loving touch fail to thrive. As this month’s spiritual practice, I am attending to good touch: touch that expresses affection, regard, respect, and love:

  • the weight of a dog’s head in my lap;
  • a child’s hand slipped trustingly into mine;
  • the rare Saturday when my husband and I can lie in bed and hold one another;
  • a ladybug alighting on my arm;
  • hugs from family and friends; and
  • the wind turning my hair into a whirligig.

What is the importance of good touch in your life? What kind of touch feels to you like affection…regard…respect…love?

June 2010 Soul and Solace

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Adam Speak

I recently watched the film, Adam, which portrays the life of a young man with Augsberger’s Syndrome who cannot lie. Because of Adam’s attention to detail slows productivity, his boss decides to fire him.

“I have to let you go,” the boss says euphemistically. “But I don’t want to go,” responds Adam.

Similarly, I’ve heard “May I help you?” when what was meant was, “I am suspicious of you,” and “I’ll let you go” when what was meant was “I am ready to go.” As my June spiritual practice, I’ll attend more closely to when I am saying one thing and meaning another; when I employ language to make things easier on myself at the expense of another. I will try to be more like Adam.

What are your language practices?

October 2009 Soul and Solace

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Face to the Wind

I’ve been noticing dogs in vehicles a lot lately: little ones perched on driver’s laps, hunky ones taking soldier stances in the backs of pickups, mid-sized one poking noses out of backseat windows. Tails wagging, ears up, noses sniffing, faces to the wind, these dogs don’t want to miss a thing. I wonder what it would look like to live with our faces to the wind. I listed a few ideas below. We’d love to hear yours!

  • Roll down the windows when driving or riding to feel and hear the music of the earth.
  • Take sensory walks: once to listen, another time to smell, one time to look, another time to feel, maybe even a time to taste—within reason, of course!
  • When riding in a closed vehicle, view the world through every available window. How does altered perspective “reframe” the view?

Share your thoughts on October’s Soul & Solace

August 2009 Soul and Solace

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Like Blanche DuBois, I recently had occasion to rely on the kindness of strangers. During a weekend outing to Fredricksburg, TX, I caught my foot on a curb and smashed my face full-force against the pavement. I could tell, from the blood on my hands, the state of my glasses, and from the expressions on my family’s faces, that something was amiss. Then strangers appeared: a child bearing a worried expression, a woman thrusting a pack of tissues into my daughter’s hands, people offering bottles of water, a man who ran into a restaurant and returned with a bag of ice and a handful of napkins. Bicycle police insisted I let EMS check me out; EMS directed me to a nearby Wal-Mart, where I could purchase first-aid supplies. While my daughters tended my wounds in the Wal-Mart bathroom, woman after woman appeared, looked at me, registered shock, and asked the question of compassion: “What happened to you?” Then they shared their stories of frightening falls and of recoveries. Each story was different, but I noticed a running theme: connection. The actions of, the stories of these strangers recognized that we are connected by our humanness, by our vulnerability, by our need for community, and by our need for hope.

After that weekend, I recommitted myself to being a stranger on whose kindness others can rely. What does “stranger kindness” look like to you?

July 2009 Soul and Solace

Creativity/Spirituality, ,

Summertime: children are seen everywhere. Or are they? Society tends toward two extremes in its treatment of young people. One extreme views children as big-eyed cartoon characters who say precious and endearing things. (Many children’s faith education publications sport just such illustrations.) The other extreme views children as “not quite” people. (For instance, the term “minor” indicates someone who is “less than.”)

The first view relates to children more as pets than as people, viewing them simply as “cute,” while denying them the respect afforded to equals. The second view renders children invisible: because they are small of stature, or because they cannot vote or earn a wage, society simply does not see them.

This summer, we can make a spiritual practice of valuing children as persons. Below are some ideas; you may have others. We’d love to hear them!

  • Get on a child’s eye level when interacting with him/her;
  • Ask questions in a child’s language: gauge word choice and sentence structure to the child’s needs;
  • Help other adults “see” children (For instance, children awaiting service in retail establishments often get overlooked. We can point out their presence to the wait staff.);
  • Say “excuse me” to a child every time you would do the same for an adult;
  • In teaching situations, replace “cute” with “quality”;
  • Learn a child’s name; and
  • Ask a child to teach you how to do something at which she/he is accomplished.

Do you have other suggestions?

June 2009 Soul and Solace

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Swimming pools, water slides, river rafting—summer & water, what a delightful duo! Scientists wonder if coming generations will have the resources to enjoy such treats. They predict that we face a critical shortage of water—readers of Frank Herbert’s Dune series can imagine the ramifications.

How, then, can we honor water—enjoying its gifts and conserving it as a precious resource for future generations? Below are a few suggestions. Do you have others?

  • Experience a glass of water with your senses: feel the water’s coolness on your hand as it flows from the tap, listen as it hits the bottom of the container, hold the glass up to a light and study the colors within the water, taste the water—what memory does your taste evoke?
  • Indulge in a long bath instead of a long shower; every once in awhile, light candles, play quiet music, and settle in for a soak.
  • Wait to wash. Wait until you have a full load in the dishwasher or the clothes washer before running them.
  • Xeriscape. Reduce the need to water the lawn by replacing “water-needy” plants with more drought-resistant ones.
  • Watch a rainstorm. Turn out the lights, snuggle up with someone you love, and just be.
  • Read A Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt. A delicious read!
  • Make a splash! Whether it’s a pool party, a water balloon fight, or just rolling up your pants legs for a wade, let water work its magic on you. After all, what better way to honor water than with laughter?

Do you have other suggestions?