Handwork

By Renée Miller
From Strength for the Journey: A Guide to Spiritual Practice
Photography by Diane Walker

As we settle into the rhythm of the handwork, we will also find ourselves settling into the rhythm of communion with God. We will find ourselves judging our consistency and our perfectionism less in this practice. Instead, we will simply sit with God as we do our handwork. When we find ourselves wandering away from God in our mind, we simply return to the stitches. We might say a prayer of return, or a prayer for continued presence, or a prayer for openness. In any case, silently and stealthily, God will be molding and shaping our soul as our hands move and our minds calm.

LISTEN to Handwork Practice,  then return here and share your response. Find this and more readings from Strength for the Journey on the CREDO website and through CREDO’s Guide to Spiritual Practice podcasts in iTunes, as well as on this listener Blog.

And please share this reflection with a friend.

Nature

By Renée Miller
From Strength for the Journey: A Guide to Spiritual Practice
Photography by Diane Walker

The word nature comes from the Latin word natus, which means to be born. As Christians, we are familiar with the phrase, “deus incarnatus est”—God is born in flesh. God is born into nature. Recognizing and affirming this truth is a critical aspect of nature practice, as is the recognition and affirmation that we have been born into nature. When we recognize and affirm both of these things, we come to understand also that nature is the ground upon which the two are joined—human and divine, earth and heaven, material and immaterial, corruptible and incorruptible, finite and infinite. It is here—in the reality of soil and leaf, rodents and big cats, water and fire, storm and earthquake, petals and stalks—that we have the opportunity to become one with God, to have our heart knit to God, as the Psalmist says (Psalm 86:11).

Nature practice is more than simply appreciating and being grateful for the beauties of creation. It is finding the path for divine union within the vehicle of nature.

LISTEN to Nature Practice,  then return here and share your response. Find this and more readings from Strength for the Journey on the CREDO website and through CREDO’s Guide to Spiritual Practice podcasts in iTunes, as well as on this listener Blog.

And please share this reflection with a friend.

Walking

By Renée Miller
From Strength for the Journey: A Guide to Spiritual Practice
Photography by Diane Walker

There is an interesting connection between bread baking and walking. Anyone who bakes bread knows that there are at least two important aspects of baking a delicious loaf— the temperature of the yeast and the quality of the kneading. Both the yeast and the kneading help make the dough full. Strong and deep kneading rolls the dough around and presses it down again, over and over until bubbles are eliminated. If kneading is shortened or weak, those bubbles will end up as empty holes in the finished loaf. The Old Middle Dutch word for walking, walken, means to knead or press full. Like kneading bread, walking has the capacity to knead our souls until they are full.

LISTEN to Walking Practice,  then return here and share your response. Find this and more readings from Strength for the Journey on the CREDO website and through CREDO’s Guide to Spiritual Practice podcasts in iTunes, as well as on this listener Blog.

And please share this reflection with a friend.

Body Movement

By Renée Miller
From Strength for the Journey: A Guide to Spiritual Practice
Photography by Diane Walker

When we begin to use body movement as spiritual practice three things begin to happen. First, we become aware of the intense connection between body and soul, between earth and heaven, between creature and Creator. We realize the impact each has on the other. …

Second, we stop seeing exercise as an end in itself. If we enjoy the experience of exercise, we may engage in it because we want to accrue the benefits it has to offer. If we dislike the experience of exercise, we may avoid it with fortitude we don’t expend anywhere else in our lives. We may be aware of its benefits, but have no motivation to perspire in order to enjoy them. When, however, we do exercise as spiritual practice—when it involves both body and soul—we find ourselves beginning to desire fullness and strength in our souls, yes—but also in our bodies.

Finally, we begin to hear the voice of God through our bodies as well as our souls. We become attuned to the subtle advances God makes toward us. We feel our bodies straining to hear God more fully and see God more clearly. At the same time, we feel our souls seeking the filling of God through the very movements that we use as we exercise our muscles and joints. Sometimes we find that what we could not hear clearly in silent meditation becomes crystal clear in the middle of a particular movement.

LISTEN to Body Movement Practice,  then return here and share your response. Find this and more readings from Strength for the Journey on the CREDO website and through CREDO’s Guide to Spiritual Practice podcasts in iTunes, as well as on this listener Blog.

And please share this reflection with a friend.

Consciousness

By Renée Miller
From Strength for the Journey: A Guide to Spiritual Practice
Photography by Diane Walker

Our lives are replete with experiences, feelings, and memories that have helped shape us into what we are. Some of these are readily available to the conscious mind. We easily recall them, even reminisce about them. Then there are memories that seem less accessible to the conscious brain—things that are too painful, too important, or too powerful to remember in vivid detail. Even though they are not eagerly pressing upon our minds and emotions, they are shaping our lives. When we begin to work with our unconscious through the writing and dialogue process, we become more familiar with those memories and are often surprised by the wisdom they have to share with us. It is important to remember that consciousness practice is not psychotherapy. It is a form of spiritual remembering and reflection, though it may be that dialoging or writing about certain parts of our unconscious will point to a need for a therapist or spiritual director to help us sort through the emotions and memories we encounter. We might avoid this practice because we are uneasy or fearful about delving so deeply into ourselves. Or, we may think that the practice is oriented too heavily on the self, rather than others. Or, we may wonder if God is at work or if we are simply engaging in some form of spiritual navel-gazing. While these are valid concerns, the truth is that, at its core, consciousness practice is really no different than any other form of meditation that leads us more deeply into ourselves and God.

