I grew up in a tradition that valued spontaneous prayer. It would be accurate to say many in that tradition found little value in written prayers. It would also be accurate to say many found no value in anyone speaking … Continue reading
First, let’s look back to the suggestion from last week about setting an alarm on you phone or watch as a “call to prayer.” Did you try that? If so, what was your experience? Did it annoy you or did … Continue reading
How might you begin to practice fixed hour prayer? You could try what a friend of mine did. He set an alarm on his phone and each day when the alarm sounded, he took a few minutes to stop what … Continue reading
You may hear “fixed hour prayer” or “daily office” or “liturgy of the hours” or “morning prayer/evening prayer” but each speaks to having appointed times during the day and night to pray. It is a regular and consistent pattern of … Continue reading
Some weeks ago (#36) I described Lectio Divina as a way of being with Scripture. You may recall that Lectio Divina is often described as having four movements: (1) Read/lectio, in which a passage is read slowly, often read several … Continue reading
Some time back a friend pointed me to a practice that combines prayer and a form of journaling. In the book Writing to God: 40 Days of Praying with my Pen Rachel Hackenberg provides writing prompts based on scripture to … Continue reading
This week my mind is still much on retreat. While a lot of my time last week at the retreat center was spent in small groups and listening to lectures, a day was set aside for silence. The leader gave … Continue reading
This week I am away from my normal routine at a retreat center attending a four day workshop on spiritual direction. This seemed a very good time to think about a practice we have not yet mentioned, retreat. Adele Ahlberg … Continue reading
As we have in these past weeks thought together about spiritual practices, I fear I have fallen into a trap that often captures us as we discuss this subject. As we focus on one practice after another we see the … Continue reading
Very often journaling is contrasted with keeping a diary. The usual comparison is that a diary is a “record of events, facts and occasions with little, if any, commentary.” A journal “records subjective responses to events in thoughts, feelings and … Continue reading
