laurabethanyb
To call the last few weeks a “challenge” seems grossly understated. If feels like there is a constant dialogue about the need for diligence, action, and focus. The “shock: of every executive order from national and state executives as well as the uncertainty of every proposed legislation and legal challenge combine with the pending attempts at “awe” to create weary souls and tired minds.
Physical, emotional, and spiritual sustainability is going to take practice. The trick is that we don’t practice being sustainable, that would be counterproductive. What we need to practice are the tools and exercises that lead to sustainable inner lives. Now as much as ever we need to hone these skills and habits; the spiritual practices that ground us to our Divine wholeness.
I have several – some are well-practiced, some are a little dusty. If you don’t have any – or perhaps you do and have just not labeled them as such – I strongly encourage you to find them. Talk to a pastor, a spiritual director (nudge, nudge) or read about the practices of others. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be adding a page to the website that offers resources we can use to develop these habits of caring for our souls. (If you have any suggestions, send me an email!)
This last Sunday the about-to-be Rev. Audrey Thorne led a class on the practice of Ignatian prayer. This process leads us to engage scripture with all our senses and imagination. The passage we contemplated was John 21:1-14. The passage tells the story of the disciples fishing in a boat as the resurrected Jesus joins them on the shore and leads them to a massive catch of fish. They then join them on the shore and share the fish around the fire.
In one of the readings, we were invited to place ourselves in the story’s context and imagine the interaction we might have had with Jesus. I imagined myself on the beach, watching the fruitless efforts of the fisherman until this strange man appeared and changed their fortune. Having already built a fire I invited him to sit while the crew made their way to shore with the catch. After cleaning and cooking their fish to share with a small gathering crowd – all who seemed to know this man – he looked me in the eye and said, “Keep tending the embers.”
That is the nature of spiritual practice: keeping the embers alive even when the flames cannot be fanned. This coming season will constantly shift between tending the embers burning in our hearts and fanning the flames of spiritual care, political action, and seeking justice. In the months – or years – ahead, I invite you into this circle where we will practice tending the embers. By the Grace of God, we will know when to fan the flames.
(PS – if you are in the Indy area, Audrey will be leading a different practice each Sunday morning through the Month of February! Join us at 9:00, Sunday Mornings at Second Presbyterian Church).