LISTEN to Consciousness Practice,  then return here and share your response. Find this and more readings from Strength for the Journey on the CREDO website and through CREDO’s Guide to Spiritual Practice podcasts in iTunes, as well as on this listener Blog.

And please share this reflection with a friend.

Writing

By Renée Miller
From Strength for the Journey: A Guide to Spiritual Practice
Photography by Diane Walker

The goal of writing is not necessarily to produce a product — whether we try to write a book or to write as a spiritual practice. The goal of writing is to drop down into the well. It is only when we squarely look at what is hidden in the dark water that we are able to make sense of what we see in the light. This is not to say that the dark water is filled with negative or shameful images. It’s that the dark water of the well contains all of our lives. What we’ve thought and considered, what we’ve hoped for and dreamt, what we’ve felt and said, who we’ve met and loved and why is all a part of that dark water in the well. Our identity, and the integration of our identity with God’s image of us, occurs when we grapple with all the wondrous and not so wondrous elements that we find in that dark water. Many of us do this work through psychotherapy or other forms of psychological introspection. Yet, writing is often a part of those therapies precisely because it takes us deep into that inner well.

LISTEN to Writing Practice,  then return here and share your response. Find this and more readings from Strength for the Journey on the CREDO website and through CREDO’s Guide to Spiritual Practice podcasts in iTunes, as well as on this listener Blog.

And please share this reflection with a friend.

Study

By Renée Miller
From Strength for the Journey: A Guide to Spiritual Practice
Photography by Diane Walker

Study practice feels like a practice in stability. It helps us plant ourselves firmly even when life seems chaotic. Study asks us to claim our curiosity and go in search of what will nourish it. Study practice is a way to respond to the movement of God’s Spirit in us. That movement is an invitation to become more fully human, and to develop more wonder at the vast possibilities that all of life offers. What makes study practice a spiritual practice, and not merely an activity of personal development, is that it inspires our awe at the same time that it deepens our understanding. We do not study only for the sake of gaining knowledge. We filter the learning through the action of God behind the learning.

LISTEN to Study Practice,  then return here and share your response. Find this and more readings from Strength for the Journey on the CREDO website and through CREDO’s Guide to Spiritual Practice podcasts in iTunes, as well as on this listener Blog.

And please share this reflection with a friend.

Reading

By Renée Miller
From Strength for the Journey: A Guide to Spiritual Practice
Photography by Diane Walker

Reading practice turns us into literary archaeologists. We dig and scrape to find the treasure that lies hidden within the words on the page. We lift layers to see what is beneath. Some of what we sort through is dust and dirt that can easily be tossed away. Some of what we uncover has real value for us. We may attempt to determine its origin, or date its impact on our lives, or analyze it to see what intersection it might make in our current experience. Then, as we keep digging, we find some truths that don’t seem to make any sense at all. They will need further analysis. And, once in awhile, we hit on something big, something we had never thought we would find, something that makes our heart skip a beat. We find a treasure for our souls that could so easily have been missed had we not persevered in the digging process. We pull out that treasure, dust off the caked mud, and are astonished by what we see.

LISTEN to Reading Practice,  then return here and share your response. Find this and more readings from Strength for the Journey on the CREDO website and through CREDO’s Guide to Spiritual Practice podcasts in iTunes, as well as on this listener Blog.

And please share this reflection with a friend.

Movies

By Renée Miller
From Strength for the Journey: A Guide to Spiritual Practice
Photography by Diane Walker

Unlike nearly any other activity, movies invite us to enter entirely into them for the full length of the film, and we do. In this, movies are an experience of mindfulness. We are attentive, aware, involved, engaged, and without distraction for a significant period of time. While we’re in the midst of a movie, we aren’t so disturbed by the thoughts of a meeting we have to attend the next day, or what we need to remember to pick up from the grocery store, or what our medical test report will reveal. In fact, we often go to movies precisely so we won’t think about all the other demands in our lives. We would find it challenging, to be sure, to be that focused on the present moment if we were sitting on a cushion doing Centering Prayer for two hours. We can use movies, then, as a way to strengthen our mindfulness muscles and as a way to encounter a deeper part of ourselves.

LISTEN to the full reading of  Movie Practice,  then return here and share your response. Find this and more readings from Strength for the Journey on the CREDO website and through CREDO’s Guide to Spiritual Practice podcasts in iTunes, as well as on this listener Blog.

And please share this reflection with a friend.

Art

By Renée Miller
From Strength for the Journey: A Guide to Spiritual Practice
Photography by Diane Walker

Art, whether we are viewers or creators, has the ability to move our souls because it draws on images born from the inner womb of silence.  …   Hidden in the images is the truth of the artist, the truth of us, the truth of human life, the truth of God. In art practice that truth is not pushed down our throat against our will. Rather, it sweeps across us as real as the wind across a North Dakota plain and we have only to stand in its midst to know its reality.

When we do art practice we enter this reality of God and ourselves on a regular and consistent basis. It requires a willingness to be confronted with images that may leave us feeling uncomfortable or questioning, uncertain or incomplete. Art has a way of creating chaos within us because images are often so much more potent than words. To engage in art practice is to place ourselves in a space that is filled with interior vulnerability. The practice is not about going to an art museum. Nor is it the experience of creating a beautiful product to show to our friends. It is about letting the art itself—viewed or created—lead us to a deeper place of union with God. That will always involve some level of chaos, some level of vulnerability, some level of trust.

LISTEN to the full reading of  Art  Practice,  then return here and share your response. Find this and more readings from Strength for the Journey on the CREDO website and through CREDO’s Guide to Spiritual Practice podcasts in iTunes, as well as on this listener Blog.

And please share this reflection with a friend.