Guiding Light

This week of advent I focus on the Guiding Light of God. My image of God is the Creator Spirit of earth and sky, and the Love and Light that lives in all people. I think of Light as Truth, with a capitol T.

I try to live always awake and listening for the message of love, and always feeling a connection to Creation, but I often get distracted. I often feel disconnected, disengaged, and detached. This week I plan to take some time to heal my relationship with my Guiding Light.

In one of my favorite books, "It's a Meaningful Life; It Just Takes Practice," by Bo Lozoff (2000), Bo describes why to create a personal spiritual practice - because "We must be willing to do the spiritual work that gradually brings us into communion with what is eternal and divine within us".

Bo says that daily spiritual practice is how we clear the slate so that bad habits can't as easily flourish, and also to become more aware of the depths of our being. We practice so that our default mode becomes generally more spiritual than worldly, and we develop an equanimity that helps us breeze through life.

Agenda:
1. Read a novena

2. Christmas Retreat Brainstorm for Renewal

3. Spiritual reading

4. Plan a spiritual practice

5. Winter Awareness Walk

1. Read a novena:

I've been reading this Creation Novena from the Indian Catholic Matters site:

Day 8: A Prayer for Vulnerable People

Creator God, we give thanks for means to care for the poor. We give thanks for their resilience, for their strength, and for their example. We give thanks for the opportunity to know them, to serve them, and to love them. 

As climate change troubles those who live and work so closely with nature, help us grow in solidarity. Help us follow the words of Proverbs, to “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.”

Help us speak truth in the presence of corruption, selfishness, and short-sightedness. Help us speak prophetically to our brothers and sisters, and to reflect on Your truths in our own lives, that we may change our habits to truly care for all Your beloved children. 

We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen

2. Christmas Retreat Brainstorm for Renewal:

I try to renew all four dimensions of my life (body, mind, heart, and spirit), as Stephen Covey taught: I spend about an hour each day on a combination of physical, mental, and spiritual regeneration activities, plus work to improve my social skills and relationships.

During this final stretch of Advent I review one dimension at a time, and today I will take a deep look at how I nurture the spiritual parts of myself - and make plans for the new year.

Spiritual nurturance has (at least) four parts: Awareness practices, such as meditation or journaling; soul searching, which is the ongoing quest to understand your purpose and intentions; virtue habits - the values and principles that guide your moral life; and opening to God or a higher power. Spiritual growth is the basis for a better and more harmonious life, a life of calmness, clarity, courage, and inner strength.

Today I ask myself: 

What part of my spiritual life is in need of attention?

 

What kinds of awareness practices have worked for me in the past? What new kinds of practices sound fun and fascinating?

 

What virtuous habits and behaviors would I like to try to build, that will help me to act with greater love and responsibility, and will also renew my soul?

What practices would help me to get a better picture of my purpose in life, who I want to be, and what I want to contribute?

 

What practices would help me to open to a Higher Power, or the possibility of a Higher Power?

3. Spiritual reading:

I think this might end up being my book of the year: "Active Hope - How to Face the Mess We're in without Going Crazy",by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone (2012). "Our approach is to see this as the starting point of an amazing journey that strengthens us and deepens our aliveness. The purpose of this journey is to find, offer, and receive the gift of Active Hope."

Chapter One is Three Stories of Our Time. By story, she means the way we make sense of events. The first story is about the American Dream - we are on the right track and can continue business as usual. Nature is ours to exploit.

The second story is that the Worlds is Unraveling - continued decline is inevitable, and we can do nothing about it.

The third story is the Great Turning - the Sustainability Revolution has begun and it is contagious. We are finding the "commitment to act for the sake of life on Earth, as well as the vision, courage, and solidarity to do so."

4. Plan a spiritual practice:

At the end of each year I take a deep look at my self-renewal practices - how I nurture the physical, mental, and spiritual parts of myself - and make some plans for the new year.

My ideas for a spiritual practice in 2025 are:

1. Brief morning meditation; practice different techniques, and try to build the time.
2. Daily review of my Mindful Calm practice.
3. Journal about hope, and set daily hope tasks.
4. Dawn prayer, touching the earth.
5. Use a timer for a daily reflective pause. 
6. Walking meditations and mindful awareness of Nature.

5. Winter Awareness Walk:

Walking in the  winter has a different flavor of adventure. I need to get all the gear on, and brace myself for the elements. 

Then I relax and allow myself to appreciate and feel the wonders of the season, and an awareness of the harmony of life emerges. 

This month I plan to enjoy an Awareness Walk practice, for the purpose of being present to the winter and to Creation:

1. Physical Awareness: Concentrate on my feet as they touch the ground, the feel of my muscles, my breathing, my surroundings, the breeze, the sky. Continue this for 1-2 blocks. 

2. Heart Awareness: Turn a corner, and focus on my tender heart. Feel it soften and open. Send loving thoughts to my neighbors as I walk by their homes, to my family, to my community, to the world. Continue this for 1-2 blocks. 

3. Mindfulness: Turn another corner, and pay attention to my thoughts. Make an effort to open my mind to the ambiguity of the moment, and my life. Continue this for 1-2 blocks. 

4. Spiritual Awareness: Turn the last corner, and (holding on to the awareness I've raised) speak a prayer out loud as I’m moving; feel the power and energy move through me. Say, “Spirits of Love and Light and Creation, I remember thee. Amen.”